Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be limited theatre news for the foreseeable future. I will continue to search for anything meaningful and/or fun to report. Stay safe and healthy.
Today’s Highlights:
* “The Show Must Go On Show” variety show, with special guest James Snyder, livestreamed at 7 PM ET here.
* “Trivia Tuesday Happy Hour” game show, with Caitlin Kinnunen, in support of BC/EFA, at 5 PM ET here.
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Due to recent current events, Broadway On Demand, the newly launched streaming platform for theater devotees, will postpone its Tony Awards celebration event that was scheduled for this Sunday, June 7.
A rescheduled date and additional details TBA.
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RIP: John McCormack, Executive Director of Off-Broadway’s INTAR, died on May 18 at the age of 61 from natural causes related to COVID-19.
Executive Director Lou Moreno said…“The loss of John McCormack is not just a loss for INTAR, but for the Off-Broadway theatre community as well. He was a living history of Off Broadway. There was scarcely a name or a play he did not have intimate knowledge of and that perspective is what kept our offices full of chatter and laughter. Our community lost a kind and generous soul. And Off-Broadway lost its biggest champion and fan”
One of the unsung heroes of New York’s not-for-profit theater, McCormack worked tirelessly behind the scenes, nurturing many emerging artists – writers, directors, actors, and designers – over his almost 40-year career. He began his career at Ensemble Studio Theatre, where he was Producing Director and co-founded the Directors Project with the Drama League, followed by stints at Naked Angels (Artistic Director); the Zipper Theater (co-founded/Artistic Director); Summer Shorts (co-founded/Producing Artistic Director); his own company, All Seasons Theater; and INTAR (Executive Director since 2006). He served as guest lecturer and oversaw student productions at Sarah Lawrence College.
Funeral services will be private. A memorial service will be announced at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations in his memory be made to the Actors Fund COVID-19 Emergency Relief.
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Video: “Stars in the House,” with special guest Leslie Uggams. (56:31)
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Ensemble Studio Theatre has announced recipients of the EST/Sloan commission for its upcoming 2020-21 season:
Bonnie Antosh, Jake Brasch, Noah Brody & Marshall Hagins, AJ Clauss, Krista Knight, Jacob Marx-Rice, Charissa Menefee, Julian Mesri, Amanda Quaid, Phaedra Michelle Scott & Ken Urban, and Steve Cosson.**********************
DC’s Arena Stage has announced two world premiere films (links will be live on the day of):
June 12 (7 PM ET): “May 22, 2020,” (June 12 at 7 PM ET), a filmed docudrama by Arena Stage’s “Voices of Now” ensembles, written by Randy Baker, Audrey Cefaly, Annalisa Dias, Caleen Sinnette Jennings, Aaron Posner, Psalmayene 24, John Strand, Gregory Keng Strasser, MaryHall Surface and Karen Zacarías, directed by Molly Smith. 
Ten D.C.-Maryland-Virginia subjects ranging in age from 18 – 89, and from a variety of backgrounds including a climate change activist to a grandmother living alone, were interviewed by 10 area playwrights on May 22, 2020. 
here.
June 19 (7 PM ET): “Inside Voices: a film by Arena Stage’s Voice of Now Ensembles.” A season-long drama program that devises autobiographical plays with ensembles of middle-school, high-school and adult artists locally and internationally. Voices of Now plays are fast paced, collaboratively written physical theater pieces that pose challenging social questions relevant to the ensemble of artists and their communities. The plays investigate those questions through poetry, movement and the recounting of the artists’ personal stories. One of the primary goals of the Voices of Now program is to create positive change within the artists’ communities by engaging in dialogue centered on the artists’ experiences in their worlds. here.
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Video: “Song for a Dark Girl,” by Ricky Ian Gordon, performed by Audra McDonald.
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Video: Christiane Noll, “Can’t Help Falling in Love”
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& 
The Playbill Pride Spectacular concert, in support of BC/EFA, will premiere Sun. June 28 at 8 PM ET on Playbill.com (link TBA), with music direction by John McDaniel, and will feature iconic musical numbers highlighting LGBTQIA+ stories in musical theatre sung by members of the Broadway LGBTQIA+ community and its allies.
* Brave Smiles…another lesbian tragedy, by The Five Lesbian Brothers and Lisa Kron
* one in two, by Donja R. Love
* Masculinity Max
* The Men From the Boys, by Mart Crowley
John Cameron Mitchell, Michael R. Jackson, MJ Rodriguez, Caitlin Kinnunen, Jenn Collela, Cheyenne Jackson, Shakina Nayfack, Matt Gould, Griffin Matthews, Matt Rodin, and more TBA.
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Santa Monica’s Broad Stage has announced its 2020-21 season:
Click here for the complete season schedule (too many to list here).
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Video: Celia Rose Gooding, Elizabeth Stanley, and the Broadway cast of Jagged Little Pill perform “All I Really Want”
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“The Shows Must Go On!” will broadcast “Peter Pan Live” online here on Fri. June 5 at 2 PM ET (and will be available for 48 hours).
Allison Williams (Peter Pan), Christopher Walken (Captain Hook), Christian Borle (Smee/Geroge Darling), Kelli O’Hara (Mrs. Darling), Taylor Louderman (Wendy Darling), Alanna Saunders (Tiger Lily), and many more, with narration by Minnie Driver.
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An Altar Boyz reunion concert will be livestreamed on Tues. June 9 at 8 PM ET here (on the day of), in support of The Actors Fund,
(original): Scott Porter, Tyler Maynard, Andy Karl, Ryan Duncan, and David Josefsberg.
Gary Adler (composer), Michael Patrick Walker (lyricist), Kevin Del Aguila (book), Marc Kessler (co-conceiver), Robyn Goodman (producer), Stafford Arima (director), Christopher Gattelli (choreographer), and Lynn Shankel (music director & co-orchestrator)
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Video: John Kerr performs “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught” from the “South Pacific” film (1958)
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Due to COVID-19, NYC’s Metropolitan Opera, originally scheduled to begin this Fall, will now begin its 2020-21 season on Dec. 31 with a special gala performance (details TBA).
* Die Zauberflöte, directed by Julie Taymor (2021 dates TBA)
* Don Giovanni, directed by Michael Grandage (2021 dates TBA)
* Dead Man Walking, by Jake Heggie, directed by Ivo Van Hove (2021 dates TBA)
* Die Frau ohne Schatten, by Richard Strauss (2021 dates TBA)
* Roméo et Juliette, by Charles Gounod (2021 dates TBA)
* Il Pirata, by Vincenzo Bellini (2021 dates TBA)
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Video: Highlights from MCC Theater’s The Wrong Man at Home, with Ross Golan, Joshua Henry, Ciara Renée, and Ryan Vasquez.
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Ruazar Alexander’s “Creating a Character: The Moni Yakim Legacy” will be released digitally on June 19.
The film takes viewers inside Yakim’s classes at Julliard, where he has taught Patti LuPone, Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain, Alex Sharp, Laura Linney, Anthony Mackie, and Kevin Kline.
Interviews: All of the above, as well as Michael Urie, Oscar Isaac, Mina Yakin, Charles E. Gerber, Peter Jacobson, and Michael Stuhlbarg.
Video: Trailer