GRACE NOTES: Wednesday, January 7, 20206

 

Today’s Highlights:

 

  Prudence Play (Or Sister Prudence Is Not Gay!), written & performed by Caroline Dunn, opens at Off-Broadway’s Flea Theater.

 

  Eric Comstock & Barbara Fasano concert, at 4 PM at NYC’s Cafe Sabarsky @Neue Galerie (1048 Fifth Ave.)

 

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  Broadway Grosses for the week ending Jan. 4.

 

Click here for the complete analysis.

 

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  L.A. Opera will present Philip Glass’ Akhnaten will run Feb. 28 – Mar. 22 at LA’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, directed by Phelim McDermott, and conducted by Dalia Stasevska.

 

  John Holiday (Akhnaten), Sun-Ly Pierce (Queen Nefertiti), So Young Park (queen Tye),  Zachary James (Amenhotep III), and more TBA.

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  The world premiere ofChasing Grace, written & directed by Elizabeth Addison, will run Mar. 12 – 29 (opening Mar. 14) at  ART/NY Mezzanine Theatre (502 W. 53rd St.).

 

  TBA.

 

  When a writer’s musical about her experience in treatment is co-opted by a powerhungry producer, Chasing Grace becomes a meta-theatrical exploration of who gets to tell our stories, what it costs to stay true to your voice, and the constant, courageous process of recovering out loud. a meta-musical about recovery, authorship, and the cost of telling the truth out loud. The show holds space for grief, rage, joy, absurdity, and hard-won laughter, capturing the lived reality of women navigating addiction, healing, and self-definition.

 

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  Music Video: The hit song, “Whatcha Want”, from Simon Rich’s All Out: Comedy About Ambition has been released.

 

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  A Conversation about marriage and life in New York will take place, both live & livestreaming, on Thurs. Jan. 22 at 7:30 PM at NYC’s 92NY.

 

  Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody.

 

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  The world premiere of Elizabeth Addison’s Chasing Grace will run Mar. 12 – 29 (opening Mar. 29) at ART/NY Mezzanine Theatre (502 W. 53rd. St.).

 

  TBA.

 

   Moving fluidly between a treatment facility, memory, and the rehearsal room, the play is a meta-musical about recovery, authorship, and the cost of telling the truth out loud. With a score blending contemporary musical theatre, pop, and R&B, the show holds space for grief, rage, joy, absurdity, and hard-won laughter, capturing the lived reality of women navigating addiction, healing, and self-definition. The show follows a writer as she sorts through the memories of her time in early recovery inside a women’s treatment facility, where survival meant learning how to stay, how to listen, and how not to run. As the writer shapes her treatment experience into a new musical, memory and rehearsal collide. The women she once lived beside reappear, not as cautionary tales, but as full, complex human beings whose stories demand dignity, humor, and care.

 

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   Rodgers, Hart & Richard & Lagravenese’s (new book) “Chez Joey” (based on Pal Joey) will run Jan. 30 – Mar. 15 (opening Feb. 13) at DC’s Arena Stage, co-directed by Tony Goldwyn & Savion Glover, with choreography by Glover.

 

  Myles Frost (Joey Evans), Awa Sal Secka (Linda English), Samantha Massell (Vera Simpson), Angela Hall (Lucille Wallace), and Kevin  Cahoon (Melvin Snyder), with Lamont Brown, Crystal JFreeman, Charis Michelle  Gullage,Ndaya Dream Hoskins Marcus John, Josh Johnson, Addi Loving, Kalen Robinson, Brooke Taylor, Alana S. Thomas, Justin Michael Duval, Jordyn Taylor, Karen Vincent, and Jailyn Wilkerson.

 

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   The world premiere of Douglas Lackey’s Hans Litten: The Jew Who Cross-examined Hitler will begin previews Jan. 30 and open Feb. 5   at Theatre Row, directed by Alexander Harrington.

 

  Stan Buturla, Zack Calhoon, Robert Ierardi,Whit K. Lee, Barbara McCulloh, Dave Sthishan, Marco Torriani, Mark Eugene Vaughn, and Daniel Yaiullo.

 

  Based on a remarkable true story, Hans Litten centers on the brilliant young Jewish lawyer who, in 1931, did the seemingly impossible: he called Adolf Hitler to the witness stand and publicly exposed the future dictator’s embrace of political violence, two years before Hitler rose to power. It remains one of the most audacious legal confrontations of the 20th century. The play moves from the charged atmosphere of Berlin courtrooms to the brutal reality of Nazi concentration camps, tracing Litten’s unwavering commitment to justice, reason, and human dignity. Refusing to remain silent in the face of rising authoritarianism, Litten risks and ultimately sacrifices his life for the rule of law.

 

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  Patric Page & Simon Godwin’s All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain will run Jan. 15-25 at Santa Monica’s Broad Stage.

 

  Patric Page.

 

  Page turns his attention to the twisted motivation and hidden humanity at the heart of Shakespeare’s greatest villains. Moving swiftly through the Shakespeare canon, Page illuminates the playwright’s ever-evolving conception of evil by delving into more than a dozen of his most wicked creations. Thrilling, biting, hilarious, and enl ightening, what Page delivers is a masterclass on the most terrifying subject of them all: human nature. Created and Performed by Patrick Page, and directed by Simon Godwin, the duo bring the fulness of Shakespeare to life in this dynamic, contemporary, and accessible take on Shakespeare’s villains, promising an evening of mesmerizing artistry, powerful storytelling, and a rare intimacy that will redefine your perception of Shakespeare and his villains.

 

  Following each performance, the audience is invited to 15-20 minute talkback with Patrick, to explore the world of Shakespeare’s villains and his relationship to them more intimately.

 

 

 


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