Today’s Highlights:
101 Dalmatians, by Douglas Hodge & Jonny McKight, directed by Timothy Sheader, featuring Kate Fleetwood (Cruella de Vil, Stuart Angell (Captain), George Bukhari (Jasper), Karen Fishwick (Danielle), Tom Peters (Captain), Eric Stroud (Dominic), Jonny Weldon (Casper), and Grace Wylde (Madam Doué), with Jamil Abbasi, Sonya Cullingford, Joseph Fletcher, CJ Johnson, Sonya Cullingford, Kody Mortimer, and Courtney George with swings Jade Davies, Taofique Folarin, Tash Holway, and Simon Oskarsson, opens at London’s Open Air Theatre.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Victor Malana Maog, featuring Jacob Ming-Trent (Bottom), Rotimi Agbabiaka (Oberon), Danaya Esperanza (Puck), Nubia M. Monks (Titania), Bryan Barbarin (Demtrius), Renea Brown (Helena), John Floyd (Flute), Brit Herring (Snout), Lilli Hokama (Hermia), Jake Lowenthal (Lysander), Shinji Elspeth Oh (Philostrate), John-Alexander Sakelos (Peter Quince), Sabrina Sawyer (Snug), and Kathryn Zoerb (Starveling), opens at DC’s Folger Theatre.
Freestyle Love Supreme, directed by Thomas Kail, featuring Andrew Bancroft, Richard Baskin jr., Jay C. Ellis, Aneesa Folds, Mark Martin, Kaila Mullady, Morgan Reilly, James Rushin, Victoria Theodore, and Anthony Veneziale, opens at Pasadena Playhouse.
Rob McClure begins his run as Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors at Off-Broadway’s Westside Theatre Upstairs.
King Liz, by Fernanda Coppel, directed by Jesca Prudencio, featuring Sabrina Sloan (Liz Rico), Evan Morris Reiser (Freddie Luna), Ray Abruzzo (Mr. Candy), Oscar Best (Coach Jones), Nancy Linari (Barbara Flowers), and Michelle Ortiz (Gabby Fuentes), begins previews at LA’s Geffen Playhouse.
The LA Philharmonic’s The Music of Leonard Bernstein concert, offering a concert variation of the documentary “The Music of Leonard Bernstein” conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, featuring Ansel Elgort (Tony), Rachel Zegler (Maria), Ariana DeBose (Anita), David Alvarez (Bernardo), Josh Andrés Rivera (Chino), Brian d’Arcy James (Officer Krupke), Corey Stoll (Lieutenant Schrank), and Rita Moreno, with Iris Menas, Paloma Garcia-Lee, David and Jacob Guzman, Ricky Ubeda, Ben Cook, Sara Esty, Garett Hawe, Talia Ryder, Tanairi Vazquez, Eloise Kropp, Kevin Csolak, and Jess LeProtto, at 8 PT at the Hollywood Bowl (also July 14).
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Reviews for The Public Theater’s Richard III at NYC’s Delacorte Theatre:
NY Times (Jesse Green): …tonally wobbly and workmanlike revival… Whether Richard chooses his evil in reaction to the world’s revulsion…or whether he was merely born to be bad is a question the Public Theater production, starring the tireless Danai Gurira as Richard, does not reach… We never learn what Richard means by the word “determined”… In a sign that he will focus on action and not psychology, O’Hara instead opens with the gruesome final scene of Henry VI, Part III… Gurira, the fierce General Okoye of the “Black Panther” films, certainly never disappoints as an action hero… But for much of the play, the flash and fury of her performance, with its surface swagger and glary stares, too often feel like decoys.
Variety (Daniel D’Addario): …Danai Gurira plays the title role less as a politician than as a performer. Gurira’s Richard is a mastermind of chaos at the court, who rises to a brief reign in part by a violent willingness to do whatever (or kill whomever) is necessary. But there’s a tactical sprightliness in Gurira’s delivery, too, as she works both to win over both potential allies in her game of thrones and the audience, as well… Having achieved…a temporary victory, Gurira punches the air triumphantly, goosing the audience for applause… That sleight-of-hand, showing us Richard’s brutality but masking it within a roguish, needy élan, is an idea that runs throughout Robert O’Hara’s production… the production around Gurira feels fresh without overstatement, adding deft touches from the choreography…
Theatermania (David Gordon): …O’Hara gives us an extremely fast-paced cutting of Shakespeare’s second-longest play, where the text clocks in at roughly two hours and 15 minutes… While Bard aficionados probably won’t be too keen on many of the directorial flourishes, intriguing as they are, or with some of the performances, the regular New Yorkers among us will appreciate the lucidity of the storytelling. This is one of the clearest and most rousing evenings I’ve spent at the Delacorte in Central Park in my two decades of seeing shows there… O’Hara’s revival is completely followable, which is a feat in and of itself… O’Hara stages the play like it’s Game of Thrones meets House of Cards…
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Funny Girl has announced new casting at the August Wilson Theatre:
Beanie Feldstein will depart the production on July 31. Understudy Julie Benko will continue in the role Aug. 1 – Sept. 4. Lea Michele will begin her run as Fanny Brice on Sept. 6.
Jane Lynch will depart the production on Sept. 4. Toval Feldshuh will begin her run as Mrs. Brice on Sept. 6.
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An encore engagement of Ann Talman: Elizabeth Taylor and The Shadow of Her Smile will run Sept 13 & 14 at NYC’s 54 Below, with music direction by Alex Rybeck.
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The world premiere of David Rossmer & Steven Rosen’s The Griswold’s Family Vacation will run Sept. 10 – Oct. 2 at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre, directed & choreographed by Donna Feore, with music supervision by Glen Kelly.
Kate Rockwell (Ellen Griswold), Hunter Foster (Clark Griswold), Jay Klaitz (Cousin Eddie), Livvy Marcus (Audrey), Alan Green Naked Commando), and Nathan Levy (Rusty), with Carol Angeli, Sydney Beaudoin, Sarah Bishop, Lyndsay Nichole Chambers, Jennifer Cody, Julian Marcus DeGuzman, Rohit Gopal, Olivia Griffin, Garett Hawe, Merrit David Janes, Jaygee Macapugay, Heather Makalani, Jennifer Noble, Michael Oralibigbe, Julio Rey, Jody Reynard, Kate Rockwell, Mathew Sims Jr., Jonathan Wagner, and Brandon L. Whitemore.
They’ve been to Wally World, they’ve been to Vegas, and now the Griswolds are going to… Broadway! Yes, they’re back, and they’re taking their biggest vacation yet. Join the family for their New York City adventure — where of course, everything goes exactly as planned.
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Christina Anderson, Marcus Gardley, Craig Lucas, Nathan Tysen, Masi Asare & Larry Kirwan’s Paradise Square will close Sun. July 17 at Broadway’s Ethel Barrymore Theatre, after 23 previews and 108 regular performances.
Joaquina Kalukango (Nelly O’Brien), Matt Bogart (Willy O’Brien), John Dossett (Frederick Tiggens), Sidney Dupont (Washington Henry), A.J. Shiveley (Owen Duignan) Kevin Dennis (Mike Quinlan), Nathaniel Stampley (Reverend Samuel Jacob Lewis), Chilina Kennedy (Annie Lewis), Gabrielle McClinton (Angelina Baker), Jacob Fishel (Milton Moore), Kevin Dennis (‘Lucky’ Mike Quinlan), with Hailee Kaleem Wright, with Kennedy Caughell, Colin Cunliffe, Chloe Davis, Josh Davis, Bernard Dotson, Jamal Christopher Douglas, Sam Edgerly, Jacobi Hall, Sean Jenness, Ben Michael, Jay McKenzie, Kayla Pecchioni, Eilis Quinn, Lee Siegel, Erica Spyres, Lael Van Keuren, Alan Wiggins, Kristen Beth Williams, Rashidra Scott, and Yasmeen Sulieman
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Jason Graae ~ Graae Matter will take place Thurs. July 28 at 7 PM PT at CA’s Coachella Valley Rep, with music direction by Wayne Abravanel.
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Jordan E. Cooper’s Ain’t No Mo’ will begin previews Nov. 3 and open Dec. 1 at the Belasco Theatre, directed by Stevie Walker-Webb. Website link TBA.
Jordan E. Cooper, Lee Daniels, and more TBA.
The play dares to ask the incendiary question, “What if the U.S. government offered Black Americans one-way plane tickets to Africa?” The answer is the high-octane comedy about being Black in today’s America from the mischievous mind ot the playwright. Seemingly blending sketch comedy, satire, and avant garde theater, Ain’t No Mo’ will you crying with laughter – and thinking through the tears.
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Laura Benanti has announced the birth of her second child, Louisa Georgia, born July 9 through a surrogate.
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York Theatre Company has announced that Hoagy Carmichael’s Stardust Road, conceived & directed by Susan H. Schulman, Michael Lichtefeld & Lawrence Yurman, developed with Hoagy Bix Carmichael, will run Nov. 22 – Dec. 31 (opening Dec. 1) at Theatre at St. Jeans.
Casting TBA.
A new musical journey that tells the story of sic friends and the one man who brought them all together. The Musical is told completely through the sophisticated music of Hoagy Carmichael. The seven friends weave a story of camaraderie and shifting relationships through four decades in America: the early years of ragtime, jazz and blues; the romance of New York in the 1930s; the tumultuous and uncertain years of the World War II era; and the post-war Golden Age of Hollywood. All while walking down Hoagy Carmichael’s Stardust Road.
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Porchlight Music Theatre will present New Faces Sing Broadway 1971 on two dates in two Chicago locations: Aug. 1 at 7:30 PM CT at SPACE and Aug. 3 at 7:30 PM CT at Center on Halsted, directed by Frankie Leo Bennett, with music directed by Bryan McCaffrey, and hosted by Ed Kross.
Casting TBA.
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Dancers Responding to AIDS will present the Fire Island Dance Festival July 15-17 at NY’s Fire Island Pines, in support of BC/EFA, and hosted by James Whiteside.
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Amadeus will run Dec. 27 – Jan. 21, 2023 at Australia’s Sydney Opera House, directed by Craig Ilott.
Michael Sheen (Salieri) and more TBA.
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The world premiere of Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man and the Pool will run July 27 – Aug. 28 (opening Aug. 3) at the Mark Taper Forum, directed by Seth Barrish.
A tale of life, death, and a highly chlorinated YMCA pool. With his unique form of comedic storytelling, Birbiglia chronicles a coming-of-middle-age story that asks the big questions: Why are we here? What’s next? And what happens when the items at the doctor’s office that you thought were decorative become quite useful.
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The Duffer Brothers (Matt & Ross) will create a stage adaptation of Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” produced by Sonia Friedman & Stephen Daldry, and directed by Daldry. Timeline and additional information TBA.
The kind of stories that inspired the Duffers growing up, stories that take place at the beautiful crossroads where the ordinary meets the extraordinary, where big spectacle co-exists with the intimate character work, where heart wins out over cynicism.
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Come From Away will close Oct. 2 at Broadway’s Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, after 25 previews and 1,670 performances.