Today’s Highlights:
Keen Company‘s Crumbs from the Table of Joy, by Lynn Nottage, directed by Colette Robert, featuring Shanel Bailey, Jason Bowen, Sharina Martin, Natalia Payne, and Malika Samuel, opens at Off-Broadway’s Theatre Row.
Pacific Overtures, by Stephen Sondheim & John Weidman, directed by Ethan Heard, featuring Eymard Meneses Cabling (Lord Abe), Andrew Cristi (Mother of Shogun), Albert Usueh (Boy), Jonny Lee Jr. (Manjiro), Quynh-My Luu (Tamate), Jason Ma (Reciter), Daniel May (Kayama), Christopher Mueller (Warrior), Chani Wereley (Madam), and Nicholas (Perry), with Alex Koichi Beard, Joey Ledonio, Ashley D. Nguyen, and Ryan Sellers, opens at DC’s Signature Theatre.
Seven Guitars, by August Wilson, directed by Ron OJ Parson, featuring Saran Bakari (Ruby), Bryant Bentley (Red Carter), Kierra Bunch (Vera Dotson), Marsha Estell (Louise), Dimonte Henning (Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton), Vincent Jordan (Canewell), and Alfred Wilson (Hedley), opens at Milwaukee Rep.
The extraordinary tale of the illustrious Mr. Kristoff’s last and most eccentric production featuring the William Desmond Taylor Players, a hostage audience, and his singular interpretation of theatrical history replete with digressions both ribald and remarkable FREE reading, by Michael Van Duzer, featuring Paul Cady, Live Denevi, Cecil Jennings, Christopher Landis, Anne Leyden, Bill Sehres, Amelia Vargas, Ari Wojciech, and Michael Van Duzer, at 7:30 PM at LA’s Theatre West. Reservations not required.
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Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage will run Apr. 18 – May 14 at Milwaukee Rep, directed by Ryan Quinn.
Heidi Amrbruster (Veronica), Makha Mthembu (Annette), Adam Poss (Michael), and Elan Zafir (Alan).
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Gingold Theatricals presents its Irish Poetry Slam virtual open mike, on Fri. Mar. 17 at 6 PM on Zoom (see link above), or livestream on Facebook.
Blair Brown, Charles Busch, Robert Cuccioli, Tyne Daley, Midori Francis, Alison Fraser, Daniel Jenkins, Howard McGillin, John Andrew Morrison, Kerry O’Malley, Mary Beth Peil, Laila Robins, and Thom Sesma.
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Additional private industry readings of Sharleen Cooper Cohen’s Who Killed Marilyn will take place Fri. Mar. 10 at 11 AM & 2:30 PM in NYC. To RSVP, and for more information and venue location, click here.
Rebecca Faulkenberry (Marilyn Monroe), Victor Almanzar (Johnny Roselli/Frank Otash), Erich Bergen (John F. Kennedy/Arthur Jacobs), Joe Carroll (Robert Kennedy/Joe DiMaggio), Charlie Hofheimer (Arthur Miller/Sam “Mooney” Giancanna), Edward James Hyland (Dr. Greenson/Joe Kennedy), Dale Soules (Eunice Shriver/J Edgar Hoover), and Matthew James Thomas (Laurence Olivier/Peter Lawford), with John Scherer.
Marilyn Monroe reveals the person she was, not the pitiful waif the world characterized her to be. And her journey reveals how she died.
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The world premiere of The Human Comedy, adapted & directed by Thom Babbes, will run Mar. 10 – Apr. 23 at the Actors Co-op.
Eva Abramian, Rachael Maye Aronoff, David Atkinson, Tricia Cruz, Marc Elmer, Adrian A. Gamez, Ben Kientz, Bruce Ladd, Mitchell Lam Han, Kendall Lloyd, Finn Martinsen, Jessie Oriabure, Jack Sanchez, Tiago Santos, Brendan Shannoon, and Jessica Wochler.
Set in war front America in 1942, this coming-of-age tale tells the story of Homer Macaulay, a 14-year-old boy who delivers telegrams at night to make money for his family. During the course of two days, Homer grows from an idealistic boy to a mature young man as he struggles with the unfairness of the world around him and the pain of families to whom he delivers the War Department’s death notices. But in the midst of the decaying idealism of small-town America, and the loneliness of growing up, Homer finds hope in humanity through Mr. Grogan, the old alcoholic telegrapher, and Mr. Spangler, the manager of the telegraph office who becomes a father figure. In these men, Homer learns to see the goodness in people no matter how desperate or broken they may be. He also finds the true meaning of home.
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Hansol Jung’s Wild Goose Dreams will run Mar. 17 – Apr. 8 (opening Mar. 19) at Boston’s SpeakEasy Stage, directed by Pascale Florestal.
Seonjae Kim, Eunji Lim, Jeffrey Song, Amanda Centeno, Ciaran D’Hondt, Fady Demain, John D. Haggerty, Elaine Hom, and Ryan Mardesich.
In an age where technology offers easy connection, Nanhee and Minsung are alone in Seoul, South Korea. Nanhee is a North Korean defector with no way to contact her family. Minsung is a gireogi appa (or “goose father”) working in Seoul to send money to his family in Texas. but after a chance encounter on the internet, the pair strike up an unlikely romance within the noise of the 21st century.
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New York Theatre Workshop‘s production of Three Sisters has been indefinitely postponed.
The production was initially delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the intervening three years, NYTW has worked to reunite the original company for a summer 2023 production. Unfortunately, new scheduling conflicts have arisen for the production’s in-demand artists which proved to be insurmountable in bringing the production to life during the 2022/23 season. NYTW hopes to be able to bring this new production to the stage in a future season.
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LA Theatre Works has announced its 2023 season of live audio presentations, all at UCLA’s James Bridges Theatre. Directors and casts TBA.
The Confession Henry Jekyll, M.D. (Apr. 14-16), adapted by David Rambo. On the last night of his life, Henry Jekyll records the harrowing story of his years-long struggle to maintain his high-profile, esteemed reputation as a physician and philanthropist while secretly attempting to suppress a voracious beast he had long felt luring within.
The Great Gatsby (May 19-21), adapted by Anna Lyse Erikson. Set in Jazz Age New York, self-made millionaire Jay Gatsby is consumed with desire for Daisy Buchanan, drawing new neighbor Nick Carraway into their world of lavish wealth, wild parties and free-flowing liquor.
Exodus: The Shanghai Jews (June 23-25), by Kate McAll. It’s 1938 and Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe are faced with a difficult choice: to stay and hope for better times, or escape to the only country willing to offer them a safe haven – China. Adapted from interviews with people who faced that decision, this documentary-style drama tells their moving, and ultimately uplifting stories.
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Shucked, at Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre, has announced its digital lottery:
* A limited number of $40 tickets (including handling fees), will be available for each performance.
* Lottery entries for each performance will begin at 8 AM until 2 PM the the day before each performance.
* Once the lottery closes, winners will be notified within minutes, and will have 60 minutes to claim and pay for tickets.
* Seat locations and number of tickets awarded by the lottery are subject to availability.
* Limit of one entry per person per day, and a limit of two tickets per entry.
* Click here for the lottery.
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Big Little Theater Company will present Miranda Rose Hall & Tova Katz’s Menstruation: A Period Piece, to run Mar. 16 – Apr. 16 (opening Mar. 24) at Hollywood’s LGBT Center, directed by Katie Lindsay.
Kaci Hamilton, Audra Isadora, Kate Lý Johnston, Jane Hae Kim, Jo Lampert, Bibi Mama, and Marnina Schon.
A bold musical that theatricalizes the menstrual cycle with a queer love story at its center and told through the cells of the body.
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Manhattan Theatre Club‘s Spring Gala will take place Mon. May 22 at 7 PM at NYC’s Cipriani 42nd Street.
Special guests and additional information TBA.
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Off-Broadway’s Classic Stage Company has announced its upcoming benefit, Make Them Hear You: Celebrating 40 Years of Ahrens and Flaherty, which will take place Mon. Apr. 17 at 7 PM at the theatre, directed by Jason Danieley, with music direction by Daniel Green.
Lea Salonga, A.J. Shively, Christy Altomare, Shereen Ahmed, Hannah Elless, Jason Danieley, and more TBA.
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The next Musi-Cal concert, presented by Foundation for New American Musicals, will take place Mon. Mar. 13 at 7:30 PM at Hollywood’s Bourbon Room, offering selections from new musicals in development.
Gideon and the Blundersnorp, by Michael Gordon Shapiro, featuring Deborah Apodaca, Daniel Amerman, Maggie Ek, Casey Alcoser, and Jenna Luck.
Tie Dye and Pearls, by Michael Howard, featuring LC Powell, Greg Whipple, Jill Burke, Connor Smith, and Jake Saenz.
Teaching a Robot to Love, by Laser Webber & E. Aaron Wilson, featuring Jiavani, Xander Jeanneret, Jessica Reiner Harris, Kelby Jo McClellan, and Rob Warner.
Madness, written & performed by by Sam Johnides & Tony Gonzalez