Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be limited theatre news for the foreseeable future. I will continue to search for anything meaningful and/or fun to report. Stay safe and healthy.
Today’s Highlights:
None (in support of recent events)
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GRACE NOTES Quote of the Week: “I never said all actors are cattle, what I said was all actors should be treated like cattle.” ~ Alfred Hitchcock
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Video: “Stars in the House,” with special guest Leslie Uggams. (56:31)
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Video: “Stars in the House,” with special guest, director Schele Williams (1:06:22) 
See article below for Schele’s statement about racism on Broadway.
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2020 Roger Rees Award winners:
Pelham Memorial High School’s Meredith Heller and General Douglas MacArthur High School’s Jake Schauder were named Best Actress and Best Actor at the 10th Annual Roger Rees Awards for Excellence in Student Performance.
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Article: Broadway actor and director Schele Williams speaks out against racism:
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Broadway Theatre Studio will produce a festival of live productions specifically created for online performances, premiering in August.
Submissions are currently being accepted. There is no cost to submit, but there is a $150 entry fee for those chosen to participate in the 3-day festival.
Writers are encourage to create works that can be experienced simultaneously with other audience members regardless of physical location or proximity, and that specifically embrace the live nature of the performances. The festival will feature cutting-edge technology from BeTerrific that brings the live theatre experience online, in hopes that participating theatre makers can use the festival to lead the charge in redefining the art from the wake of the current health crisis.
Theatre fans looking to attend the festival will be able to purchase all-access festival passes for $2.99, with $1 from each ticket going to The Actors Fund. Additional details and tickets will be available in the coming weeks.
Click here for additional information and to submit.
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Video: Anika Noni Jones, “That’s Love’ from Off-Broadway’s Classic Stage Company production of Carmen Jones (2018).
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Read: An interview with the cast of “Central Park,” the new animated series which premiered May 29 on Apple TV.
Leslie Odom Jr. (Owen Tillerman), Kathryn Hahn Paige Tillerman), Titus Burgess (Cole Tillerman), Kristen Bell (Molly Tillerman), Stanley Tucci (Bitsy Brandenham), and Daveed Diggs (Helen)
The musical comedy series follows Owen Tillerman, the caretaker of New York’s Central Park, who lives in the park with his wife, Paige, and children Cole and Molly. Together, they must save the park from destruction at the hands of billionaire businesswoman Bitsy Brandenham and her assistant Helen, who want to pave paradise and develop the land.
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Although the 2020 Tony Awards, originally scheduled to take place Sun. June 7, have been postponed, Show of Shows: Broadway.com Salutes the Tonys will be stream virtually that night at 7 PM here, in support of the American Theatre Wing and the Broadway League.
Performers and additional information TBA.
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During this time for reflection and mourning, for action and activism, the previously announced Obie Awards have been postponed. The 65th annual celebration of Off and Off-off Broadway theater had been scheduled to take place on June 4.
Details for the rescheduled ceremony TBA.
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Article: Colman Domingo has been a staple of the New York theatre scene and a standout in film and television for years. And yet, as he publicly declared in his June 2 guest column for Deadline, that by no means exempts him from insidious racism due to the color of his skin.
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London’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has extended it suspension of all performances through Sept. 6 at the Palace Theatre, due to COVID-19.
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Kritzerland presents June is Bustin’ In All Over on Sun. June 7 at 5 PM PT here.
Brent Barrett, Daniel Thomas Bellusci, Christiane Noll, Kerry O’Malley, Hartley Powers, Sami Staitman, Adrienne Stiefel, and Robert Yacko, with Shannon Cudd, Rebecca Curci, Joe Fiordaliso-Riahi, Sam Linkowski, Oliviana Marie, Hadley Miller, Liam Pearce, and Mackenzie Wrap.
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Video: Father helps 6-year-old daughter get over stage fright to sing “Let It Go” Soooo sweet.
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Jesse Walker will present a special livestream of A Christmas Carol, The Radio Play, adapted by Tony Palermo, on Tues. July 21 at 8 PM ET here, in support of The Heifer Project.
Belinda Allyn (Ghost of Christmas Past), Estelle Balsirow (Tiny Tim), Jeff Brown (Marley), Tally Sessions (Scrooge, Tatiana Wecshler (Mrs. Cratchit), and Jesse Walker (Bob Cratchit), with Carol Ammirata, Tom Ammirata, Valerie Goss, Sheri Hecker, and Mike Zandeman.
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London’s Royal Shakesepeare Company has postponed its Fall 2020 season.
Postponed to 2021 (dates TBA)
* The Wars of the Roses Part 1 and Part 2
* The Magician’s Elephant
* Twelfth Night
While closed, the company continues to offer online performance, event, and education activities. For a list of RSC’s at-home programming, click here.
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Donate: Color of Change has been endorsed by Tom Viola (BC/EFA). Read more here and please consider making a donation.
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The Last Five Years will run June 25-27 at 2:30 PM ET here, directed by Lauren Samuels, with music direction by Josh Winstone.
Lauren Samuels (Cathy) and Danny Becker (Jamie)
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Video: Sutton Foster, highlights from Broadway’s Anything Goes (2011).
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Keelay Gipson — activist, professor at Rutgers University, and award-winning playwright—and award-winning playwright Stacey Rose have launched a call to action on their Facebook pages for Black artists to hold theatres accountable in how they relate to, work with, and present Black artistry.
“Many of us feel a sense of deep betrayal after the lag in response to gross violations to Black bodies around the nation by the illustrious institutions that claim to hold our stories so dear. We are living in revolutionary times. It is time to revolutionize how we create as individuals, and how we engage White spaces should we choose to moving forward. Equity is no longer a request. It’s a requirement.
“Stacey Rose and I are gathering information in order to gather these theaters and hold them accountable. Fill out the form. Share and forward to your networks of Black and Brown theater-makers. Our goal is to collate all of this information to come up with a list of non-negotiable terms that we can present to theaters who want to work with us.”