Today’s Highlights:
Jeremy Jordan (Seymour) returns to Little Shop of Horrors at Off-Broadway’s Westside Theatre.
Disco Fever concert, featuring Kaiyla Gross and Tobias A. Young, opens at DC’s Signature Theatre.
Once On This Island, directed & choreographed by Gerry McIntyre, featuring Frenchie Davis (Asaka), Melessie Clark (Mama Euralie), Zephaniah Divine (Agwe), Darius Harper (Papa Ge), Haja Hetsberger (Ti Moune), Mason Reeves (Daniel Beauxhomme), Hailey Thomas (Erzulie), Siggy Bijou (Andrea), Brady Patsy (Tonton Julian), LaTrea Rembert (Armand), and Eden Greene (Young TiMoune), opens at PIttsburg CLO.
Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Maggie Burrows, featuring Robin de Jesús (Seymour), Patti Murin (Audrey), Michael McGrath (Mr. Mushnik), Ryan Vasquez (Orin Scrivello), Nicholas Ward (Voice of Audrey II), Taylor Marie Daniel (Chiffon), Stephanie Gomérez (Ronnette), Kenndy Holmes (Crystal), and Travis Patton (manipulation of Audrey II), opens at the St. Louis Muny.
Marry Poppins, directed by Eric Woodall, featuring Kara Lindsay (Mary Poppins), Keven Massey (Mr. George Banks), Anthony Wayne (Bert), Sara Jean Ford (Mar. Banks), Evie Brunelle (Jane Banks), Cameron Lewis (Michael Banks), Lucia Spina (Mrs. Brill/Birdwoman), Joshua Messmore (Robertson Ay), Blaire Thompson (Miss Andrew), Jesse Gephart (Admiral Boom/Chairman), LaDonna Burns (Mrs. Corry), Sam Faulkner (Nelus), Kelly Sheehan (Miss Lark), Abigail Isom (Katie Nana), Andrew Eckert (Von Hussler/Park Keeper), Ryan Lambert (Northbrook), and Jordan Radis (Policeman), with Joel Douglas, Gabe Logan, Chole Calhoun, Ella Huestis, Maria Reginaldi, Asali Smith, Eva Smedley, Ella Laurel, Ella Grace Gillette, Lourdes, opens at Raleigh’s North Carolina Rep.
Gingold Theatrical Group’s 2022 production of Shaw’s Candida, directed by David Staller, featuring 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), begins streaming on demand here.
The Shark is Broken, by Ian Shaw & Joseph Nixon, directed by Guy Masterson, featuring Ian Shaw (Robert Shaw), Alex Brightman (Richard Dreyfuss), and Colin Donnell (Roy Scheider), begins previews at Broadway’s Golden Theatre.
The Rubicon Theatre‘s “Dine & Delight: A private Winemaker’s Dinner” benefit, with special guest Jennifer Leigh Warren, at 5:30 PM at Ventura’s Water’s Edge Restaurant.
John Hill: Wellness Check – A Comic Song Cycle concert, at 9:30 PM at NYC’s Green Room 42.
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Reviews for The Cottage at Broadway’s Hayes Theatre:
NY Times (Jesse Green): Jason Alexander directs a Broadway farce that aims for the high style of Noël Coward but falls on its face instead… Dawdling is the play’s difficulty as well; everyone talks in pseudofancy circles. The stunts and capers likewise have no danger in them. And Jason Alexander’s trick-filled production… cannot hide that the stakes are too low… If the play is not exactly new — it has been making the rounds since 2013 — it wishes it were even older… Also suggested are the identity confusions of The Importance of Being Earnest and the country-home sexcapades of Nothing On, nested within Michael Frayn’s glorious backstage farce Noises Off… though The Cottage operates like a farce it only rarely achieves a farce’s liftoff. But to suggest something is not to achieve it…
Variety (Naveen Kumar): …may come as a surprise it’s not based — like so many Broadway outings lately are — on existing material. Which is not to say that any part of it feels original… a paint-by-numbers sex farce, with parameters that do not extend beyond the obvious… The forbidden-fruit pleasures that The Cottage tries to pass off as a feast… are familiar, superficial and fleeting… A new comedy set a century ago might retread such well-worn territory with any number of questions posed in retrospect — about sexuality, gender roles, patriarchy, capitalism, or any logic of manners, really. The most profound question approached by The Cottage is whether soulmates exist. (Spoiler: They don’t)… Rustin’s characters aren’t grounded in concerns beyond their carnal ones, so there’s not much to root for beyond them swapping spit and sweethearts…
New York Post (Johnny Oleksinski): With exaggerated, colorful cartoons of its starry cast popping out of windows, the art of playwright Sandy Rustin’s comedy looks like that of the indie movie “Wet Hot American Summer”… The synopsis, meanwhile, reads as “Dry Old-Fashioned British Sex Farce”…A lowbrow-highbrow mashup isn’t the worst idea, granted, but here it translates to “Shout til it’s funny.”The posh English accents are so high-pitched (not to mention questionable) that the production could star Alvin, Simon and Theodore… What makes “The Cottage” habitable is its game and mostly charming actors… Rustin’s irksome writing, though, was a flea in my ear… What unravels is not so much a jolly farce of slamming doors and shocking surprises (there are a few), but a two-act parlor scene of admitted sexual indiscretions screamed so the bartenders at Sardi’s next door can follow along.
Daily News (Chris Jones): …billed as a reconstructed romantic comedy, a feminist tale, they say, of “sex, betrayal and love.” But if you have an elongated joke involving flatulence, folks, and The Cottage breaks an epic amount of wind as part of its myriad country-house shenanigans, you’re doing farce. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, especially in the summer… Some will be tickled pink by The Cottage and thrill to the très outré (and highly skilled) comic stylings of Laura Bell Bundy, Eric McCormack, Alex Moffat, Nehal Joshi and Lilli Cooper. Others will be ready to head to the basement bar at intermission to nurse their headache and remain there. This genre is divisive at the best of times and, like everything else in America at the moment, this show doesn’t just double down but throw wads of hopeful cash at the dealer…
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LA’s Ahmanson Theatre has announced its 2023-24 season:
Hadestown (Oct. 3-15, opening Oct. 4), directed by Rachel Chavkin.
A Christmas Story, The Musical (Dec. 5-31, opening Dec. 8), by Joseph Robinette, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, directed by Matt Lenz, with choreography by Warren Carlyle.
Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet (Jan. 28 – Feb. 25, 2024, opening Jan. 31), directed & choreographed by Matthew Bourne.
Funny Girl (Apr. 2-28, opening Apr. 3), directed by Michael Mayer, with choreography by Ellenore Scott, featuring Katerina McCrimmon (Fanny Brice) and Melissa Manchester (Mrs. Brice).
A Strange Loop (June 5-30, opening June 7), directed by Stephen Brackett, with choreography by Raja Feather Kelly.
Clue (July 30 – Aug. 25), by Sandy Rustin, Hunter Foster & Eric Price.
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RIP: Pamela Blair, the original Val in A Chorus Line, has died at the age of 73.
Born in Bennington, Vermont she studied dance, played sports, and dreamed of becoming a Radio City Rockette in order to meet her idols, The Beatles. At age 16, she moved to New York City to attend a private school, The National Academy of Ballet. She later met a friend at a dance class who told her Michael Bennett was looking for dancers for Promises, Promises. Pam auditioned and was hired. Blair comments, “Whenever I don’t seem to be getting anywhere in this business, I try to remember that I was once a chambermaid in a small motel in Vermont.”
She continued to build credits with Seesaw, and then landed the coveted role of “Curly’s Wife”in the James Earl Jones Broadway revival of Of Mice and Men which later opened at the Kennedy Center to critical acclaim. She also appeared in Sugar, the stage musical version of the film Some Like It Hot.
In 1974, Blair was invited by Michael Bennett to participate in the workshops from which A Chorus Line was developed, in the role of Val. She next originated the role of “Amber” (later “Angel”) in 1978’s The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
Pamela also made several appearances on American soap operas, and guest starred on such shows as “Law & Order,” “The Cosby Show,” “The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd,” and “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.”
She married actor and director, Don Scardino in 1984, and they divorced in 1991. Most recently, she resided in Arizona where she owned her own Therapeutic and Myofascial Massage Studio for athletes.
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Alan Cumming Is Not Acting His Age will run Jan. 15-16, 2024 at the Theatre Royal Drury.
The show centers around this question: “What exactly is acting your age?” and covers the classic topics of sex, death, and debauchery with a set list that ranges from Kander and Ebb to contemporary favorites and songs written by Cumming himself.
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Tectonic Theater Project will present its annual benefit concert, A Tectonic Cabaret, to take place Mon. Oct. 2 at 6:30 PM at NYC’s Sony Hall, directed by Timothy Koch, and hosted by Jane Krakowski.
Performers TBA.
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Paper Mill Playhouse’s 2022 production of Sandy Rustin, Hunter Foster & Eric Price’s Clue will launch a national tour in 2024, directed again by Casey Hushion.
Casting, link, tour dates, and additional information TBA.
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Rebekah Greer & Jacob Yandura’s How to Dance in Ohio will begin previews Nov. 15 and open Dec. 10 at the Belasco Theatre (link TBA), directed by Sammi Cannold, with choreography by Mayte Natalio, and music direction by Jacob Yandura.
(all are autistic) Desmond Edwards (Remy), Amelia Fei (Caroline), Madison Kopec (Marideth), Liam Pearce (Drew), Imani Russell (Mel), Conor Tague (Tommy), and Ashley Wool (Jessica), along with Broadway veterans Haven Burton (Terry), Darlesia Cearcy (Johanna), Carlos L Encinias, Nick Gaswrirth, Melina Kalomas, and Martin Solá , with more TBA.
Video: ….from the recent Syracuse Stage production.**********************
Long Beach’s Musical Theatre West has announced its 2024 season. Creative teams and casting TBA.
42nd Street (Feb. 9-25)
Million Dollar Quartet (Apr. 12-28)
Newsies (July 12-28)
Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Oct. 19-Nov. 3)
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Complete casting has been announced for Rent, to run Aug. 4-10 at the St. Louis Muny, directed by Lili-Anne Brown, with choreography by Breon Arzell, and music direction by Jermaine Hill.
Lincoln Claus (Mark), Vinent Kempski (Roger), Ashley De La Rosa (Mimi), Tré Frazier (Benjamin), Lindsay Heather Pearce (Maureen), Anastacia McLeskey (Joanne), Evan Tyrone Martin (Tom), and Adrian Villegas (Angel), with Shelby Brown, Ricky Cardenas, Josh Hoon Lee, Sage Lee, Alicia Reyé Like, Jhardon DiShon Milton, Eric Shawn, Erica Stephan, and Julia Yameen.
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Ensemble Theatre Company will present its Play It Forward benefit concert on Sun Aug. 6 at 7 PM at Santa Barbara’s New Vic, directed by Brian McDonald, with music direction by Enrico Douglas.
Joan Almedilla, David Burnham, Deedee Magno Hall, Jen Paz, Beverly Ward, Kirby Ward, and local student performers Cassidy Broderick, McKenna Gemberling, Hunter Hawkins, Beck Mortensen, Jett Mortensen.
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Video: Sneak peek at the Muny’s Little Shop of Horrors, featuring Robin de Jesús, Patti Murin, and Michael McGrath.
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The new album, “Rose Marie Sings: The Complete Mercury Recordings & more,” will be available as of Aug. 11 on all platforms.
“Rose Mary Centennial” will be available on YouTube Wed. Aug. 28 at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT, offering a screening of “Rose Marie Rareties”
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John Kander, Fred Ebb & Lin-Manuel Miranda’s New York, New York . directed & choreographed by Susan Stroman, will close July 30 at the Broadway’s St. James Theatre, after 33 previews and 110 regular performances.
Colton Ryan (Jimmy Doyle), Anna Uzele Francine Evans, Clive Alves (Tommy Caggiano), John Clay III (Jesse Webb), Janet Dacal (Sofia Diaz), Ben Davis (Gordon Kendrick), Oliver Prose (Alex Mann), Angel Sigala (Mateo Diaz), and Emily Skinner (Madame Veltri).
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Albert M. Tapper’s Bettinger’s Luggage will run Sept. 19 – Oct. 26 at the AMT Theater, directed by Steven Ditmyer.
Casting TBA.
The play takes place on NYC’s Lower East Side in the 1970s, and follows a Jewish family that runs a luggage stor. Lou Bettinger wants to pass the store on to his son, George, who only wants to become a standup comedian.
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Initial casting has been announced for the world premiere of Kait Kerrigan, Jason Howland & Nathan Tysen’s The Great Gatsby, to run Oct. 12 – Nov. 12 (opening Oct. 22) at NJ’s Paper Mill Playhouse, directed by Marc Bruni, with choreography by Dominique Kelley, music direction by Daniel Edmonds.
Jeremy Jordan (Jay Gatsby), Eva Noblezada (Daisy Buchanan), and more TBA.
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Complete casting has been announced for the English-language premiere of Frank Wildhorn, Jack Murphy & Ivan Menchell’s Death Note The Musical in Concert, which will run Aug. 21-22 at the London Palladium, directed & choreographed by Nick Winston, with music direction by Chris Ma.
Adam Pascal, Aimie Atkinson, Rachel Clare Chan, Christian Ray Marbella, Frances Mayli McCann, Dean John-Wilson, and Joaquin Pedro Valdes, with Felipe Bejarano, Charlotte Coggin, Jade Copas, Eu Jin Hwang, Yojiro Ichikawa, Deena Kapadia, David Kar-Hing Lee, Nick Len, Jasmine Leung, Jojo Meredith, Marcel Li-Ping, and Janine Somcio.
Light Yagami, a high school student in Tokyo, comes across a discarded notebook owned by Ryuk, a mythological god of death. Discovering he can kill anyone by just writing their names in the supernatural notebook, Light takes justice into his own hands by filling the notebook with names of the nation’s most wanted criminals.