Today’s Highlights:
* Conscience: Virtual Version, by Joe DiPietro, featuring Harriet Harris (Margaret Chase Smith) and Lee Sellars (Senator Joseph McCarthy), with Mark Junek and Cathryn Wake, streams through Oct.30 at NJ’s George Street Playhouse.
* “American Crisis: Leadership and The Pandemic” discussion, with Billy Crystal and Governor Andrew Cuomo, focusing on Covid19 and how the Governor took charge, livestreams at 6 PM ET at NYC’s 92Y.
* A Little New Music FREE virtual concert of the music of Gregory Nabours, streams at 7 PM PT here.
* Wiesenthal, written by & starring Tom Dugan, directed by Jenny Sullivan, concludes streaming at Beverly Hills’ The Wallis.
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Video: “Stars in the House,” celebrating the Black Broadway Men collective, with guest host Brenda Braxton, and special guests Anthony Wade, James T. Lane, Sir Brock Warren, Ahmad Simmons, Terence Archie, and Isaiah Josiah. (1:01:54)
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RIP: Edith O’Hara, who started the 13th Street Repertory Company in Greenwich Village in 1972, and made it a quirky mainstay of New York’s Off Off Broadway scene, keeping it going through the decades while countless other companies fell by the wayside, died on Oct. 16 in her apartment above the theatre. She was 103.
Her daughter Jill O’Hara announced her death.
Ms. O’Hara didn’t move to Manhattan until midway through her long life, but once she did she plunged into the theater scene with gusto. Her children called her the Hurricane.
Ms. O’Hara was smitten by the bohemian theater scene. When a building at 50 West 13th Street was advertised as being for rent and containing a small theater, Ms. O’Hara took a lease, and the 13th Street Rep was born.
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Video: “Jim Caruso’s Cast Party” variety show, with special guests Laura Osnes, Billy Stritch, Monica Mancini, and Isaac Mizrahi. (1:47:06)
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“Fabulous Fanny: The Songs & Stories of Fanny Brice,” starring Kimberly Faye Greenberg, has been extended through Dec. 27 here.
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Andrew Barth Feldman’s My Halloween Friends, a 20-minute concert, will stream at Midnight on Oct. 31 here.
Celia Rose Gooding, Reneé Rapp, Will Roland, and more…
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Westchester Broadway Theatre will close its doors after 45 years, due to COVID-19.
It is the longest running New York Equity theatre, having produced 217 musicals, hosted numerous concerts, benefits, and fundraisers, and employed 5,000 theatre professionals.
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Off-Broadway’s Keen Company has announced its upcoming radio broadcast as part of its Hear Now series:
“War of the Worlds” will stream Fri. Oct. 30 at 8 PM ET, adapted by Howard Koch, featuring Jason Tam, Arnie Burton, Dan Domingues, Morgan Siobhan Green, Courtney Thomas, and Khiry Walker. 
here.
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Video: Angela Lansbury‘s 2019 conversation with her niece, Felicia Lansbury Meyer. (12:56)
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Kansas City Starlight Theatre has announced its 2021 season:
* Escape from Margaritaville (June 8-13)
* Waitress (June 22-27)
* Anastasia (July 6-11)
* Summer: The Donna Summer Musical (July 23-25)
Casting, creative teams, and additional information TBA.
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Video: The Fall, by Albert Camus, adapted by Alexis Lloyd, directed by Didier Flamand, starring Ronald Guttman (available through Oct. 28).
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This week’s selections from The Metropolitan Opera, all at 7:30 PM ET (and available for 23 hours thereafter):
* Agrippina (Oct. 27), conducted by Harry Bicket, featuring Brenda Rae, Joyce DiDonato, Kate Lindsey, Iestyn Davies, Duncan Rock, and Matthew Rose.
* Simon Boccanegra (Oct. 28), by Verdi, conducted by James Levine, featuring Adrianne Pieczonka, Marcello Giordani, Plácido Domingo, and James Morris
* Nixon in China (Oct. 29), conducted by John Adams, featuring Kathleen Kim, Janis Kelly, Robert Brubaker, Russell Braun, James Maddalena, and Richard Paul Fink.
* Boris Godunov (Oct. 30), by Mussorgsky, conducted by Valery Gergiev, featuring Ekaterina Semenchuk, Aleksandrs Antonenko, Oleg Balashov, Evgeny Nikitin, René Pape, Mikhail Petrenko, and Vladimir Ognovenko.
* The Ghosts of Versailles (Oct. 31), by John Corigliano, conducted by James Levine, featuring Teresa Stratas, Håkan Hagegård, Gino Quilico, Graham Clark, Marilyn Horne, and Renée Fleming.
* Satyagraha (Nov. 1), by Philip Glass, conducted by Dante Anzolini, featuring Rachelle Durkin, Richard Croft, Kim Josephson, and Alfred Walker
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Chicago’s Porchlight Music Theatre presents New Faces Sing Broadway 1987, to stream Nov. 6-29, directed by Christopher Pazdernik, with music direction by David Fiorello, and hosted by Larry Adams,
Anna Marie Abbate, Isabella Andrews, Ciera Dawn, Taylor DiTola, Tim Roszcz, Cameron Goode, Garrett Griffin, Parker Guidry, Devon Hayakawa, and Kelan M. Smith.
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NYC gyms, schools, restaurants, and even bowling alleys are open, het small independent theatres remain closed, with no planned re-opening date proposed by city and state leaders.
As a result, a group of small venue owners, led by Catherine Russell (The Theater Center) and Michael Sgouros (The Players Theater), both fed up with being asked to wait to re-open with do date in sight, have hired attorney Jim Mermigis (who recently challenged Andrew Cuomo and New York State and brought back indoor dining and gyms after filing a class action suit demanding a re-opening date).
Small theatres and venues were originally grouped with restaurants and bars, and were closed on Mar. 16. And even though indoor dining is now at 25% capacity, small entertainment venues are still closed with no re-opening date in sight.
The Broadway Leagues has indicated that large Broadway houses will no re-open until June 2021, but the smaller Off-Broadway and comedy club venues are willing to open at 25% capacity, hoping that number will increase as it becomes clear that the safety measures they’ve put in place are keeping their patrons protected and safe.
Many Off-Broadway venues have already upgraded their facilities and are ready to open. They include The Theater Center, The Players Theater, The Actors Temple Theatre, Soho Playhouse, The Gene Frankel Theater, The Triad, Broadway Comedy Club, and New York Comedy Club.
For a copy of the complaint, please email danielwdemello@gmail.com
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* The Wind in the Willows (Oct. 28-30), filmed in 2017 at the London Palladium, by George Stiles, and Anthony Drew, featuring Rufus Hound, Simon Lipkin, Craig Mather, Neil McDermott, Denise Welch, and Gary Wilmot. Watch here.
* The Tempest (through Oct. 29), filmed in 2016 at the Donmar Warehouse, in an all-female production directed by Phyllida Lloyd, starring Harriet Walter (Prospero). Watch here.
* Julius Caesar / Henry IV / The Tempest (Oct. 30 – Nov. 1), an all-female production directed by Phyllida Lloyd, filmed a London’s King’s Cross. Watch here.
* Conflict (through Nov. 1), the Off-Broadway Mint Theater 2018 production. Watch here.
* Here’s What She Said to Me (Nov. 3), by Oladipo Agboluaje, filmed London’s Crucible Theatre, featuring Kiké Brimah, Ayo-Dele Edwards, and Estella Daniels. Watch here.
* One Man, Two Guvnors (Nov. 6), starring James Corden, filmed in 2011 at London’s National Theatre. Watch here.
* Adding Machine musical (through Nov. 12), adapted by Joshua Schmidt & Jason Loewith, filmed in 2016 at London’s Finborough Theatre. Watch here.
* Until the Flood (from Nov. 15), written & performed by Dael Orlandersmith, filmed in 2018 at Off-Broadway’s Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. Watch here.
* My Beautiful Launderette (available until the London’s Curve Theatre opens), filmed in 2019, by Hanif Kureishi, featuring Omar Malik and Jonny Fines. Watch here.
* Romeo and Juliet (available until half-term 2021), starring Nathan Welsh and Charlotte Beaumont. Watch here.
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“The Hook, with Andy Einhorn” is now available on Broadway Access Pro.
Lynn Ahrens + Stephen Flaherty, Troy Anthony + Benjamin Velez, David Foster + Annmarie Milazzo, Michael R. Jackson + Tom Kitt, Anais Mitchell, Irene Sankoff + David Hein, Matthew Sklar, Stephen Schwartz, Marc Shamin + Scott Wittman, Frank Wildhorn, and David Yazbek.
Andy Einhorn gives viewers a seat at the piano as established theatre composers and lyricists reveal the stories behind some of their most memorable and famous songs. Ever wonder about that catchy combination of melody, lyrics and rhythm that stays in your head long after a song is over? That’s the hook. Curious about how a composer came up with a famous melody? And why a lyricist chose a particular word or rhyme? Or how a certain song made it into a show? Join esteemed Broadway musical director and host, Andy Einhorn, to find out.
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Off-Broadway’s MCC Theater will present MCC On Demand, a new streaming service for MCC’s entire catalogue of virtual content (which will launch on Oct. 28) including their soon-t0-be-announced 2020-21 season:
* Frankie & Will, by Talene Monahan, directed by Jaki Bradley, featuring Ryan Spahn and Michael Urie.
* The Sentinels, by Matthew Lopez, directed by Rebecca Taichman, featuring Jane Alexander, Denée Benton, Katrina Lenk, and Priscilla Lopez.
* Pues Nada, by Aziza Barnes, directed by Whitney White, featuring Ito Aghayere, Alfie Fuller, Karen Pittman, and Kara Young.
* When, by C.A. Johnson, directed by Taylor Reynolds, featuring Kecia Lewis and Antoinette Crowe-Legacy.