Today’s Highlights:
The Music Man, directed by Sarah Edwards, featuring Charles Esten (Harold Hill), Nikki Renée Daniels (Marian Paroo), Nick Alvino (Tommy Djilas), Ryan Cavanugh (Marcellus Washburn), E. Clayton Cornielious (Mayor Shinn), Kamie Crum (Zaneeta Shinn), Aaron Gallivan-Stierle (Oliver Hix, Salesman), Michael Greer (Charlie Cowell), Ashley Harmon (Alma Hix), Jenna Kantor (Ethel Toffelmier), Emmett Kent (Winthrop Paroo), Natalie McGovern (Amaryllis), Brady D. Patsy (Ewart Dunlop), Cissy rebich (Mrs. Paroo), Erin Stetor-Seaberg (Maud Dunlop), David Toole (Jacey Squires/Conductor), Joseph Torello (Olin Britt) Lucas Fedele (Salesman), Savannah Lee Birdsong (Mrs. Squires), Rory Prichard (Gracie Shinn), and more, opens at Pittsburgh CLO.
Sunset Comedy Night, hosted by Mark Serritella, featuring Craig Robinson, Patton Oswalt, Maz Jobrani, Nemer, Doug Benson, Tara Cannistraci, Jiaoying Summers, Carlisle Forrester, and more, at 8:30 PM at Hollywood’s Catalina Jazz Club.
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Rodgers & Hammerstein II’s Pipe Dream will run July 26 – Aug. 31 at MA’s Berkshire Theatre Group, directed by Kat Yen, with choreography by Isadora Wolfe, and music direction by Jacob Kerzner.
Noa Luz Barenblat (Suzy), Mike Cefalo (George), Wes D’Alelio (Pancho/ Sonny Boy/ Dr. Dormody), Elijah Dawson (Hazel), Pierre Jean Gonzalez (Joe), Joe Joseph (Doc), Jackson Mattek (Eddie/ Jim), Benj Mirman (Ray), Sharone Sayegh (Fauna) Lael Van Keuren (Emma and Millicent), Hennessy Winkler (Mac), and Sumi Yu (Agnes).
Set against the backdrop of the Bear Flag Café, the musical follows Suzy, a homeless girl, welcomed by Fauna, the compassionate madam of the establishment. Amidst an eclectic group of characters, Suzy’s encounter with Doc, a carefree marine biologist, sparks a tender and star-crossed romance.
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Complete casting has been announced for Nassim Soleimanpour’s ECHO (Every Cold-Hearted Oxygen), to run July 13-27 (0pening July 17) at the Royal Court Theatre, directed by Omar Elerian.
Kathryn Hunter, Toby Jones, Fiona Shaw, Meera Syal and Rebecca Lucy Taylor, Sheila Atim, Monica Dolan, Jessica Gunning, Jeremy O. Harris, Adrian Lester, Nick Mohammed, Mawaan Rizwan, Jodie Whittaker and Benedict Wong.
A different artist takes the stage each night to perform a script they’ve never seen before.
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North Hollywood’s Loft Ensemble (link TBA) has announced its 2024-25 season:
The Polycule: A Comedy of Manners (opens Sept. 13), by Jillian Blevins, directed by Sean Alan Mazur. In rhyming verse a la Moliere, Fern attends a dinner party to meet her new boyfriend’s family — which consists of his wife and the other members of their polyamorous household. An outsider to their world of consensual non-monogamy and its unfamiliar rules and norms, Fern struggles to keep up and to fit in.
summertime, an interlude (opens Oct. 18), world premiere by aniello fontano, directed by Dayo Ade. The hottest day of summer is interrupted when a community leader is rushed to the hospital. As Red fights for his life, the neighborhood bands together to hunt down his wannabe executioner. Through belly laughs, cold beer, and blunt smoke, the truth about the shooting at “Red’s Deli” bleeds out.
Mrs. Dilber’s Christmas Carol (opens Dec. 6), by Arthur M. Jolly, directed by Michael Houston. Mrs. Dilber, Scrooge’s maltreated housekeeper in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, meets Marley and the Spirits of Christmas before they haunt Scrooge, and sets off on a past, present, and future adventure of her own in this subversive and hilarious reimagining of the classic Christmas story.
Something You Don’t Know (opens Jan. 7, 2025), world premiere by Dani True & Kirsten Jones, directed by Natasha Renae Potts. As a California wildfire inches closer to a family’s cabin, their relationships become scorched by trauma, lies, and shocking secrets. The play examines how a family navigates the ashes left behind after a lifetime of trauma.
Old Black & White Hollywood (opens Feb. 28), world premiere by Sha Wanna Renee Rivon, directed by Bree Pavey & Cassandra Carmona, starring comedienne Doris Jean. At an after-hours club Jean catches the eye of producer Samuel Stahr. His TV show featuring a former radio star is floundering; Doris Jean may be just what The Eva Rose Show needs. Doris refuses to play a maid but is cast as one anyway. But how high can a talented Black woman rise in old black and white Hollywood?
The Impact of Dildos on a Funeral (opens Apr. 11), world premiere by Emma J. Latimer, directed by Madylin Sweeten Close friends gather for a funeral, trying to honor the deceased’s wishes for it, mostly humorous and made before the deceased knew she was going to die. After the staff goes missing and they find themselves locked in the building with no cell signal, secrets surface, grudges are rehashed, and hard decisions must be made.
Edith (opens July 11), world premiere by Noah T. Parnes (opens May 23), directed by Ignacio Navarro. When a giant pillar of salt crashes into the kitchen, a family is thrown into a chaotic, campy, biblical fantasy that forces them to reckon with their relationship to disobedience, suffering, and deviant sex. From her vantage point as the witness to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Pillar of Salt wishes to upend the traditional center of our current order and force God to turn around — and see the joy in the carnage.
Ageless (opens July 11), by Bridgette Dutta Portman. Ninety is the new 30 at the turn of the 22nd century. When Marin refuses to take the anti-aging drug celebrated by the rest of society, she invokes her mother’s ire and risks becoming marginalized in a culture that worships youth, denies death, and treats old age as a malady. As Marin’s choice begins to affect not only her but the people she loves, will she find the strength to hold out, or succumb to social pressure?
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Nassim Solemanpour’s ECHO (Every Cold-Hearted Oxygen will run July 13-27 (opening July 17) at the Royal Court Theatre, directed by Omar Elerian. The play will be performed as unrehearsed cold reads.
(rotating at every performance): Kathryn Hunter (July 27, evening), Toby Jones (July 27, matinee), Fiona Shaw (July 13), Meera Syal (July 22), and Rebecca Lucy Taylor (aka Self Esteem, July 19) were already announced to participate. Newly joining them are Sheila Atim (July 16), Monica Dolan (July 20, matinee), Jessica Gunning (July 25), Jeremy O. Harris (July 18), Adrian Lester (July 17), Nick Mohammed (July 26), Mawaan Rizwan (July 24), Jodie Whittaker (July 23), Benedict Wong (July 15). and one more TBA.
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Video: Highlights from Jason Robert Brown’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, featuring J. Harrison Ghee (Lady Chablis), Tom Hewitt (Jim Williams), Sierra Boggess (Emma Dawes), Lance Roberts (Bobby Lewis), Austin Colby (Danny Hansford), Bailee Endebrock (Corrine Strong), Shanel Bailey (Lavella Cole), Jessica Molaskey (Alma Knox Carter), Brianna Buckley (Minerva), Mary Ernster (Serena Barnes/Dawn Avery), McKinley Carter (Vera Strong), Maya Bowles (Stacey Brown), DeMarius Copes (Jereiah Jones), Sean Donovan (Luther Driggers), Jason Michael Evans CColonel Atwood/Burt), Christopher Kelley (Bubbles/Gregory), Andre Terrell Malcolm (Josiah Domingo), Aaron James McKenzie (Jethro Myles), Wes Oliver (Jack the One-Eyed Jill), Kayla Marie Shipman (Millicent/Mary), and Rory Shirley (Stefanie Davis), Calvin L. Cooper, with Daryn Whitney Harrell, Kayla Kennedy, Jake DiMaggio Lopez, and Justin Thomas Rivers.
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RIP: Tony winner Joseph Hardy passed away June 6 at the age of 95.
Raised on a cattle ranch in New Mexico, Mr. Hardy originally trained as a performer at the Yale School of Drama, where he won a Fulbright to study in Paris before serving in the Korean War. Mr.
Ostage, however, Mr. Hardy was one of the most popular directors of the 1970s, leading a variety of plays, musicals, and special events to the Broadway boards. Mr. Hardy’s Broadway credits included Johnny No-Trump, Play It Again, Sam, Child’s Play, Bob and Ray—The Two and Only, the original Broadway production of You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, Children! Children!, the original Broadway adaptation of Gigi, The Night of the Iguana, Diversions and Delights, and Romantic Comedy.
Twice a Tony nominee, Mr. Hardy took home the top honor for his work on the original Broadway production of Child’s Play, which all but swept the 1970 Tony awards, taking home five awards. Mr. Hardy’s first nomination had been for his work directing Woody Allen’s Play It Again, Sam.
Returning to screen work as a director on occasion, Mr. Hardy introduced Lily Tomlin in her first TV special, “Lily.” His 1974 TV film “Great Expectations” with Michael York, Sarah Miles, and James Mason. Mr. Hardy also spent a period of time as an associate artist at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, as well as working with the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles.
While Mr. Hardy had left Broadway behind by at the end of the 20th century for a life and career in France, he didn’t disappear from the New York theatrical realm. Having first cut his teeth in the Off-Broadway market, Mr. Hardy returned to it in 2008, leading Lynn Redgrave in Grace for MCC Theater. Two more final productions were to follow: Redgrave’s solo show Nightingale for New York City Center, and The Dance of Death for Red Bull Theater.
Mr. Hardy moved to the Actors Fund Home in 2020, and requested that no service or memorial be held in the event of his passing.
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Next to Normal will run July 26-28 at Houston Broadway Theatre, directed by Joe Calarco.
Mary Faber (Diana), Constantine Maroulis (Dan), Tyce Green (Gabe), Mary Caroline Owens (Natalie), Josiah Thomas Randolph (Henry), and Manuel Stark Santos (Dr. Madden).
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Falling In and Out of Love: A Musical Evening of Tales from the Heart will take place Sun. July 28 at 7 PM at Hollywood’s Young Actors Workspace (5511 West Pico Blvd), with plenty of free street parking), directed by Richard Israel, with music direction by Michael Collum. All tickets are $20 (and include wine and hors d’oeuvres).
All tickets: $20. 
lisapicottestudio@gmail.com
Edyie Alyson, Eileen Barnett, Jennifer Bennett, Melissa Fahn, Julie Garnyé, Barbara Carlton Heart, Bararbra Carlton Heart, Maura Knowles, Susan Edwards Martin, Lisa Picotte, Leslie Stevens, and Mary Van Arsdel.
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The Theater Hall of Fame has announced its 2024 inductees. The induction ceremony will be held Nov. 18 at Broadway’s Gershwin Theatre.
Actors: Elizabeth Ashley, Boyd Gaines, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Donna Murphy
Playwrights: Charles Busch, David Rabe, and Todd Haimes.
Composer: William Finn
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David M. Lutken, Nick Corley, Darcie Deaville, Helen J. Russell & Andy Tierstein’s WOODY SEZ: The Live and Music of Woody Guthrie will run July 13-28 at TheaterWorks Hartford, directed by Corley.
Sam Sherwood (Woody Guthrie), Helen J. Russell, David Finch, and Nyssa Grant.