Today’s Highlights:
Home Sweet Homeland on-demand benefit presentation, by Joanna Rush, directed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett, featuring Jonathan Brody, Robert Cuccioli, James Rana, Laila Robins, Joanna Rush, Chuja Seo, Sophia Stzougros, and Mia Mel Williamson, begins FREE streaming at 7 PM ET here.
Maestra Music’s Amplify 2021 benefit event, directed by Kate Baldwin, hosted by Brooks Ashmanskas and Andréa Burns, featuring Ashley Park, Nikki M. James, Brandon Victor Dixon, Tanya Birl, Kenita Miller, Shelley Thomas, Eva Noblezada and Reeve Carney, with appearances by Anais Mitchell, Kirsten Childs, Helen Park, Rona Siddiqui, Britt Bonney, Kristy Norter, Dionne McClain-Freeney, Meg Zervoulis, Kat Sherrell, Nicole Rebolledo, Maestra founder Stitt, and Bernadette Peters, streams for FREE at 7 PM ET here.
Broadway’s Future Songbook Series concert, hosted by hosted by John Znidarsic, celebrates the music and lyrics of Billy Recce, featuring Joseph Frederick Allen, Meg Bush, Taylor Crousore, Roger Dawley, Scott Richard Foster, Jordana Kagan, Sarah Kleist, Amanda Lopez, Emil McNamara, Mia J. Pak. Rachel Ravel, Rose Recce, Lauren Robinson, and Lexi Spera, streams for FREE at 5:30 PM ET here.
Broadway’s Future Songbook Series concert, celebrating the music & lyrics of Billy Reece, featuring Billy Reece, Joseph Frederick Allen, Meg Bush, Taylor Crousore, Roger Dawley, Scott Richard Foster, Jordana Kagan, Sarah Kleist, Amanda Lopez, Emil McNamara, Mia J. Pak. Rachel Ravel, Rose Recce, Lauren Robinson, and Lexi Spera, streams for FREE at 5:30 PM ET here.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz – I’ve Heard That Song Before! by Jim Bernhard
Match these Broadway musical composers with the pop songs they composed apart from their theatre work:
| 1. Cole Porter | A. “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” |
| 2. Jule Styne (with Sammy Cahn) | B. “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition” |
| 3. Meredith Willson | C. “Don’t Fence Me In” |
| 4. Frank Loesser | D. “My Coloring Book” |
| 5. Lee Pockriss (with Paul Vance) | E. “I See the Moon” |
| 6. John Kander (with Fred Ebb) | F. “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini” |
| 7. Bob Merrill | G. “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” |
| 8. Harold Arlen (with Yip Harburg and Billy Rose) | H. “What Do They Do On A Rainy Night in Rio |
| 9. Irving Berlin | I. “It’s Only a Paper Moon” |
| 10. Arthur Schwartz (with Leo Robin) | J. “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?” |
Scroll down for the answers…
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Video: NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced plans to open Broadway this Fall. (1:01:47)
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Video: Stars in the House, a Ragtime reunion, featuring Audra McDonald, Judy Kaye, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Steven Sutcliffe, Lynn Ahrens, Mark Jacobs, Peter Friedman, and Stephen Flaherty. (2:16:42)
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Night of Covenant House Stars will stream Mon. May 17 at 8 PM ET here, co-hosted by Audra McDonald and John Dickerson, with music supervision by Jason Howland.
Meryl Streep, Vanessa Williams, Ariana DeBose, Kelli O’Hara, Sara Bareilles, Dolly Parton, Ryan Reynolds, Robin Roberts, Stephen Colbert, Rachel Brosnahan, Capathia Jenkins, Jo Ellen Pellman, John Dickerson, Darius De Haas, Daniel Yearwood, Ames Mcnamara, Laurie Metcalf, and more.
If you are unable to attend, please consider donating here.
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The West End transfer of Broadway’s To Kill a Mockingbird will run Mar. 10, 2022 – Oct. 1 (opening Mar. 31) at the Gielgud Theatre, directed by Bartlett Sher.
Rafe Spall (Atticus Finch) and more TBA.
Producer Scott Rudin has reported that the West End production “will not be a Xerox copy” of the Broadway version.
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John Cullum, Jeff Berger & David Thompson’s John Cullum: An Accidental Star will stream Apr. 8-22 at Off-Broadway’s Vineyard Theater, as well as at CT’s Goodspeed Musicals, directed by Lonnie Price & Matt Cowart, with music supervision by Georgia Stitt,
A rare opportunity to revisit the making of some of Broadway’s greatest shows, illuminated by funny, moving and fascinating encounters John had along the way.
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Laurence Mark Wythe’s “Tomorrow Morning” will film in London in May and June, directed by Nick Winston.
Samantha Barks, Ramin Karimloo, Harriet Thorpe, Omid Djalili, and Fleur East.
The musical film examines the coupling and uncoupling of relationships. The clock ticks by as two couples prepare themselves for the monumental day ahead. When morning comes, twenty-somethings John and Kat will marry and embark on a new life, while older couple Jack and Catherine will sign their divorce papers. Trouble is, is anyone really sure they are doing the right thing?
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“R&H Goes Pop” is now available to listen to and/or purchase here on a variety of platforms:
1. “Oh What a Beautiful Mornin,’” with Jeremy Jordan
2. “Shall We Dance,” with Ariana DeBose
3. “Some Enchanted Evening,” with Andy Mientus (watch here)
4. “It Feels Good,” with Lilli Cooper
5. “Something Wonderful,” with Gavin Creel
6. “Lonely Room,” with Rebecca Naomi Jones
7. This Nearly Was Mine,” with Ryan McCartan
8. “The Next Ten Minutes Ago,” a mashup of “Ten Minutes Ago” from Cinderella
and “The Next Ten Minutes” from the Last Five Years, with Jeremy Jordan & Laura Osnes
9 “The Surry with the Fringe on Top,” with Ali Stroker
10. “Younger Than Springtine,” with Derek Klena
11. “Something Good,” with Katrina Lenk
12. “We Kiss in a Shadow,” with Jelani Alladin & Matt Doyle
13. “Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful?,” with Santino Fontana
14. “Do-Re-Me,” with Ashley Park
15. “The Sweetest Sounds,” with Kyle Selig
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Video: Rebecca Luker as Claudia in the Broadway revival of Nine (2003), with John Stamos as Guido.
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Upcoming on Play per View:
The Debrief (Apr. 2 at 6 PM ET), a 30-minute chat, featuring Vella Lovell.
Babette in Retreat (Apr. 10 at 7 PM ET, and continues through Apr. 14), by Justin Sayre, directed by Ellie Heyman, featuring Becca Blackwell, Nathan Lee Graham, Randy Harrison, Bradford Louryk, Mary Testa, Auden Thornton, and Jack Weatherall. A farce about love and responsibility, Babette was one of the most famous courtesans of her day.
The Gett (Apr. 25 at 4 PM ET, and available through May 20), by Liba Vaynberg, directed by Daniella Topol, featuring Tovah Feldshuh, Peter Mark Kendell, Alfredo Narciso, and Liba Raynberg. A myth about divorce and how we salvage and recover meaning through profound loss and ancient ritual.
Bad Jews (May 15 at 7 PM ET, and available through May 20), by Joshua Harmon, directed by Daniel Aukin, featuring Tracee Chimo, Phillip Ettinger, Justine Lupe, and Michael Zegen. Cousins fight over a family heirloom.
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Video: Linda Kerns performs a monologue from The Glass Menagerie.
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The latest episode of Celia Keenan-Bolger’s new podcast, “Sunday Pancakes” is now available here, and on all podcast platforms.
Phillipa Soo
The duo tackles the issue of “Prioritizing Your Personal Life,” as they talk about the ongoing struggle to improve our work-life balance and tools to ensure you can continue to make space for your own needs.
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Broadway Backwards 2021 has announced additional performers for its annual benefit concert, which will stream Tues. Mar. 30 at 8 PM ET here, in support of BC/EFA.
Chasten Buttigieg, Anderson Cooper, Ariana DeBose, Don Lemon, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Robin Roberts, Tony Shalhoub and Ben Vereen.
Stephanie J. Block, Deborah Cox, Lea Salonga, Amy Adams, James Monroe Iglehart, Cheyenne Jackson, L Morgan Lee, Raymond J. Lee, Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Ruthie Ann Miles, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Jessie Mueller, Kelli O’Hara, Karen Olivo, Bernadette Peters, Sis, Elizabeth Stanley, Debbie Allen, Matt Bomer, Brenda Braxton, Len Cariou, Glenn Close, Loretta Devine, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Cherry Jones, Aasif Mandvi, Michael McElroy, Javier Muñoz, Jim Parsons, Eve Plumb, Roslyn Ruff and Tony Yazbeck.
(from previous editions): Ward Billeisen, Charl Brown, Tituss Burgess, Joshua Buscher-West, Len Cariou, Carolee Carmello, Jamie Cepero, Bryan Terrell Clark, Darren Criss, Steven Cutts, Ariana DeBose, Cynthia Erivo, Garlen Gilliland, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Andy Kelso, Eddie Korbich, Marty Lawson, Michael McElroy, Bonnie Milligan, Debra Monk, Alfie Parker Jr., Brandon Pearson, Eric Petersen, Waldemar Quinones-Villanueva, Andrew Rannells, Alex Ringler, Chita Rivera, Michael James Scott, Ryan Steele, Dennis Stowe, Lillias White, Curtis Wiley and Tony Yazbeck.
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An Illiad, adapted by Lisa Peterson & Denis O’Hare, will run Apr. 15-18 at Santa Barbara’s Ensemble Theatre Company, directed by Jonathan Fox.
John Tufts.
A contemporized and compelling narrative with the use of a single actor and musician, this version offers a powerful and lively piece of theatrical storytelling that vividly drives home the timelessness of mankind’s compulsion toward violence.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz answers: I’ve Heard That Song Before!
1-C. Cole Porter, “Don’t Fence Me In”
2-G. Jule Styne, “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”
3-E. Meredith Willson, “I See the Moon”
4-B. Frank Loesser, “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition”
5-F. Lee Pockriss, “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini”
6-D. George Fischoff, “Lazy Day”
7-J. Bob Merrill, “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?”
8-I. Harold Arlen, “It’s Only A Paper Moon”
9-A. Irving Berlin, “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm”
10-H. Arthur Schwartz, “What Do They Do On A Rainy Night in Rio?”