Today’s Highlights:
Paradise Blue, by Dominique Morisseau, directed by Stori Ayers, featuring Tyla Abercrumbie (Silver), Wendell B. Franklin (Blue), Alani iLongwe (P-Sam), John Earl Jelks (Corn), and Shayna Small (Pumpkin), begins previews at LA’s Geffen Playhouse.
Head Over Heels, adapted & directed by Jennie Koons, featuring Alaska 5000, Lea DeLaria, Yurel Echezarreta, Tiffany Mann, and Shanice Williams, begins previews at Pasadena Playhouse.
Patrick Page returns to the role of Hades in Hadestown at Broadway’s Walter Kerr Theatre.
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Video: Stars in the House, offering another Game Night, with special guests Andréa Burns, Patti Murin, Ann Van Cleave, Adam Heller, and Beth Leavel. (1:37:03)
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The Little Mermaid will run Dec. 7-24 at Houston’s TUTS, directed by Dan Knechtges, with choreography by Harrison Guy, and music direction by John Cornelius.
Delphi Borich (Ariel), Christina Wells (Ursula), Carla Wood (Sebastian), Lia Zityar (Flounder), Sofia Esphahani (alternate Flounder), Noah Ricketts (Prince Eric), Derrick Davis (King Triton), Paul Hope (Grimsby), Mark Ivy (Chef Louis), Logan Keslar (Flotsam), Blair Medina (Jetsam), and Christopher Tipps (Scuttle), with Mike Baerga, Courtney Chilton, Sophia Clark, Dwayne Cook, Trey Harrington, Karma Jenkins, Kaitlin Mayse, Miles Marmolejo, Christopher Sccurlock, Yasmyn Sumiyoshi, and Raven Justine Troup.
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Manhattan Theatre Club has announced complete casting for Dominique Morisseau’s Skeleton Crew, to begin previews Dec. 21 and open Jan. 12, 2022 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson.
Chanté Adams, Brandon J. Dirden, Adesola Osakalumi, Phylicia Rashad, and Joshua Boon.
In 2008 Detroit, a small automotive factory is on the brink of foreclosure, and a tight knit family of workers hangs in the balance. With uncertainty everywhere, the line between blue collar and white collar becomes blurred, and this working family must reckon with their personal loyalties, their instincts for survival, and their ultimate hopes for humanity.
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A Little Night Music will run Jan. 21 – Feb. 27 (opening Jan. 22) at the Greenway Court Theatre (link TBA), with a gender-bending cast, directed by Ryan O’Connor, with music direction by Anthony Zediker.
Ty Deran (Anne Egerman), Kasper (Petra), and Amanda Kruger (Henrik Egerman), with Lux Amaya, Zoe Bright, Peyton Crim, Tal Fox, Andrea Lara, Ronni Paige, Emma Rose, Alexa Rosengaus, Christopher Robert Smith, Dekontee Tucrkile, Catherine Wadkins, and Sarah Wolter.
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Cabaret will begin performances Nov. 15 at the Playhouse Theatre, directed by Rebecca Frecknall, with choreography by Julia Cheng, and music direction by Jennifer White.
Eddie Redmayne (Emcee), Jessie Buckley (Sally Bowles), Omari Douglas (Cliff Bradshaw), Liza Sadovy (Fraulein Schneider), Elliot Levey (Herr Schultz), Stewart Clarke (Ernst Ludwig), and Anna-Jane Casey (Fraulein Kost), with Josh Andrews, Emily Benjamin, Sally Frith, Matthew Gent, Emma Louise Jones, Ela Lisondra, Theo Maddix, Chris O’Mara, Daniel Perry, Andre Refig, Christopher Tendai, Bethany Terry, Lillie-Pearl Wildman, and Sophie Maria Wojna.
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Some great holiday suggestions:
“Putting It Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created Sunday in the Park with George,“ by James Lapine. 
Order here.
“Ever After: Forty Years of Musical Theater and Beyond, 1977-2020,” by Barry Singer. Order here.
“Balanchine’s Apprentice: From Hollywood to New York and Back,” by John Clifford. Order here.
“Remember to Dream, Ebere,” by Cynthia Erivo. Order here.
“Pick a Pocket or Two: A History of British Musical Theatre,” by Ethan Mordden. Order here.
“Hooked: How Crafting Saved My Life,” by Sutton Foster. Order here.
“Unprotected,” by Billy Porter. Order here.
“Lying in the Middle: Musical Theater and Belief at the Heart of America,” by Jake Johnson. Order here.
“Vamp Until Ready,” by James Magruder.” Order here.
“Smile: The Story of a Face,” by Sarah Ruh. Order here.
“When The Lights Are Bright Again,” by Andrew Norlen. Order here.
“Tiny Dancer,” by Siena Cherson Siegel. Order here.
“Noël Coward on (and in) Theatre,” by Noël Coward. Order here.
“Everything is Choreography,” by Kevin Winkler. Order here.
“The Art of Bob Mackie,” by Frank Vlastnik. Order here.
“All About Me! My Remarkable Life in Show Business,” by Mel Brooks. Order here.
“B is for Broadway,” by John Robert Allman. Order here.
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Video: Highlights from Trevor at Off-Broadway’s Stage 42.
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Lincoln Center‘s production of James Lapine, Tom Kitt & Michael Korie’s Flying Over Sunset will run Nov. 11 – Feb. 6, 2022 (opening Dec. 13) at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre, directed by Lapine.
Carmen Cusack (Claire Boothe Luce), Harry Hadden-Paton (Aldous Huxley), Tony Yazbeck (Cary Grant), Emily Pynenburg, Michele Ragusa, Robert Sella, Laura Shoop, and Atticus Ware, with Aria Braswell, Danny Gardner, Kate Marilley, Patrick Scott McDermott, Tony Roach, Kanisha Marie Feliciano, Nehal Joshi, and Michael Winther.
1950s Hollywood. You are at a beautiful beach house overlooking the Pacific with Cary Grant, Clare Booth Luce, and Aldous Huxley… and they are on an acid trip. Together.
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Article: Interesting piece on the genesis of Annie Get Your Gun.
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Back Home for the Holidays will return to Carnegie Hall on Fri. Dec. 17 at 8 PM ET, conducted by Steven Reineke.
Laura Benanti
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Laurent Bouzereau’s “West Side Story: The Making of the Steven Spielberg Film” will be released Nov. 16. Pre-order here.
The book chronicles the work that went into Spielberg’s highly anticipated remake, which will open in theaters on Dec. 10. The book features never-before-seen unit photography, storyboards, costume and concept designs, and behind-the-scenes photos from the filming of the movie. Bouzereau conducted hours of interviews with the cast and crew to create a firsthand oral history documenting every stage of the film’s production.
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Cindy Williams‘ solo show, Me, Myself & Shirley will launch a national tour on Jan. 22, 2022 at Palm Springs’ Annenberg Theatre.
Click here for the complete tour schedule.
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Huntington Theatre presents Mike Lew’s Teenage Dick Dec. 3 – Jan. 2, 2022 at Boston’s Calderwood Pavilion, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel.
Digital access to the filmed performance is available through Jan. 16, 2022.
Gregg Mozgala (Richard), Shannon DeVido (Barbara “Buck” Buckingham). Louis Reyes McWilliams (Eddie Ivy), Gregg Mozgala (Richard Gloucester), Portland Thomas (Clarissa Duke), Emily Townley (Elizabeth York), and Zurin Villanueva (Anne Margaret).
The play centers on a high school outsider named Richard. Bullied because of his cerebral palsy, Richard decides to exact revenge on his class enemies by becoming the senior class president. But all the scheming, manipulation, and revenge plots force him to ask the age-old question: is it better to be loved or feared?
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Maxine Linehan: This Time of Year will take place Sat. Dec. 4 at 7:30 PM ET at the Southern Vermont Arts Center.
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Waitress will close Jan. 9, 2022 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Before then, here are updated cast changes:
Nov. 24: Erich Bergen concludes his run as Dr. Pomatter.
Nov. 25: Ciara Renee begins her run as Jenna.
Nov. 27: Nik Dodani concludes his run as Ogie.
Nov. 29: Joshua Henry begins his run as Dr. Pomatter, and Tyrone Davis Jr. begins his run as Ogie.
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& 
Rossini’s Cinderella will run in person & streaming Nov. 20 – Dec. 12 at LA Opera, conducted by Roberto Pavilion. Half price for children.
Serna Malfi (Angelina/Cinderella), Levy Sekgapane (Don Ramiro), Rodion Pogossov (Dandini), Alessandro Corbelli (Don Magnifico), Ildebrando D’Arcangelo (Alidoro), Erica Petrochelli (Clorinda), and Gabriela Flores (Tisbe).
In this twist on the fairytale, Cinderella is taking charge to outwit her social-climbing family, find true love, and win her own happily ever after.
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One Night Only: An Evening with Norm Lewis will take place Fri. Mar. 4, 2022 at 8 PM ET at Carnegie Hall.
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Complete casting has been announced for Beauty and the Beast, to run Jan. 12 – Feb. 6, 2022 at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre, directed by Jay Woods, with choreography by Kathryn Van Meter, and music direction by R.J. Tancioco.
Porscha Shaw (Belle), Riley Brack (Beast), Jaysen Wright (Gaston), Lisa J. Estridge (Mrs. Potts), Anne Allgood (Madame de la Grande Bouche), Nicholas Japaul Bernard (Lumière), Arika Matoba (Chip), Reginal André Jackston (Maurice), Be Russell (Babette), John David Scott (LeFou), and Jason Weitkamp (Cogsworth), with Kate Ella Cook, Rebecca Cort, Alyza DelPan-Monley, Joel Domico, Candice Song Donehoo, Jose J Gonzales, Richard Gray, Nehemiah Hooks, Eric Polani Jensen, Danny Kam, Mallory King, Shanelle Leonard, Cheryse McLeod Lewis, U.J. Mangune, Trina Mills, Antonio D. Mitchell, Charles L. Simmons, Shelby Willis, Jonelle Margallo, cy Paolantonio, and Jimmy Shields.
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Second Stage Theater has announced its 2021 Fall Gala, which will take place Mon. Nov. 15 at 6:30 PM ET at NYC’s Pier Sixty, Chelsea Piers. conceived by Charles Randolph-Wright, directed by Patricia McGregor, with music direction by Macy Schmidt.
Debra Martin Chase and Lynn Nottage.
Brandy, Ayana George, Hillary Scott, and Jordin Sparks.