Today’s Highlights:
Black Superhero, by Danny Lee Wynter, directed by Daniel Evans, featuring Ben Allen, Dyllón Burnside, Dominic Holmes, Eloka Ivo, Danny Lee Wynter, Ako Mitchel, and Rochenda Sandall, opens at London’s Royal Court Theatre.
Fat Ham, by James Ijames, directed by Saheem Ali, featuring Nikki Crawford (Tedra), Chris Herbie Holland (Tio), Billy Eugene Jones (Rev/Pap), Adrianna Mitchell (Opal), Calvin Leon Smith (Larry), Marcel Spears (Juicy), and Benja Kay Thomas (Rabby), begins previews at Broadway’s American Airlines Theatre.
York Theatre Company‘s Vanities – The Musical, by Jack Heifner & David Kirshenbaum, directed by Will Pomerantz, featuring Jade Jones (Mary), Amy Keum (Kathy), and Hayley Podschun (Joanne), with Olivia Kaufmann, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s Theatre at Saint Jean’s.
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Ashley Robinson & Dan Gillespie Sells’ Brokeback Mountain, a play with music, will run May 10 – Aug. 12 (opening May 18) @sohoplace, directed by Jonathan Butterell.
Mike Faist (Jack), Lucas Hedges (Ennis), Eddi Reader (Balladeer), and more TBA.
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Complete casting has been announced for the interactive parody concert series Drunk Musical, which will take place Mondays & Saturdays at NYC’s Green Room, with music direction by Michael Gerrara.
Roe Hartrampf, Nick Cearley, Emma Degerstedt, Dean Cestari, Billie Aken-Tyers, Kaylee MacKnight, and Billie Aken-Tyers (joining the show Apr. 15).
The series turns highlights from popular musicals into parody performances, while the actors are challenged with performing while drinking shots sent by audience members. With a balance of being half-scripted and half improvised, patrons will never see the exact same show twice.
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Gypsy will run Apr. 28 – June 18 at CT’s Goodspeed Musicals, directed by Jenn Thompson, with choreography by Patricia Wilcox.
Judy McLane (Momma Rose), Talia Suskauer (Louise), Philip Hernandez (Herbie), Laura Sky Herman (Dainty June), Emily Jewel Hoder (Baby June), and Cameron Blake Miller (Baby Louise), with Gabriel Amato, Romelda Teron Benjamin, Kelly Margaret Berman, Amahri Edwards-Jones, Carlos Velasquez Escamilla, Thomas Goldbach V, Sunny Lauren Hoder, Victoria Huston-Elem, Edward Juvier, Meadow Nguy, Bianca Belle Palana, Maddie Robert, Ben Sears, Michael Starr, Geoffrey Wade, David Cochise Williams, Valerie Wright, Brianna Ascione and Anthony DaSilva. Chowsie (the dog) will be played by Cha-Cha.
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Video: Caroline Innerbichler performs “Walls” from Broadway’a Shucked.
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Lucas Hnath’s Dana H will run Jan. 16 – Mar. 9, 2024 at the Royal Court Theatre, directed by Les Waters.
Deirdre O’Connell
The docudrama is adapted from interviews with playwright Hnath’s mother conducted by Steve Cosson, and follows Higginbotham’s harrowing kidnapping at the hands of a white supremacist.
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A reading of Shaw’s Misalliance will take place Mon. Apr. 10 at 7 PM at NYC’s Symphony Space, directed by David Staller.
Fareeda Ahmed, Charles Busch, Nick Cearley, Dan Domingues, Aziza Gharib, Randy Graff, Christopher Innvar, Shawn Kumar, and A.J. Shively.
In this high-flying comedy, Shaw examines a variety of mating combinations with hilarious results. The social and the political elements of British Society collide with the romantic and the practical; the aristocrats take on the middle classes and vice versa, and to top it all off there’s a glamorous lady aviatrix and a tipsy pistol-packing socialist loose on the grounds!
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Plagues for the Plague Year, featuring the music & plays of Suzan-Lori Parks, will run Apr. 5 – 30 at Off-Broadway’s Joe’s Pub, directed & choreographed by Niegel Smith.
Edward Astor Chin, Rona Figueroa, Leland Fowler, Danyel Fulton, Greg Keller, Orville Mendoza, Lauren Molina, Joe Osheroff, Danea Osseni, Suzan Lori Parks, Nathan M. Ramsey, and Martin Solé.
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Divas London will run June 15 – July 2 at The Prince of Wales Cabaret Venue.
Casting TBA.
The musical pays homage to beloved women powerhouses such as Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Cher, Céline Dion, Brittany Spears, Beyoncé, Diana Ross, Amy Winehouse, and Adele. There will also be comedy tributes to the The Spice Girls, Kate Bush, and Dolly Parton.
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Celebration Theatre will presentWilliam Finn & James Lapine’s A New Brain Apr. 29 – June 24 (opening May 6) at Hollywood’s LGBT Center, directed by Khanisha Foster, with choreography by Alli Miller-Fisher, and music direction by Gregory Nabours.
TBA
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The Shubert Organization has donated $5 million to the Entertainment Community Fund.
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MCC Theater‘s Miscast 23 will take place live on Mon. Apr. 3 at 6 PM at NYC’s Edison Ballroom, as well as a digital broadcast beginning at 7 PM ET.
Annaleigh Ashford, Josh Groban, Denée Benton, Lorna Courtney, Josh Groban, LaChanze, André De Shields, Bonnie Milligan, Ben Platt, Eleri Ward, Jordan E. Cooper, Dylan Mulvaney, Jordan Donica, Natasha Yvette Williams, Jose Llana, and Rachel Zegler.
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The Olney Theatre has announced that Kander & Ebb’s And the World Goes ‘Round will run Apr. 19-21 – May 21 at Baltimore’s Olney Theatre, directed by Kevin S. McAllister, with choreography by Shalyce Hemby, and music direction by Christopher Youstra.
Kevin S. McAllister, Nova Y. Payton, Natascia Diaz, Karen Vincent, and Harris Milgrim, with Ben Clark and MaryKate Brouillet.
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Lillias White with Seth Rudetsky will take place Thurs. Mar. 30 at 7 PM at Beverly Hill’s The Wallis.
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(read here) Nicole Fosse discusses what she learned from her parents, the current Broadway revival of Dancin’, and much more.
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A development production of Nico Juber’s Millennials Are Killing Musicals, to run May 7-28 (opening May 15) at Theatre 71 (152 W. 71st St.), directed by Ciara Renée.
Max Crumm (Nate/Atlas), Tiffany Engen (Jake’s Mom), Jakeim Hart (Dylan), Diana Huey (Katrina), Sheri Sanders (Nana Marie), Jae W.B. (Luna), and Brinie Wallace (Pacifica), with Jessie Alagna and Kathel Griffin.
An entirely original, irreverently funny, and heartfelt musical about reclaiming authentic happiness in a social media filtered world. Meet Brenda: a single Millennial mom who wants to do better “adulting” like the seemingly perfect Jake’s Mom at her daughter’s school. Brenda is finally ready for love and creativity in her life when her younger #influencer sister Katrina shows up at her house, eight months pregnant, totally unprepared for motherhood. The three women must shed the Greek chorus of social media filters on their lives to achieve their dreams.
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Hadestown will return to London in 2024.
Theatre, dates, director, and cast TBA.
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Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike will run Mar. 23 – Apr. 9 at Venice, CA’s Pacific Resident Theatre, directed by Victoria Pearlman.
Brad Greenquist, Cyndy Fujikawa, Martha Hackett, Miranda Wynne, Zach Kanner, and Tania Getty.
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Broadway’s Parade (2023), starring Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond will release its cast album on Mar. 23. 
here.
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Complete casting has been announced for the first concert in the Drunk Musicals series, the interactive parody concert, which begins Apr. 10 (with performances at 8:30 PM on Mondays and 9:30 PM on Saturdays) at NYC’s Green Room 42, with music direction by Michael Ferrara.
(Apr. 10): Roe Hartrampf, Julie James, Rick Cearley, Emma Degerstedt, Dean Cestari, Billie Aken-Tyers, and Kaylee MacKnight.
The concert turns highlights from popular musicals into parody performances, while the actors are challenged with performing while drinking shots sent by audience members. With a balance of being half-scripted and half-improvised, patrons will never see the exact same show twice.