Today’s Highlights:
Trevor, by Dan Collins & Julianne Wick Davis, directed by Marc Bruni, featuring Holden William Hagelberger, Mark Aguirre, Aaron Alcaraz, Ava Briglia, Sammy Dell, Tyler Joseph Gay, Ellie Kim, Colin Konstanty, Brigg Liberman, Diego Lucano, Alyssa Emily Marvin, Isabel Medina, Echo Deva Picone, Dan Rosales, Aryan Simhadri, Yasmeen Sulieman, Sally Wilfert, Aeriel Williams, and Jarrod Zimmerman, opens at Off-Broadway’s Stage 42.
Once Upon a Once More Time, by John Hartmere, directed & choreography by Keone & Mari Madrid, featuring Briga Heelan (Cinderella), Justin Guarini (Prince Charming), John Glover (Narrator), Emily Skinner (Stepmother), Aisha Jackson (Snow White), Brook Dillman (The O.F.G), and Mimi Scardulla (Belinda), Tess Soltau (Betany), Ashley Chiu (Sleeping Beauty), Raymond J. Lee (Clumsy), Wonu Ogunfowora (Rapunzel), Ryan Steele (Prince Erudite), Morgan Weed (Princess and the Pea), Lauren Zakrin (Little Mermaid), Adriana Weir & Mila Weir (sharing the role of Little Girl), Belinda Allyn (Belle), Stephen Brower (Prince Suave), Jennifer Florentino (Little Red Riding Hood), Selene Haro (Gretl), Joshua Johnson (Prince Brawny), Amy Hillner Larsen (Goldilocks), Kevin Trinio Perdido ( Prince Mischievous), and Stephen Scott Wormley (Prince Affable), with Matt Allen, Salisha Thomas, Matthew Tiberi, and Diana Vaden, opens at Philadelphia’s Shakespeare Theatre Company.
Rare Earth Mettle, by Al Smith, directed by Hamish Pirie, featuring Carlo Alban, Marcello Cruz, Arthus Darvfill, Jaye Griffiths, Lesle Lemon, Rachael Ofori, Genevieve O’Reilly, and Ian Porter, begins previews at London’s Royal Court Theatre.
One Night Only “Back to the 70s” benefit concert, by Michael Childers, directed by Scott Coulter,, featuring Brent Barrett, Klea Blackhurst, Debby Boone, Carole j. Bufford, David Burnham, Ann Hampton Callaway, Liz Callaway, Scott Coulter, Laura Dickinson, Julie Garnyé, Jason Graae, Sam Harris, Aaron Lazar, Liisi LaFontaine, Sky LaFontaine, Amanda McBroom, Gary Shaw, Jake Simpson, James Snyder, Kevin Spirtas, Nita Whitaker, Karen Ziemba, and Lily Tomlin, at 6 PM PT at Palm Desert’s McCallum Theatre for the Performing Arts.
Bianca Marroquin: Where You Are concert, at 7 PM ET at NYC’s Green Room.
An Evening with David Sedaris event, at 8 PM PT at Northridge’s The Soraya.
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GRACE NOTES Quote of the Week: “I’m acting like I’m ok. Please don’t interrupt my performance.” ~ Anonymous
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Complete casting has been announced for the limited return of Jeremy O. Harris’ Slave Play, to run Nov. 23 – Jan. 23 (opening Dec. 2) at the August Wilson Theatre, directed by Robert O’Hara.
Ato Blankson-Wood (Gary), Antoinette Crowe-Legacy (Kaneisha), Jonathan Chad Higginbotham (Philip), Chalia La Tour (Teá),Irene Sofia Lucio (Patricia), Annie McNamara Alana), Paul Alexander Nolan (Jim), with Eboni Flowers, Blake Russell, Luigi Sottile, Elizabeth Stahlmann, and Galen J. Williams.
Over one explosive weekend, three interracial couples inhabit the confines of a sprawling Southern plantation. As the heat is turned up on their volatile relationships, the line between fantasy and reality blurs and history begins to repeat itself.
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London’s Sheffield Theatres has announced its 2022 season at it’s three locations.
Rock/Paper/Scissors (June 14 – July 22 at 3 locations simultaneously), by Chris Bush, directed by Robert Hastie, Anthony Lau and one more TBA. Rock will run at the Crucible Theatre, the Lyceum Theatre, and Scissors will run at the Studio Theatre. The three interlinked but stand-alone plays tell the story of Sheffield’s oldest scissor manufacturer and the three generations who go to war over what happens to the factory site. In a theatrical first, the same cast performs in all three locations simultaneously, dashing between scenes, when a character exits one stage, they arrive on another.
CRUCIBLE THEATRE:
Anna Karenina (Feb. 5-26), newly adapted by Helen Edmundson, directed by Anthony Lau. Casting TBA.
The Contingency Plan – On The Beach … and Resilience double bill (Mar. 13 – Apr. 2), directed by Chelsea Walker (On the Beach) & Caroline Steinbeis (Resilience).
How a City Can Save the World (Aug. 3-6), currently in development, with more information TBA.
Much Ado About Nothing (Sept. 9-24)), directed by Robert Hastie. Director and cast TBA.
The Together Season Festival (Oct. 20-29), an initiative to champion new work and a platform to the talent of local freelance artists and companies.
Standing at the Sky’s Edge (Sept. 10 – Jan. 21, 2023), by Richard Hawley & Chris Bush.
STUDIO THEATRE:
Human Nurture (Jan. 26 – Feb. 12), by Ryan Calais Cameron, directed by Rob Watt.
Far Gone ()Feb. 17-26), by John Rwothomack, directed by Mojisola Elufowiju. A moving story of a young boy’s journey from childhood innocence to child soldier.
Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Sept. 23 – Oct. 15), adapted by Tom Basden.
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Netflix’s “School for Good & Evil” will be released in 2022 (date TBA), directed by Paul Feig, and shot mostly throughout Northern Ireland.
Sophia Anne Caruso, Kerry Washington, Charlize Theron, Patti LuPone, Rachel Bloom, Ben Kingsley, Sophia Wylie, Jamie Flatters, Kit Young, Laurence Fishburne, Michelle Yeoh, Rob Delaney, and Mark Heap.
Set in a Hogwarts-like world, the film follows best friends Sophie (Caruso) and Agatha (Wylie), who are about to discover the School for Good and Evil, where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be heroes and villains. With her princess ambitions, Sophie is certain that she will be picked for the School for Good, joining the like of alumni Cinderella and Snow White. Meanwhile, Agatha, with her grim aesthetic and wicked cat, is sure to be a villain in the School for Evil. As their expectations are flipped when Sophie is dropped into the School for Evil and Agatha into the School for Good, what seemed like a mistake could be the first clue to discovering who they truly are.
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Douglas Lyons’ Chicken & Biscuits, which began previews Sept. 23 at Circle in the Square Theatre, has canceled 3 upcoming performances (Nov. 9-11) due to breakthrough COVID-19 cases within the company. Performances will then continue as scheduled through Jan. 2.
Directed by Zhailon Levingston, the cast features Cleo King, Norm Lewis, Michael Urie, NaTasha Yvette Williams, Devere Rogers, Ebony Marshall-Oliver, Beverly Jenkins, Aigner Mizzlle, and Alan Raquel Bowers, with Dean Acree, Jennifer Fouche, Michael Genet, Miles G. Jackson, and Camille Upshaw.
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The world premiere of Thomas Lennon, Robert Ben Garant, Alan Zachary & Michael Weiner’s Trading Places will run May 25 – June 26, 2022 at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, directed by Kenny Leon, with choreography by Fatima Robinson.
Casting TBA.
A hilarious and contemporary reimagining of the Prince and Pauper fable, Billie Rae Valentine, is a savvy hustler down on her luck, and Louis Winthorpe III, a minted commodities-trading firm director, have their live deliberately switched by the devious Duke Brothers to settle a petty bet in a outrageous debate of nature versus nurture.
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The Ilene Graff Holiday Show will take place Thurs. Dec. 9 at 8:30 PM PT at Hollywood’s Catalina Jazz Club.
Todd Graff, Glenn Rosenblum, and Harlan Boll.
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Spike Manton & Harry Teinowitz’s When Harry Met Rehab will begin performances Nov. 24 – Jan. 30, 2022 at Chicago’s Greenhouse Theatre Center, directed by Jackson Gay.
Dan Butler (Harry), Melissa Gilbert (Barb), Chiké Johnson (Vince), Keith D. Gallagher (Isaiah), Elizabeth Laidlaw (Andrea), and Richard Gomez (George).
The play chronicles how Harry, an alcoholic on the edge of clueless annihilation, ended up in the hands of four imperfect strangers who caught him every time he stumbled and made his denial and excuses disappear.
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ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty) will present its annual benefit concert on Sun. Dec. 12 at 7 PM ET at Off-Broadway’s Public Theater, with music direction by Lynne Shankel.
Casting TBA.
Broadway’s favorites perform fresh, original approaches of holiday songs from the “New York City Christmas” album.
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North Hollywood’s Loft Ensemble presents the world premiere of Barbera Ann Howard & Marjorie Lewit’s Alley of Misfits Nov. 13 – Dec. 19, directed by Bree Pavey & Marc Leclere. All performances are donate-what-you-can.
Biniyam Abreha, Ben Anderson, Bahasi Chapman, Jennifer DeRosa, Gillo Giustolisi, Barbara Ann Howard, Judy Marcelline, Mattew Monaco, Hayley O’Toole, Austin Rapp, and Sarah Siverson.
In a lonely New York alley, Ruby and Pearl wait overnight to be the first in line for a free Thanksgiving dinner. Throughout the night they navigate disagreements, a lonely Build a Bear employee, a recovering drug addict, two waster party girls, and seemingly sentient stuffed animals who share the landscape. A visit from Ruby’s estranged son triggers the women into an elaborate weaving of a deeper friendship which shows that, in the end, anything can be put back together again.
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An American in Paris will launch its Australian tour Jan. 8, 2022 at Brisbane’s Lyric Theatre, directed & choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon. Click here for the complete tour schedule.
Robert Fairchild & Cameron Holmes (alternating as GI Jerry Mulligan), Leanne Cope & Dimity Azoury (alternating as Lise Dassin), Anne Wood (Madame Baurel), David Whitney (Monsieur Baurel), Ashleigh (Milo Davneport), Jonathan Hickey (Adam Hochberg), and Sam Ward (Henri Baurel), with Annie Stanford, Mitchell Mahony, Christina Gibbs, Rachel Ward, Chloe Malek, Amba Fewster, James MacAlpine, Rose Shannon Duhigg, Joe Miller, Edward Smith, Joe Meldrum, Francis Lawrence, Sarah Bourke, Lilyana Lloyd, Olivia Castagna, Eli Cooper, Sydney Patterson, Emma Whitefield, Thomas Norman, Emily Corkeron, Corey Herbert, Jasmin Durham, and Jake Mangakahia.
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Following last year’s radio broadcast of “A Country Christmas Carol” (starring Hal Linden and Terrence Mann), comes the new holiday single, “Jingle-Ayo,” which will drop on Nov. 15 on all digital platforms.
Linda Sue Moshier, Bart Shatto, Heidi Karol Johnson, Audrey Lavine, G. Wayne Hoffman, and many more.
Imagine a mash-up of “Jingle Bells” and Brenda Lee’s “Jambalya.”
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MCC Theater’s Miscast22 Gala will take place Mon. Apr. 24. Venue, performers, and additional information TBA.
Video: Watch Miscast 21 performances.