Today’s Highlights:
Dr. Semmelweis, by Stephen Brown & Mark Rylance, directed by Tom Morris, featuring Mark Rylance (Ignaz Semmelweis), Roseanna Anderson (Marja Seidel/Baroness Maria-Teresa), Joshua Ben-Tovim (Hospital Porter/Death), Ewan Black (Franz Arneth), Chrissy Brooke (Lisa Elstein), Megumi Eda (Aiko), Suzy Halstead (Violet-May Blackledge), Felix Hayes (Ferdinand von Hebra), Pauline McLynn (Anna Müller), Jude Owusu (Jakob Kolletschka), Millie Thomas (Agnes Barta), Max Westwell (Hospital Porter/Death), Amanda Wilkin (Maria Semmelweis), Alan Williams (Johann Klein), and Daniel York Loh (Karl von Rokitansky), with Zoe Arshamian, Oxana Panchenko, Patricia Zhou, Helen Belbin, Jason Hogan, and Andrew McDonald, opens at London’s Harold Pinter Theatre.
The Sound of Music, directed & choreographed by Marc Robin, featuring Hanley Smith (Maria), Will Ray (Captain Von Trapp), Daniella Dalli (Mother Abbess), Maddie Dick (Liesl Von Trapp), Blake Hammond (Max Detweiler), Katie Sina (Elsa Schraeder), Susan Cella (Frau Schmidt), Sam Greene (Rolf) Erika Strasburg (Sister Mararetta), Anna Bakun (Sister Sophia), Rebecca Robins (Sister Berthe), J Alex Noble (Franz), Carlianna Connors (Brigitta), Emily Harajda (Louisa), Aubree Liscotti (Gretl), Sloan Masula (Marta), Max Peluso (Fredrick), Henry Thomas (Kurt), and many more…, opens at Pittsburgh CLO.
Chanteuse, by Alan Palmer & David Leggs, directed by Dorothy Danner, featuring David Legg, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s HERE Arts Center.
An Evening with Norm Lewis concert, at 7:30 PM at NYC’s 92NY.
Chess, directed & choreographed by Josh Rhodes, featuring Jessica Vosk (Florence Vassey, Jarrod Spector (Frederick Trumper), John Riddle (Anatoly Sergievsky), Taylor Louderman (Svetlana Sergievskaya), Rodney Hicks (Walter De Courcey), Tally Sessions (Alexander Molokov) and Phillip Johnson Richardson (Arbiter) with Annelise Baker, Jett Blackorby, Eric Allen Boyd, Sydney Chow, Cicily Denise Daniels, Spencer Dean, Matt Faucher, Anna Gassett, Brian Golub, Omega Jones, Sydney Jones, Gareth Keegan, Sage Lee, Daniel May, Brady Miller, Trina Mills, Alysha Morgan, Kristen Faith Oei, Alex Prakken, Emilie Renier, Shelby Ringdahl, Michael Seltzer, and Avilon Trust Tate, closes at the St. Louis Muny.
Liz Callaway: Screen Gems concert, closes at NYC’s 54 Below.
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Developmental readings of Sophie Boyce & Veronica’s The Dark Lady will take place July 12 & 14 at MA’s Eugene O’Neill Theater Center‘s 2023 National Music Theater Conference, directed by Zi Alikhan, with music direction by Anessa Marie.
Samanthan Williams (Emilia Bassano), Kyle Selig (William Shakespeare), Erika Henningsen (Viola), Elizabeth Ward Land (Susan), Jade Jones (Lady Macbeth), Jane Bruce (Kate), Leana Rae Concepcion (Juliet), and Manu Narayan (Henry/Alfonso.
Audacious and joyful with an effervescent wit, The Dark Lady brings this “what if” scenario to life with lush pop composition, tight lyrics, and undeniable rhythm in a gleefully subversive celebration of theater.
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Video: “Sweet Appreciation,” featuring Rebecca Luker, Alison Fraser, and Mary Testa. (2013)
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Manhattan Theatre Club‘s Poor Yella Rednecks, by Qui Nguyen, will begin previews Oct. 10 and open Nov. 1 at NY City Center, directed by May Adrales.
Jon Hoche, Ben Levin, Samantha Quan, Jon Norman Schneider, Maureen Sebastian, and Paco Tolson.
A young Vietnamese family attempts to put down roots in Arkansas, a place as different from home as it gets. A mom and dad balance big hopes and low-wage jobs, as old flings threaten to pull them apart. It all makes for a bumpy road to the American dream.
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Summer Sizzle will take place Sun. July 23 at 7 PM at Venice’s Pacific Resident Theatre.
Nathan Madden and Brenna Yeary.
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American Ballet Theatre’s Swan Lake continues through July 15 at NYC’s Metropolitan Opera House, choreographed by Kevin McKenzie (after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov).
Isabella Boylston, Hee Seo, Gillian Murphy, Catherine Herlin, Skylar Brandt, Devon Teuscher, Christine Shevchenko, Daniel Camargo, Aran Bell, Thomas Forster, James Whiteside, Herman Cornejo, Cory Stearns, Calvin Royal III, Jose Sebastian, Joo Won Ahn, Jarod Curley, and AndRii Ishchuk.
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The upcoming Broadway revival of Merrily We Roll Along has extended its run. The production will now begin previews Sept. 29, open on a date TBA, and continue through Mar. 24, 2024 at the Hudson Theatre, directed by Maria Friedman.
Daniel Radcliffe (Charley Kringas), Jonathan Groff (Franklin Shepard), Lindsay Mendez (Mary Flynn), Krystal Joy Brown (Gussie Carnegie), Katie Rose Clarke (Beth Shepard), and Red Rogers (Joe Josephson), with Sherz Aletaha, Leana Rae Concepcion, Morgan Kirner, Corey Mach, Talia Robinson, Amanda Rose, Jamila Sabares-Klemm, Brian Sears, Evan Alexander Smith, Christian Strange, Koray Tarhan, Vishal Vaidya, Natalie Wachen, and Jacob Keith Watson.
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Susan Edwards Martin: Unlimited in Concert will take place Thurs. July 17 at 8 PM at Hollywood’s Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel, with music direction by Sam Kriger. 
320-472-3330.
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The recent world premiere production of MJ Kaufman & Joey Soloway’s A Transparent Musical heading for a 2024 Broadway production.
Stay tuned for further updates…
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Gingold Theatrical Group‘s 2022 production of Shaw’s Candida will be available for streaming July 25-30, directed by David Staller.
R.J. Foster (Rev. James Morell), Peter Romano (Alexander “Lexy” Mills), David Ryan Smith (Mr. Burgess), Avanthika Srinivasan (Candida), Avery Whitted (Eugene Marchbanks), and Amber Reauchean Williams (Proserpine Garnet).
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RIP: Betta St. John, who originated the role of Liat in South Pacific, passed away June 23. She was 93.
Born Betty Jean Striegler in Hawthorne, California, Ms. St. John was one of the Meglin Kiddies troupe of child actors, singers, and dancers alongside Shirley Temple. At the age of 10, she made her uncredited film debut in 1939’s “Destry Rides Again” alongside James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich, which she followed up with a background role as an orphan in 1943’s “Jane Eyre” opposite Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine. Ms. St. John narrowly avoided a minor role in the seminal classic film “The Wizard of Oz” due to a family vacation, but all was not lost.
When Ms. St. John turned 16, she turned her focus toward the stage, playing Louise in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel on Broadway and in the touring company before being cast as Liat in South Pacific. While Ms. St. John was of European descent, she played the Polynesian Liat in both the Broadway and the London companies of the musical, before being replaced by France Nuyen for the film adaptation. (Editor’s note: South Pacific, like many plays, musicals, and films of its era, has an unfortunate history with racially inappropriate casting of white actors that has not carried through to most modern stagings.)
After South Pacific, Ms. St. John appeared in a selection of films, including “The Robe,” “Dream Wife,” and “All the Brothers Were Valiant,” as well as the 1954 film adaptation of the operetta “The Student Prince.” She also starred in two “Tarzan” films, and continued until leaving the entertainment industry in 1965.
Ms. St. John married the English actor Peter Grant, who played Lieutenant Cable opposite her in the London production of South Pacific, in 1952.
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A studio cast album of Marvin Hamlisch & Rupert Holmes’ The Nutty Professor is expected to be released in 2024.
Casting TBA.
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The 43rd Annual John Lennon Tribute will take place Sat. Dec. 2 at NYC’s Town Hall.
Graham Nash, Judy Collins, Rosanne Cash, and more TBA.