Today’s Highlights:
Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man and the Pool, directed by directed by Seth Barrish, opens at LA’s Mark Taper Forum.
Just for Us, written by & starring Alex Edelman, directed by Adam Brace, opens at MA’s Williamstown Theatre Festival.
The Color Purple, directed by Lili-Anne Brown, featuring Tracee Beazer (Shug Avery), Nasia Thomas (Nettie), Evan Tyrone Martin (Mister), Gilbert Domally (Harpo), Nichole Michelle Haskins (Sofia), and Anastacia McCleskey (Celie), Jade Jones (Standby for Sofia), with Jos N. Banks, Shantel Cribbs, Erica Durham, Duane Martin Foster, Damon J. Gillespie, Kennedy Holmes, Omega Jones, Sage Lee, Alicia Revé Like, Melanie Loren, Danea Osseni, Grant James Reynolds, Paris Porché Richardson, Amber Alexandrea Rose, Alexis Roston, Owen Scales, Rodney Thompson, Sean Walton, and Muny youth ensemble, opens at the St. Louis Muny.
Xanadu, by Douglas Carter Beane, Jeff Lynne & John Farra, directed & choreographed by Paula Hammons Sloan, featuring Kristen Daniels (Kira/Clio), Dorian Quinn (Sonny), Jonathan Van Dyke (Danny/Zeus), Michelle Bendetti (Calliope/Aphrodite), and Judy Mina-Ballard (Melpomene/Medusa), with Daniella Castoria, Erika Harper, AJ Love, Alec Mittenthal, Patrick Murray, and Ellery Smith, begins previews at Laguna Playhouse.
Charles Kirsch’ “Backstage Babble” presents its FREE Broadway Trivia podcast, featuring panelists Loni Ackerman, Candy Brown, Jim Brochu, Alex Korey, and JoAnn M. Hunter, and theater experts Matt Koplik, Michael Musto, Michael Portantiere, and Glenn Rosenblum, at 7:30 PM ET here.
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Reviews for Identical at the UK’s Nottingham Playhouse:
The Telegraph (Dominic Cavendish): Composer George Stiles and lyricist Anthony Drewe… Their latest, Identical, centering on identical twin sisters, is wholly original. It may not be in the same league as Poppins, or for that matter, the comparable Matilda. But starring real-life miracles of nature who prove to be forces of theatrical wonder, it has the makings of a must-see phenomenon… director Trevor Nunn must be thanking heaven for the little girls their casting team has recruited… The singing is superb and the music serves the fairy-tale-like story well… the way it combines one girl’s music with the other’s lyrics in the finale, so that each completes and complements the other, is ingenious to the point of genius…
The Stage (Julia Rank): …Stiles’ score is pleasant enough but not much to write home from summer camp about and Drewe’s lyrics have a tendency to labour the point, although many of them, especially in the ensemble numbers, are muddied by the sound design… Emily Tierney sings beautifully as career-minded single mother Lisalotte, her performance calling to mind the late Natasha Richardson… James Darch, meanwhile, is charming as Johan… This musical has considerable charm and real potential, but the pacing could be peppier and some more memorable tunes wouldn’t go amiss.
Musical Theatre Review (Rob Bartley): …there is much for today’s youngsters to enjoy here too. However it’s a bit too “nice”, and you can almost feel waves of vanilla coming off the stage… Stuart Paterson’s book again is sweet rather than sharp, sprinkled with a few good lines but otherwise in very safe territory… George Stiles and Anthony Drewe’s score is decent enough, with some really pretty melodies, although perhaps not as cohesively strong as some of their earlier efforts… Perhaps the biggest problem with Identical is its length. Clearly a fan of long running times, director Trevor Nunn brings the show in at just under three hours with interval…
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GRACE NOTES Quote of the Week: “The best audience is intelligent, well-educated, and a little drunk.” ~ Alvin Barkley
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Broadway Grosses for the week ending July 31.
Click here for the complete analysis.
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The next Seth Rudetsky’s Broadway concert will take place Mon. Sept. 12 at 8 PM ET at NYC’s Town Hall.
Jane Krakowski
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Anything Goes (returning production) will close Sept. 3 at the Barbican Theatre, directed by Kathleen Marshall.
Kerry Ellis, Denis Lawson, Simon Callow, Bonnie Langford, Samuel Edwards, Nicole-Lily Baisden, Carly Mercedes Dyer, Haydn Oakley, and more
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Winners have been announced for the 4th annual Write Out Loud songwriting contest, led by Taylor Louderman, Benjamin Rauhala, Hannah Kloepfer, Sarah Glugatch, and Josh Collopy. The contest shines a spotlight on emerging musical theatre songwriters.
Natalie Myrick, Emmet Smith, and Elyza Tuan.
Click here for more information about this year’s winners and the competition.
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Ensemble Theatre Company has announced its 2022-23 season at Santa Barbara’s New Vic Theatre.
Carmen Jones (Oct. 8-23), by George Bizet & Oscar Hammerstein II, directed by Jonathan Fox.
A Christmas Carol (Dec. 3-18), adapted by Patrick Barlow, directed by Jamie Torcellini.
Selling Kabul (Feb. 4-19, 2023), director TBA. 
An Afghan man, who was an interpreter for the U.S. Army, is now hiding from the Taliban’s at his sister’s apartment in Kabul. Tension mounts as he tries to get his wife and infant child out of the country.
The Children (Apr. 8-23), by Lucy Kirkwood (director TBA). Two retired nuclear physicists, a married couple, who are holed up in a remote cottage on the British coast, are visited by a long-ago colleague who mysteriously arrives as the world outside is dealing with a major climate disaster. We are asked what one generation owes the next.
Seared (June 10-25), by Theresa Rebeck, directed by Jonathan Fox. A brilliant, hot-headed chef scores a mention in New York Magazine with his signature dish of scallops, and his business partner finally sees the profits within each. The only problem: the chef refuses to recreate masterpieces for the masses.
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Guys and Dolls will run Oct. 7-16 at the Kennedy Center, directed by Marc Bruni, with choreography by Denis Jones, and music direction by Kevin Stites.
James Monroe Iglehart (Nathan Detroit), Jessie Mueller (Miss Adelaide), Steven Pasquale (Sky Masterson), Phillipa Soo (Sarah Brown), and more TBA.
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Video: “I’ve Been Waiting,” new song from Jason Robert Brown’s “13” Netflix film.
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Complete casting has been announced for August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, to begin previews Sept. 19 and open on a date TBA at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, directed by LaTanya Richardson.
Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), Danielle Brooks (Berniece), John David Washington (Boy Willie), Trai Byers (Avery), April Matthis (Grace), Ray Fisher (Laymon), Michal Potts (Wining Boy), and Nadia Daniel & Jurnee Elizabeth Swan (alternating as Marthea), with Shirine Babb, Charles Browning, Peter Jay Fernandez, Sharina Martin, Warner Miller, Doron JePaul Mitchell, and Kim Sullivan.
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(Read here) Jesse Green on helping Mary Rodgers write her “alarmingly outspoken” memoir, “Shy.”
Order the book in hardcover and Kindle here.
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Complete casting has been announced for the national tour of Jagged Little Pill, which will open Sept. 6 at Las Vegas’ Reynolds Hall, directed by Diane Paulus, with choreography by Sidi Larbi Dherkaoui.
Heidi Blickenstaff (Mary Jane Healy), Lauren Chanel (Frankie Healy), Chris Hoch (Steve Healy, Dillon Klena (Nick Healy), Jade McLeod (Jo and Allison), and Sheppard (Bella), with Lee H. Alexander), Delaney Brown, Jada Simone Clark, Lani Corson, Rishi Golani, Jason Goldston, Cydney Kutcipal, Jordan Leigh McCaskill, Alana Pollard, Daniel Thimm, Kei Tsuruharatani, Jena VanElslander, Maya J. Christian, Claire Crause, Sean Doherty, and Charles P. Way.
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Roundabout Theatre Company has announced complete casting for the world premiere of Noah Diaz’s You Will Get Sick, to run Oct. 14 – Dec. 11 (opening Nov. 6) at the Laura Pels Theatre, directed by Sam Pinkleton.
Marinda Anderson, Daniel K. Isaac, Linda Lavin, Nate Miller, and Dario Ladani Sanchez.
A young man is shocked to receive a life-changing diagnosis. Overwhelmed, he turns to a stranger for help, hiring an older woman to break the news to his family and friends – thus setting into motion a series of event that profoundly reshape both of their lives. This humane and piercing new play is a testament to the great challenges – and extraordinary joys – that come from having a body.
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The Echo Theater Company presents the world premiere of Jessica Goldberg’s Babe, to run Sept. 14 – Oct. 24 (opening Sept. 17) at the Atwater Village Theatre, directed by Chris Fields.
Julie Dretzin (Abby), Sal Viscuso (Gus), and Wylie Quinn Anderson (Kaitlin).
Abby has been discovering new talent since the ’90s, when she became the right had to A&R (“Artists & Repertoire) legend Gus. Together, they signed big bands, loved, fought, and lived hard. It was the best kind of work marriage – at least that’s how Abby sees it. That is, until Gen Z Kaitlin shows up, hell bent on showing these old rockers it’s 2022, and there’s a new generation hell-bent on changing the world. Evolve or die. Who goes down?
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Jimmy Naughton & Friends: An Afternoon of Stories and Songs, in support of the Williamstown Theatre Festival, will take place Sun. Aug. 7 at 3 PM ET at the festival’s Main Stage.
Kelli O’Hara, Greg Naughton, and Kiera Naughton.
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Martyna Majok’s Sanctuary City will run Sept. 14 – Oct. 9 (opening Sept. 18) at Pasadena Playhouse, directed by Zi Alikhan.
Ana Nicolle Chavez (“G”) and Miles Fowler (“B”).
The provocative, unforgettable story of two life-long friends, their tenuous grip on living in America, and persevering through whatever comes their way with wit and grit. Profoundly human and undeniably universal, it begs the question: how much do we owe to one another?
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Owen O’Neill & Dave Johns’ stage adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption will open its UK tour on Aug. 31 at Theatre Royal Windsor, directed by David Esbjornson.
Joe Absolom (Andy Dufresne) and Ben Onwukwe (Ellis “Red” Redding).