Today’s Highlights:
Sweeney Todd, directed by Dan Knechtges, featuring Danny Rothman (Sweeney Todd), Sally Wilfert (Mrs. Lovett), Sam Gravitte (Anthony Hope), Leslie Jackson (Johanna), August Emerson (Tobias), Brian Mathis (Judge Turpin), Mark Ivy (Beadle Bamford), Courtney Markowitz (Beggar Woman), Benjamin Robert Lyrye (Pirelli), and Alex Michael Ryan (Jonas Fogg), with John Ryan Del Bosque, Sophia Clarke, Jana Ellsworth, Gemini Quintos, Cody Ryan Arthur, Joseph Rawley, Piero Regis, Lisa Borik Vickers, Miles Marmolejo, Cassandra Zepeda, LaBraska Washington, and Teresa Zimmermann, opens at Houston’s TUTS.
Lyonesse, world premiere by Kristin Scott Thomas, directed by Ian Rickson, featuring Kristin Scott Thomas (Elaine) and Lily James (Kate), begins previews at London’s Harold Pinter Theatre.
Gingold Theatrical Group‘s Arms and the Man, directed by David Staller, featuring Shanel Bailey, Delphi borich, Ben Davis, Keshay Moodliar, Thomas Jay Ryan, Evan Zes, and Karen Ziemba, with René Thornton Jr, and Matthew Zimmerman, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s Theatre Row.
**********************
The world premiere of Stephen Sondheim’s Here We Are, which opens Oct. 22, has been extended through Jan. 21, 2024 at Off-Broadway’s The Shed, directed by Joe Mantello.
Francois Battiste, Tracie Bennett, Bobby Cannavale, Micaela Diamond, Amber Gray, Jin Ha, Rachel Bay Jones, Denis O’Hare, Steven Pasquale, David Hyde Pierce, and Jeremy Shamos, with Bradley Dean, Adam Harrington, Bligh Voth, Adante Carter, Mehry Eslaminia, Lindsay Nicole Chambers, Adante Carter, Lindsay Nicole Chambers, Bradley Dean, Mehry Eslaminia, Adam Harrington, and Bligh Voth.
The musical is about trying to find a place to have dinner. The first act is inspired by Buñuel’s The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and the second on his The Exterminating Angel – two movies set at surreal dinner parties.
**********************
Celebration Theatre will present Circa: 40 Years of Celebration on Wed. Oct. 18 at 7 PM at LA’s LGBT Center, directed by Ton DeTrinis, with music direction by Darrell Alston.
The theatre will look back 40+ years of groundbreaking, revolutionary theatre while uplifting a mission that continues to be a vital part of the facbric that enriches the human experience. The evening will revive some of your favorite award-winning moment with original cast members and special guests from productions of Naked Boys Singing, Cabaret, The Color Purple, and more..
**********************
The national tour of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, directed by john Tiffany, will launch its national tour in Sept. 2024 (exact date TBA).
The tour schedule and cast are also TBA. Click here for additional information.
**********************
Lisa Loomer, Joy Huerta & Benjamin Velez’s Real Women Have Curves: The Musical will run Dec. 6 – Jan. 21, 2024 (opening Dec. 14) at Cambridge’s A.R.T., directed & choreographed by Sergio Trujillo, with music supervision by Nadia DiGiallonardo.
Lucy Godínez (Ana), Shelby Acosta (Prima Flaca), Satya Chávez (Izel), Florencia Cuenca (Estella), Janet Dacal (Mrs. Spitz), Sandra Valls (Prima Fulvia), Carla Jimenez (Pancha), Justin Machado (Carmen), Edward Padilla and (Raúl), Sage (Henry), Jennifer Sánchez (Rosali), with Shadia Rairuz, Elisa Galindez, Michael Keyloun, Christopher M. Ramirez, Arusi Santi, Amy Lizardo, Kayla Quiroz, and Gus Stuckey.
It’s the summer of 1987 in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, and after eighteen years under the roof of her immigrant parents, Ana is ready to spread her wings. Her dreams of college and a career in New York City are bursting at the seams, but her family’s expectations would keep her home working at their garment factory. Is it worth sacrificing the dreams of her family, who have sacrificed everything for her?
**********************
Rogue Machine‘s production of Tim Venable’s Baby Foot continues through Nov. 20 at the Matrix Theatre, directed by Venable.
Daniel Dorr (Blackie), Hope Lauren (Alexis), and Pail DeBoy (Fred).
Two seemingly mismatched souls find themselves on the cusp of a life-changing connection. Blackie’s first night in rehab intersects with Alexis’s 90-day release. A long night’s journey into day drives their sensation seeking impulsivities full throttle into the same lane where hearts and minds are torn between the seductive allure of the drug and an elusive promise of a brighter, sober future.
**********************
Gordon Greenberg & Steve Rosen’s Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors, continues through Jan. 7 at New World Stages, directed by Greenberg.
Jordan Boatman, Arnie Burton, James Daly, Ellen Harvey, and Andrew Keenan-Bolger.
In the treacherous mountains of Transylvania, a meek English real estate agent takes a harrowing journey to meet a new and mysterious client, who also just happens to be the most terrifying and ferocious monster the world has ever known: Count Dracula! As famed female vampire hunter Jean Van Helsing and company chase Drac from Transylvania to the British countryside to London and back, their antics are guaranteed to increase your pulse and cause bloodcurdling screams—of laughter.
**********************
Aleksey Igudesman’s The Music Critic will tour Oct. 17 – June 2024 (exact closing date TBA). Click here for the tour schedule.
John Malkovich.
A show in which classical music, theater, and comedy collide. Malkovich batters, insults, and laughs at the music of composers like Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, Schumann and more whose works premiered to jeers and negative press for performers and composer alike.
Video: Trailer
**********************
Rare items from the life and career of Ray Bolger will be offered at auction for the 1st time in entertainment history on Nov. 1. at 10 AM ET/7 AM PT.
Click here to view the catalogue, bid and more…
**********************
Ode To The Wasp Woman written & directed by Rider McDowell, will run Oct. 30 – Jan. 31, 2024 (opening Nov. 9) at The Actors Temple Theatre.
Sean Young, Douglas Everett Davis, Payton Georgiana, Jonathan Hartman, Josh Alscher, Anna Telfer, David Wenzel, and Rita Rehn.
The play chronicles the last 48 hours in the lives of four 1950’s B movie stars; Susan Cabot, leading lady of the Roger Corman’s cult classic The Wasp Woman; George Reeves, the man who brought Superman to life on TV screens across America; Carl ‘Alfalfa’ Switzer of the beloved “Our Gang” comedies; B-movie queen Barbara Payton. The desperate and sensational events that lead to the demise of these four fallen stars are told in four one acts with music, a veritable homage to film noir and true.
**********************
David Dean Bottrell: The Death of Me Yet continues through Dec. 18 at NYC’s Pangea (178 2nd Ave. (at 111th St.)
David explores the topic of mortality with a refreshing blend of humor and warmth. Through tales of potluck funerals, encounters with chatty EMS personnel, and an exploration of unconventional burial options, David recounts his personal experiences with the big “D’ and takes audiences on a life-affirming journey through life’s inevitable destination.
**********************
RIP: Casting director Joanna Merlin has died at the age of 92.
Joanna began her career as an actor. She appeared in Cecil B. DeMille’s 1956 remake of “The Ten Commandments” as Jethro’s Daughter before making her Broadway debut in Becket. Her most notable stage role would come in 1964, when she created the role of Tevye’s eldest daughter Tzeitel in the original company of Fiddler on the Roof.
That project would also begin Ms. Merlin’s association with Hal Prince, who produced Fiddler‘s original run. She left the company of Fiddler to focus on raising her two children with husband David Dretzin, only for Prince to call and get her back into the business as his primary casting director, a role with a far more flexible and child-friendly schedule. Ms. Merlin would go on to cast later companies of Fiddler and Prince’s entire string of 1970s landmark Stephen Sondheim musicals, including Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures, Sweeney Todd, and Merrily We Roll Along. Her other Broadway casting credits include Side By Side By Sondheim, On the Twentieth Century, Evita, A Doll’s Life, Play Memory, End of the World, and, finally, Into the Woods on Broadway. Ms. Merlin also served as casting director for a number of films, including Year of the Dragon, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Emperor, Mr & Mrs. Bridge, The Lover, and Jefferson in Paris.
Ms. Merlin continued to act occasionally throughout her long career, appearing on Broadway in Shelter, Uncle Vanya, The Survivor, and Solomon’s Child while active as a casting director. She spent more of her acting time on screen, playing roles in such projects as “Mystic Pizza,” “L.A. Law,” “Northern Exposure,” “Law & Order,” “The Good Wife,” and “Homeland.”
**********************
Chicago’s Music Theater Works has announced its 2024 season:
25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee (Mar. 7-30), directed & choreographed by Christopher Pazdernik.
Carousel (Aug. 8-18), directed by Sasha Gerritson.
Little Shop of Horrors (Oct. 24 – Nov. 17), directed & choreographed by Kyle A. Dougan & Lexie Bailey.
Legally Blonde: The Musical (Dec. 19-29), directed by Sasha Gerritson.
**********************
Complete casting has been announced for the world premiere of Jessica Swan’s Sugar Hill: The Ellington/Strayhorn Nutcracker, to run Nov. 17-26 at New York City Center, directed by Joshua Bergasse, with choreography by Jade Hale-Christofi.
Jinhao Zhang & Josué Gomez (Nutcracker), Alicia Mae Holloway (Lena), Shavey Brown (Sweet Pea), Jennifer Jade Ledesna (The Angel), Kenneth Darryl Ard (Uncle Dross), and Brenda Braxton (Mother Sugar/Mama Stal), with Nikolas Danilovich-Eugene Gaifullin, Larissa Gerszke, Nayara Lopes, Natascha Mair, Tatiana Nuñez, Scott Weber, Audrey Borst, Joshua Dawson, Nathan Fister, Johnathon Darcelle Hart, Ayaka Kamei, Laura Katherine Kaufman, Amarachi Valentina Korie, Muata Ayodele Langley, James Luc, Chase Maxwell, Charlotte McKinley, Dario Natarelli, Megan Prout, Jocelyn Iris Raykumar, Ange ‘Gregg’ Sainvilus, Tyler D. Singletary, Olivia Tang-Mifsud and Matt Wiercinski.
**********************
Paul Slade Smith’s The Angel Next Door will run Oct. 18 – Nov. 5 at Laguna Playhouse, directed by David Ellenstein.
Thomas Edward Daugherty (Victor Pratt), Erin Noel Grennan (Olga Molnar), Elinor Gunn Margot Bell), Taubert Nadalini (Oliver Adams), James Newcomb (Arthur Sanders), and Barbara E. Robertson (Charlotte Sanders).
It is 1948 and an unlikely group of characters has assembled in a Newport mansion. An unexpected development threatens to doom a budding romance and one woman is destined to make things right – no matter what madcap antics she must pursue! Brace yourself for a perfect storm of comedic chaos and get swept away by irresistible charm and rapid-fire banter. This delightful escape promises a non-stop rollercoaster of mirth, leaving you breathless with laughter.