Today’s Highlights:
Aaron Tveit begins his limited return to Moulin Rouge at Broadway’s Al Hirschfeld Theatre.
18th annual Under the Radar Festival opens at Off-Broadway’s Public Theater.
Turn The Beat Around, a salute to Studio 54, directed by Scott Colter, featuring Susan Agin, Scott Coulter, Natalie Douglas, Tyce Green, Jessica Hendy, Michael Holland, Blaine Alden Krauss, Larry Lelli, Anthony Murphy, Tim Quartier, Kelli Rabke, Devin L. Roberts, Matt Scharfglass, and Mike Schwitter, opens NYC’s 54 Below.
Chopin in Paris, written & performed by Hershey Felder, directed by Joel Zwick, opens at Laguna Playhouse.
Mean Girls tour, by Tina Fey, Jeff Richmond & Nell Benjamin, directed & choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, featuring Danielle Wade (Cady Heron), Mariah Rose Faith (Regina George), Megan Masako Haley (Gretchen Wieners, and Jonalyn Saxer (Karen Smith), Eric Huffman (Damian Hubbard), Gaelen Gilliland (Mrs. Heron/Ms. Norbury)/Mrs. George), Adante Carter (Aaron Samuels), Kabir Bery (Kevin Gnapoor), and Lawrence E. Street (Mr. Duvall, with Mary Kate Morrissey, Janis Sarkisian, English Bernhardt, DeShawn Bowens, Will Branner, Morgan Bryant, Sarah Crane, Ixchel Cuellar, Mary Beth Donahoe, Niani Feelings, Sky Flaherty, Samuel Gerber, Fernell Hogan II, Asia Marie Kreitz, Olivia Renteria, Grace Romanello, Sydney Mei Ruf-Wong, Marcus Shane, Kaitlyn Louise Smith, David Wright Jr. and Blake Zelesnikar, previews at LA’s Pantages Theatre.
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Broadway Grosses for the week ending Jan. 1.
Click here for the complete analysis.
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The Golden Globes will air Tue. Jan. 19 at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT on NBC and Peacock.
Additional information TBA.
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RIP: Richard Korthaze passed away on Jan. 2 in Connecticut.
Richard was in the original Broadway companies of Bob Fosse’s Dancin’, Pippin and Chicago, in which he gave a brilliant performance playing all of the jurors. He was first seen on Broadway in the chorus of the 1951 revival of Pal Joey and continued working in How to Succeed and Take Me Along. His last Broadway show was Anything Goes with Patti LuPone. Dick was honored with the Gypsy Robe (now Legacy Robe) many times and also appeared in the movies “I’m Not Rappaport,” “The Addams Family” and “Sweet Charity.”
A memorial service in NYC will be announced by the family.
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The Piano Lesson has officially become the highest grossing August Wilson play in Broadway history.
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The 76th Annual Tony Awards will be broadcast live from NYC’s United Palace (4140 Broadway) on Sun. June 11, 2023, on CBS, and streaming live and on demand on Paramount+.
The eligibility cut-off date for the 2022-23 season is Thurs. Apr. 27.
Nominations will be announced May 2.
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Not About Me, world premiere written & directed by Eduardo Machado, will run Jan. 13 – Feb. 5 (opening Jan. 18) at Theater for the New City.
Mateo d’Amato, Michael Domitrovich, Crystal Field, Ellis Charles Hoffmeister, Charles Manning, Drew Valins, and Heather Velazquez.
The memory play takes audiences on a haunting journey through the mind of a playwright during Covid-19 lockdowns. Long buried memories of friends lost to a mysterious “gay” disease come crashing into the present, and he is compelled to examine his artistic and political life in the theater.
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Lee Edward Colston II’s The First Deep Breath will run Feb. 1 – Mar. 5 (opening Feb. 9) at the Geffen Playhouse, directed by Steve H. Broadnax III.
Opa Adeyemo (AJ), Lee Edward Colston II (Abdul-Malik), Brandon Mendez Homes (Leslie Carter), Ella Joyce (Ruth Jones), Deanna Reed-Foster (Pearl Thomas), Candace Thomas (Dee-Dee), Tony Todd (Paster Albert Melvin Jones III), and Keith A. Wallace (Tyree Fisher).
The play follows the Jones family, lead by patriarch Pastor Albert Jones, while organizing a memorial service to mark the sixth anniversary of daughter Diane’s death. When their estranged eldest son, Abdul-Malik, comes home from prison, the families mask of perfection begins to break down as family secrets spill forth.
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The world premiere of Martin Bergman & Rita Rudner’s Staged will run Jan. 25 – Feb. 12 (opening Jan. 29) at Laguna Playhouse, directed by Bergman.
Rita Rudner (Fenella Fennington) and Mike McShane (Jarvis Haverly), with Annie Abrams, Kelly Holden Bashar, Brian Jones, Brian Lohmann, Patrick Vest, and Lindsey Young.
Taylor and Burton, Olivier and Leigh…Fennington and Haverly. After and acrimonious divorce, can a famous, high-maintenance acting couple work together again twenty years later?
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All the musical numbers in the film “Matilda The Musical”
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RIP: Frank Galati ,director, writer and actor, has died at the age of 79.
A member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company since 1985, Frank won two Tony Awards for his adaptation and direction of the theatre’s production of The Grapes of Wrath on Broadway, and was nominated for a 1998 Tony Award for his direction of Ragtime.
In addition to his directing career, Frank is also known for his acting at Steppenwolf (The Drawer Boy and The Tempest), and for his film screenplay adaptation of “The Accidental Tourist.”
Prior to his death, Frank was an artistic associate at Sarasota’s Asolo Rep.
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The Lehman Trilogy will return to London Jan. 24 – May 20 at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, directed by Sam Mendes.
Michael Balogun, Hadley Fraser, and Nigel Lindsay, with Ravi Auila, Will Harrison-Wallace, Leighton Pugh, and pianist Yshani Perinpanayagam.
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Video: Bernadette Peters, Carol Burnett, and Tony Roberts sing a Sondheim Medley.
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Colin Quinn: Small Talk will run Jan. 6 – Feb. 11 (opening Jan. 23) at the Lucille Lortel Theatre.
In his latest attempt at humor, Colin breaks down the one area he’s actually gifted in: Personality. Mr. Quinn has been chatting it up with friends, family, municipal employees and counter people for his whole life and now he can teach you how to stop sucking the energy out of the room.
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54 Celebrates Mel Brooks will take place Mon. Jan. 23 at 7 & 9:3o PM at NYC’s 54 Below, with music direction by Ben Caplan, and hosted by Michael Kostroff.
Karen Ziemba, Jill Abramovitz, Ari Axelrod, Jim Borstelmann, James Monroe Igelhart, Michael Kostroff, Michael Kushner, Ryan Mac, Stuart Marland, Bus Phillips, Alex Puette, Ben Rappaport, T. Oliver Reid, Jelani Remy, Kyle Scatliffe, Adam B. Shapiro, Phil Sloves, Caroline Aimetti, Asia DeShields, and Ben Schrager.
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Much Ado About Nothing will run Feb. 5 – Mar. 12 (opening Feb. 11) at Pasadena’s A Noise Within, directed by Guillermo Cienfuegos.
Erika Soto (Beatrice), Joshua Bitton (Benedick), Alexandra Hellquist (Hero), Stanley Andrew Jackson III (Claudio), Rafael Goldstein (Don John), Wes Mann (Dogberry), Tony Pasqualini (Leonato), Nick Petroccione (Balthasar), Frederick Stuart (Don Pedro), Randy Thompson (Friar Francis), Jeanne Syquia (Margaret), and Michael Uribes (Borachio), with Alejandro Hernandez, and Arely Vianet.
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Video: Watch the complete PBS New Year’s Eve Concert, “United in Song: Ringing in the New Year Together” (1:23:24)
Christopher Jackson, Matt Doyle, Mandy Gonzalez, Carolina Gaitán, Mandy Gonzalez, Natalie Grant, Joaquina Kalukango, MILCK, Ricardo Morales, Jaqueline Schwab, Reginald Smith Jr., Rhonda Vincent, Wendlo, Brett Young, and Raye Zaragoza.
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RIP: Broadway actor Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Parrish has passed away at the age of 97.
She is perhaps best known for originating the role of Jacqueline in La Cage Aux Folles on Broadway and playing over 1000 performance opposite Marian Seldes in Deathtrap. Her Off-Broadway credits include turns in Little Mary Sunshine, Pickwick, and Riverwind. Parrish was also well-known as a performer on the New York City cabaret circuit.
She was seen in the films “Orphans,” “See You In The Morning,” and “Tootsie.” Her recurring television credits include “Kate and Allie,” “As the World Turns,” “Edge of Night,” “All My Children” and “Law & Order.”
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Complete casting has been announced for A Doll’s House, adapted by Amy Herzog, to run Feb. 13 – June 4 (0pening Mar. 9) at the Hudson Theatre, directed by Jamie Lloyd.
Jessica Chastain (Nora), Arian Moayed (Torvald Helmer), Jesmille Darbouze (Kristine Linde), Tasha Lawrence (Anne-Marie), Michael Patrick Thornton (Dr. Rank), and Okieriete Onadowan (Nils Krogstad), with Franklin Bongjio, Carey Rebecca Brown, Melisa Soledad Pereyra, and Jose Joaquin Perez.
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Kinky Boots will run Feb. 10 – Mar. 19 at MD’s Olney Theatre, directed by Jason Loewith, with music direction by Christopher Youstra, and choreography by Tara Jeanne Vallee.
Vincent Kempski (Charlie Price), Soloman Parker III (Lola), Candice Shedd-Thompson (Nicola), Stephen Schmidt (Charlie’s dad), Chris Genebach (Don), Alex De Bard (Lauren), Ricardo Blagrove (Simon Sr.), Karl Kippola (George), Calvin McCullough (Harry), Stephen Murray (Richard), Kaiyla Gross (Pat), and Sarah Anne Sillers (Trish), with Shane Hall, Connor Reilly, Robbi Duncan, Quadry Brown, David Singleton, Malachi Alexander, Henry Harleston, Grayden Goldman, Dustin Sardella, Alexis Krey, Catrina Brenae, and Tyrell Stanley.