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:
* SAG-AFTRA’s Virtual Town Hall with Rep. Adam Schiff, focusing on the impact of COVID-19 and future relief efforts and getting the entertainment and media industry back to work, livestreamed at 10:30 PM PT/1:30 PM ET here.
* This Week’s “The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Musicals,” which streams here.
* “The Show Must Go On Show” variety show, featuring Jessie Mueller and Rosie’s Theatre Kids, livestreamed at 7 PM ET here.
* “The Happy Days of Garry Marshall,” featuring Richard Gere, Hector Elizondo, Julia Roberts, Ron Howard, Don Most, Marion Ross, Anson Williams, Henry Winkler, Cindy Williams, David Lander, Michael McKean, Pam Dawber, Barbara Hershey, Julie Andrews, Anne Hathaway, Chris Pine, Jimmy Kimmel, Abigail Breslin, Yvette Nicole Brown, Cary Elwes, Jennifer Garner, Kate Hudson, Ashton Kutcher, Rob Low, and John Stamos, along with Marshall’s wife Barbara, and their children Scott, Kathleen, and Lori, airs at 8 PM on ABC.
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2019-2020 Outer Critic Circle Honorees:
Rather than name nominees and winners, the writers organization chose to name up to six honorees in each acting category and up five honorees in each technical category.
Click here for the complete list of honorees.
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Boston’s 2020 Elliot Norton Award winners:
Click here for the complete list of winners.
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Video: “Stars in the House,” with guest host Andréa Burns, and featuring Jason Robert Brown and Georgia Stitt. (1:00:02)
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Video: “Stars in the House,” with Wayne Brady. (1:15:55)
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Video: The Guthrie Theatre‘s ArtisticDdirector Joseph Haj makes an impassioned speech about the future of theatre. Eloquent and heartfelt.
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Off-Broadway’s LABrynth Theater Company will present a livestreamed reading of Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Our Lady of 121st Street, directed by Elizabeth Rodriguez, on Sat. May 23 at 8 PM ET, and will be available for 24 hours.
(most of the original cast): Laurence Fishburne, Bobby CAnnavle, Elizabeth Canavan, Liza Colón-Zayas, Scott Hudson, Russell G. Jones, Portia, Al Roffe, Felix Solis, David Zayas Rodriguez, John Doman, and Dierdre Friel.
A group of former students return to their Harlem neighborhood to pay respects to the late Sister Rose. Once there, they discover that her body has been stolen.
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Liz Callaway’s post on Facebook on Sunday:
Yesterday afternoon, Dan was in a car accident driving home from picking up Mother’s Day flowers for me. He’s thankfully going to be okay, outside of 12 broken ribs and an ankle fracture and should get out of ICU tomorrow. He’s in a lot of pain, but is and has been incredibly lucid during it all- he called me from the car before EMS came and reminded me to pick up the chicken pot pies he had ordered from our bakery. Of course, it’s the worst possible time to be in a hospital, and it’s awful not to be able to see him, but I am so grateful to have my son Nicholas here with me.
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The national tour of To Kill a Mockingbird, scheduled to run Aug. 25 – Sept. 27, has postponed its engagement at The Kennedy Center.
The run will be rescheduled at a later date.
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Sing for Hope has launched a new program, SingForHopeGrams.
Using the service, people can send a message to their friends or family, which is then performed over the phone. The singers range from Broadway alums to Grammy-winning performers, although it’s not possible to choose who delivers the message.
Teely Leung, Jelani Remy, Heather Makalani Manley, and many more.
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Coming up on the 54 Below‘s #54BelowatHome series, all of which will begin at 6:30 PM ET:
May 14: Andy Karl & Orfeh: Legally Bound
May 15: Joe Iconis and Family
May 16: Charlie Rosen’s Broadway Big Band
May 17: 54 Sings Grand Hotel: The 25th Anniversary Concert
May 19: 54 Sings One Direction
May 20: 54 Does 54: The Feinstein’s/54 Below Staff Show
May 23: Mauricio Martinez, with special guests Orfeh and Mariand Torres
May 26: Another Opening, Another Debut! Broadway Debuts of the 2017-18 Season
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Video: James Taylor and family, “You Can Close Your Eyes”
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NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio‘s newly formed Arts, Culture, and Tourism Sector Advisory Council will provide guidance and re-opening insight as the city responds to COVID-19.
Broadway League President Charlotte St. Martin, Lincoln Center Chief Communications and Marketing Officer Leah Johnson, Roundabout Theatare Company Executive Director Julia Levy, 92nd Street Y Chief Executive Seth Pinsky, and Apollo Theater President and CEO Jonelle Procope.
De Blasio also appointed committees for Labor and Workforce, Large Business, Small Business, Non-Profit and Social Services, Public Health and Healthcare, Faith-based, Construction and Real Estate, Education, and Surface Transportation sectors.
Meanwhile, at the state level, St. Martin recently told Deadline that the Broadway League is working closely with Governor Andrew Cuomo’s similar New York Forward Re-Opening Advisory Board, despite earlier reports that no Broadway representatives were included in the roster featuring over 100 businesses.
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The UK’s 2020 Summer season has been postponed to 2021 at Regents Park Open Air Theatre.
2021 Season:
* 101 Dalmations (May 15 – June 20)
* Romeo and Juliet (June 26 – July 24)
* Carousel (July 30 – Sept. 18)
Casting and additional information TBA.
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The national tour of Hamilton has cancelled its LA run through Sept. 6 at the Pantages Theatre, but has been rescheduled through Feb. 28 to accommodate the changes.
The show was initially suspended through Mar. 31, which was announced on Mar. 12, just before performances were set to begin. The suspension was later extended through mid-April.
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Audio: “It’s A Lovely Day Tomorrow,” with Wesla Whitfield. The song is followed with many others performed by Wesla.
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Video: Katrina Lenk, “Something Good” from The Sound of Music. Haunting.
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Hollywood’s Blank Theatre will kick off its 30th anniversary season with two livestream shows (both of which will move the The Blank’s Third Stage on Patreon).
* Nixon on Nixon (May 14 & 21 at 5 PM PT/8 PM ET), by Sean Waldron, directed by Bree Pavey starring Rob Nagle (Richard Nixon). The president sits alone just days after having resigned from office, drowning his sorrows in alcohol, medication, and memories. Desperate to reclaim some version of glory, he must face the ghosts of his past as he grapples with whether he deserves to have a future.
* Nathan C. Jones: A Love Story? (May 28 for 3 weeks), world premiere by Vanessa Claire Stewart & Brendan Milburn, directed by Daniel Henning, starring Amir Levi, A one-person show told through a series of different conversations Nathan has with himself over the course of his “love” story with Chad. The conversations are all sung, with varying tempos and styles, while the audience watches Nathan’s evolution of blossoming love turning… extremely sour.
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The “Hamilton” film, featuring the original 2016 Broadway cast, is coming to Disney+ on July 3.
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Video: “Lysol That Jazz,” a parody from Broadway’s Chicago
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Video: “Homebound Week 3 – We Wear the Mask” (13:07)