Today’s Highlights:
Dear Octopus, by Dodie Smith, directed by Emily Burns, featuring Amaia Naima Aguinaga, Alice Bounsall, Bessie Carter, Pandora Colin, Miriam Cooper, Bethan Cullinane, Lindsay Duncan, Kate Fahy, Tom Glenister, Jo Herbert, Billy Howle, Ethan Hughes, Deven Modha, Syakira Moeladi, Amy Morgan, Celia Nelson, Dharmesh Patel, Malcolm Sinclair, Natalie Thomas and John Vernon, with 9 children rotating in various roles, opens at London’s Lytleton Theatre.
Melissa Erico: A Manhattan Valentine concert opens at NYC’s Birdland.
I love you so much I could die, written by & starring Mona Pirnot, directed by Lucas Hnath, opens at Off-Broadway’s New York Theatre Workshop.
The Christine Jorgensen Show, by Donald Steven Olson, directed by Michael Barakiva, featuring Jesse James Keitel and Mark Nadler, opens at Off Broadway’s 59E59 Theaters.
Nicole Travolta is Doing Alright solo show, written, directed by & starring Lauren Burns, opens at Off-Broadway’s SoHo Playhouse.
The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers, by Alex Brightman & Drew Gasparini, directed by Chad Rabinovitz, featuring Marc Summers, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s New World Stages.
Orchestrating Maestro: Music and Conversation event (performance and Q&A), at 8 PM at NYC’s David Geffen Hall.
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Reviews for The Apiary at Off-Broadway’s Tony Kiser Theatre:
NY Times (Jesse Green): Here’s a pitch you haven’t heard before. It’s 2046. Bees in the wild have succumbed to a planet-wide die-off, taking almonds, avocados and honey down with them. But in a subterranean lab, three women doing “palliative care” with four remaining broods make a hopeful if gruesome discovery. Also, it’s a comedy. Call it “Little Hive of Horrors.” …a bright, strange and mesmerizing marvel by Kate Douglas, making her professional playwriting debut… a nearly perfect, first-class staging under the almost too good direction of Kate Whoriskey… The performances are perfect individually, but are also perfectly calibrated…
New York Theatre Guide (Joe Dziemianowicz): …a peculiar yet quietly compelling portrait of two teenagers, a French girl and a German soldier, chasing a connection — and a roll in the hay — amid wartime… It feels both very familiar (young love among the ruins) and disarmingly fresh (credit the unusual framework)… references to Law & Order and snippets of hits by Fleetwood Mac (“Dreams”) and Adele (“Someone Like You”) sung by two amiable seniors on stage observing the teens’ every move from a distance suggest there’s more afoot. But what?… Director Jack Serio guides an efficient staging. [Austen] Pendleton, as always, brings buckets of appeal, but his performance is a bit rough around the edges….
Theatermania (Christian Lewis): While you may be aware that bees are in danger of becoming extinct within our lifetimes–and of the drastic results this will have on our ecosystem–it’s likely not something you think about often…Because of the lack of bees, there’s no honey, no almonds, no avocados, and almost no fruit. The characters work in an underfunded lab that attempts to keep bees hiving but is largely unsuccessful… The play explores a thorny issue that brings up emotionally compelling and relatable questions, from “What is our relationship to nature?” to “What are we willing to do to save an endangered species?” While these are fascinating, Douglas’ script, overall, leaves a bit to be desired…
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Broadway Grosses for the week ending Feb. 11.
Click here for the complete analysis.
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Alex Bechtel, Grace McLean & Eva Steinmetz’s Penelope will run Mar. 5 – Apr. 21 at DC’s Signature Theatre, directed by Steinmetz, with music direction by Ben Moss.
Jessica Phillips
If we’re going to talk about the Trojan War, we need a drink. Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, is fed up and has some things she wants to say. With glass of bourbon in hand, she takes the microphone to chronicle those twenty years waiting on the small island kingdom of Ithaca.
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Musical Theatre Guild‘s concert presentation of Matthew Sklar, Chad Beguielin & Tim Herlihy’s The Wedding Singer will take place Sun. Mar. 7 at 7 PM at Santa Monica’s Broad Stage, directed by Mary Jo DuPrey, with music direction by Cassie Nickols Gonzalez.
Will Collyer, Mathew Patrick Davis, Zachary Ford, Tal Fox, Nancy Lam, Barbara Minkus, Taubert Nadalini, Wendy Rosoff, and Trance Thompson, with guest artists Krista Feallock, Janaya Jones, Marie Guttierez, Antoine Lee, Lyle colby Mackston, Ashley Moniz, and Kyle Montgomery.
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Ronán Noone’s Thirst will run Feb. 23 – Mar. 17 at Boston’s Lyric Stage Company, directed by Courtney O’Connor.
Aimee Doherty (Bridget Conroy), Kate Fizgerald (Cathleen Mullin), and Michael Kaye (Jack Smythe).
There’s a whole other story unraveling on the other side of the kitchen wall of Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Two Irish immigrants including a disappointed cook whose shuttered heart only blooms when she has a bottle in her hand and a vibrant young maid who survived a trip on the Titanic pass the day amid their gloomy daily chores alongside a resilient American chauffeur with a troubled past. As tensions rise, high-spirited humor and harsh cynicism boil over as the trio confront abandoned dreams and heart-breaking misfortunes. Underneath it all, hope is not as far away as it seems.
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Beverly Hills’ Theatre 40 (241 S. Moreno Dr.) will present a free staged reading of Johnson/Johnson: Two Presidents, Same Problem, written & directed by Melanie Macqueen, on Sat. Feb. 17 at 1 PM.
Theatre 40 members
In the 1860’s, Andrew Johnson became President after the assassination of Lincoln. In the 1960’s, Lyndon Johnson became President after the assassination of Kennedy. Though a hundred years had passed, the same problem confronted them both – what to do about Civil Rights. The play takes us through how two very different men fought the same battle – and what it cost them to do so.
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Fatherland, conceived & directed by Stephen Sachs, will run Feb. 22 – Mar. 30 at the Fountain Theatre.
Ron Bottitta, Patrick Keleher, Anna Khaja, and Larry Poindexter.
A nation watches as a 19-year-old son faces the hardest day in his life. After turning his father in to the FBI, the son must now testify against his dad for his part in the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
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Primary Stages’ production of Charles Busch’s Ibsen’s Ghost: An Irresponsible Biographical Fantasy, most recently seen at NJ’s George Street Playhouse, will transfer to 59 E. 59 Theaters, from Mar. 2 – Apr. 14 (opening Mar. 14), directed by Carl Andress.
Charles Busch (Suzannah Ibsen), Thomas Gibson (Wolf), Jen Cody (Gerda), Christopher Borg (George Elstad/The Rat Wife), Judy Kaye (Magdalene Thoresen), and Jennifer Van Dyck (Hanna Solberg), with Kate Hampton.
A tall tale about the wife of the Doll’s House playwright, taking place the week after his funeral. Suddenly among her new predicaments are her husband’s long-lost illegitimate son, a libelous so-called diary being shopped around by a former protégé, and a mysterious exterminator.**********************
Virginia Stage‘s concert production of Sweeney Todd will take place Sat. Apr. 13 at Norfolks’ Chrysler Hall, directed by Tom Quaintance, with music direction by Rob Fisher.
Rod Gilfry (Sweeney Todd), and more TBA.
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The recent Carnegie Hall concert of Lindsay Warren Baker & Amanda Jacobs’s Austen’s Pride, which was recorded, will be released Fri. June 18 on most platforms.
Mamie Parris, Olivia Hernandez, Andrew Samonsky, Jason Gotay, Beth Leavel, and more.
Audio. Listen to 2 songs from the album.
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Initial casting has been announced for Angelica Chéri & Ross Baum’s Gun & Powder, to run Apr. 4 – May 5 (opening Apr. 14) at NJ’s Paper Mill Playhouse, directed by Stevie Walker-Webb, with choreography by Tiffany Rea-Fisher, and music direction by Austin Cook.
Liisi LaFontaine (Martha Clarke), Ciara Renée (Mary Clarke), Jeannette Bayardelle (Tallulah Clarke), Aaron James McKenzie (Elijah), and Hunter Parrish (Jesse Whitewater), with more TBA.
The new musical is inspired by the true story of Mary and Martha Clarke, African American twin sisters who take extraordinary measures to settle their mother’s sharecropper debt and save her home. In 1893 Texas, the Sisters Clarke—passing as white—embark on a remarkable Wild West adventure that examines race, family, and identity with two electrifying women who transformed from farm girls to outlaws to legends.
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Nick Cearley: I didn’t Recognize You With Your Clothes On will run Feb. 24-25 at PA’s Bucks County Playhouse.
Jenny Lee Stern.
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Agatha Crhistie’s The Hollow will run Apr. 13-21 at the Players Theatr, directed by Andrew Winans.
Andrea Woodbridge (Henrietta), Armand Eisen (Henry), Sue-Ellen Mandell (Lady Angkatell), Lexie Showalter (Midge), Christopher Michael (Gudgeon), Joseph Meisner (Edward), Patricia M. Lawrence (Doris), Brenda Bell (Gerda,) Dustin Schlairet (John), Sydney Borchers (Veronica), Eric Spencer Fletcher (Inspector Colquhoun), and Austin Blake Sasser (Detective Sergeant Penny).
A comedic twist on the classic whodunnit murder mystery formula, taking place just outside London.
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Due to renovations, there will be no FREE Shakespeare productions this Summer at Central Park’s Delacorte Theatre.
However, The Public Theater has announced Newly revealed summer 2024 programming, titled “Go Public!,” which includes a return of the company’s Mobile Unit, which is bringing back its bilingual musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, and offering FREE performances at all 5 NYC boroughs from May 28 – June 30.
In addition, The Public is making filmed performances of past productions accessible to everyone. Stay tuned for further updates, as well as creative teams and casting.
And more! The Public Theater will also stream for FREE throughout May on PBS.org and also on the PBS app. Productions included are….. 2019’s Much Ado About Nothing ….. 2021’s Merry Wives ….. and 2022’s Richard IIII will also be available to stream for free.