Today’s Highlights:
The Homecoming, by Harold Pinter, directed by Matthew Dunster, featuring Jared Harris (Max), Joe Cole (Lenny), Lisa Diveney (Ruth), David Angland (Joey), Robert Emms (Teddy), and Nicolas Tennant (Sam), opens at London’s Young Vic.
Both Sides Now: Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, directed by Mark G. Meadows, featuring Robbie Schaefer and Danielle Wertz, opens at DC’s Signature Theatre.
Cinderella, directed by directed by Eboni Bell Darcy, featuring Brianna Kaleen (Cinderella), Soara-Joye Ross (Godmother), Jason Schmidt (Christopher), Courtney Markowitz (Stepmother), Gemini Quintos (Grace), Sarah Sachi (Joy), Brian Mathis (King), Melrose Johnson (Queen), and Mark Ivy (Lionel), with Mike Baerga, Kahlil Cabble, Dwayne Cook, Kelly Lomonte, Miles Marmolejo, Betty Marie Muessig, Aisha Ussery, Kaleb Womack, Kenzie Woolridge, Teresa Zimmermann, and more, opens at Houston’s TUTS.
Girl From the North Country, written & directed by Conor McPherson, featuring Alan Ariano (Dr. Walker), David Benoit (Mr. Burke), Ben Biggers (Gene Laine), Paul Jennifer Blood (Elizabeth Laine), Matt Manuel (Joe Scott), Sharaé Moultrie (Marianne Laine), Ali Regan (Swing), Jay Russell (Mr. Perry), John Schiappa (Nick Laine), Chiara Trentalange (Kate Draper), Jill Van Velzer (Mrs. Burke), Jeremy Webb (Reverend Marlowe), Aidan Wharton (Elias Burke), and Carla Woods (Mrs. Neilsen), with Ashley D. Brooks, Justin Michael Duval, Kelly McCormick, Rayla Garske, Paul Blankenship,Hosea Mundi, Warren Nolan Jr., and Danny Vaccaro, opens at Schenectady’s Proctors.
A Christmas Story, by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul & Joseph Robinette, directed by Matt Lenz, featuring Chris Carsten (Jean Shepherd), Eric Petersen (Old Man), Sabrina Sloan (Mother), Shelley Regner (Miss Shields), Kai Edgar (Ralphie,) and Henry Witcher (Randy), with Steven-Adam Agdeppa, Gabbie Fried, Andrew Ge, Juliane Godfrey, Julia Harnett, Michael James, Trent Mills, Kyle Montgomery, Gabriel Navarro, and Jane Papageorge, with children Zeke Bernier, Addalie Burns, Jack Casey, Jordan Coates, Greta Rebecca Kleinman, Kayden Alexander Koshelev, Emilie Ong, Izzy Pike, Jacob Pham, and Charlie Stover, begins previews at LA’s Ahmanson Theatre.
Red Bucket Follies benefit for BC/EFA, hosted by Seth Rudetsky, featuring J. Harrison Ghee, Bonnie Milligan, and Jelani Remy, Maria Bilbao, Sierra Boggess, Danny Burstein, Jessica Hecht, Rachel Bay Jones, Andrea Martin, Christine Pedi, Marc Shaiman, Lillias White, Roger Bart, Corbin Bleu, Sierra Boggess, Danny Kornfeld, Zal Owen, Chip Zien, Alex Brightman, Victoria Clark, Justin Cooley, Lorna Courtney, Danny DeVito, Jonathan Groff, Leslie Odom Jr., Kara Young, Patrick Page, and many more, at 2 PM at Broadway’s New Amsterdam Theatre.
A Holiday Evening with John Lloyd Young concert, at 7 PM at Palm Spring’s Oscar’s.
James Snyder: Merry Happy Christmukkah concert, at 8:30 PM at Hollywood’s Catalina Jazz Club.
Death, Let Me Do My Show: Rachel Bloom in Conversation, at 7 PM at NYC’s 92NY.
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John J. Caswell, Jr.’s Scene Partners will livestream its final 4 performances at Off-Broadway’s Vineyard Theatre, directed by Rachel Chavkin.
Livestream performances: Dec. 16 (2 & 7:30 PM) and Dec. 17 (2 & 7 PM).
Dianne Wiest (Meryl), Eric Berryman (Dr. Noah) Drake (Johanna Day (Charlize), Josh Hamilton (Hugo), Carmen H. Herlihy (Cassie), and Kristen Sieh (Pauline)
Winter, 1985. 75-year-old Meryl ditches ice-cold Milwaukee for sunny Los Angeles, hell-bent on becoming a movie star. She’s got big dreams, a little money, and a whole lot of nerve. But will the world ever know her for who she really is?
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New York City Center Encores! has announced additional casting for Once Upon a Mattress, newly adapted by Amy Sherman-Palladino, to run Jan. 24 – Feb. 4, 2024, directed by Lear deBessonet, with music direction by Mary-Mitchell Campbell, and choreography by Lorin Latarro
Sutton Foster (Princess Winnifred), Michael Urie (Prince Dauntless), Nikki Renée Daniels (Lady Larken), J. Harrison Ghee (Jester), Cheyenne Jackson (Sir Harry), Francis Jue (Wizard), and David Patrick Kelly (King Sextimus the Silent), with Kaleigh Cronin, Ben Davis, Gaelen Gilliland, Jaquez, Morgan Marcell, Abby Matsusaka, Adam Roberts, Ryan Worsing, and Richard Riaz Yoder, and more TBA.
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Kansas City Starlight has announced its 2024 season. Casting and creative teams TBA.
The Cher Show (May 28 – June 2)
The Little Mermaid (July 9-14)
Come From Away (Aug. 6-11)
West Side Story (Aug. 20-25)
Peter Pan (Sept. 17-22)
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Steven Brinberg’s Simply Barbra Holiday Show will take place at 2 West Coast locations, with music direction by Michael Lavine.
Oscar’s Palm Springs (Dec. 19 at 7 PM)
San Diego Center for Jewish Culture (Dec. 25 at 6 PM)
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A UK tour of Bonnie & Clyde will launch Feb. 22, 2024, directed by Nick Winston, with music supervision by Katy Richardson. Click here for the complete tour schedule.
Katie Tonkinson (Bonnie Parker), Alex James-Hatton (Clyde Barrow), Sam Ferriday (Marvin “Buck” Barrow), Danny Hatchard & Alex James-Hatton (Clyde Barrow), Catherine Tyldesley (Blanche Barrow), Daisy Wood-Davis (Blanche Barrow at select venues), Jaz Ellington (Preacher at select venues), AJ Lewish (The Preacher alternate), Hana Ichijo (alternate Bonnie and Trish), Daniel Reid-Walters (Ted Hinton, Taryn Sudding (Cumie Barrow/Govenor Miriam Ferguson), Alexander Evans (Henry Barrow/Deputy Johnson), Andrew Berlin (Captain Frank Hamer), Jame Mateo-Salt (Sheriff Schmid), Callum Henderson (Bud/Archie), Jasmine Beel (Stella/Emma Parker), and Oonagh Cox (Eleanore), with Michael Cortez and Olivia Lallo
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RIP: Sheila Smith passed away Nov. 30 at the age of 90.
She made her Broadway debut in 1963’s Hot Spot opposite Judy Holliday.
As of 2023, Ms. Smith was one of the few performers left from the original Broadway production of Mame, where she served as the standby for both Angela Lansbury as Mame and Bea Arthur as Vera. For her efforts, Ms. Smith was awarded the Theater World Award, and at various periods in 1967, Ms. Smith took over for both legends to great acclaim.
In 1969, she starred as Mame in the first national tour before returning to New York to appear in the original Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies, standing by for both Alexis Smith and Yvonne DeCarlo.
In a particularly memorable chain of events, Follies director Hal Prince asked her to simultaneously stand by for Jane Russell as Joanne in Company during the run of Follies. One evening, after stepping in for Yvonne DeCarlo to perform as Carlotta, Ms. Smith found herself shuttled between the two theatres, finishing the song “I’m Still Here” and then quickly changing costumes to immediately step in for Ms. Russell to sing “The Ladies Who Lunch” in the second act of Company. She is, as far as is known, the only actress to appear on Broadway in two different Sondheim musicals in the same evening.
Ms. Smith would later leave Follies to originate the role of Sweet Sue in the Jule Styne musical Sugar. Her other Broadway credits include the original production of 42nd St, The 5 O’Clock Girl, and the 1993 Hal Prince revival of Show Boat.
On tour, in addition to the aforementioned Mame, she appeared with Tallulah Bankhead in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1956, as Golde in Fiddler on the Roof opposite Hershel Bernardi, in the original national tour of Equus opposite Brian Bedford, and in the national tour of La Cage Aux Folles.
Smith appeared in the Chicago premiere of Follies, No, No, Nanette with Ruby Keeler, Forty Carats with Joan Fontaine, and The Sound of Music with Shirley Jones. Ms. Smith created the role of Janet in the Off-Broadway musical Taking My Turn, which was filmed for PBS, and she played the role of Mitzi in a revival of Fiorello! at City Center, before replacing Eileen Rodgers as Reno Sweeney in the acclaimed 1962 Off-Broadway revival of Anything Goes.
In lieu of a public service, Ms. Smith’s family asks that donations be made in her honor to the Entertainment Community Fund.
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The 14th annual New York City Christmas: A Concert to Benefit Arts Ignite will take place Mon. Dec. 11 at 7 PM Off-Broadway’s Joe’s Pub, directed by Laura Brandel, with music direction by Lynne Shankel.
Gerard Canonico, Chester Gregory, Erika Henningsen, Lauryn Hobbs, Tarra Conner Jones, David Josefsberg, Claire Kwon, Telly Leung, Lauren Marcus, Mary Kate Morrissey, Bryohna Marie Parham, Zach Piser, Ryann Redmond, Shea Renne, Ximone Rose, Jessica Vosk, Samantha Williams, and more TBA.
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The Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes has been extended through Jan. 4, 2024 at Radio City Music Hall.
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An industry reading of Gordon Farrell’s Navigators will take place Tues. Dec. 19 at NYC’s Open Jar Studios, directed by Mark Brokaw.
Santino Fontana, Austin Pendleton, and Brooke Bloom.
The play focuses on a powerful political family whose dangerous secrets come out during some back room intrigue.
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Video: Highlights from Evita at the UK’s Leicester Curve, featuring Martha Kirby (Evita), Tyrone Huntley (Che), and Gary Milner (Perón).
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“The 46th Annual Kennedy Center Honors,” which took place on Dec. 3, will air Wed. Dec. 27 at 9 PM on CBS (and will also stream on Paramount +).
Billy Crystal, Renee Fleming, Barry Gibb, Queen Latifah, and Dionne Warwick.