Today’s Highlights:
Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord, written by & starring Kristina Wong, directed by Chay Yew, opens at Culver City’s Kirk Douglas Theatre.
NAATCO & Soho Rep’s Public Obscenities, written & directed by Shayok Misha Chowdhury, featuring Tashnuva Anan (Shou), Debashis Roy Chowdhury (Pishe), Abrar Haque (Choton), Golam Sarwar Harun (Jitesh), Gargi Mukherjee (Pishimoni), NaFis (Sebanti), and Jakeem Dante Powell (Raheem), begins previews at Off-Broadway’s SoHo Rep.
The Lifespan of a Fact, by Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell & Gordon Farrell, directed by Simon Levy, featuring Ron Bottitta, Inger Tudor, and Jonah Robinson, begins previews at LA’s Fountain Theatre.
tick, tick… BOOM!, directed by Kari Hayter, featuring Ernesto Figueroa, Phillip J. Lewis, and Samantha M. Lawrence, begins previews at Long Beach’s International City Theatre.
Broadway Bound: The Musicals That Never Came to Broadway Part Three concert, directed by Robert W. Schneider, featuring Stephen Schwartz, Major Attaway, Mike Cefalo, Hilary cole, Erin Davie, Roger Dawley, Aaron Gooden, Debbie Gravitte, AJ Holmes, Joe Iconis, Bruce Landery, Kelly Lester, Timmy Lewis, Richard Maltby, T. Oliver Reid, Bryan George Rowell, and Mark William, at 7 PM at NYC’s 54 Below.
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Broadway Grosses for the week ending Feb. 12. Click here for the complete analysis.
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Virginia Stage Company will present Pearl Cleage’s Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous Mar. 1-19 at Norfolk’s Wells Theatre, directed by Tawnya Pettiford-Wates.
Patricia Alli (Anna Campbell), Mikayla Lashae Bartholomew (Precious “Pete” Watson), Terri Brown (Betty Samson), and Bethany Mayo (Kate Hughes).
When actress Anna Campbell is invited to restage her radical performance piece of re-imagined scenes from August Wilson’s play, she is surprised to learn she will not be taking center stage. A much younger entertainer will be stealing the spotlight at a new women’s theatre festival. Will they be able to build a bridge between their generations, or will the curtain close on Anna’s career?
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The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle has announced it 2022 nominations here (scroll down).
This year, in lieu of the annual live ceremony, the award recipients will once again be announced online at a future date.
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Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends will transfer to the West End’s Gielgud Theatre Sept. 16 – Jan. 6, 2024, directed by Matthew Bourne & Julia MNcKenzie, with choreography by Stephen Mear.
Bernadette Peters, Lea Salonga, Christine Allado, Janie Dee, Bonnie Langford, Jeremy Secomb, Beatrice Penny-Touré, Joanna Riding, Jac Yarrow, and more TBA.
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Milwaukee Rep has announced its 2023-24 season:
Country Sunshine: The Legendary Ladies of Nashville with Katie Deal (Sept. 8 – Oct. 29)
Run Bambi Run (Sept. 13 – Oct. 22), world premiere by Gordon Gano, directed by Mark Clements. Lawrencia “Bambi” Bembenek’s fall from Milwaukee Police Department cop to Playboy Bunny lands her in the slammer convicted of a murder she didn’t commit. Or did she?
Parental Advisory: a breakbeat play (Sept. 26 – Oct. 29) world premiere by Idris Goodwin. Two Hip-Hop artists mix slick beats and rhymes with important questions about censorship and expression in popular music. The play uses wit, humor, and the uncanny powers of the Wu-Tang Clan to enter a conversation on parenting, identity, and survival.
Nuncrackers (Nov. 3 – Jan. 7, 2024), by Dan Goggin.
Dial M for Murder (Nov. 14 – Dec. 17), by Frederick Knott, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher, directed by Laura Braza.
A Christmas Carol (Nov. 28 – Dec. 24), directed by Mark Clements.
Guys on Ice (Jan. 12 – Mar. 17, 2024) 25th anniversary production, by Fred Alley & James Kaplan, directed & choreographed by Jeffrey Herbst.
Little Women (Jan. 16 – Feb. 18), adapted by Kate Hammil.
What the Constitution Means to Me (Feb. 26 – Mar. 10), by Heidi Schreck, directed by Laura Braza.
The Chosen (Mar. 5-31), adapted by Aaron Posner & Chaim Potok.
Piano Men 2 (Mar. 22 – May 19), created by Mark Clements.
Nina Simone: Four Women (Apr. 16 – May 12), by Christina Ham.
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Under Construction – New Play Slam Fest will run Feb. 17 – Mar. 5 at North Hollywood’s Road on Magnolia.
Click the link above for the schedule of events.
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Larissa FastHorse’s The Thanksgiving Play will begin previews Mar. 25 and open Apr. 20 at the Helen Haye’s Theatre, directed by Rachel Chavkin.
D’Arcy Carden, Katie Finneran, Scott Foley and Chris Sullivan.
Finding Native Americans…isn’t so simple. And that’s when things start to get absurd. Sending up a whole feast of social issues, the play roasts everything right, wrong, and woke in America.
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Ambassador Theatre Group will combine operations with Jujamcyn Theater. The deal, subject to regulatory approval, would expand the Broadway footprint of ATG.
The British company is a relatively new face on Broadway, having taken over management of the Lyric Theatre in 2013, then added the Hudson Theatre in 2017.
The company’s largest presence is in the U.K., where it handles 10 West End Theatres and 27 regional houses. The group additionally operated 14 regular houses in the U.S., and five other venues across Europe.
Current Jujamcyn President Jordan Roth will reportedly become creative director of the new company as well as its largest individual shareholder, earning him a spot on the board.
The deal also has the potential to change the landscape of the Broadway season. ATG’s Lyric and Hudson theatres have notably been home to U.K.-originating and/or funded productions; the Lyric’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child transferred to Broadway via the West End, and British producer Sonia Friedman, while the Hudson’s A Doll’s House, a new production, is led by British director-producer Jamie Lloyd. Could we see another British invasion?
Not all Broadway theaters are owned by large corporations. Six venues are operated by non-profits, including the Stephen Sondheim, Studio 54, and The American Airlines by Roundabout Theatre Company; and the Samuel J. Friedman by Manhattan Theatre Club. Disney controls the New Amsterdam, and Circle in the Square is independently owned.
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A rumor suggests that Jerry Mitchell will direct & choreograph a London production of The Devil Wears Prada following the Chicago pre-Broadway run (directed by Anna D. Shapiro).
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“Fred & Ginger,” the new musical biopic by Jonathan Entwistle about the lived of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, will begin production later this year, directed by Jonathan Entwistle, with choreography by Chirstopher Wheeldon. Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear have joined the creative team of the film, working with Marius de Vries and Mark Sonnenblick to recreate the couple’s famous musical moments.
Jamie Bell (Fred Astaire) and Margaret Qualley (Ginger Rogers) with more TBA.
A separate Fred Astaire biopic is also confirmed to be in the works, this one starring Tom Holland and directed by Paul King.
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The pre-Broadway engagement of David Foster, Susan Birkenhead & Bob Martin’s BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical will run Nov. 19 – Dec. 31 at Chicago’s CIBC Theatre, directed & choreographed by Jerry Mitchell.
Casting and additional information TBA.
Betty’s dream of an ordinary day off from the super-celebrity in her black-and-white world leads to an extraordinary adventure of color, music, and love in New York City – on the reminds her and the world, “You are capable of amazing things.”
Video: Promo
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Elaine Stritch at Liberty will stream on BroadwayHD beginning Mar. 1.
This deeply personal on-woman show details Stritch’s 50+ year career on stage and screen.
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Pearl Cleage’s Angry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeous will run Mar. 1-19 at Virginia Stage Company, directed by Tawnya Pettiford-Wates.
Patricia Alli (Anna Campbell), Mikayla Lashae Bartholomew (Precious “Pete” Watson), Terri Brown (Betty Samson), and Bethany Mayo (Kate Hughes).
When actress Anna Campbell is invited to re-stage her radical performance piece of re-imagined scenes from August Wilson’s play, she is surprised to learn she will not be taking center stage. A much younger entertainer will be stealing the spotlight at a new women’s theatre festival. Will they be able to build a bridge between their generations, or will the curtain close on Anna’s career?
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LA Theatre Works will screen the London production of David Hare’s Straight Line Crazy on Sun. Feb. 26 at 3 PM at UCLA’s James Bridges Theatre, directed by Nicholas Hytner.
Ralph Fiennes (Robert Moses), Alisha Bailey (Mariah Heller), Samuel Barnett (Ariel Porter), David Bromley (Stamford Fergus), Al Coppola (Walter McQuade), Siobhán Cullen (Finnuala Connell), Ian Kirkby (Lewis Mumford), Alana Maria (Shirley Hayes), Dani Moseley (Carol Ames), Guy Paul (Henry Vanderbilt), Helen Schlesinger (Jane Jacobs), Mary Stillwaggon Stewart (Nicole Sawyer), and Danny Webb (Governor Al Smith)
For 40 uninterrupted years, Robert Moses exploited those in office through a mix of charm and intimidation. Motivated at first by a determination to improve the lives of New York City’s workers, he created parks, bridges, and 267 miles of expressway to connect the people to the great outdoors. Faced with resistance by groups of campaigning for a very different I dea of what the city should become, will the weakness of democracy be exposed in the face of his charismatic conviction?