Today’s Highlights:
* 18 Voices: A Liberation Day Reading of Young Writers’ Diaries From The Holocaust FREE benefit reading, presented by The Museum of Jewish Heritage, narrated by Liev Schreiber, and featuring Skylar Astin, Andrea Burns, and Mandy Gonzalez, streams at 8 PM ET here.
* The Homebound Project, 6th edition, a virtual benefit theatre event benefiting children affected by the coronavirus pandemic, starring Sting and a plethora of Broadway performers, begins streaming here (and available through Jan. 31).
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Video: Stars in the House, offering Nina West’s Disney Legends Party, with special guests Alan Menken, Lea Salonga, Jodi Benson, and Paige O’Hara. (1:45:34)
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GRACE NOTES Quote of the Week: “Theatre is the art form of the present; it exists only in the present, then it is gone.” ~ Simon McBurney
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Boston’s Commonwealth Shakespeare Company presents The Actor’s Craft: Bringing a Character to Life, with special guest Denis O’Hare, which will stream Sat. Jan. 30 at 4 PM ET.
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North Hollywood’s Road Theatre Company has announced upcoming readings for its Under Construction play reading series. Each play streams for 3 weeks.
* Ladyville (Jan. 29 at 7 PM PT), by Aja Houston, directed by Inger Tudor, featuring Christian Telesmar, Kacie Rogers, Cherish Monique Duke, and Tamika Katon Donegal.
* Whiskey and Hooch (Jan. 30 at 7 PM PT), written & directed by Carlos Lacámara, featuring Steven Porter, Arthur Hanket, Stephanie Erb, Christian Telesmar, and Jaqueline Misaye.
* the play you want (Jan. 30 at 7 PM PT), by Bernardo Cabría, directed by Michael John Garcés, featuring Jorge Cordova, Chelsea Gonzalez, Lidia C. Porto, Natalie Llerena, Jonathan Nichols, Roland Ruiz, Christopher Larkin, and Stewart J. Zully.
* Third Person (Jan. 31 at 7 PM PT), by Jennifer Maisel, directed by Emily Chase, featuring Josh Zuckerman and Samantha Tan.
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Dixie’s Happy Hour, an updated version of Dixie’s Tupperware Hour, starring Dixie Longate, will stream Feb. 9-21 (all at 8 PM PT) at Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center.
Yes, Dixie has gone digital to bring you 95 minutes that include some new stories as she’s mixing up a few cocktails and challenging you to find the Happy Hours that are right in front of you but you may be overlooking. What do you get when you mix gin, rum, vodka and tequila together? According to Dixie, if it doesn’t lead to you doing something where you have to scroll through your photos from last night to find who you need to bake apology cupcakes for, then if you squint in just the right way and change your focus, you’ll see the glory in you that makes you the remarkable person you are.
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NJ’s George Street Playhouse has announced its 2021 season:
* Bad Dates (Feb. 23 – Mar. 14), by Theresa Rebeck, directed by Peter Flynn, and starring Andréa Burns. A single mom in search of cute shoes, the perfect dress, and a romantic table for two at a great restaurant.
* Fully Committed (Mar. 23 – Apr. 11), by Becky Mode, directed by David Saint, and starring Maulik Pancholy. The play takes place in a famed restaurant where patrons will stop at nothing to secure a reservation, including coercion and brides.
* Tiny Beautiful Things, by Cherlyl Strayed, adapted by Nia Vardalos, directed by David Saint, and starring TBA. The play is about reaching when you’re stuck, recovering when you’re broken, and finding the courage to ask the questions that are hardest to answer.
* It’s Only a Play (dates TBA), by Terrence McNally. Casting TBA. It is opening night and the cast of characters is waiting eagerly for what could only be rave reviews.
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Off-Broadway’s MCC Theater presents a reading of Alan Bowne’s Beirut, to stream Jan. 28 at 7:30 PM ET (and available through Jan. 31), directed by Will Cantler.
Marisa Tomei, Oscar Isaac, and Patrick Breen.
A young man is in quarantine after testing positive to a nameless disease. His girlfriend refuses to leave him isolating alone.
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“Six by Sondheim” (2013 documentary), directed by James Lapine, will be released on Feb. 9 on Blu-ray here. A highly personal profile of Stephen Sondheim as revealed through the creation and performance of six of his icon songs.
Barbara Barrie, Jack Bashkow, Charles Braswell, Susan Browning, Judy Bruno Bennett, Glenn Close, Jarvis Cocker, Darren Criss, John Cunningham, Yvonne De Carlo, Judi Dench, Steve Elmore, America Ferrera, George Hearn, Jackie Hoffman, Beth Howland, Hugh Jackman, Glynis Johns, Dean Jones, Jeremy Jordan, Larry Kert, Charles Kimbrough, Patti LaBelle, Gypsy Rose Lee, Jill Lord, Merle Louise, Audra McDonald, Donna McKechnie, Ethel Merman, Bette Midler, Peter Mintun, Donna Murphy, Pamela Myers, Laura Osnes, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Teri Ralston, Jeff Schiller, Jere Shea, Frank Sinatra, Stephen Sondheim, Barbra Streisand, Elaine Stritch, Will Swenson, and Eha Urbsalu.
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The extended edition (3+ hours) of Kenneth Lonergan’s film “Margaret” is now available on HBO Max.
Anna Pacquin, J. Smith Cameron, Mark Ruffalo, Jeannie Berlin, Jean Reno, John Gallagher Jr., Allison Janney, Keiran Culkin, Matt Damon, Matt Bush, Rosemary DeWitt, Matthew Broderick, Olivia Thirlby, Josh Hamilton, Michael Ealy, Krysten Ritter, Sarah Steele, and Betsy Aidem.
The story of a Manhattan teenager whose life is altered after witnessing a terrible accident.
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Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced the remainder of its 2021 season:
* Paradise Blue (now available), by Dominique Morisseau. directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, featuring André Holland, Kristolyn Lloyd, Simone Missick, Keith Randolph Smith, and Blair Underwood.
* Wish You Were Here (released Apr. 1), world premiere by Sanaz Toossi, directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch, featuring Nikki Massoud, Marjan Neshat, Nazanin Nour, Artemis Pebdani, and Roxanna Hope Radja. Nazanin and her friends are on the brink of adulthood. As they prepare for a wedding, outside their living room the Iranian Revolution simmers and threatens to alter the course of their lives.
* Row (released Apr. 8), by Daniel Goldstein & Dawn Landes, directed by Tyne Rafaeli, featuring Kerstin Anderson, John Ellison Conlee, Nehal Joshi, Tamika Lawrence, John McGinty, Grace McLean, Kathryn O’Rourke, Lance Roberts, Sean Stack, and Sally Wilfert. Tori aims to be the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic. As a child, she raised her younger brother, defending him again discrimination and neighborhood bullies. Now, with nothing but her body and a hand-built boat, she squares off with her own tormentor: the ocean.
The other 4 titles in the season are all now also available:
* A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams
* Photograph 51, by Anna Ziegler
* Animals, by Stacy Osei-Kuffour
* Chonburi International Hotel & Butterfly Club, by Shakina Nayfack.
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VA’s Signature Theatre has announced its Simply Sondheim concert, which will stream Feb. 2 – Mar. 26, created by Eric Schaeffer & David Loud, and directed & choregraphed by Matthew Gardiner, with new orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick.
Norm Lewis, Solea Pfeiffer, Conrad Ricamora, Emily Skinner, Nicholas McDonough, Donna Migliaccio, Christopher Mueller, Katie Mariko Murray, Tracy Lynn Olivera, Paul Scanlan, Awa Sal Secka, and Bobby Smith.
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Video: Victor Borge, the master in action
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A virtual production of Theresa Rebeck’s Bad Dates will stream Feb. 23 – Mar. 14 at NJ’s George Street Playhouse, directed by Peter Flynn.
Andréa Burns.
The story of a single mom on the hunt for cute shows, the perfect dress, and a romantic table for two at a great restaurant.
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Chicago’s Porchlight Music Theatre has announced the final episodes of “Sondheim @ 90 Roundtable.”
Sat. Jan. 30 at 7 PM CT: Celebration of the 90th birthday year of Stephen Sondheim, with special guests John Doyle, Judy Kuhn, and Kathey Voytko.
Sat. Feb. 6 at 7 PM CT: Celebrating Company, with special guests Raúl Esparza, Robert Falls, and Lonnie Price.