Today’s Highlights:
Roundabout Theatre‘s The Refuge Plays, world premiere by Nathan Alan Davis, directed by Patricia mcGregor, featuring Ngozi Jane Anyanwu, Jerome Preston Bates, Jessica Frances Dukes, Jon Michael Hill, Mallori Taylor Johnson, Lizan Mitchell, Nicole Ari Parker, Daniel J. Watts, Lance Coadie Williams, and JJ Wynderas, opens at Off Broadway’s Laura Pels Theatre.
Tiananmen: A Brave and Necessary New Musical, by Scott Elmegreen & Drew Fornarola, directed by Darren Lee, featuring Zachary Noah Piser (Peiwen), Ellie Wang, Sami Ma, Brandon Chu, Kennedy Kanagawa, Austin Ku, Michael Ching, Marc Oka, Sy Chounchaisit, Brandon Gille, Kuppi Jessop, Danielle Mendoza, Emma X. O’Loughlin, Andrea Somera, Raymond Dimaano, Rommel Pierre O’Choa, and Cindy Tsai, opens at Arizona’s Phoenix Theatre.
Shooting Hedda Gabler, by Nina Segal, directed by Jeff James, featuring Antonia Thomas (Hedda), Christian Rubeck (Henrik), Avi Nash (Ejlert), Anna Andresen (Berta), Matilda Bailes (Thea), and Joshua James (Jørgen), opens at London’s Rose Theatre.
Hadestown national tour, featuring Matthew Patrick Quin (Hades), J. Antonio Rodiguez (Orpheus), Amaya Braganza (Eurydice), Lana Gordon (Persephone) and Will Mann (Hermes), Matthew Patrick, Marla Louissaint (Fate), Lizzie Markson (Fate), (Hannah Schreer (Fate), with Sevon Askew, Jamal Lee Harris, Courtney Lauster, Daniel Tracht, Racquel Williams, Ian Coulter-Buford, KC Dela Cruz, Colin LeMoine and Cecilia Trippiedi, opens at LA’s Ahmanson Theatre.
Fiddler on the Roof, directed & choreographed by Gary John La Rosa, featuring John Payonk (Tevye), Velkassem Agguini (Fiddler), Ally Dods (Tzeitel), Mia Bergstrom (Hodel), Amelia Burkley (Chava), John K. Cauthen Jr. (Rabbi), Clara Coleman (Bluma), Eve Devirgilis (Golde), Giovanni Digabriele (Hershel/Sasha), Gavin Gayer (Cheder Boy 1) , Jasper Gayer (Cheder Boy 2), Greg Dragas (Motel), Matt Friedman (Mordcha), Alec Gillam (Nachum), and Nathan Nattew Jacques (Perchik), Loren Kent (Fruma-Sara/Rivka), Maryanne Kiley (Gradma Tzeitel/Anya), Mitchell Maguire (Chaim/Yuri), Tara R. Moscopulos (Shaindel), Evan Norris (Avram), Nick Richardson (Mendel), Scott Rollins (Constable), Ellie Madelyn Ruffing (Shprintze), Anthony Silvis (Yussel), Avaa Denae Stevenson (Mirala), Stormie Treviño (Bielke), Morgan White (Schloime/Boris), Scott Wichmann (Lazar Wolf), and Timothy Wright (Fyedka), with jacqueline Jones, opens at Virginia Stage Company.
The Engagement Party, by Samuel Baum, directed by Darko Tresnjak, featuring Richard Bekins (Conrad), Bella Heathcote (Katherine), Brian Lee Huynh (Kai), Mark Jacobson (Alan), Wendie Malick (Gail), Brian Patrick Murphy (Johnny), Jonah Platt (Josh), and Lauren Worsham (Haley), begins previews at LA’s Geffen Playhouse.
The Lifespan of a Fact, by Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell & Gordon Farrell, directed by Simon Levy, featuring Ron Bottitta, Jonah Robinson, and Inger Tudor, begins previews at Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre.
Love Letters, directed by John Tillinger, featuring Brook Shields & John Slattery, closes at Off-Broadway’s Irish Rep.
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Reviews for Manhattan Theatre Club’s Jaja’s African Hair Braiding at Broadway’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre:
NY Times (Jesse Green): … riotously funny workplace comedy set in prepandemic, mid-Trump Harlem. A kind of “Cheers” or Steel Magnolias for today, Jaja’s is so successful at selling the upbeat pluck and sharp-tongued sisterhood of its West African immigrants that the hasty dramatization of their collateral sacrifice feels a bit like a spinach dessert… The first 80 minutes of the 90-minute play…are a buffet of delights… From that moment on, the director, Whitney White, keeps the stage activated and the stories simmering at a happy bubble… Without White’s orchestration of the rhythm — and the perfect timing of the cast, most of them making Broadway debuts — I can’t imagine this working… Jaja’sis full of … treasurable moments, when the drama feels tightly woven with the comedy. And if the weave frays a bit at the end, what doesn’t? Like the Strawberry Knotless Afro-Pop Bob, it’s still a great look.
Chicago Tribune (Chris Jones): …very lively new Broadway play from Jocelyn Bioh… a most fun 90 minutes… The show is meticulous in its recreation of this business, from the use of wigs (by Nikiya Mathis) to the authenticity of the props… In this play, the audience spends a day at Jaja’s, from the moment the metal shutters rise on David Zinn’s hyper-realistic setting to when they fall along with the sun… The moral heart of the story is Miriam, warmly played by Brittany Adebumola… Nothing earth-shattering occurs, not even much conflict that cannot be worked out later. This is an ensemble piece, a collection of character studies, a bubbly slice of the uptown hair-braiding life…
Theatermania (David Gordon): After years of analyzing plays for their achievements and blunders, it’s rare for me to walk out of a theater with a single thought in my mind: I loved it… Bioh is one of the theater industry’s brightest new writers, one who gives wholly original voices to African and African immigrant characters; people who we rarely, if ever, see on our stages… as authentic a play as it gets… If the circumstances seem akin to a play like Steel Magnolias, you’re not too far off. Bioh has created a portrait of a tight-knit group of women who recognize that harmony is ultimately more important than their daily squabbles… a simple play about a multifaceted group of women and the strength of their friendship feels like a breath of fresh air…
The Guardian (gloria Oladipo): …a bond is forged as many gather for the singular purpose of a fresh hairstyle, with all its cultural and cosmetic magic… a delightful Broadway debut by Jocelyn Bioh, is an ode to that experience, to the women who make it so… Bioh once again flexes her signature comedic timing… There isn’t so much a commitment to realism: the hair braiders speak only in English and are willing to deliver their life stories to any listening customer. Bioh, instead, orchestrates a revolving door of merry conflicts: arguments about stolen clients between Bea and new braider Ndidi (Maechi Aharanwa) or showdowns between employers and entitled customers. But the play, making its world premiere, is crammed full… wildly entertaining. Bioh’s comedic skills are masterful, ballooned further by a talented ensemble.
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Broadway Grosses for the week ending Oct. 1. Click here for the complete analysis.
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A UK tour of The King and I will run prior to the musical’s re-0pening at London’s Dominion Theatre on Jan. 20, 2024 (and continuing through Mar. 2), directed byBartlett Sher.
Helen George (Anna Leonowens), Darren Lee (King of Siam), Cezarah Bonner (Lady Thiang), Maria Coyne (Alternate Anna), Am Jenkins-Shar (Captain Orton /Sir Edward Ramsy), Dean John-Willson (Lun Tha), Caleb Lagayan (Prince Chulalongkorn), Kok-Hwa Lie (Kralahome), Marienella Phillips (Tuptim), Harry Altoft (Louis Leonowens), Dexter Barry (Louis Leonowens), Max Ivemey (Louis Leonowens), and Charlie McGurie (Louis Leonowens), with Chi Chan, Jeffrey Chekai, Emily Grace-Ling, Cher Nicolette Ho, Daniel Len, Rachel Wang-Hei Lau, Candy Ma, Rachel Macdougall, Ynki Ozeki, Amelia Kinu Muus, Kitt Pakapom, Prem Rai, Ria Tanaka, Hiromi Toyooka, Jamsmine Triadi, Jensen Tudtud, Qinwen Xue, and Jason Yan-Westland.
Current Tour schedule: click here. Dec. 13-23 (Congress Theatre – Eastbourne) … and … Jan. 9-13, 2024 (Lowry Theatre – Salford).
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L.A. Theatre Works will present the following screenings at UCLA’s James Bridges Theatre:
Fleabag (Oct. 29 at 3 PM), written & performed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. 
here.
Titanic the Musical (Nov. 18 at 3 PM), by Maury West & Peter Stone. here.
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Ode To The Wasp Woman, written & directed by Rider McDowell, will run Oct. 30 – Jan. 31, 2024 (opening Nov. 9) at The Actors Temple Theatre.
Sean Young (Susan Cabot) and more TBA.
The play chronicles the last 48 hours in the lives of four 1950’s B movie stars; Susan Cabot, leading lady of the Roger Corman’s cult classic “The Wasp Woman,” George Reeves, the man who brought Superman to life on TV screens across America; Carl ‘Alfalfa’ Switzer of the beloved “Our Gang” comedies; B-movie queen Barbara Payton. The desperate and sensational events that lead to the demise of these four fallen stars are told in four one acts with music, a veritable homage to film noir and true crime.
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Dreamgirls will run Nov. 10 – Dec. 30 at CT’s Goodspeed, directed by Lili-Anne Brown, with choreography by Breon Arzell and music direction by Christie Chiles Twillie.
Ta-Tynisa Wilson (Deena), Keirsten Hodgens (Lorrell), Trejah Bostic (Effie), Evan Tyrone Martin (Curtis), Jos N. Banks (CC), Mykal Kilgore (Jimmy), and Robert Cornelius (Marty), with Chuckie Benson, Shantel Cribbs, Arnold Harper II, Alia Hodge, Alfred E. Jackson, Diva LaMarr, Melanie Loren, Kwame M. Remy, Aalon Smith, Montria Walker, and Jalisa Williams with swings Joel Oliver and Sierra Wilson.
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A Holiday Evening with John Lloyd Young will run Dec. 1-2 at 8:30 PM at Hollywood’s Catalina Jazz Club.
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The 2013 London production of Titanic the Musical will be screened on Wed. Nov. 8 throughout the U.S., directed by Thom Southerland. here.
Martin Allanson, Valda Aviks, Graham Bickley, Sam Brown, James Darch, David Delve, Adam Filipe, Emily George, Luke Harley, Emma Harrold, Alastair Hill, Abi Hudson, Barnaby Hughes, Paul Kemble, Niamh Long, Matthew McDonald, Ian McLarnon, Danny Michaels, Janet Mooney, Chris Nevin, Jack North, Joseph Peacock, Billy Roberts, Bree Smith, and Lucie-Mae Sumner.
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Baggage at the Door, created & performed by Dana Aber, will run Oct. 31 – Nov. 16 (opening Nov. 2) at the AMT Theater, directed by Joe Langworth, with music direction by Jacob Stebly.
Four consecutive Januarys with four near-death experiences…um, Happy New Year? This particular January, the scorched survivor’s barricades are breached, and protective layers peeled away as she navigates the precarious terrors of falling in love.
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Boston’s SpeakEasy Stage have announced complete casting for The Band’s Visit, to run Nov. 10 – Dec. 30 (opening Nov. 15) at The Huntington, directed by Paul Daigneault.
Brian Homas Abraham (Tewfiq), Jennifer Apple (Dina), Marianna Bassham (Iris), Fady Deman (Zelger), Kareen Elsmadlicy (Haled), Josephine Moshiri Elwood (Julia), Jesse Garlick (Papi), Noah Kieserman (Telephone Guy), Andrew Mayer (Camal), Zaven Ovian (Sammy), Emily Qualmann (Anna), James Rana (Simon), Robert Saoud (Avrum), and Jared Troilo (Itzik), with Sarah Corey, Jordana Kagan, Elliot Lazar, Steven Goldstein, Alex Poletti, Emily Qualmann, and Robert Saoud.