Today’s Highlights:
Upon These Shoulders benefit concert, featuring Whoopi Goldberg, André De Shields, Wynton Marsalis, George Faison, Ahmad Simmons, Aisha Jackson, Anastacia McCleskey, Ari Groover, Bebe Winans, Brandon Victor Dixon, Brittney Johnson, Bryonha Parham, Camille A. Brown, Carly Hughes, Charles Randolph-Wright, Christina Sajous, Daniel J. Watts, DJ Duggz, Harry Lennix, Khaila Wilcoxon, Kimberly Marable, Lilli Cooper, Malcolm Armwood, Marisha Wallace, Lori Lightfoot (Mayor of Chicago), Muriel Bowser (Mayor of Washington, DC), Marlies Yearby, Merle Dandridge, Michael R. Jackson, Nathan Lee Graham, Nick Rashad Burroughs, Norm Lewis, Paul Tazewell, Phillip Boykin, Raja Feather Kelly, Savion Glover, Shereen Pimentel, Stephanie Umoh, Tamika Lawrence, Titus Burgess, Tracee Beazer Barrett, Tramaine Gray, and Valisia LeKae, concludes streaming at Midnight ET here.
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GRACE NOTES Quote of the Week: “Acting is sometimes like trying to catch smoke in a big bag.” ~ Susan Kingsley
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The 2020 Tony Awards (for the 2019-20 season), is still happening!!
Yes, the awards that announced nominations last Fall, six months late, and didn’t include any of the shows that were in previews on Mar. 12, 2020. Those Tony Awards.
But now the Tony Voters can start voting for the shows and performances they actually saw, which isn’t all of them.
The only thing anyone knows is that Aaron Tveit has won Best Actor in a Musical, for Moulin Rouge. He was the only nominee. It he loses he will be very disappointed.
And when are the Tony Awards going to be given? Winners announced? No one knows. “Sometime in the future.”
Curtain down.
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NY City Center presents Matthew Bourne’s New Adventure Festival, featuring 4 New Adventures productions filmed at London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre, which will stream Mar. 5 – Apr. 4 (with each available on demand for 10 days).
Swan Lake (premieres Mar. 5), featuring Will Bozier, Liam Mower, and Nicole Kabera.
The Car Man (premieres Mar. 12), featuring Christopher Trendfield, Zizi Strallen, Dominic North, Kate Lyons, and Alan Vincent.
Cinderella (premieres Mar. 19), featuring Ashley Shaw, Andrew Monaghan, Michela Meazza, Liam Mower, and Alan Vicent.
Romeo and Juliet (premieres Mar. 26), featuring Cordelia Braithwaite, Paris Fitzpatrick, Dan Wright, and Ben Brown.
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A reading of Brenda Withers’ short original one-act play, The Parrot Trap, will stream Sat. Mar. 20 at 8 PM ET at NY’s Hudson Stage Company, directed by Dan Foster.
Christopher Fitzgerald, Richard Hollis, and Peggy J. Scott.
The play examines our attachment to privilege and how hard it can be to let go of something that was never really ours.
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The Primetime Emmy Awards will air Sept. 19 on CBS.
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Playbill is offering virtual trips in March, with tour guide Neil Maxfield.
London Theatres (Mar. 7 & 21). Explore the West End, stopping at theatres like the Drury Lane, the Coliseum, Wyndham’s, and more.
Broadway Theaters (Mar. 16 & 30). Jennifer Tepper takes you on a virtual adventure through the secret history of many Broadway theaters (different theatres are highlighted on each date).
Broadway Bar Crawl (Mar. 17), with host Tim Dolan.
Ghostlight Tour (Mar. 31), also with host Tim Dolan.
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Video: Rebecca Luker performs “I Won’t Mind,” by Jeff Blumenkrantz, Annie Kessler & Libbly Saines. (2003)
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VA’s Signature Theatre has released Episode 10 of The Signature Show, directed by Matthew Gardiner.
Ricardo Sean Blagrove, Jonathan Duvelson, Danny GardnerCaleen Sinnette Jennings, Raquel Jennings, Denis Jones, Rayshun LaMarr, Shayla Lowe, Michael J. Mainwaring, Kevin McAllister, Inès Nassara, Anna Noble, Nova Y. Payton, Lizz Picini, Theodore Sapp, Awa Sal Secka, Ashley Spencer, Melissa Victor, Kara-Tameika Watkins, Nolan Williams, Jr. and Tobias A. Young.
Interview with DC composer Nolan Williams.
Highlights from the world premiere of Here’s the Deal.
Ashley Spencer performs “Embraceable You”
Original dance video choreographed by Denis Jones
“Selflessness,” by Nolan Williams, Jr., performed by The Black Artist Coalition.
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The 2021 Richard Rodgers Awards for Musical Theater winners:
The Monster, by Chelsea Marcantel, Michel Mahler & Alan Schmuckler. A modern-day re-imagining of Frankenstein. The musical delves into the original’s themes of creation and responsibility while following Victoria, who launches software to bring communities into harmony online.
Oratorio for Living Things, by Heather Christian. For 12 voices and orchestra, the musical seeks to illuminate and beatify the time that blurs the line between scientific and spiritual revelation.
TL;DR: Thelma Louise; Dyke Remix, by EllaRose Chary & Brandon James Gwinn. T and L drive their 1966 Ford Thunderbird Convertible off the edge of the Grand Canyon and into a fantasy-driven, irreverent, queer, rock musical.
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The Gay Men’s Chorus of San Francisco presents Crescendo 2021: Voices Rising, to stream Thurs. Apr. 22 at 6 PM PT.
Rita Moreno, Leann Rimes, and Terrance Kelly.
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The Actors Training Center presents is first virtual fundraiser, The Show Goes On, which will stream Apr. 25 – May 2, hosted by Rach
Rachel Brosnahan.
Tony & Tess Goldwyn, Phillipa Soo, Matt Shively, Jason Ralph, Jos. N. Banks, Nick Blaemire, Justin Jesso, Carson Rammelt, and Sabrina Fosse.
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The cast of Broadway’s The Bridges of Madison County will reunite for a 2-hour live panel, in support of The Actors Fund, to livestream Mon. Mar. 15 at 8 PM ET here.
Marsh Norman, Jason Robert Brown, Bartlett Sher, Kelli O’Hara, Steven Pasquale, Hunter Foster, Caitlin Kinnunen, and Derek Klena.
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Elisabeth Seldes’ “Places, Please” is set to shoot in NYC this summer, directed by Michael Cristofer. A release date is TBA.
Meryl Streep, and more TBA.
Lillian Hall must reckon with her past decisions when her confidence is challenged during rehearsals for a Broadway revival of The Cherry Orchard.
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A reading of Richard Greenberg’s Three Days of Rain will stream Mar. 11-21 at Manhattan Theatre Club, directed by Evan Yionoulis.
(original cast) Patricia Clarkson, John Slattery, and Bradley Whitford.
Set in New York, siblings Nan and Walker reconnect with their childhood friend Pip when they come home to settle their father’s estate. The discovery of a diary brings us back in time to their parents’ lives in the 1960s and to the truth of the legacy that connects the generations.
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Dione Jones’ “Everybody Here Wants You,” directed by Orian Williams, will begin production this Fall.
Reeve Carney (Jeff Buckley) and more TBA.
The film explores Buckley’s life and career, which tragically ended in 1997, when Buckley was 30, in a freak swimming accident.
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Article: “Celebrating Women’s History Month: Women in Theatre Through the Decades: 1940s-1950s.”
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“The People We Hate At The Wedding” film adaptation of Grant Ginder’s novel, directed by Clare Scanlon, is currently in pre-production. Timeline, release date, and additional casting TBA.
Allison Janney, Ben Platt, Annie Murphy, and more TBA.
The comedy focuses on a dysfunctional family that can’t seem to get along and get it together, reluctantly reunites for a family wedding. As their many skeletons are wrenched from the closet, it turns out to be just what this singular family needs to reconnect.
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Hairspray the Musical returns to Melbourne’s National Theatre Apr. 14-17, directed by Leah Howard, with choreography by Yvette Lee, and music direction by Geoffrey Castles.
Mike Snell (Corny Collins), Chelsea Gibb (Velma von Tussle), Rachel Dunham (Motormouth Maybelle), and more TBA.
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Apple TV+ Anthology Series will present “Roar,” a new streaming series based on Cecelia Ahern’s book of short stories of the same name. The release date and additional information TBA.
Cynthia Erivo, Nicole Kidman, Alison Brie, and Merritt Wever.
The series comprises eight half-hour episodes, each told from a female perspective.