Today’s Highlights:
Kiss Me Kate, directed by Bartlett Sher, featuring Stephanie J. Block (Lilli Vanessi & Katharine), Adrian Dunbar (Fred Graham & Petruchio), Charlie Stemp (Bill Calhoun & Lucentio), Georgina Onuorah (Lois Lane & Bianca), Josie Benson (Hattie), Jack Butterworth (Paul), Jude Owusu (Harry Trevor & Baptista), Carl Au (Hortensio), Jordan Crouch (Gremio), Gary Milner (Ralph), and James Hume (Pops), with Alisha Capon, Shani Cator, Maya de Faria, Amelia Kinu Muus, Jacqui Jameson, Lucas Koch, Alex Lodge, Nell Martin, Anna McGarahan, John Stacey and Harrison Wilde. Swings are Robin Kent, Barry Drummond, Emily Goodenough, and Maddie Harper, opens at London’s Barbican Theatre.
Breaking the Story, world premiere by Alexis Scheer, directed by Jo Bonney, featuring Geneva Carr, Julie Halston, Louis Ozawa, Gabrielle Policano, Matthew Saldivar, and Maggie Siff, opens at Off-Broadway’s Tony Kiser Theatre.
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Grace Notes Quiz: By Shakespeare, by Jim Bernhard:
Complete these Shakespearean quotes by providing the missing adjective:
| 1. How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a _____ child. | A. Wanton |
| 2. Age cannot wither her nor custom stale her ____ variety. | B. Strained |
| 3. And all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to ____ death. | C. Infinite |
| 4. For in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this ____ coil must give us pause. | D. Mortal |
| 5. As flies to ____ boys are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport. | E. Necessary |
| 6. ____ are the uses of adversity. | F. Fierce |
| 7. Though she be but little she is ____. | G. Sweet |
| 8. Death, a ____ end, will come when it will come. | H. Virtuous |
| 9. The quality of mercy is not _____. | I. Thankless |
| 10. Dost thou think that because thou art _____ there shall be no more cakes and ale? | J. Dusty |
Scroll down for the answers…
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Nhlanhla Mahlangu’s Dark at Noon will run June 7 – July 7 at St. Ann’s Warehouse, co-directed & choreographed by Nhlanhla Mahlangu.
Bongani Bennedict Masango, Joe Young, Kaygee Letsholonyana, Lillian Tshabalala, Mandla Gaduka, Siyambonga Alfred Mdubeki, and Thulani Zwane.
On an open stage covered with the red dirt of the prairie, the skeleton of a pioneer town is erected in real time by an extraordinary cast of South African actors.
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“The Great Lillian Hall,” by Elisabeth Seldes Annacone, is now streaming on HBO, directed by Michael Cristofer.
Jessica Lange (Lillian Hall), Kathy Bates (Edith Wilson), Lily Rabe (Margaret Tanner), Jessie Williams (David), and Pierce Brosnan (Ty Maynard)
The film follows Lillian Hall, a Broadway actor who has never missed a performance in her extensive career. When her confidence is challenged in rehearsals for a new revival of The Cherry Orchard, a dementia diagnosis threatens to take away her ability to do what she loves most.
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The world premiere of Joel Thompson & Imani Tolliver’s Fire and Blue Sky will take place Thurs. June 6 at 7:30 PM at the LA Opera, conducted by Lina González-Granados.
Deborah Nansteel and Russell Thomas.
An everyday childhood in Miami changes in the wake of a long-buried family secret coming to light. A heartfelt journey of a mother and son moving toward hope and healing.
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Jeffrey Vause & Steve Hauck’s Tomorrow We Love will run June 13-23 at the Chain Theatre, directed by Hauck.
Jeffrey Vause (Elaine “Lainie” Fairbanks), Alex Herrera, Phoebe Lloyd, Jimmy Moon, Sarah Sanou, and Robert Sebastian Webb.
A gender-bending comedic homage to the classic romantic films of the mid-twentieth century!
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An invitation-only NYC industry workshop presentation of Christy Hall, Jordan Mann & Jeff Thomson’s Trails will take place Thurs. June 6 in NYC, directed by Lorin Latarro, with music direction by Julie McBride.
Hugh Coles, Arielle Jacobs, Jelani Remy, Leana Rae Concepcion, Tyrone L. Robinson, and Nancy Opel.
The musical follows childhood friends who make good on an old promise to hike the Appalachian trail together after years of silence. As they travel the two thousand miles, past and present blur together and the secrets of their estrangement begin to unfold.
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Masafumi Hata & Kaori Miura’s Atack on Titan: The Musical, a new 2.5D musical, will run Oct. 11-13 at New York City Center, directed by Go Ueki.
Kurumu Okamiya as Eren Yeager, Sara Takatsuki as Mikasa Ackerman, Eito Konishi as Armin Arlert, Ryo Matsuda as Levi, and Takuro Ohno as Erwin Smith. Also featured are: Shota Matsuda, Kazuaki Yasue, Yuuri Takahashi, Sena, Mitsu Murata, Takeshi Hayashino, Masanori Tomita, Mimi Maihane, Mitsuru Karahashi, Riona Tatemichi and more.
The musical combines conventional musical theatre techniques with state-of-the-art technology, performed by a cast of 35. A century ago, the grotesque giants known as Titans appeared and consumed all but the last remnants of humanity. The survivors took refuge behind giant walls. Today, the threat of the Titans is a distant memory, and a boy named Eren Yeager yearns to explore the world beyond his current circumstances. What began as a childish dream, though, will become an all-too-real nightmare when the Titans return and humanity is once again on the brink of extinction.
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DC’s Signature Theatre has announced its 2024-25 season:
Soft Power (Aug. 6 – Sept. 15), by David Henry Hwang & Jeanine Tesori
Primary Trust (Sept. 10 – Oct. 20), by Eboni Booth
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Oct. 29 – Jan. 12, 2025), directed by Matthew Gardiner.
Job (Jan. 28 – Mar. 16), by Max Wolf Friedlich. In this psychological thriller, a young woman whose screaming breakdown at work has gone viral must receive an evaluation from a crisis therapist before she can return to her job at a well-known tech firm.
In the Heights (Feb. 11 – May 4), directed by James Vásquez.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Apr. 5 – June 22), directed by Ethan Heard .
The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical (June 3 – July 13), by Joe Iconis & Gregory S. Moss, directed by Christopher Ashley. About the infamous author Hunter S. Thompson, the musical takes place from the 1940s to 2005, as Thompson invents Gonzo journalism, attempts to take down a corrupt president, and quests for equality for his fellow weirdos.
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NY City Center Encores!’ Titanic concert presentation will run June 11-13, directed by Anne Kauffman.
Jose Llana (Thomas Andrews), Chuck Cooper (Captain EJ Smith), Eddie Cooper (Henry Etches), Drew Gehling (Edgar Beane), Ramin Karimloo (Frederick Barrett), Emilie Kouatchou (Caroline Neville), Judy Kuhn (Ida Straus), Bonnie Milligan (Alice Beane), Brandon Uranowitz (J. Bruce Ismay), Samantha Williams (Kate McGowan), Shereen Ahmed (Kate Murphey), Ashley Blanchet (Kate Mullins), Adam Chanler-Berat (First Officer Murdoch), Andrew Durand (Jim Farrell), Alex Joseph Grayson (Harold Bride), Jo Lampert (Bellboy), Nathan Salstone (Fredrick Fleet), AJ Shively (Charles Clarke), and Chip Zien (Isador Straus).
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Frank D. Gilroy’s The Subject Was Roses continues through June 16 at Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theatre, directed by Scott Wittman.
(real-life family) John Slattery, Talia Balsam, and Harry Slattery
Like roses, family relationships are beautiful but thorny. A poignant drama set in The Bronx in 1946 about the emotional struggles and hidden tensions within a family as their son returns from service in WWII. As they confront their past and present, the play explores enduring themes of reconciliation and the fragility of love.
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An invitation-only presentation of Christy Hall, Jordan Mann & Jeff Thomson’s Trails will take place Thurs. June 6 in NYC, directed by Lorin Latarro, with music direction by Julie McBride.
Hugh Coles, Arielle Jacobs, Jelani Remy, Leana Rae Concepcion, Tyrone L. Robinson, and Nancy Opel.
Trails follows childhood friends who make good on an old promise to hike the Appalachian trail together after years of silence. As they travel the two thousand miles, past and present blur together and the secrets of their estrangement begin to unfold. **********************
The 2024 Drama Desk Awards will take place Mon. June 10 at 6:15 at PM at the NYU Skirball Center. 
here.
Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster
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Grace Notes Quiz answers: By Shakespeare:
1-I. How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child. (King Lear)
2-C. Age cannot wither her nor custom stale her infinite variety. (Antony and Cleopatra)
3-J. And all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death. (Macbeth)
4-D. For in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil must give us pause. (Hamlet)
5-A. As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport. (King Lear)
6-G. Sweet are the uses of adversity. (As You Like It)
7-F. And though she be but little she is fierce. (A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
8-E. Death, a necessary end, will come when it will come. (Julius Caesar)
9-B. The quality of mercy is not strained. (The Merchant of Venice)
10-H. Dost thou think that because thou art virtuous there shall be no more cakes and ale? (Twelfth Night)