Today’s Highlights:
Porchlight Music Theatre‘s New Faces Sing Broadway 1951 concert, directed by David Fiorello, hosted by David Girolmo, featuring Daryn Alexus, Daniel De Cranie-Pierre, Nick Johnson, Abbey Loria, Caroline Lyell, Luke Nowakowsi, Ziare Paul-Emile, Alix Rhode, Nolan Robinson, and Jerod Turner, at Evanston’s The Arts Club of Chicago, closes at Chicago’s The Arts Club of Chicago.
The Lehman Trilogy, directed by Sam Mendes, featuring Michael Balogun (Emanuel Lehman), Hadley Frase (Mayer Lehlem), and Nigel Lindsay (Henry Lehman), with pianist Yshani Perinpanayagam, with Ravi Aujla, Will Harrison-Wallace, Leighton Pugh, and Erika Gundesen, begins previews at London’s Gillian Lynne Theatre.
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Nominations for the 2023 Oscar Awards have been announced. Click here for the complete list.
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Lincoln Center has announced complete casting for Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of Camelot, which will begin previews Mar. 9 and open Apr. 13 at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre, directed by Bartlett Sher, with choreography by Byron Easley, and music direction by Kimberly Grigsby.
Andrew Burnap (Arthur), Phillipa Soo (Guenevere), Jordan Donica (Lancelot Du Lac), Dakin Matthews (Merlyn/Pellinore), Taylor Trensch (Mordred), Marilee Talkington (Morgan Le Fey), Anthony Michael Lopez (Sir Dinadan), Fergie Philippe (Sir Sagramore), Danny Wolohan (Sir Lionel) Andrew Burnap (Arthur), Phillipa Soo (as Guenevere), and Jordan Donica (Lancelot Du Lac), with Delphi Borich, Matías De La Flor, Sola Fadiran, Rachel Fairbanks, Nkrumah Gatling, Christian Mark Gibbs, Holly Gould, Monte Greene, Edwin Joseph, Tesia Kwarteng, James Romney, Ann Sanders, Britney Nicole Simpson, Philip Stoddard, Valerie Torres-Rosario, Frank Viveros, and Paul Whitty.
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RIP: Choreographer Peggy Hickey died Jan. 22 at the age of 61 after and extended battle with breast cancer.
Ms. Hickey was a popular dancer on the regional theatre circuit, known for her long term association with the Sacramento Music Circus before transitioning into work as a choreographer and a director. Working in both film and theatre, Ms. Hickey choreographed “The Brady Bunch Movie,” and a host of television programs.
On stage, her work was seen in productions at Goodspeed, Sante Fe Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington Opera, New York City Opera, Seattle Opera, Lincoln Center (The Most Happy Fella and My Fair Lady), and the Châtelet in Paris (The King & I).
In 2011, she was diagnosed with breast cancer; in the years following her initial diagnosis, she came to Broadway, bringing Anastasia and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder to life in New York and on tour.
Ms. Hickey received nominations from the Astaire Awards and the Outer Critics Circle Awards for her work on A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, and received the Dutch Music Award for Best Choreography for the international tour of Anastasia.
Peggy is survived by her husband, Tony, and their daughters Molly and Gabriella. Details regarding a public memorial will be shared at a later date.
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Celebration Theatre will present William Finn & James Lapine’s A New Brain Apr. 29 – June 24 (opening May 6) at the LGBT Center, directed by Khanisha Foster, with music direction by Gregory Nabours.
Casting TBA.
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The world premiere of Martin Bergman & Rita Rudner’s Staged will run Jan. 25 – Feb. 12 (opening Jan. 29) at Laguna Playhouse, directed by Bergman.
Rita Rudner (Fenella Fennington) and Mike McShane (Jarvis Haverly), with Annie Abrams, Kelly Holden Bashar, Brian Jones, Brian Lohmann, Patrick Vest, and Lindsey Young.
After Richard Burton & Elizabeth Taylor, but before Johnny Depp & Amber Heard, were Fenella Fennington and Jarvis Haverly. Can this couple, once the toast of Broadway, possibly work together again, twenty years after their acrimonious divorce?
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The world premiere of Emma Donoghue’s Room will run Apr. 3 – Sept. 17 (opening Apr. 17) at the James Earl Jones Theatre, directed by Cora Bissett.
Adrienne Warren, and more TBA.
Based on Donoghue’s 2010 best-selling novel of the same name, Room follows a kidnapped mother who has been trapped in a room for seven years, and her six year old son Jack, who has never known the outside world. The work was previously adapted for the screen in 2015, with Donoghue also adapting that iteration.
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Songbook Sundays: Rodgers & Hart will take place Sun. Feb. 5 at 5 & 7:30 PM at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club, hosted by Deborah Grace Winer, with music direction by Ted Rosenthal.
Emily Skinner, Kenita Miller, and Jarvis B. Manning, Jr.
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York Theatre Company will present a benefit concert, Julie Sings Jule, starring Julie Benko, offering an evening music by Jule Styne, on Mon. Apr. 10 at 7:30 PM at Off-Broadway’s Theatre at St. Jeans, with music direction by Jason Yeager.
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A workshop presentation of Christine Toy Johnson‘s solo play with music, A Little More Blue, directed by Bruce Johnson, will take place Fri. Feb. 3 in Washington Heights (address provided when registering). The reading is open to the public, but seating is limited, and masks are required.
(deadline is Jan. 27): moongateink@gmail.com
The story of an Asian American woman who discovers, upon her father’s passing, how his immigrant journey inspired her to keep repainting the big picture of her life through fighting for justice in the arts.
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A live screening of London’s The Crucible, directed by Lyndsey Turner, will take place Sun. Mar. 19 at 3 PM PT at UCLA’s James Bridges Theatre. 
here.
Brendan Cowell (John Proctor) Erin Doherty (Abigail Williams), Eileen Walsh (Elizabeth Proctor), Fisayo Akinade (Reverend Hale), Karl Johnson ( Giles Corey), and Matthew Marsh (Danforth), with David Ahmad, Nathan Amzi, Zoë Aldrich, Stephanie Beattie, Raphael Bushay, Sophia Brown, Halle Brown, Anushka Chakravarti, Grace Cooper Milton, Rachelle Diedericks, Hero Douglas, Henry Everett, Nick Fletcher, Jersey Blu Georgia, Colin Haigh, Una Herrmann, Martin Johnston, Evie Marner, Gracie McGonigal, Alastair Parker, Joy Tan, Ami Tredrea, Tilly Tremayne, and Cadence Williams.
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RIP: Everett Quinton, actor, director, designer, playwright, and Ridiculous evangelist, has died at the age of 71. The cause of death is presently unknown.
Quinton rose to prominence in the New York theater as the romantic partner and collaborator of Charles Ludlam, the founder and artistic director of the Ridiculous Theatrical Company. A cornerstone of off-off-Broadway, the Ridiculous placed a high value on irreverence, comedy, and showmanship, with Ludlam proclaiming, “You are a living mockery of your own ideals. If not, you have set your ideals too low.”
In 1987, Quinton took over as artistic director, leading the company through a decade in which some of the brightest stage artists were lost to AIDS, New York rents skyrocketed, arts funding was slashed, and the cost of producing off-off-Broadway became nearly impossible for troupes like the Ridiculous.
Quinton continued to work in the theater, directing and starring in a commercial revival of Irma Vep opposite Stephen DeRosa in 1998, which ran for 335 performances. He frequently appeared at La MaMa in productions like Now the Cats With Jewelled Claws (with Mink Stole) and The Etiquette of Death (with Taylor Mac). He also found work on screens big and small, most recently appearing as “Melvin Funk” in the Billy Eichner rom-com Bros.
In a 2014 interview, Quinton said “The Ridiculous is theater of rage. It’s at odds with the world. It comes out fighting against a system that is stultifying.” And what better way to shake up a stultifying world than with laughter?
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A benefit presentation of A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters will take place Sat. Feb. 11 at 7:30 PM at Theatre Aspen, directed by Jed Bernstein.
Judd Hirsch and Marilu Henner.
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A workshop production of OHIO, created & performed by The Bengsons, will run Jan. 18-28 at Actors Theatre of Louisville, directed by Caitlin Sullivan & Anne Kauffman.
A story about losing and finding faith, movingly told through song. Ohio traces Shaun’s journey growing up in the church, discovering his voice through music, and experiencing the hearing loss passed down through generations in his family. This intimate concert is an invitation to join The Bengsons in celebrating the choice to live joyfully in the face of so many unanswerable questions.
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LAByrinth Theatre‘s The Barn Series 2023 new play presentations will run at Off-Broadway’s 59E59 Theatre. Casting TBA.
Click the link above for the complete schedule.
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The Frigid Fringe Festival will present Ingrid Garner’s multi-media’s adaptation of her grandmother’s memoir, Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl in Hitler’s Germany, which will run Feb. 18-20 at various times at the Kraine Theater.
The multi-media piece traces 9-year-old Eleanor’s path from New York to Berlin, where her family moves in pursuit of work during the Depression. But when war breaks out as they are crossing the Atlantic, returning home becomes impossible. While desperate for allied victory, Eleanor’s family must endure allied bombings, hunger, gestapo threats, and finally, the horrors of Russian occupation. Garner provides an intimate view of women and children in wartime. What unfolds is a child’s odyssey of survival as she struggles to maintain stability, hope, and identity in a world of terror and contrasts.
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RIP: Andrew Leynse, Artistic Director of Off-Broadway’s Primary Stages, died on Jan. 20 following a sudden illness.
Andrew was the Artistic Director for 21 seasons. He produced, managed, and directed in the New York Theater community for more than thirty years. Andrew began his career at Primary Stages in a variety of different roles, including Production Manager and Literary Manager, after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University’s directing program. In 1999, he left Primary to work as an Associate Producer to Julian Schlossberg at Castle Hill Productions, where he developed over twenty productions on and off-Broadway. Upon returning to Primary Stages in 2001 as Artistic Director, he oversaw their move to 59E59 Theaters, to The Duke on 42nd Street, to the Cherry Lane Theatre, and most recently to their return to 59E59 Theaters.
A memorial service for the wider theater community to pay tribute to Andrew will be scheduled at a later date.