Today’s Highlights:
Cabaret, directed by James Vásquez, featuring Jelani Remy (MC), Aline Mayagoitia (Sally Bowles), Bruce Landry (Cliffor Bradshaw), Jennifer Smith (Fraulein Schneider), Kevin Ligon (Herr Schultz), Tera C. MacLeod (Fraulein Kost), and Tim Fuchs (Ernst Ludwig), with Matt Allen, Shelby Finnie, Aurore Joly, Caroline Kane, Kathy Liu, Connor McRory, Christian Elán Ortiz, Antonia Raye, Adam Rogers, and Georgia Monroe, opens at CT’s Goodspeed.
Trading Places, world premiere by Thomas Lennon, Alan Zachary & Michael Weiner, directed by Kenny Leon, featuring Aneesa Folds (Billie Rae), Bryce Pinkham (Louis), Marc Kudisch (Mortimer Duke), Lennie Wolpe (Randolph Duke), McKenzie Kurtz (Penelope), Josh Lamon (Beeks), Joe Montoya (Phil), and Don Stephenson (Coleman), with Julia Grondin, Jacob Roberts-Miller, Kevin Zak, Jimmy Ray Bennett, Dana Costello, Kayla Marie Cruz, Benjamin Howes, Raymond J. Lee, James Luc, Malaya Reid, Xavier Reyes, Michael McCorry Rose, and Nyla Watson, opens at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre.
The Price, by Arthur Miller, directed by Dennis D. Hennessy, featuring Jason Chanos, Victor Raider-Wexler, Mark Robbins, and Jan Rogge, opens at Kansas City Actors Theatre.
The Karate Kid: The Musical, world premiere by Robert Mark Kamen & Drew Gasparini , directed by Amon Miyamoto, featuring Jovanni Sy (Chojun Miyagi), John Cardoza (Daniel LaRusso), Kate Baldwin (Luiclle LaRusso), Alan H. Green (John Kreese), Jake Bentley Young (Johnny Lawrence), Jetta Juriansz (Ali Mills), and Luis Pablo Garcia (Freddie Fernandez, with Manik Anand, Trevor James Berger, Leah Berry, Gabi Campo, Caitlyn Caughell, Kristina Garvida Doucette, Zachary Downer, Francis Florendo, Kayla Jenerson, Sydney Jones, Josh Hoon Lee, Noah Lentini, Garrick Macatangay, Abby Mastusaka, Justice D. Moore, Omar Nieves, Jackson Kanawha Perry, Isidro Rafael, Sangeetha Santhebennur, and Victor Carrillo Tracey, begins previews at Stages St. Louis.
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GRACE NOTES Quote of the Week: “Asking a working writer what he thinks about critics is like asking a lamppost what it feels about dogs.” ~ John Osborne
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2022 Off-Broadway Alliance Awards. Click here for the complete list of winners.
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The streaming option for MCC Theater’s Miscast 2022 has been extended through Sat. May 28. 
here.
Bonus options include:
* Backstage interviews with the artists
* Pre-show Broadway Trivia
* Recorded post-show discussion with social media influencers
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Carson Kreitzer & Matt Gould’s Lempicka will run June 14 – July 24 (opening June 25) at La Jolla Playhouse, directed by Rachel Chavkin, with choreography by Raja Feather Kelly, and music supervision by Remy Kurs.
Eden Espinosa (Tamara de Lempicka), George Abud (Marinetti), Amber Iman (Rafaela – through July 10), Natalie Joy Johnson (Suzy Solidor), Jacquelyn Ritz (Baroness), Andrew Samonsky (Tadeusz Lempicki), Jordan Tyson (Kizette), and Ximone Rose (Rafaela – July 12-24), with Leanne Antonio, Lauren Blackman, Leovina Charles, Milen J. Comeau, Michael Louis Cusimano, Alexa Jane Lowis, David Merino, Luke Monday, Devin L. Roberts, Morgan Nicholas Scott, Joey Taranto, and Mariand Torres.
Amidst the violence of the Russian Revolution, a young painter names Tamara de Lempicka and her aristocrat husband are forced to abandon their luxurious lifestyle and flee to the dubious safety of Paris. Relying on her raw talent and relentless ambition, Tamara claws her way from penniless refugee to in-demand portraitist, earning a place among Parisian high society. Her world is upended once again when she meets Rafaela, a free spirit from the city slums, who introduces Tamara to a new world of decadence and passion. Torn between her new muse and her husband, fighting to leave her mark on an ever-changing world, Tamara must discover the depths of her own strength to survive.
Audio: Eden Espinosa performs “Woman Is”
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Video: Patti LuPone performs “Ladies Who Lunch” on “The Late Show”
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Complete casting has been announced for the world premiere of Matt Schatz’s A Wicked Soul in Cherry Hill, to run June 21 – July 24 (opening June 30) at the Geffen Playhouse, directed by Mike Donahue.
Jahbril Cook (The Son, and others), Zehra Fazal (The Lady on the Radio, and others), Nicholas Mongiardo-Cooper (The Junior Rabbi/The Private Investigator, and others), Rivkah Reyes (The Daughter/The Reporter, and others), Danny Rothman (The Rabbi, and others), and Jill Sobule (The Canor/The Rabbi’s Wife, and others.
On a November night in 1994, a murder was committed in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. In this poignant true-crime story told completely through song, a tight-knit Jewish community gathers to recount, remember, and reckon with the details of what happened in – and to – their town. The play asks what it does to our souls when our leaders fall from grace.
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Broadway Backwards raised a record-breaking $758,582 at its May 23 event.
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Hudson Stage will present a staged reading of Jeff McCracken’s Memory of Convenience on Fri. June 17 at 7:30 PM ET at Armonk’s Whipporwill Theatre, directed by Ray Yeates & Jeff McCracken
Casting TBA.
A contemporary Irish-American drama that focuses on four central characters in a rural New England tavern trying to navigate and reconcile their respective pasts while negotiating their perceptions of the truth. Forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember.
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A new movie musical, “1660 Vine,” by Jackson Price (and 20 other unnamed songwriters) will premiere of Broadway by Demand in November, directed by Patricia McGregor, with choreography by Paula Abdul, and music supervision by David Larwence & Faye Greenberg. The musical is aiming for a 2024 Broadway debut.
Pia Toscano, Chris Olson, and Prince Norodom
The musical follows a group of influencers living in one apartment building as they chase their dreams of social media stardom.
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Loy A. Webb’s The Light will run June 3-26 (opening June 5) at Boston’s Lyric Stage, directed by Jacqui Parker.
Dominic Carter and Yewande Odetoyinbo.
On the night of their engagement, long-simmering discord bubbles to the surface for Genesis, a Principal at a Chicago charter school, and Rashad, her firefighter boyfriend of two years. Long-buried secrets and painful revelations threaten to splinter the couple’s relationship when a gift of concert tickets is given. What should be one of the happiest days of their life begins to unravel, layers of truth and doubt are peeled away, and the power of love and reconciliation is tested.
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Rachel Christopher has replaced Kenita R. Miller (Lady in Red) in for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf at Broadway’s Booth Theatre.
Miller departed the production to begin her maternity leave.
The production will continue through June 5.
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Eileen Barnett: You Must Believe in Spring will take place Thurs. May 26 at 7 PM PT at CA’s Coachella Valley Rep, with music direction by Michael Collum.
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“1660 Vine,” a new movie musical by Jackson Price & 20 other unnamed songwriters, will be released on Broadway by Demand on ad date TBA, with hopes for a 2024 Broadway production to follow, directed by Patricia McGregor, with choreography by Kausha Campbell, and music supervision by David Lawrence & Faye Greenberg.
Principal filming will begin in June in Los Angeles, with a release date in November. The film will first be released on StreamingMusicals.com and BroadwayOnDemand.com ahead of a release on a major streaming platform. The work will also be available to license for performance in 2023. Click here to learn more about the film.
Pia Toscano, Chris Olson, and prince Khemuni Norodom (of the Camodian Royal Family), and more.
The musical follows a group of influencers living in one apartment building as they chase their dreams of social media stardom.
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San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus will present Final Words, a farewell concert for Artistic Director Dr. Timothy Seelig, on Wed. July 13 at 7:30 PM PT at Davies Symphony Hall.
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Video: “A Song About Your Gun,” written & performed by Jason Robert Brown.
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VA’s Signature Theatre has announced its 2022-23 season:
No Place to Go (Aug. 30 – Oct. 16), by Ethan Lipton, Eben Levy, Ian M. Riggs & Vito Dieterle, directed by Matthew Gardiner. Sardonic wit mergers with clever jazz, blues and bluegrass music for an irreverent capitalist critique of the personal cost of doing business.
Into the Woods (Nov. 8 – Jan. 29, 2023), directed by Matthew Gardiner.
Which Way to the Stage (Dec. 6 – Jan. 22, 2023), by Ana Nogueria, directed by Ethan Heard. A playful yet profound comedy about friendship, ambition, and what happens when dreams fall just out of reach.
Selling Kabul (Feb. 21 – Apr. 2), by Sylvia Khoury, directed by Shadi Ghaheri.
Pacific Overtures (Mar. 7 – Apr. 9), directed by Ethan Heard.
Passing Strange (Apr. 25 – June 18), directed by Raymond O. Caldwell.
Sweeney Todd (May 16 – July 9), directed by Sarna Lapine.
…plus 2 new plays TBA…