Today’s Highlights:
American Idiot, by Green Day, directed by Snehal Desai, featuring Steven-Adam Agdeppa, L.J. Benet, Will Branner, Jerusha Cavazos, Lark Detweiler, Daniel Durant, FKaia T. Fitzgerald, Landen Gonzales, Tyler Hardwick, Otis Jones IV, Milo Manheim, Josué Martinez; Giovanni Maucere, James Olivas, Mason Alexander Park, Monika Peña, Mars Storm Rucker, Mia Sempertegui; Angel Theory, and Ali Fumiko Whitney. previews at LA’s Mark Taper Forum.
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Reviews for Yellow Face at Broadway’s Roundabout Theatre:
NY Times (Jesse Green): To write yourself into your own play is to put on a very curious mask. If it’s flattering, is it honest? If it’s honest, why bother? Those questions, both as artistic choices and as problems of social identity, are powerfully and hilariously engaged in the revival of David Henry Hwang’s Yellow Face. The answers are deliberately equivocal… stars the exceedingly likable and handsome Daniel Dae Kim as Hwang’s stand-in… the sinuous story, which requires a ton of exposition to get on its way … By the time DHH himself gets drawn into that story, in an interview with a New York Times reporter played by Greg Keller at his skeeviest, the play’s own mask has come off. Identity is not what a person shows; it’s only what others inalterably see…
New York Daily News (Chris Jones): …Hwang’s semiautobiographical play, (Yellow Face) new on Broadway … solid direction of Leigh Silverman …focusing on the discomfort the author felt at being caught between fighting what he saw as oblivious racism and being perceived as standing on the wrong side of artistic freedom… On some levels, Yellow Face is inside-baseball Broadway, most interesting to those who follow issues that tend to engage only a subset of highly educated Americans and/or those who work in the cultural fields … what makes this an enjoyable play, and different from most of the other dramas built around racial identity, is that Yellow Face is (mostly) a comedy and Hwang, who is amusingly played in the show by the witty actor Daniel Dae Kim (“Lost”), is willing to poke fun at himself…
Theatermania (Kenji Fujishima): Perhaps it’s inevitable that even a playwright as successful as David Henry Hwang would eventually come up with a work in which he interrogates himself in meta-theatrical fashion … Such navel-gazing could potentially be more interesting than most coming from Hwang … His desire to raise pointed questions in Yellow Face, though, appears to have gotten in the way of crafting a coherent piece of theater — though some may find that more a blessing than a curse … There’s no doubt about the personal passion behind the project … The ways Hwang tries to maneuver around this setback to avoid being labeled a hypocrite is the source of much of the comedy…
New York Theater (Jonathan Mandell) …as I watched Daniel Dae Kim portray the character based on the playwright in the first ever Broadway production of the play, I couldn’t help thinking of a long list of events that have recently happened, such as: Kamala Harris being accused of suddenly turning Black … Haitian migrants being accused of eating pets … Jewish Americans being accused of having dual loyalties … No, there is no direct connection. Yes, Yellow Face is specific to the Asian-American experience, and much of it (the first two-thirds) happens just within the theater world. But the misunderstanding, hate, fear, suspicion, and outrage surrounding issues of identity seem to have taken center stage in this country. This might well make audiences find new relevance in Hwang’s comedy…
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Broadway Grosses for the week ending Sept. 30.
Click here for the complete analysis.
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RIP: Gavin Creel, known for performances in Thoroughly Modern Millie, Hair, The Book of Mormon and many more, passed away Sept. 30 after a battle with cancer, at the age of 48. He was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of sarcoma in July 2024, and underwent treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering before transitioning to home hospice care.
Mr. Creel was a fixture of the theatrical community, noted for versatile acting performances in a career that saw him often alternate between comedy and drama, leading man and character actor. But performing was only one facet of Mr. Creel’s life. Blessed with a virtuosic voice in every sense of that word, Mr. Creel also used his gifts as a skilled writer to be a devoted activist for the theatre community.
After working in regional theatre for a time and performing in the national tour of Fame, Mr. Creel made his Broadway debut originating the role of Jimmy Smith in Thoroughly Modern Millie in 2002 — the musical opened on his 26th birthday. His performance earned him his first Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical.
Other roadway credits include Hair, (Tony nomination) La Cage aux Folles, She Loves Me; The Book of Mormon; Waitress; and Hello, Dolly! (Tony Award for Best Featured Actor) Mr. Creel also starred in the London productions of The Book of Mormon, Mary Poppins, and Waitress. For his performance as Elder Price in the original West End production of Mormon, Mr. Creel received an Olivier Award for Best Actor.
Gavin’s most recent stage role was starring as Cinderella’s Prince and the Wolf in the 2022 revival of Into the Woods, first at New York City Center Encores! and later in the production’s Broadway transfer and North American national tour.
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RIP: Ken Page, whose Broadway résumé included originating roles in some of the most important productions in musical-theater history, died Sept. 30 at the age of 70. He passed quietly and peacefully at his home. Amongst his enormous resume, Ken originated roles in Cats and Ain’t Misbehavin’, and is also known for contributing his instantly-recognizable voice to “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”
Click here to read more about Ken’s life.
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Andrew Scott & Simon Stephens’ radical new adaptation of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya will begin previews Mar. 11, 2025 , and open Mar. 18 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, directed by Sam Yates.
Andrew Scott (playing all the characters)
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“It Happened Here 2024,” adapted by Richard Dresser, directed by Joe Cacaci, begins streaming today here.
Molly Babos, Molly Carden, Edie Falco, Santino Fontana, Luke Kirby, Tom Pacinka,Tony Shalhoub, and John Turturro.
A glimpse of what could happen after the 2024 election if fascism creeps into the USA. Told through the voices of a fragmenting American family.
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Steve Ross & Karen Murphy: Best of the Versed will take place Tues. Oct. 8 at 9:30 PM at NYC’s Don’t Tell Mama.
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Oedipus, adapted & directed by Robert Icke, will run Oct. 4 – Jan 4, 2025 at Wyndham’s Theatre.
Mark Strong and Lesley Manville.
Sophocles’ epic tragedy is transformed into an essential, explosive human thriller.
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Kim Hlavac’s “What’s Behind Door Number Two?” will debut Wed. Oct. 9 on Open-Door Playhouse, directed by Kim Hlavac.
Keith Barber (Syd,) Jeff LeBeau (Matt) and Kim Hlavac (Denise).
Second hand shop owners, Matt and Denise are the highest bidders at an auction for an abandoned storage unit. Excited to discover its contents and discover what “treasures” or “trash” they may have inherited, comes to a pause when they are visited by an older man and a young mute boy. Did they come to retrieve their rightful property or to make a deal? Take a back seat but keep your distance.
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Murder on the Orient Express, adapted by Ken Ludwig, continues through Oct. 20 at San Diego’s Old Globe, directed by Peter Amster.
Karole Foreman (Princess Dragomiroff), Sophia Obert (Greta Ohlsson), Andrew Sellon (Hercule Poirot), David Breitharth (Monsieur Bou), Ariella Kvashny ( Hungarian Countess Andrenyi), and Sam Ashdown (Col. Arbuthnot).
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Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, adapted by Mark Shanahan, will run Nov. 14 – Dec. 15 at Theatre 40 (link TBA), directed by Jules Aaron.
Michael Mullen (Hercule Poirot), Matt Landig, Todd Andrew Ball, Michael Robb, Joe Clabby, David Hunt Stafford, Rebecca Del Sesto, Anica Petrovic, Michele Schultz, Caroline Westheimer, Diane Linder, and Riley Introcaso.
A thrilling tale of greed, blackmail and murder most foul.
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A Funny Thing happened on the way to the Forum will run Oct. 29 – Jan. 12, 2025 at VA’s Signature Theatre, directed & choreographed by Matthew Gardiner, with music direction by Jon Kalbfleisch.
Erin Weaver (Pseudolus), Cameron Loyal (Miles Gloriosus), Mike Millan (Hysterium), Tracy Lynn Olivera (Domina), and Kuhoo Verma (Philia), Christopher Bloch (Senex), Sherri L. Edelen (Erronius/Vibrata), Zachary Keller (Hero), Nolan Montgomery Gymnasia, Kaylee OlsonTintinabula), Lawrence Redmond Marcus Lycus), Ryan Sellers (Protean/Geminae), Harrison Smith (Protean), Emily Steinhardt (Panacea), and Hank von Kolnitz (Protean/Geminae), with Dylan Arredondo,Rebecca Madeira, Alicia Osborn,. Graciela Rey, and Quincy Vicks.
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Complete casting has been announced for Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, to run Nov. 6 – Dec. 15 (opening Nov. 14) at the Geffen Playhouse, directed by Judy Hegarty Lovett.
Lincoln Bonilla (Boy), Conor Lovett (Pozzo), Aasif Mandvi (Estragon), Jack McSherry (Boy), Adam Stein (Lucky) and Rainn Wilson (Vladimir).