Today’s Highlights:
Sutton Foster: Bring Me to Light concert, directed by Leigh Silverman, with special guests Kelli O’Hara, Raúl Esparza, Joaquina Kalukango, and Wren Rivera, begins streaming at 7 PM ET at New York City Center (through May 31).
Project 9, a 15-minute video homage to the musical Nine, with music direction by Jeremy Franklin Goodman, featuring Robert Cuccioli, Glory Crampton, Dana Moore, Jesmille Darbouze-Smith, Lauren Blackman, and more, begins FREE streaming at 7 PM ET here (scroll down).
The Conjurors’ Club interactive multi-magician experience, created by Vinny DePonto & Geoff Kanik, hosted by Kanick, featuring Jeanette Andrews, Kayla Lee Drescher, Mahdi Gilbert, Eric Jones, Noah Levine, Daniel Martin, Francis Menotti, Lindsey Noel, Nathan Phan, Ran’D Shine, and Noah Sonie, begins streaming at Cambridge’s A.R.T.
“Stage & Screen” live auction, featuring one-of-a-kind memorabilia and wardrobe from the vast history of the performing arts (theater, Hollywood, opera, and dance), livestreams at 10 AM ET here.
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GRACE NOTES Quote of the Week: “We’re actors — we’re the opposite of people!” ~ Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
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Video: Stars in the House — “Growing Up Annie & Sandy,” with special guests Andrea McArdle, Alicia Morton, Allison Smith, and Josie Todd as well as animal trainer Bill Berloni. (1:11:57)
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Callaway Hideaway, with Ann Hampton Callaway & Liz Callaway will stream on Sun. May 23 at 7 PM ET/4 PM PT here.
Inspired by their recent joyous reunion after a 14-month pandemic separation, Liss will fly from NY to Ann’s home in Tucson.
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Lauren Gunderson’s I and You will stream May 5-23 at Syracuse Stage, directed by Melissa Crespo.
Phoebe Holden (Caroline) and Cole Taylor (Anthony).
The play is remarkably relevant to today’s Covid-impacted world. Two high school students are working on a literature project about Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself.
One of the students, Caroline, has been unable to attend school in person because she is ill with a chronic and life-threatening live disease. Her phone and laptop are her sole tethers to the world beyond her bedroom. Though her health concerns are unique to her, the isolation and disconnectedness she experiences palpably reflect what many have experienced over the past year. Arriving in her room, and not quite welcome, is her classmate Anthony. He is enthusiastic and energetic and maybe a little desperate for Caroline’s help, at least judging by the half-finished poster he carries. He also carries a bag of waffle fries, pop tarts (he’s always hungry), and for reasons not yet clear, an unrelenting earworm – Walt Whitman’s line: “I and this mystery here we stand.”
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A Weekend with Pablo Picasso, written by & starring Herbert Sigüenza, is now available here.
Picasso invites the listener in his private studio for an intimate and revealing weekend as he prepares to deliver six new works to a buyer on Monday morning.
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American Ballet Theatre’s Uniting in Movement will stream on demand May 12-26 at Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
Uniting in Movement is comprised of works of contemporary choreographers Lauren Lovette & Darrell Grand Moultrie, each with very personal and unique visions for the future of ballet. The program also pays homage to ABT’s classical heritage with a showcase of ballet technique, Grand Pas Classique, choreographed by Victor Gsovsky and Swan Lake Act II pas de deux, with choreography after Lev Ivanov.
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Darrel Alejandro Holnes’ Black Feminist Video Game, continues streaming through May 2 at LA’s Center Theatre Group, directed by Victoria Collado.
In this mashup of live performance, video game design and online interaction, Jonas and Sabine stream their play on Twitch and find their path through the game together. Along the way, you’ll help (or hinder!) their progress by responding in real time to the choices they make.
Enter Jonas: a biracial teenager with autism. Jonas broadcasts all aspects of his life online, including a disastrous first date with his crush, Nicole. Desperate to regain her affections, he dusts off a long-ignored gift from this mother – a classic 2D “Black feminist video game” – hopeful that the game will grant him the key to winning Nicole back. But Jonas soon discovers that, with only the Game Master and his friend Savine to guide him, he must confront his own misperceptions of the women in his (real) life, or risk not only the game but also his first chance at love.
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“The Flintstones” animated sequel series is now in development at Fox, and will star Elizabeth Banks. Additional casting, timeline, and the premiere date are TBA.
Fred Flintstone is on the brink of retirement and the 20-something Pebbles is embarking on her own career. As the Stone Age gives way to a shiny and enlightened new Bronze Age, the residents of Bedrock will find this evolution harder than a swing from Bamm-Bamm’s club.
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& The live & virtual world premieres of Lavina Jadhwani’s The Sitayana will run May 14-23 (live) and May 24 – June 6 (on demand) at LA’s East West Players, directed by Reena Dutt.
Nikita Chaudhry, Sheetal Gandhi, and Minita Gandhi.
An artful transposition of the Hindu epic “The Ramayana,” told from Sita’s point of view. Part epic tale, part coming of age story. This is the ultimate breakup play. Audiences will be able to choose between three different incarnations of Sity from whom to hear their stories which, along the way, upend traditional gender norms and subvert idealized views of femininity.
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The Seth Concert Series continues. 
here.
May 2: Andrea McArdle
May 9: Christine Pedi
May 16: Laura Benanti & Linda Benanti
May 23: Chuck Cooper & Lilli Cooper
May 30: George Salazar
June 6: Alex Newell
June 13: Matthew Morrison
June 20: Jenn Colella
June 27: Leslie Uggams
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Nicholas Asher chats with Marilyn Michaels about her career here.
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Video: Trailer #4 for “In The Heights” which will open June 12 in theaters and on HBO Max.
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End of Play will stream Sat. May 1 at 5 PM PT at LA’s Fountain Theatre, featuring excerpts from new works.
(all were selected randomly by lottery following an open call for submissions) Wendy Biller, Diana Burbano, David Datz, Angela J. Davis, Tom Everett, Makena Metz, Rick Mitchell, Brett Ryback, Patrick Satcher, Gina Shaffer, and Leda Siskind.
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Musicals returning to the West End:
Mary Poppins (Aug. 7) at the Prince Edward Theatre. The cast features Zizi Strallen (Mary Poppins) and Charlie Stemp (Bert), with more TBA.
Hamilton (Aug. 19) at the Victoria Palace Theatre. Casting TBA.
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Spotlight on Plays has announced complete casting for Lillian Hellman’s Watch on the Rhine, in support of The Actors Fund, which will stream Thurs. May 13 at 8 PM ET here, directed by Sarna Lapine.
Ellen Burstyn, Carla Gugino, Mary Beth Peil, Jeremy Shamos, Alan Cox, Sasha Diamond, Alfred Enoch, Luca Padovan, Gabriella Pizzolo, and Neel Sethi.
Written and set during the rise of Hitler’s Germany, the play is about an American family, suddenly awakened to the danger threatening its libery.
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Stephen Sondheim & David Ives’ long-gestating musical, Buñuel, is no longer in development.
Sondheim told the Public Theater, which had workshopped the musical in 2016 with plans for a 2017 opening.
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“The Undeclared War,” a new 6-part series for NBC Universal, written by Peter Kosminsky, will premiere on Peacock (date TBA).
Mark Rylance, Simon Pegg, Adrian Lester, and more.
In the political drama, the series takes place in 2024, centering on the British general election involving the U.K.’s first Black Conservative prime minister. The U.K.’s NSA-style spy agency, CGHQ, is tasked with warding off a cyber-attack on the country’s electoral system.
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Video (scroll down): The Obsidian Theatre Festival, a virtual theatre and performing arts event featuring emerging Black artists, actors, directors, and playwrights from Detroit.
Aseneth Elizabeth Parker, Carollette Phillips, Edmund Alyn Jones, Louis Johnson, Maria A. Judice, Shashone Lambert Shrot, and Morgan Heyward.
Daniel J. Watts, Douglas Lyons, Sydney Morton, Nia Holloway, Niles Fitch, and Jessica Moore.