Today’s Highlights:
Wait Until Dark, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher, directed by Mark Shanahan, featuring Meredith Parker (Susan), Steve Pacek (Mike), Seth Andrew Bridges (Roat), Triney Sandoval (Carlino), Mike Gerbi (Sam), and Willow Smith (Gloria), opens at Virginia Stage Company.
The Typist, world premiere by Shem Bitterman, directed by Jeremy Wechsler, featuring Noah James and Evangeline Edwards, begins previews at Hollywood’s Hudson Guild Theatre.
54 Sings the Life of a Showgirl livestream only concert (no in-person option), with music direction by Drew Wutke, featuring Alexandra Baker, Elyse Bell, Anna Bermudez, Aryn Bohannon, Ethan Carlson, Tyler Conroy, Deanna Giulietti, Tayler Harris,Krystal Hernandez, Morgan Higgins, Natalie Joy Johnson, Korie Lee Blossey, Cate Ré, Morgan Reilly, Kat Rodriguez, Carrie Wagner, and Gianna Yanelli, livestreams at 7 PM at NYC’s 54 Below.
**********************
Company of Angels will present the world premiere of Kimba Henderson’s Red Harlem, to run Feb. 14 – Mar. 15 , directed by Bernadette Speakes.
Christopher Cassarino (David), Dennis Gersten Hugh Cooper), Micah Johnson (James Ford/Ralph Bunche), Dylan Jones (Velma), Luis Kelly-Duarte (Shifty), Rama Orleans-Lindsay (Lenore), Claudio Parrone Jr. (Misha), Fana Minea Tesfagiorgis (Selena), and Fana Minea Tesfagiorgis (Selena).
Based on true events when the Communist Party courted African Americans in 1932 by championing their civil rights and opposing racist injustices, four Harlemites fleeing racial injustice and the economic fallout of the great depression, win roles in a blockbuster film financed by Joseph Stalin. Once in the Soviet Union, they pursue the dreams denied them in the US, but when they discover the country is hiding a devastating secret, they’ll be forced to escape it with their lives.
**********************
The Fever, written & performed by Wallace Shawn, will begin previews Feb. 4 and open Feb. 16 at Off-Broadway’s Greenwich House Theatre.
A nameless narrator, confined to a squalid hotel room inside a poor nation, lies feverish as political repression takes place just outside his window. While he recovers, he starts to question his own privilege and in particular his complicity, as he grapples with the stark realities of inequality and human suffering.
**********************
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Masquerade continues through July 5 at a custom built 5-story venue at Off-Broadway’s 218 W. 57th St.
(new): Quentin Earl Darrington, Ryan Vona, and Addie Morales, with Milena Comeau, Dan Hoy, Audrey Logan, Liz Pierce, Cooper Stantoon and Seamus Thompson.
**********************
Musical Theatre Guild‘s concert presentation of Applause will take place Sun. Feb. 15 at Santa Monica’s Broad Stage, directed by Trance Thompson.
Barbara Carlton Heart (Margo), Ashley Moniz (Eve), Brian Kim McCormick (Bill), Taubert Nadalini (Duane), Joshua Finkel (Buzz), Leslie Stevens (Karen), Robert Yacko (Howard), and Melissa Lyons Caldretti (Bonnie), with Patrick Beller, Jennifer Bennett, Jasmine Ejan, Kevin Matsumoto, Benny Perez, George Xavier, and guest artists Roma Scarano and Chantal Tribble.
**********************
Taylor Mac & Matt Ray’s “The Hang” will be released Feb. 10 at major retailers and indie bookstores, and is now available for pre-order here.
A joyfully queer musical-theatrical fantasia. Drawing on jazz music and operatic form, the book reimagines the final hours of Socrates as an ecstatic celebration of philosophy, queerness, and communal gathering.
**********************
Lindsey Ferrentino’s The Fear of 13 will begin previews Mar. 19 and open Apr. 15 at the James Earl Jones Theatre, directed by David Cromer.
Adrien Brody (Nick Yarris) and Tessa Thompson (Jackie Schaffer).
The extraordinary true story of Nick Yarris, who spends more than two decades on death row for a murder he insists he did not commit. Through a series of prison visits with a volunteer named Jackie, Nick traces a life shaped by impulse and consequence. As Nick and Jackie’s conversations deepen, the line between witness and participant blurs, forcing both to confront what justice demands, what belief requires, and the perilous distance between true freedom and the illusion of self determination. By turns devastating, darkly funny, and life-affirming, A powerful exploration of truth and trust, conscience and connection.
**********************
The world premiere of Emily Saliers’ Starstruck will run Feb. 19 – Mar. 21 at PA’s Bucks County Playhouse, directed by Lorin Latarro.
Beth Malone (Cyd DeBerg), Krysta Rodriguez (Roxanne Cooley) Sam Gravitte (Sunny), Scott Stangland (J.D), Sandra Valls ( Crash), Donald Corren (Woody), and Sydney Patrick (Linda), with Nathan Quay Thomas and Elana Cantor.
A sharp and surprising new musical comedy set in the mountain town of Sawtooth, Idaho, where the night sky looms large and the stars have never felt closer. Astronomer Cyd DeBerg is determined to secure Dark Sky Reserve status for the town — but not if bar owner JD’s neon sign has anything to say about it. When a nationally known NPR podcaster arrives to cover the conflict, small-town tensions lead to revelations about connection, change, and unexpected attraction. With a book by Tony Award–nominee Beth Malone and Mary Ann Stratton and music by Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls, “Starstruck” shines as a luminous new musical that sparkles with heart.
**********************
The world premiere of David Glass’ Spare Parts will run Feb. 26 -Apr. 10 (opening Mar. 8) at Theatre Row, directed by Michael Herwitz.
Jonny-James Kajoba Rob McClure, Michael Genet, Matt Walker, and Langston Reese.
Set against the backdrop of radical aging research funded by a billionaire’s quest for eternal life, Spare Parts confronts the blurred lines between science, identity, and morality — and asks the question few dare to say out loud: what does it cost to live forever?
**********************
CT’s Goodspeed Musicals will host 41 writers for its Annual Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Grove, which continues through Feb. 22.
A distinguished group of 41 established and emerging composers, lyricists and librettists representing 19 new musicals will gather in East Haddam creating a truly exceptional environment for discovery and inspiration at one of the premier writers’ residencies in the nation.
**********************
Harold Brighouse’s Zack will run Feb. 21 – Mar. 28 at the Mint Theatre, directed by Britt Berke.
Jordan Matthew Brown, Carolie Festa, Grace Guichard, David Lee Huyny, David Patterson, Douglas Rees, Sean Runnette, Joy Avigail Sudduth, and Cassia Thompson.
Zachariah Munning has a natural sweetness that is unappreciated by his family. They long ago decided he was just lazy and dim. Zack’s calculating mother and cold-blooded brother are scheming to take advantage of a rich relative who is coming to visit. They believe her wealth might solve the problem of their failing business and are ready to sacrifice Zack for their own aims.