Today’s Highlights:
The Band’s Visit national tour, by Itamar Moses & David Yazbek, directed by David Cromer, featuring Sasson Gabay (Tewfiq), Joe Joseph (Haled), Clay Singer (Itzik), Yoni Avi Battat (Camal), Coby Getzug (Papi), Joshua Grosso (Telephone Guy), Kendal Hartse (Iris), David Studwell (Avrum), Billy Cohen (Zelger), Layan Elwazani (Julia), Marc Ginsburg (Sammy), Ariel Reich (Anna), and James Rana (Simon), with Ali Louis Bourzgui, Loren Lester, Dana Saleh Omar, Nick Sacks, and Hannah Shankman, opens at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre.
A Christmas Carol, adapted & directed by Mark Clements, featuring Lee E. Ernst (Ebenezer Scrooge), Mark Corkins (Marley’s Ghost), Todd Denning (Ghost of Christmas Present), Reese Madigan (Bob Cratchit), Chris Peltier (Young Scrooge), Jim Pickering (Mr. Fezziwig), Rána Roman (Mrs. Cratchit), Carrie Hitchcock (Mrs. Fezziwig), and Kevin Kantor (Ghost of Christmas Past), opens at Milwaukee Rep.
A Christmas Carol tour, adapted by adapted by Jack Thorne, directed by Matthew Warchus, featuring Bradley Whitford (Ebenezer Scrooge), Kate Burton (Ghost of Christmas Past), Alex Newell (Ghost of Christmas Present/Mrs. Fezziwig), Chante Carmel (Mrs. Cratchit), Dashiell Eaves (Bob Cratchit), Brandon Gill (Fred), Alex Nee (Ferdy/Nicholas), Sebastian Ortiz & Cade Robertson (alternating as Tiny Tim), Brett Ryback (George), Harry Thornton (Young Ebenezer), Glory Yepassis-Zembrou (Little Fan), Grace Yoo (Jess), Celia Mei Rubin (Standy for Jess and Mrs. Cratchit), and Andrew Mayer (Swing), previews at LA’s Ahmanson Theatre.
“The Lunch Room” conversation, in support of #Giving, with special guests Elizabeth Stanley and Heidi Blickenstaff, livestreams at 12 PM ET at Cambridge’s ART.
Mel Brooks‘ memoir, “All About Me! My Remarkable Life in Show Business” released in Hardcover, Kindle, and Audio Book here.
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Click here to stream 24 Stephen Sondheim shows, concerts, and documentaries.
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Article: “How Stephen Sondheim changed theatre forever — one musical masterpiece at a time.”
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“Be a Broadway Star!,” created by producer Ken Davenport, has announced the release of a free 30-page expansion pack, which includes 18 pages of holiday show questions, now available for a FREE digital download here.
This is a Broadway board game starring you in the spotlight. Roll the dice, move through the board and pick cards that challenge them to sing, dance or act out lines from their favorite Broadway shows. Start out in acting school and work your way up to the top, buying pictures and resumes, earning an Equity card, getting and agent and publicist, going to auditions, getting cast in shows, and maybe even winning a Tony Award. The star who accumulates the most fans along the way to the Broadway Hall of Fame wins the game. The expansion pack includes challenges inspired by recent Broadway hits including Moulin Rouge, Hadestown, Six, Jagged Little Pill, Beetlejuice and Tina; holiday favorites like White Christmas, Elf The Musical, and Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas; as well as perennial favorites Rent, Grease, The Sound of Music, Annie and more.
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The Public Theater has announced its 18th annual Under the Radar Festival, to run Jan. 12-20, 2022.
Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner (Jan. 12-16, 18-23 & 25-29), by Jasmine Lee-Jones. The piece explores cultural appropriation, queerness, friendship, and the ownership of black bodies online and IRL.
Our Country, (Jan. 12-16 & 21-23 by Annie Saunders and Becca Wolff. The play unearths violence in the ennobling origin myths of the West, embodied in one western family. Annie Saunders sets off on an autobiographical journey based on recorded conversations with her outlaw brother, where the face each other at their most primal.
An Evening with an Immigrant (Jan. 18-20), written & performed by Inua Ellams. Ellams, born to a Muslim father and a Christian mother in what is now considered to be Boko Haram territory, left Nigeria for England in 1996 aged 12. Littered with poems, stories, and anecdotes, Ellams tells his ridiculous, fantastic, poignant immigrant story of escaping fundamentalist Islam, finding friendship in Dublin, performing solo at the National Theatre, and drinking wine with the Queen of England, all the while without a country to belong to or a place to call home.
Otto Frank, (Jan. 13-16 & 20-23) created & performed by Roger Guenyeur Smith. Inspired by Otto Frank, the father Anne Frank, this is Smith’s intimate meditation, which illuminates our present moment through a rigorous interrogation of our not-so-distant past. Smith’s Frank addresses his daughter beyond her time and his own, navigating his loss as the only survivor of his immediate family, and negotiating his subsequent service to the living and the dead as the steward of her work.
Under the Radar + Joe’s Pub: In Concert returns, with Migguel Anggelo, Salty Brine, and Alicea Hall Moran. The artists (TBA) explore the intersection of music and theater to bring their unique stories to the stage.
Incoming! Series, featuring Works-in-Process, by Savon Bartley, Nile Harris, Miranda Haymon, Eric Lockley, Raelle Myrick-Hodges, Mia Rovegno, Justin Elizabeth Sayre, and Mariana Valencia.
Good News, or Harry the Dog (Jan. 12, 16, 19, 21 & 23), created & performed by Salty Brine. Hundred of years into the future, the world is cola brown and the human race has been divided into two warring factions. Dystopian Romeo and Juliet becomes a haunting and hilarious mythology set to Modest Mouse’s strange and soaring masterpiece, Good News For People Who Love Bad News., offering a series of cabaret performances which deftly weave together iconic, popular albums with major cultural touchstones from classic literature to opera and beyond.
LatinXoxo (Jan. 13, 26, 18 & 20), by Migguel Anggelo & C. Julian Jimenez, directed by Adrian Alexander Alea, with music direction by Jaime Lozano. A nonconforming and self-accepting rallying cry: a break from “Latin Lover” clichés and his own Venezuelan father’s gendered expectations.
The Motown Project (Jan. 18-22), by Alicia Hall Moran. Motown’s greatest hits and Opera’s gems collide in this Nightlife event.
Mud/Drowning (a play / an opera) (Jan. 12-16, 18-23 & 25-30), by María Irene Fornés & Philip Glass , directed by JoAnne Akalaitis. A celebration of María Irene Fornés, the legendary playwright and director.
“The Rest I Make Up,” (Jan. 15 & 22). A documentary film screening, directed by Michelle Memran. When she gradually stops writing due to dementia, an unexpected friendship with filmmaker Michelle Memran reignites her spontaneous creative spirit and triggers a decade-long collaboration that picks up where the pen left off.
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Video: Judi Dench – The Definitive “Send In The Clowns” from the “South Bank Show” (1995).
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RIP: Terry M. Lilly, a retired Press Agent on Broadway and beyond, passed away peacefully on Nov. 24 after a long illness.
A devoted lover of theater and film, he began his career as a press agent first with Frank Goodman, then Les Schecter & Barbara Schwei, before joining Henry Luhrman, when Henry opened his own office to take over publicity for Irene starring Debbie Reynolds.
He remained at Henry’s side until his death in 1988, handling many top shows including the long running hit Sugar Babies (which Terry credited for turning his hair grey), as well as Good News, You Can’t Take It With You, I Love My Wife, Gorey Stories, Greater Tuna, Lolita (by Edward Albee), A Meeting By the River (by Christopher Isherwood), Your Arms Too Short to Box with God, Knock Knock, Spookhouse (by Harvey Fierstein), Stardust, Late Nite Comic, Mayor the Musical, The Flying Karamazov Brothers, and Romance/Romance, among many others.
Terry was also a leading press agent for NYC’s then vibrant club & cabaret scene (Michael’s Pub, The Ballroom, Rainbow & Stars, Roseland, Freddy’s, Downey’s, Carnegie Tavern, to name a few) working with some of the greatest names in pop music, jazz, R&B, comedy, and Broadway, including Sid Caesar & Imogene Coca (Together Again! The 40th Anniversary of “Your Show of Shows”), LaVern Baker, Kaye Ballard, Ruth Brown, Nell Carter, Petula Clark, Rosemary Clooney, Dorothy Collins, Johnny Crawford (of TV’s “The Rifleman”), Vic Damone, Stan Freeman (as Oscar Levant), Ellen Greene, Hildegarde, Rupert Holmes, Grace Jones (New Year’s Eve at Roseland!), Jack Jones, Peggy Lee, Marilyn Maye, Maureen McGovern, Lonette McKee, Mark Murphy, Anita O’Day, Helen Reddy, Joan Rivers, Mickey Rooney, Helen Schneider, George Shearing, Frank Stallone, Sylvia Syms, Mel Tormé, Margaret Whiting, Joe Williams, and Julie Wilson, among many others. His personal clients included artist Hilary Knight (Eloise and numerous legendary show posters) and the Loesser family (Jo Sullivan Loesser, Emily and Hannah Loesser) to whom he was devoted for many years.
After Henry Luhrman’s death, Terry worked with David Gersten, David Rothenberg and Bill Evans on such shows as Waiting in the Wings, Reduced Shakespeare Company as part of the first New York International Festival of Arts, 45 Seconds from Broadway, Sexaholix, Proposals, Stanley, Sally Marr… and Her Escorts, Buttons on Broadway, Master Class, until his retirement.
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Dominique Morisseau has pulled the LA premiere of her play, Paradise Blue, already in production at the Geffen Playhouse, claiming a number of abuses against Black women took place behind the scenes.
The playwright posted on Facebook and said “harm was allowed to fester. Grow. And go unchecked. I caught wind of it, as I was not involved in the process. I then investigated it personally. And ultimately, refused to stand for it.”
In a subsequent statement, the Geffen confirmed the cancellation and acknowledged the company fell short of its best practices to keep all workers feeling safe. “An incident between members of the production was brought to our attention and we did not respond decisively in addressing it.”
Specific details surrounding the incidents were not released by either party.
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Jordan Ross & Lindsey Rosin’s Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical will take place live on Sun. Dec. 19 at 2 & 6 PM PT at LA’s Bourbon Room, as well as streaming worldwide at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT on Stellar, directed by Lindsey Rosen & Kenneth Ferrone, with music supervision by Zach Spound. 
Click here for live & livestreaming tickets.
Constantine Rousouli (Sebastian Valmont), Janel Parrish (Kathryn Merteuil), Frankie Grande (Blaine Tuttle), Jenn Harris (Mrs. Bunny Caldwell), Emma Hunton (Cecile Caldwell), Carrie St. Louis (Annette Hargrove), Brian Logan Dales (Greg McConnell), and Israel Erron (Ronald Clifford).
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Andrea McArdle, who was to appear in “Annie Live!” as Eleanor Roosevelt, has withdrawn from the production.
McArdle explained… “My father is currently in the hospital, and I need to put all of my energy into his health and well-being. I wish everyone involved with the production great success.”
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Slave Play, which is now in previews and opens Dec. 2 at the August Wilson Theatre, has announced its digital lottery:
* A limited number of tickets will be available for every performance for $25 per ticket.
* Digital lotteries will begin each Monday at 12 PM ET and close the day prior to the performance at 9:59 PM ET.
* Winners will be notified at 11 AM ET the day prior to the performance via email and text.
* Once notified, winners will have four hours to claim and pay for their ticket(s).
* Lottery entrants must be 18 years or older
* Tickets are non-transferable.
* Tickets limits and prices are at the sole discretion of the show and are subject to change.
* Click here for additional information and to enter.
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Video: Tiny snippet of Broadway’s The Music Man in rehearsal.