Today’s Highlights:
* “Working on a Song: The Lyrics of Hadestown,” by Anaïs Mitchell, released in paperback and Kindle here.
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Video: “Stars in the House,” with guest host Brenda Braxton and friends. (53:56)
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With Love, Now and Forever! CATS4COVID Relief in support of BC/EFA, will take place Fri. Oct. 23 at 8 PM ET here, hosted by Brian Stokes Mitchell and Tom Viola.
Mark Agnes, Arminae Reames, Joanna Beck, Anthony Vincent Bova, Lisa Dawn Cave, Jonathan Cerullo, Leslie Ellis, Robert Barry Fleming, Deborah, Geneviere Athens, Adrea Gibbs, Jo Ann M Hunter, Jack Gaughan, Austin Jetton, BK Kennelly, Deidre Lang, Karen Longwell, Aja Kane, Kari Nicolaisen, Bill Notle, Donna Pompei, Cathy Susan Pyles, Randy Slovacek, Beth Swearingen, Fred Tallaksen, Christine Toy Johnson, Amiee Turner, James Walski, and Matt Zarley.
* A contemporary take on “Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats”
* Testimonials of hope from cast members who were helped by The Actors Fund
* A new show-stopping performance of “Memory”
* A Halloween surprise with “The Naming of the Cats.”
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Audio: On Feb. 14, 1973, just 11 months after the Senate had passed the Equal Rights Amendment, a young Columbia Law professor named Ruth Bader Ginsburg gave a talk at NYC’s 92Y entitled “Women and the Law.“ Case by case, she took her audience through the ways in which the laws of the day discriminated against women on the basis of sex. (1:23:51)
This recording offers a remarkable record of a groundbreaking leader at the start of her career.
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The Actors Fund and Career Transition for Dancers Gala will take place Mon. Nov. 2 at 7 PM ET here.
Matthew Broderick, Sarah Jessica Parker, Virginia Johnson, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Steve Tisch, and Richard L. Tumka.
Performers TBA.
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Video: “Jim Caruso’s Cast Party,” with special guests Larry O’Keefe, Nell Benjamin, Larry O’Keefe, Nell Benjamin, Kimberly Marable, Nestor Martinez, Marie Oppert and Jenna Pastuszek. (1:34:34)
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RIP: Playwright Murray Schisgal, who received 1965 Tony nominations for the absurdist comedy Luv—his Broadway debut, passed away Oct. 1 at the age of 93.
Born in Brooklyn, he attended Long Island University and later Brooklyn Law School. After practicing law and subsequently teaching high school English, he first achieved success as a writer in 1961 in London with three one-acts, followed by a double bill of The Typists and The Tiger Off-Broadway in 1963 starring Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson.
Wallach and Jackson—joined by Alan Arkin—also starred in Mr. Schisgal’s Luv, which marked his Broadway debut, opening Nov. 11, 1964, under the direction of Mike Nichols. The production was nominated for 5 Tony Awards. The playwright received nominations for both Best Play and Best Author (Play). A film version, written by Mr. Schisgal and Elliott Baker, premiered in 1967, starring Jack Lemmon, Peter Falk, and Elaine May.
Mr. Schisgal’s other works produced on Broadway include Jimmy Shine (1968), The Chinese and Dr. Fish (1970), An American Millionaire (1974), All Over Town (1974), and Twice Around the Park (1982). He also adapted The Tiger for film, starring Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, and Bob Dishy. Next came “Tootsie,” which he wrote with Larry Gelbart & Don McGuire.
Mr. Schisgal’s later works include Slouching Toward the Millennium, three one-acts that examine the battle of the sexes; Angel Wings, a farce about a philandering businessman who finds himself in hot water in the afterlife when God is revealed to be a woman; and We Are Family, about Sam Kogan, who believes his inability to keep a relationship with a woman means he is gay and moves back to his old neighborhood to test his theory on his two best friends.
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The Metropolitan Opera has announced another themed week of its of “Nightly Met Streams,” showcasing all-Wagner works in its 30th edition. All streams begin at 7:30 PM ET.
Oct. 6: Tannhäuser (2015), starring Eva-Maria Westbroek, Michelle DeYoung, Johan Botha, Peter Mattei, and Günther Groissböck.
Oct. 7: Das Rheingold (1990), starring Christa Ludwig, Siegfried Jerusalem, James Morris, and Ekkehard Wlaschiha.
Oct. 8: Die Walküre (1989), starring Hildegard Behrens, Jessye Norman, Christa Ludwig, Gary Lakes, James Morris, and Kurt Moll.
Oct. 9: Siegfried (1990), starring Hildegard Behrens, Siegfried Jerusalem, and James Morris.
Oct. 10: Götterdämmerung (1990), starring Hildegard Behrens, Christa Ludwig, Siegfried Jerusalem, and Matti Salminen.
Oct. 11: Parsifal (2013), starring Katarina Dalayman, Jonas Kaufmann, Peter Mattei, Evgeny Nikitin, and René Pape.
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Cisco & Co. Productions is a new full-service production house that specializes in live theatrical events and film content with a focus on uplifting stories of Black and African culture in addition to its intersection with feminism.
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“Horton Foote: The Road to Home” will premiere Oct. 25 at the virtual Austin Film Festival (which runs Oct.22-29), directed by Anne Rapp.
The film chronicles Foote’s career through his own eyes and voice, and also includes interviews with André Bishop, Robert Duvall, Richard Linklater, the late Edward Albee, and several family members, including his daughter, Hallie Foote.
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Week2 of TogetherLAFestival will run Oct. 8-10. Watch for FREE on Twitch.TV. Donations will benefit Color of Change.
Yara Martinez (Oct. 8), Ahmed Best (Oct. 9), Drew Droege (Oct. 10), Del Shores (Oct. 10), Kirsten Vangsness (Oct. 15), and Sharon Lawrence (Oct. 17).
Participating Theatre Companies: 24th Street Theatre, Actors Co-op, Ammunition Theatre Company, Celebration Theatre, Chance Theater, Coin and Ghost, Company of Angels, Echo Theater Company, Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA, IAMA Theatre Company, Impro Theatre, Independent Shakespeare Company, Interact Theatre Company, Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble, Macha Theatre, Open Fist Theatre Company, Ophelia’s Jump Productions, Pacific Resident Theatre, Playwrights’ Arena, Rogue Machine Theatre, Sacred Fools Theater Company, Sierra Madre Playhouse, Skylight Theatre Company, The 6th Act, The Fountain Theatre, The Group Rep Theatre, The Inkwell Theater, The New American Theatre, The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, The Road Theatre Company, The Victory Theatre Center, Theatre of NOTE, Theatre West, Towne Street Theatre, and Whitefire Theatre.
Oct. 8:
* First Impressions, Second Chances (Theatre West), by Ashley Taylor
* Cuddle, by Melissa Jane Osborne (Ohpelia’s Jump)
* Missileer (Group Rep), by Doug Haverty
* Just Another Birthday in Bedlam, by Catherine Butterfield (Interact Theatre Company)
Oct. 9:
* A For in the Middle, by Annette Lee (Playwrights Arena)
* Edge, by Emily Brauer Rogers (Chance Theatre)
* Coriola, by Carene Mekertichyan (Independent Shaksespeare Co.)
* ON, by Spencer Green (MACHA Theatre)
Oct. 10:
* Come/Go/Come, by Ron Sossi (Odyssey Theatre Ensemble)
* Las Instrucciones, by Bryan Davidson (24th Street Theatre)
* Me and Her Against the World, by Roger Q. Mason (Skylight Theatre Co.)
* The Final Tour, by Doug Cooney (Sierra Madre Playhouse)
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The Women in the Arts Media Coalition will host a Zoom presentation of the 2020 VintAge Award on Sat. Nov. 14 at 3 PM ET.
Martha Richards, the Founder and President of WomenArts.
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All 13 plays in The Blank Theatre’s 28th Annual Young Playwrights Festival are now available to view for FREE on Vimeo through Oct. 31.
Click here to register for a free festival pass.
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A table reading of Kenneth Lonergan’s Hold On to Me Darling, in support of LA’s Stella Adler Academy, will take place Sun. Oct. 11 at 7 PM ET/4 PM PT here, directed by Neil Pepe.
Mark Ruffalo, Michael Cera, and Gretchen Mol.
On learning of his mother’s death, world famous country and western stage Strings McCrane begins questioning the meaning of his life and what it all adds up to. Determined to abandon his celebrity and his career, he moves back to his hometown in Tennessee. It doesn’t go well.
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RIP: Thomas Jefferson Byrd, who earned a Tony nomination for his performance as Toledo in the 2003 Broadway revival of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, died Oct. 3, 2020, in Atlanta, at the age of 70. Police officers found him “unresponsive” on a city street with mulitple gunshot wounds to his back.
Throughout his career, Mr. Byrd starred in region productions, including a 2011 production of Alice Childress’ Trouble in Mind at Arena Stage.
On screen, the performer appeared in a number of Spike Lee films including “Chi-Raq,” “Clockers,” “He Got Game,” and “Set It Off.” Additional credits include the musical biopic “Ray” and the small screen adaptation of “Lackawanna Blues.” His final film performance will be in the upcoming “Freedom’s Path.”
Byred started focusing more on teaching in his later years but still managed to find time for acting, such as his performance as Stokely Darling in the Netflix series “She’s Gotta Have It.”
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The Show Must Go On!, featuring the casts of multiple musicals currently in the West End, though on hold due to Covid-19, will come together for three concerts at the Palace Theatre Nov. 13-15 (all at 2 PM & 7 PM BST), directed by Luke Sheppard & Anna Fox, with music direction by Stephen Brooker. in support of Acting For Others and The Fleabag Support Fund,
Casts members from & Juliet, Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Mamma Mia!, The Prince of Egypt, Six, Tina—The Tina Turner Musical, and Wicked, and more TBA.
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The Great Work Begins, offering a presentation of scenes from Angels in America, in support of amFAR, will stream Thurs. Oct. 8 at 8:30 PM ET here.
Glenn Close, Patti LuPone, Nikki M. James, Laura Linney, Andrew Rannells, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Brian Tyree Henry, and many more.
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Torben Betts’ The Dark Side of the Moon will be available to stream from Oct. 8 – Dec. 31 here, directed by Alastair Whatley & Charlotte Peters.
Tom Chambers, Christopher Harper, Michael Salami, Jenna Augen, Geoff Aymer, Philip Franks, and Poppy Roe.
Stranded 205,000 miles from Earth in a crippled spacecraft, astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert fight a desperate battle to survive. 77 hours into their mission they lose all communications with Earth as they pass around the dark side of the Moon. Further from home than mankind has ever been, in total darkness and facing impossible odds of survival the Astronauts confront themselves and each other.