Today’s Highlights:
Mamma Mia!, directed by Phyllida Lloyd, featuring Mazz Murray (Donna), Richard Trinder (Sam), Neil Moors (Harry), Stephen Beckett (Bill), Sophie Matthew (Lisa), Josie Benson (Tanya), Gemma Goggin (Rosie), Emma Mullen (Sophie), Jack Danson (Sky), Tegan Gannister (Ali), Michael Nelson (Eddie), Alexandros Beshonges (Pepper), and Natalie Langston (Donna at certain performances), with Gemma Atkins, Chloe-Jo Byrnes, Nicole Carlisle, Angus Good, Natalie Jayne Hall, James Humpleman, Morgan Jackson, George Olney, Kyle Turner, and Alex Woodward, who join Natasha Agnew, Chloe Ames, Frankie Jones, Lauren Hampton, Grace Moorhouse, Jodie Nolan, Dan O’Brien, Michael Storrs, Michael Tyler, and Simon Willmont, resumes performances at London’s Novello Theatre.
Bagdad Cafe, adapted & directed by Emma Rice, featuring Sandra Marvin (Brenda), Patrycja Kujawska (Jasmin Münchgstettner), Nandi Bhebhe (Salomé), Le Gateau Chocolat (Sal), Bettrys Jones (Mojave), Kandaka Moore (Phyllis), Gareth Snook (Rudi), and Ewan Wardrop (Herr Münchgstettner) resumes performances at London’s Old Vic.
International City Theatre‘s Closely Related Keys, by Wendy Graf, directed by Saundra McClain, featuring Oscar Best, Sydney A. Mason, Mehrnaz Mohammadi, Nick Molari, and Adrian Mohamed Tafesh, begins previews at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center.
Cynthia Erivo FREE discussion about “Genius: Aretha,” streams at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT here.
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GRACE NOTES Quote of the Week: “People see so many movies that when they finally see one not so bad as the others, they think it’s great. An Academy Award means that you don’t stink quite as much as your cousin.” ~ Charles Bukowski, The Last Night of the Earth Poems
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Wicked will resume performances on Sept. 14 at the Gershwin Theatre.
Lindsay Pearce (Elphaba), Ginna Claire Mason (Glinda), Alexandra Billings (Madame Morrible (Kathy Fitzgerald will play the role from Sept. 14-26), Michael McCormick (Wizard), Sam Gravitte (Fiyero), Riley Costello (Boq), Mili Diaz (Nessarose), Michael X. Martin (Doctor Dillamond), Jennifer DiNoia (Elphaba standby) and Brittney Johnson (Glinda standby), with Ioana Alfonso, Alex Aquilino, Larkin Bogan, Randy Castillo, Antonette Cohen, Meg Doherty, Teneise Mitchell Ellis, Hannah Florence, Jenny Florkowski, Dan Gleason, Josh Daniel Green, Jeff Heimbrock, Celia Hottenstein, Courtney Iventosch, Colby Q. Lindeman, Chase Madigan, Micaela Martinez, Kevin Massey, Sterling Masters, Matt Meigs, Jo’Nathan Michael, Dashi Mitchell, Lindsay K. Northern, Emily Rogers, William Ryall, Travis Taber, Jeremy Thompson, and Christianne Tisdale.
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Sandy Rustin’s Mystic Pizza (based on the 1977 film), featuring music by The Bangles, Wilson Phillips, REO Speedwagon, Belinda Carlisle, Rick Astley, John Cougar Mellencamp, Debbie Gibson, Robert Palmer, Berlin, Van Morrison, the Supremes, Phil Collins, Kim Wilde, Mike and the Mechanics, Fine Young Cannibals, Tiffany, Bryan Adams, Starship, and Melissa Etheridge, will run Sept. 1 – Oct. 2 at ME’s Ogunquit Playhouse, directed by Casey Hushion, with choreography by Liz Ramos, and music direction by Kristin Stowell.
Kyra Kennedy (Kat), Krystina Alabado (Daisy), and Gianna Yanelli (JoJo), Rayanne Gonzales (Leona), Joel Perez (Tim), Garrett Marshall (Bill), and Corey Mach (Charles), with Becca Petersen, Isabella De Souza Moore, Nicole Paloma Sarro, Jesse Swimm, Jake Swain, Graham Stevens, Forest VanDyke, Elaine Cotter and Joshua Bess.
Three working-class girls navigate the complex expectations of life, love, and family in a small-town pizza joint serving everyone from townies to the privileged country club set.
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“Adolph Green and Phyllis Newman: “A Helluva Life,” will take place online only Sept. 2-14, hosted by Bonhams.
Highlights include:
* 6 Tony Awards (five won by Green for his work on the musicals Hallelujah, Baby!, Applause, The Will Rogers Follies, and On The Twentieth Century, and also Phyllis Newman’s Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in Subways Are For Sleeping).
* Green’s annotated script for the 1952 film musical “Singin’ in the Rain,” written with Betty Comden.
Click here to view the full catalog.
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The Gingold Theatrical Group presents Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession, to run Oct. 12 – Nov. 20 (opening Oct. 27) at Theatre Row, directed by David Staller.
Karen Ziema (Mrs. Warren), Robert Cuccioli, David Lee Huynh, Alvin Keith, Nicole King ,and Raphael Nash Thompson, with Katya Collazo and Max Roll.
A former prostitute, now a madam, attempts to come to terms with her disapproving daughter.
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The UK tour of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, will launch Sept. 3-18 at Leicester’s Curve Theatre., directed by Anthony Almeida.
Siena Kelly (Maggie), Oliver Johnstone (Brick), Teresa Banham (Big Mama), Peter Forbes (Big Daddy), Sam Alexander (Gooper), Shanaya Rafaat (Mae), Suzette Llewellyn (Doctor Baugh), and Minal Patel (Reverend Tooker).
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The world premiere of Robert Mark Kamen & Drew Gasparini’s The Karate Kid – The Musical will run May 25 – June 26, 2022 at Stages St. Louis, directed by Amon Miyamoto, with choreography by Keone and Mari Madrid.
Casting and additional information TBA.
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A musical adaptation of Rebecca, based on Daphne du Maurier’s novel and Alfred Hitchcock’s film, was Ben Sprecher’s dream. Instead it turned into a years-long legal battle that captivated Broadway audiences for all the wrong reasons.
In Broadway Podcast Network‘s “Burnt: The Show That Set Broadway Ablaze,” Blake Ross explores the often unbelievable way everything unfolded. The 5-episode podcast, which is now available, features interviews with people with ties to the ill-fated show, including writer Christopher Hampton, performer Sierra Boggess, director Francesca Zambello, librettist Michael Kunze, and columnist Michael Riedel.
Following it’s four-part dive into the Rebecca saga, the podcast touches upon other Broadway scandals past and present, from Jeremy Piven’s “Sushigate” during Speed-the-Plow to the re-emergence of embroiled producer Garth Drabinsky.
Trailer (scroll down).
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The world premiere of Code Pink has been extended through Sept. 12 at North Hollywood’s Loft Ensemble, written & directed by Adam Chambers & Jana Lee Hamblin.
Bahasi Chapman, Nicole Craig, Britt Crip, Madylin Sweeten Durrie, Sydney Jenkins, Matt Monaco, Igancio Navarro, Bree Pavey, Leesie Pinto, Natasha Ranae Potts, Sarah Siverson, Sarah Sommers, and Vel Stacy.
Anything can happen during a 24-hour shift in a hospital maternity ward. The play peeks into the lives of the nurses, doctors, and administrators who work there, and reminds us that every hero has a story, but they don’t all have a happy ending.
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Open-Door Playhouse will premiere Jane M. Lee’s 15-minute audio play, Midnight at the Pancake Shack, on Wed. Sept. 22, directed by Bernadette Armstrong.
Rhikki Ashai (Brenda), Pat Loeb (Gloria), and Matthew Scott Montgomery (Martin).
Two hapless customers must confront a disgruntled employee when a late0night visit to a pancake restaurant goes awry.
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“Places, Please,” written, directed & choreographed by Reed Luplau, currently in development, will be released on a date TBA.
Danny Burstein, Deborah S. Craig, Krysta Rodriguez, Bahiyah Hibah, Ben Cook, Joseph Haro, and Pixie Aventura.
The short film is based on an artist therapy session struggling with the loss of work due to COVID. Set on an empty, ghost-like stage, a group of artists meet to reveal the journeys they have taken during the shutdown of the theatre industry. With these seven artists, including a dancer, writer, director, and drag artist, the film pulls back the curtain and shows how artists have been grieving for the loss of their passion and their craft.
