Today’s Highlights:
* Citizen Detective, written & directed by Chelsea Marcantel, featuring Morgan Rusler (Mickie McKittrick) and Paloma Nozicka (Andrea), opens (on Zoom) at LA’s Geffen Playhouse.
* Karen Mason in concert, directed by Barry Kleinbort, with music direction by Alex Rybeck, begins streaming at Off-Broadway’s York Theatre.
* “A Tribute to Linda Ronstadt at The Soraya” concert, featuring Aida Cuevas, La Marisoul, David Hidalgo, Sara Watkins, Mariachi Garibaldi de Jaime Cuéllar, and La Santa Cecilia, streams at 8 PM PT on Southern California’s KCET and PBS SoCal.
* Hal Luftig’s “Broadway Biz Launch Party” podcast, with special guests Dori Berinstein, Rick Miramontez, Maggie Brohn, and Jerry Mitchell, streams at 5 PM ET here.
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Video: “Stars in the House,” with special guests Jim Brickman and Jeffrey Biege. (1:07:19)
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Keenan Scott II’s Thoughts of a Colored Man will open in the 2021-22 season (dates TBA) and a Shubert Theatre TBA, directed by Steve H. Broadnax III.
Casting TBA
Over the course of a single day in the pulsing heart of Brooklyn, the hopes, sorrows, fears, and joys of seven men reverberate far beyond the barbershops and basketball courts of their community. Vulnerable and vibrant, raw and alive — these are the Thoughts of a Colored Man.
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The world premiere of John Caird & Paul Gordon’s Estella Scrooge: A Christmas Carol with a Twist will stream Fri. Nov. 27 here, directed by Caird, with music supervision by Brad Haak, and choreography by Natalie Lomonte.
Betsy Wolfe (Estella Scrooge), Clifton Duncan (Philip ‘Pip’ Nickleby), Lauren Patten (Dawkins), Patrick Page (Mr. Merdle), Carolee Carmello (Maria Havisham), and Danny Burstein (Ebenezer Scrooge), Megan McGinnis (Betty Cratchit), Adam Halpin (Bob Cratchit, Sarah Litzinger (Sissy Jupe), Tom Nelis (Dedlock), Em Grosland (Smike), Phoenix Best (Charity/Mercy), David Bryant (Mr. Podsnap), Gabrielle Reid (Mrs. Punblechook), Samuel Lee Roberts (Mr. Flopson), Michael Francis McBride (Mr. Dombey), Michele Lee (Mrs. Noggs), Kristen Faith Oei (Ms. Skiffins), Meg Gibson (Molly), William Youmans (Magwitch/Bagstock), Kevyn Morrow (Jasper Jaggers), Jozivah Jean-Felix (Young Pip), Brooklyn Shuck (Young Essy), and Willow McCarthy (Tiny Tammy).
Estella Scrooge is a young Wall Street tycoon with a penchant for foreclosing. A hotelier in her hometown of Pickwick, Ohio has defaulted on his mortgage and Estella fancies the idea of lowering the boom personally. Arriving at Harhouse on Christmas Eve, Estella discovers that the defaulting party is her childhood sweetheart Pip Nickleby. A good and generous soul, Pip has transformed the property into a refuge for the sick, dispossessed and homeless. A freak snowstorm the property into a refuge. That night, just as it happened to her ancestor Ebenezer, she is haunted by three visitations… and oh, what uninvited houseguests they are!
This is the first fully-realized musical to be planned, produced and digitally captured entirely during the pandemic. With an innovative approach that combines the best aspects of live theatre and film with cutting-edge technology, Estella Scrooge film actors individually in green screen using strict social distancing practices, with hundreds of images, animations, and digital environment blended in post-production with he footage of actors to bring this cinematic musical theatre adventure magically to life.
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LA’s Ahmanson Theatre has announced its 2021-22 season:
* Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma (Aug. 24 – Oct. 23, 2021), directed by Daniel Fish
* A Christmas Carol (Nov. 30, 2021 – Jan. 2, 2022), adapted by Jack Thorne, and directed by Matthew Warchus
* 1776 (Jan. 11 – Feb. 13, 2022), directed by Jeffrey L. Page & Diane Paulus, with choreography by Page.
* The Lehman Trilogy (Mar. 1 – Apr. 10, 2022), by Stefano Massini, adapted by Ben Power.
* Hadestown (Apr. 26 – May 29, 2022), directed by Rachel Chavkin.
* Dear Evan Hansen (June 28 – July 21, 2022), directed by Michael Greif.
* The Prom (Aug. 9 – Sept. 11, 2022), directed & choreographed by Casey Nicholaw.
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Video: A preview of Gary Adler & Phoebe Kreutz’s The Nice List, which will premiere for FREE Dec. 1 here. The musical is directed by Alan Muraoka, with choreography by Michael Midlin.
James Monroe Iglehart, Telly Leung, Julia Mattison, Ann Harada, Jennifer Barnhart, Nick Kohn, and Don Darryl Rivera.
The musical looks inside Santa’s workshop as he puts his elves in charge of Christmas while he checks in on his mall ambassadors. The elves set out to show they are up to the task but find themselves in “over their candy canes” until Santa returns and puts everything in order just in time for the big holiday.
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Chicago Shakespeare Theater presents FREE On-demand performances of Peter Pan – A Musical Adventure, a newly re-mastered recording of the theater’s 2018 production, which will stream Dec. 19 – Jan. 12, 2021, directed & choreographed by Amber Mak, with music direction by Kory Danielson.
Johnny Shea (Peter Pan), Elizabeth Stenholt (Wendy Darling), Cameron Goode (John Darling), Carter Graf (Michael Darling), James Konicek (Hook/Mr. Darling), Rengin Altay (Storyteller), Sean Patrick Fawcett (Smee), Roberta Burke (Mrs. Darling/Cecco), Jonathan Butler-Duplessis (Nana/Bill Jukes), Christina Hall (Starkey), Colin Lawrence (Curly), Michael Kurowski (Tootles), John Marshall Jr. (Slightly Soiled), and Travis Austin Wright (Nibs).
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Off-Broadway’s York Theatre presents Broadway’s Great American Songbook: The Holiday Gala on Mon. Dec. 21 at 7 PM ET, hosted by Michael Feinstein, and directed by Barry Kleinbort.
Alton Fitzgerald White, Lee Roy Reams, Karen Mason, George Abud, Ben Vereen, Klea Blackhurst, Robert Creighton, Lillias White, Jeremy Benton, Kylie & Kadyn Kuioka, Cheryl Stern, Haley Swindal, and more TBA.
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Video: A filmed version of A Christmas Carol, directed by Michael Arden, starring Jefferson Mays, will be streamed worldwide on Nov. 28 to benefit partner theatres around the country that have been affected by the pandemic.
In this video, Michael Arden, Jefferson Mays, and costume designer Dane Laffrey discuss their version of the holiday classic.
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Home for the Holidays, in support of BC/EFA, will stream Tues. Dec. 15 at 8 PM ET here (and available through Dec. 19), directed by Eric Ulloa, with with musical direction by Jaime Lozano. and hosted by Jelani Remy.
Alan Cumming, André De Shields, Carolee Carmello, Lena Hall, Heather Headley, Ramin Karimloo, Karen Olivo, Remy, Conrad Ricomora, Jennifer Sanchez, and the Broadway Inspirational Voices.
The artists will perform songs based on traditions from their homes and from where their respective shows are set.
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The Ars Nova Forever Telethon, a 24-hour event, will stream Dec. 4-5 at Off-Broadway’s Ars Nova. 
Click here for the complete schedule of events.
Amber Gray, Phillipa Soo, Joe Iconis, Alex Timbers, Ashley Park, Denée Benton, and Leigh Silverman. Billy Eichner, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Freestyle Love Supreme, Robin Lord Taylor, Kyra Sedgwick, Brooke Shields, Lea DeLaria, Bridget Everett, Ben Sinclair, James Monroe Iglehart, Betty Gilpin, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Matt Rogers, Lilli Cooper, Heather Christian, Jason Tam, and Ashley Pérez Flanagan joining hosts Rachel Chavkin, Sakina Jaffrey, Dave Malloy, Isaac Oliver, Larry Owens, and Natalie Walker.