Today’s Highlights
Ghost of John McCain, by Scott Elmegreen & Drew Fornarola, directed by Catie Davis, featuring Jason Tam (John McCain), Luke Kolbe Mannikus (Donald Trump), Aaron Michael Ray (Donald Trump’s Brain), Zonya Love (Kamala Harris/Karen/Eva Peron), Lindsay Nicole Chambers (Hillary Clinton/Daughter-Wife/Sexy Lady Fox News Anchor), and Ben Fankhauser (Roy Cohn/Lindsey Graham/Joe Biden), with Anthony Zambito, Gisela Adisa, and Joshua David Robinson, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s SoHo Playhouse.
The Coast Starlight, by Keith Bunin, directed by Mark Clements, featuring Jack Ball (TJ), Emily S. Chang (Jane), Yadira Correa (Anna), Kelley Faulkner (Liz), Justin Huen (Noah) and Jonathan Wainwright (Ed), begins previews at Milwaukee Rep,
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GRACE NOTES 
Who Lives There? by Jim Bernhard
Match these places with the characters who live there:
| 1. Three Point | A. Kim McAfee |
| 2. Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire | B. Lu Ann Hampton Laverty Oberlander |
| 3. Yonkers, New York | C. June Stanley |
| 4. Glorious Hill, Mississippi | D. Ruth Sherwood |
| 5. Sweet Apple, Ohio | E. Ermengarde Vandergelder |
| 6. Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania | F. Julie Jordan |
| 7. Bradleyville, Texas | G. Lizzie Curry |
| 8. Columbus, Ohio | H. Katie Yoder |
| 9. Mesalia, Ohio | I. Alma Winemiller |
| 10. Boothbay Harbor, Maine | J. Emily Webb |
Scroll down for the answers…
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William Finn & Rachel Sheinkin’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will run Oct. 11-20 at the Kennedy Center, directed & choreographed by Danny Mefford, with music direction by Roberto Sinha.
Philippe Arroyo (Chip Tolentino), Beanie Feldstein (Logan Schwartzandgrubenierre), Noah Galvin (Leaf Coneybear), Alex Joseph Grayson (Mitch Mahoney, Taran Killam (Vice Principal Douglas Panch), Kevin McHale (William Barfee), Bonnie Milligan (Rona Lisa Peretti), Nina White (Olive Ostrovsky), and Anna Zavelson (Marcy Park).
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Beyond the Hall free concert will take place Fri. Sept. 6 at 7 PM in NYC’s Bryant Park, debuting its new season, conducted by Leon Botstein.
Expect to hear Bernstein’s Three Dance Episodes from Our Town ….. Kurt Weill’s Little Threepenny Music …… Bernard Herrmann’s Psycho Suite …… Florence Price’s Suite of Dances …… and the overture to Scott Joplin’s opera Treemonisha.
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Jenn Martin’s If Words Could Talk continues through Oct. 8 at Theater for the New City, directed by Stéphanie Stowers.
Maya Gelber and Juyeon Song.
An experimental play that explores generational distance through a mix of lived and inherited memories. Through cycles of loss, mistranslation, and tracing the edge of forgiving, at IF WORDS COULD TALK, one will witness a Chinese immigrant mother and her first-generation daughter define “home” in a house of grief.
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The world premiere of Jane Austen in 89 Minutes, written & directed by Syrie James, will run Sept. 20 – Oct. 6 at Beverly Hills’ Theatre 40.
Katyana Rocker-Cook, Holly Sidell, Michael Mullen, Shayna Gabrielle, Steven G. Frankenfield, Alison Blanchard, and Todd Andrew Ball, with Megan Deford.
Six Jane Austen novels compressed into 89 minutes.
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Julianna Margulies and Peter Gallagher in conversation (Oct. 30 at 7:30 PM) at NYC’s 92NY, about Delia Ephron’s new play, Left on Tenth.
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The London production of Kevin Murphy & Laurence O’Keefe’s Heathers the Musical will return to NYC on a date TBA, directed by Andy Fickman The production has not yet announced if it will run on or Off-Broadway.
TBA
The musical follows Westerberg High student Veronica Sawyer, who’s on track to become one of the most popular girls in school after befriending the beautiful but cruel Heathers, only to meet a mysterious teen rebel who changes everything.
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West Fest 2024, offering new theater works, continues through Sept. 22 at LA’s Theatre West.
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Media: A Musical Comedy, written & directed by John Fisher, will open Oct. 10 (for an unlimited run), at Actors Temple Theatre, with choreography by Hunter Hope Barnett.
Casting TBA.
A knee-slapping, kitschy, queer, and murderous musical farce version of Medea. A queer theatre company is putting on a campy musical version of Medea. Paul, the super gay star and Elsa, playing the title role hate each other off-stage then suddenly find themselves falling in love, shockingly. The quintessential backstage story spirals out of control as the flamboyant director goes insane trying to keep the whole mess on track, with many twists, turns, and sequins along the way! Get tickets now and become one of thousands of theatregoers at one of the funniest and murderous musicals in town!
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Mike Teverbaugh’s The (Mostly) True Story of a Common Scold will run Sept. 20 – Oct. 27 at the Promenade Playhouse (new location: 10931 West Pico Blvd.), directed by Natalia Lazarus.
Dendrie Taylor Anne Royall), Zuri Alexander (Hazel), Satiar Pourvasei (Reverdn Stiles), Tom Waters (Nicholas Biddle), Scott Parking (Duff Green), Jake O’Flaherty (George Waterston), and Scott Burkholder (John Eaton).
At the dawn of the Jackson administration, Anne Royall, America’s first female journalist, wages a personal war in print against evangelicals who she felt were trying to subvert the U.S. Constitution and turn America into a Christian nation. They toppled her stagecoach, harassed her at her Washington, D.C. home as she convalesced and ultimately, in a bid to silence her, had her arrested. Anne remained steadfast, surviving the ordeal with her life – and her resolve to defend what she loved about the new nation – intact.
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Marla Mindelle, Connor Gallagher, Jonathan Parks-Ramage & Philip Drenned’s The Big Gay Jamboree will begin previews Sept. 14 and open Sept. 20 at the Orpheum Theatre, directed & choreographed by Gallagher.
Marla Mindelle (Stacey), Alex Moffat (Keith), Paris Nix (Clarence), Constantine Rousouli (Bert), and Natalie Walker (Flora), with Jaden Dominique, Brad Greer, Jeremiah Ginn, Amanda Lee, Jillian Mueller, Olivia Puckett, Melvin Tunstall, Clyde Voce, Cortney Wolfson, and John Yi.
Help! Stacey’s fallen into a musical and she can’t get out. Last night, she got a little bit blackout drunk. This morning, she woke up in some b*tch ass Music Man world where everybody keeps bursting into song & dance, and where gay still just means happy. Maybe it’s a dream. Maybe it’s an allergic reaction to her birth control. Or maybe it’s Maybelline (don’t sue us! sponsor us? we’ll talk later). But if Stacey’s truly trapped inside a Golden Age musical, there’s only one way out: sing out! Or find the stage door. Whatever gets the most applause.
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. Kieron Barry’s Spy for Spy continues on Thursdays through Oct. 10 at Sherman Oaks’ Whitefire Theatre, directed by Michael Massey.
Andrea Flowers and Meeghan Holaway.
When Woodrow Wilson arrived at the train station the day before his Inauguration in 1913, he found almost no people to greet him. A policeman told him, “They’re all at the Suffrage Parade”. That would be the first, but certainly not the last time, that President Wilson would find himself following or being followed by “all these women” pressing for Woman Suffrage in his Administration. Follow the drama of the last years of the battle for women to finally get the vote in America
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A staged reading of All These Women, written & directed by Melanie MacQueen will take place Sat. Oct. 19 at 2 PM at LA’s Theatre 40 (link TBA).
Todd Andrew Ball, Alison Blanchard, John Leslie, Meghan Lewis, Kristin Towers-Rowles, Michele Schultz, and Holly Sidell.
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GRACE NOTES Answers Who Lives There? by Jim Bernhard
1-G. Three Point – Lizzie Curry (110 in the Shade)
2-J. Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire – Emily Webb (Our Town)
3-E. Yonkers, New York – (The Matchmaker, Hello, Dolly!)
4-I. Glorious Hill, Mississippi – Alma Winemiller (Summer and Smoke)
5-A. Sweet Apple, Ohio – Kim McAfee (Bye Bye Birdie)
6-H. Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania – Katie Yoder (Plain and Fancy)
7-B. Bradleyville, Texas – Lu Ann Hampton Laverty Oberlander (Lu Ann Hampton Laverty Oberlander)
8-D. Columbus, Ohio – Ruth Sherwood (My Sister Eileen, Wonderful Town)
9-C. Mesalia, Ohio – June Stanley (The Man Who Came to Dinner)
10-F. Boothbay Harbor, Maine – Julie Jordan (Carousel)