GRACE NOTES: Tuesday, July 1, 2025

 

Today’s Highlights:

 

  Back to the Future, directed by John Rando, featuring David Josefberg (Doc Brown, Lucas Hallauer (Marty McFly, Nathaniel Hackmann (Biff Hannen), Mike Bindeman Geroge McFly), Zan Berube (Lorraine Baines, Cartreze Tucker (Goldie Wilson/Marvin Berry, and Luke Neville (Principal Strickland), opens at Pittsburgh CLO.

 

**********************

 

  Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced it 2025 Summer Season (July 10 – Aug. 3):

 

  Click the link above for the summer calendar.

 

**********************

 

  A Chorus Line Official 50th Anniversary Celebration concert, in support of the Entertainment Community Fund, will take place Sun. July 27 at 7:3o PM at Broadway’s Shubert Theatre, directed  & choreographed by Baayork Lee (who will remount the original Michael Bennett and Bob Avian choreography).

 

 Kelly Bishop, Wayne Cilento, Baayork Lee, Priscilla Lopez , Donna McKechnie, Charlotte D’Amboise, Jessica Lee Goldyn, Robyn Hurder, Krysta Rodriguez, Jessica Vosk,  Anthony Wayne, Tony Yazbeck, Leigh Zimmerman, Nick Adams, Sarah Bowden, Jay Armstrong Johnson, and more TBA.

 

**********************

 

   Video:  Christiani Pitts and Sam Tutty perform “On the App” from Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) at Cambridge’s A.R.T.

 

**********************

 

  Manhattan Theatre Club has two shows in it 2025-26 season.

 

  Punch (Broadway). Previews begin Sept. 9 & opens Sept. 29, by James Graham & Adam Penford, Camila Canó-Flaviá, Sam Robards, Lucy Taylor, and more TBA.    A young man who makes a fatal mistake that lands him in prison. But as he struggles to accept the consequences of his actions and build a new life, he finds an unusual source of salvation: the parents of the boy he killed.

 

Monsters (previews Jan. 23, 2026 & opens Feb. 11 at NY City Center). Casting  TBA. The play explores the reunion of two siblings, Lill and Big, as they grapple  with their pasts. 

 

Balusters (2025-26 season – Broadway dates TBA.) by David Lindsay Abaire. Casting TBA.

 

**********************

 

    Charles Kirsch’s Backstage Babble Live will take place Mon. July 7 at 7 PM at NYC’ 54 Below, with music direction by Michael Lavine.

 

  Craig Bierko, Len Cariou, Penny Fuller, Karen Akers, Lane Bradbury, Jim Brochu , Meg Bussert, Len Cariou, Penny Fuller, Sara Gettelfinger, Annie Golden, Simon Jones, Janine LaManna, Sally Murphy, Steve Ross, and Anna Zavelson.

 

**********************

 

  Off-Broadway’s Classic Stage Company has announced its 2025-26 Season:

  The Baker’s Wife (Oct. -Dec. dates TBA), directed by Gordon Greenberg.

 

  Marcel on the Train (Feb. Mar. 2026) world premiere by Ethan Slater & Marshall Pailet, starring Ehan Slater

 

 The Emporium (May/June, 2026), by Thornton Wilder, adapted by Kirk Lynn, directed by Rob Melrose  

 

 Rediscovery Readings.  Producing Artistic Director Jill Rafson. “I love that all of our shows are about filling in the missing pieces of great classic stories: a long-awaited major New York production for a gorgeous, underappreciated musical; a highly theatrical look at the origins of a legendary figure; and a play that completes the unmatched body of work of one of the most celebrated American writers of all time. There’s a fresh urgency to all of these pieces today, and I know that they will thrive in CSC’s incredibly special space.”

 

**********************

 

  Anthony. Drewe & RyanFielding Garrett’s Freak The Mighty will run May 22 – June 21, 2026 at Cleveland Playhouse, directed by Michael Barakiva, with choreography by David Connolly.

 

  TBA.

 

  The play is based on the beloved novel by Rodman Philbrick. and follows the adventures of two unlikely friends, Maxwell Kane and Kevin “Freak” Avery. Though Maxwell and Kevin feel like outsiders, together they transform into “Freak The Mighty”, a heroic duo empowered to take on the world. Shepherded by the Tony® Award-winning producers of Come From AwayFreak The Mighty celebrates friendship, resilience, and community in the face of adversity: a soaring new musical that connects to the dreamer in all of us.

 

**********************

 

 Oedipus, newly adapted & directed by Robert Icke will begin previews Oct. 30, open Nov. 13, and close Feb. 8, 2026 at Studio 54.

 

  Mark Strong (Oedipus) and Lesley Manville (Jocasta).

 

  Direct from London, Sophocles’ epic tragedy is transformed into an essential, explosive political thriller. Visionary director Robert Icke  reimagines an Ancient Greek tragedy to bring the secrets of the past bursting into the present.

 

**********************

 

  All Shook Up, directed by Daniel Goldstein, has been extended through Aug. 17 at CT’s Goodspeed.

 

   Kerstin Anderson (Natalie/Ed), Ryan Mac (Chad), Benjamin Howes (Jim), L Morgan Lee (Sylvia), Amy Hillner Larsen (Mayor Matilda), Messica Crouch (Miss Sandra), Jordan Mattew Brown (Denis), Jackera Davis (Lorraine), Jackson Reagin (Dean), and Kilty Reidy (Sheriff Earl), with  Ian Dominguez Ball, Jenna Bienvenue, Corinne C. Broadbent, Julius Chase, Maddie Garbaty, Michael James, Myles McHale, Keyon Pickett, Sydney Quildon, and Montria Walker, with Ben Horsburgh and Eleni Kontzaman.

 

**********************

 

  Lee Bruer & Rob Telson’s The Gospel at Colonus will run July 8-26 at NYC’s Little Island, directed by Shyok Misha Chowdhury.

 

  Davóne Tines, Kim Burrell & serentewithfeet, Stephanie Berry, Kevin Bond, Samantha Howard, Ayanna George Jackson, Brandon Michael Nase and Frank Senior,  Trenise Y. Bullock, Schanel Crawford, Jaquetta Fayton, Angie Goshea, RobynMcLeod, Niyoka Morgan, TJ Riddick, Vischon Robinson, Lenny VanCooten, Eugene Marcus Walker, and Darlene Nikki Washington.

 

  Reflecting on his collaboration with Lee Breuer, composer Bob Telson said, “For more than 35 years, Lee and I presented our version of The Gospel at Colonus all around the world, with many of the same cast members. With Lee’s passing in 2021 and a dwindling cast in their 70’s and 80’s, it’s thrilling to pass the baton to a younger generation who will passionately update the powerful message we created then.

 

**********************

 

  Adam Pascal & Anthony Rapp: Celebrating Friendship & History continues through July 6 at NYC’s 54 Below.

 

 


Posted

in

by

Tags: