GRACE NOTES: Wednesday, June 9, 2021

Today’s Highlights:

Love, Linda: The Life of Mrs. Cole Porter, by Stevie Holland & Gary William Friedman, starring Stevie Holland, begins streaming on Broadway on Demand.

Becoming Dr. Ruth, by Mark St. Germain, directed by David Ellenstein, starring Tovah Feldshuh, begins streaming at CA’s North Coast Rep.

NY Philharmonic FREE in person concert, opens at 7 PM ET at NYC’s Bryant Park, hosted by Jessica Vosk. Also livestreamed (only June 9) here.

Shoshana Bean live in concert at 8:30 PM ET outdoors at Central Park’s Tavern on the Green.

Bulrusher reading, by Eisa Davis, featuring André Holland and Kara Young, concludes FREE streaming at NJ’s McCarter Theatre Center.

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GRACE NOTES Quote of the Week: Life is like a play in the theatre; it does not matter how long it lasts, but how well it was played. ~ Seneca

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Video: Stars in the House, an encore airing of Celebrating Mary Wilson and Black Music Month. (1:11:23).

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The pilot episode of Alexandra Dean Grossi & Adrienne Marquand’s “Oral” will stream on Zoom Thurs. June 17 at 7 PM ET here & 7 PM PT here.

Juliet Perrell (Izzy), Andrea Martin (Izzy’s mother), Abbi Jacobson, David Krumholtz, Will Forte, Joshua Castille, Tristan Mack Wilds, Arturo Luiìs Soria, Adam Jepsen, W. Earl Brown, and more.

Part table read, part pre-recorded, the hour0long dramedy about Izzy, a “not deaf enough” millennial, who is navigating adulthood and a chaotic life, all while learning to embrace her disability. Click here to learn more about the show.

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Terrence McNally’s It’s Only A Play will stream June 15 – July 4 at NJ’s George Street Playhouse, directed by Kevin Cahoon.

Andy Grotelueschen, Julie Halston, Christine Toy Johnson, Triney Sandoval, Zach Shaffer, and Greg Cuellar.

A producer, playwright, director, actors and their friends eagerly wait for the opening night reviews of their Broadway play.

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The world premiere studio cast recording of Michael Mott, Nathan Wright & Justin Silvestri’s “In the Light, A Faustian Tale,” will be released June 25 on Broadway Records.

Jeremy Jordan (Faustus) and Solea Pfeiffer (Gretchen), with Ciara Renée, Antonio Cipriano, Bobby Conte Thornton, Anne Fraser Thomas, Aisha Jackson, and Zachary James.

The musical follows Dr. Johann Faustus, an astronomer, who is accused of blasphemy by the Holy Inquisition. Guided by a mysterious being called the Traveler, he flees to the small town of Hertz. There he meets a young scholarly woman named Gretchen, who shares his goals. Gretchen believes Doctor Faustus can use the town to begin a rebellion against the Inquisition. Together, they create a plan to resist its coming and to overthrow the power of the Church. As their plot proceeds, secrets Gretchen has hidden are discovered and Johann’s ambition is undermined by his own tormented mind. The Traveler urges the two forward and their dysfunctions entangle, leading to disaster for all.

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Video: Jimmy Fallon and Lin Manuel Miranda perform an original tune, “Broadway’s Back,” to pay homage and salute the return of all your favorite shows, including Six, Phantom of the Opera, Chicago, Dear Evan Hansen, Hadestown, West Side Story, The Lion King, Company, Come From Away, Book of Mormon, Moulin Rouge, A Chorus Line, Aladdin, Wicked, and Hamilton. (6:19)

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Sisyphus: A Rock ‘n’ Roll Musical, written & directed by Ian Bowkett, will run Oct. 6-9 at the Canal Café Theatre.

Casting TBA.

A modern rollercoaster re-telling of the Ancient Greek myth about the man who rebelled against the gods, only to receive the infamous punishment of having to push a boulder up a hill over and over again for eternity. Corinthian King Sisyphus is tired of the holy powers-that-be controlling his humdrum and repetitive life. The divine nymph Merope is just as tired of being treated like property by the entitled and chauvinist Greek Gods. They decide to team up and fight back, eventually earning the eternal punishments that will make them icons of rebellion for millennia to come.

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Randy Rainbow’s Pink Glasses Tour will run Aug. – Dec.

Click here to learn more about the tour and the special Pre-Sale (through June 11).

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Show of Titles benefit concert will stream Sun. June 13 at 7 PM ET/4 PM PT here, directed by Lonny Price.

Broadway Inspirational Voices, Candice Bergen, Danny Burstein, Bryan Cranston, John Kander, Angela Lansbury, John Lithgow, Lindsay Mendez, Phylicia Rashad, Ben Vereen, BD Wong, and Florian Zeller.

Annaleigh Ashford, Glenn Close, Len Cariou, Darren Criss, Santino Fontana, Kelsey Grammar, David Alan Grier, Jake Gyllenhaal, Joshua Henry, Isabelle Huppert, Norm Lewis, Patti LuPone, Rob McClure, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Melba Moore, Jessie Mueller, Eva Noblezada, Kelli O’Hara, Laura Osnes, Steven Pasquale, Michael Rupert, Ernie Sabella, Lea Salonga, Phillipa Soo, Will Swenson, Aaron Tveit, Leslie Uggams, Vanessa Williams, and Patrick Wilson.

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Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre has announced its 2021-22 season:

Darlin’ Cory (Sept. 8 – Oct. 3), by Phillip DePoy & Kristian Bush, directed by Susan V. Booth. Set against the backdrop of 1930s Appalachia, there is no road in and no road out of this tiny mountain town. And the community carries secrets of all sizes. But when a young woman with ambition and intelligence collides with a pastor deeply committed to preserving the status quo, cracks begin to form in the town’s well-constructed facade. And when a stranger appears with a mysterious backstory and the best moonshine anyone’s ever tasted –some of those secrets threaten to spill.

The New Black Fest’s Hands Up: 7 Playwrights, 7 Testaments (October), directed by Keith Arthur Bolden & Alexis Woodard. The piece depicts the realities of Black American from the perspective of varying genders, sexual orientations, skin tones, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

A Christmas Carol (Nov. 12 – Dec. 24), newly adapted by David H. Bell, and directed by Leora Morris.

Dream House (Jan. 22, 2002 – Feb. 13), world premiere by Eliana Pipes. Two sister go on a reality tv show to renovated and sell their childhood home. The show quickly drives a wedge between the sisters as they come to terms and how much of their family’s heritage they are willing to sacrifice in this funny and touching look at the truths of gentrification.

Toni Stone (Feb. 10-27), by Lydia R. Diamond, directed by Tinashe Kajese-Bolden. The true story of the first female athlete to play professional baseball in the Negro Leagues.

Bina’s Six Apples (Mar. 11-27), world premiere by Lloyd Suh, directed by Eric Ting. Set against the backdrop of the Korean War, the play is a harrowing and uplifting story of courage and finding home

World Premiere musical TBA (May 25 – June 26), directed by Kenny Leon.

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NYC’s Birdland Jazz Club will re-open on July 1… with 1949 prices as a thank you to returning patrons.

And Birdland favorites Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble, Susie Mosher, and David Ostwald’s Louis Armstrong Eternity Band will be available for the entire month of July for only 99 cents when booked!

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“Oral,” the pilot episode of a one-hour dramedy by Alexandra Dean Grossie and Adrienne Marquand, will stream Thurs. June 17 here at 7 PM ET and again at 7 PM PT.

Andrea Martin, Juliet Perrell, Arturo Louís Soria, Adam Jepsen, Abbi Jacobson, David Krumholtz, Will Forte, Joshua Castille, and more TBA.

Izzy, a “not deaf enough” millennial, is navigating adulthood and a chaotic love life, all the while learning to embrace her disability in 2007 Los Angeles.

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L.A. Theatre Works presents Kate McAll’s world premiere audio theater adaptation of Agatha Christie’s The Murder on the Links, which will be released July 1, directed by Anna Lyse Erikson.

Alfred Molina (Hercule Poirot), Simon Helberg (Arthur Hastings), Adhir Kalyan, Joanne Walley, Kevin Daniels, Edita Brychta, Darren Richardson, Jocelyn Towne, and Matthew Wolf.

Hercule Poirot receives an urgent letter from Paul Renauld summoning him to France. Upon their arrival, Poirot and his companion, Arthur Hastings, find they are too late. Plus, to complicate things further, certain facts just don’t add up.

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Video: Caitlin Kinnunen performs “My Brother Lived in San Francisco”

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NYC MTC: A Virtual Gala for Manhattan Theatre Club will stream Thurs. June 10 at 7 PM ET here.

Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Mary-Louise Parker, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Lewis Black, Blair Brown, Edie Falco, Tom Kirdahy, Nathan Lane, Bryonha Marie Parham, Debra Jo Rupp, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Benjamin Scheuer, Simon Stephens, R.L. Stine, Roma Torre, Meredith Vieira, Richard Wesley, Florian Zeller, and more.

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Off-Broadway’s Signature Theatre will stream After Midnight June 13 – Aug. 4, conceived by Jack Virtel, with music direction by Mark G. Meadows, and choreography by Jared Grimes.

Christopher Jackson, Nova Y. Payton, Sophia Adoum, Phillip Attmore, Jessica Bennett, DeWitt Fleming Jr., Jennie Harney Fleming, Andre Hinds, Jodeci Milhouse, Solomon Parker III, Shayla S. Simmons, and Kaysha Williams.

This non-stop revue features 28 of the big band era’s most memorable songs, with the sophisticated syncopation of the Harlem heartbeat after midnight.

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Off-Broadway’s Labrynth Theatre has announced its Backseat: A Festival of New Works in Support of NYC Drivers, to run June 24-27,