Following a May 20 preview performance, the world premiere of Marthe Rachel Gold’s War Stories officially opens May 21 at Off-Broadway’s The Tank. Performances of the world premiere are scheduled through June 12 at The Tank’s Proscenium Theater.

Set in New York City during World War II, the new drama presents the coming-of-age story of Ruth, a young, pro-war musician from a working-class, immigrant family whose perspective is challenged by Nat, who holds anti-war views and comes from a wealthy, industrial Jewish family. 

Featured in the cast are Sophia DeLeo (Sleepy Hollow), Jorge Sánchez Díaz (The Skin of Our Teeth), Lenny Grossman (Blackbird), Maia Karo (Anarchy), Max Katz (the devil smokes American Spirits), Arlene A. McGruder (Elizabeth’s Precious Kitty), J. Ryan (Harmony in A Flat), and Kaya Simmons (Two-Fifths).

READ: The Tank to Bring Italian Theatre to New York With Two Winners of the Mario Fratti Award

Christina Roussos directs War Stories, which features scenic design by Maryam Khosravi, costume design by Lui Konno, lighting design by Jon DeGaetano, sound design by Hannah Birch Carl, projection design by Lacey Erb, props design by Sean Devare, hair design by Skipper Silberberg-Edwards, and compositions by Zach Catron. The stage manager is TaTyana Smith, and the line producer is Frank Nicholas Poon.

Talkbacks will follow performances May 26, featuring Gold and Greg Neumann, who are both children of conscientious objectors; and June 2, featuring Professor Ruth Milkman from the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies and CUNY Graduate Center who will speak about U.S. women workers in the 1930s and 1940s.

Visit TheTankNYC.org.

An invite-only industry reading of Lawryn LaCroix and Andi Villa Stover’s new play Gummies will be held May 20 at 6 PM at Open Jar Studios.

The work follows a group of multi-racial sisters-in-laws in New Jersey and is told though a series of vignettes spurring from a drunken night where they accidentally eat an entire roll of THC gummy tape. The play is described as a comedy and explores the often unsaid experiences of motherhood.

The reading will star Ebony Marshall Oliver (Chicken & Biscuits) as Cheryl, SAG winner Alysia Reiner (Orange is the New Black) as Monica, Samantha Morales as Paula, Sanda Bauleo as Nancy, and Sophia Lucia as Cathy. Casting is by Victor Vasquez.

The work is in development with The Shubert Organization’s Artistic Circle.

The 16-week engagement of Lincoln Center Theater’s My Fair Lady officially opens May 18 at the London Coliseum, following previews which began May 7. The musical will play until August 27 and will be followed by a U.K. and Ireland tour where it’ll visit Bradford, Dublin, Cardiff, and Southampton, with additional cities being announced in the future.

Adapted from George Bernard Shaw’s play and Gabriel Pascal’s motion picture Pygmalion, the show has a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The classic score includes “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “Get Me to the Church on Time,” “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” “On the Street Where You Live,” “The Rain in Spain,” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.”

The production is led by Amara Okereke as Eliza Doolittle, Harry Haddon-Paton as Henry Higgins, Vanessa Redgrave as Mrs. Higgins, Maureen Beattie as Mrs. Pearce, and Sharif Affix as Freddie Eynesford-Hill. 

Rounding out the cast is Stephen K. Amos as Alfred P. Doolittle and Olivier nominee Malcolm Sinclair as Colonel Pickering, plus ensemble members Dammi Aregbeshola, Bernadette Bangura, Joseph Claus, Jordan Crouch, Jamie Cruttenden, Francessca Daniella-Baker, Barry Drummond, Bethany Huckle, Heather Jackson, Emma Johnson, Charlotte Kennedy, Sinead Kenny, Jenny Legg, Tom Liggins, Rebekah Lowings, Carl Patrick, Tom Ping, Dominique Planter, Joseph Poulton, John Stacey, Joshua Steel, Oliver Tester, Adam Vaughan, Annie Wensak, and Paul Westwood.

Produced by Lincoln Center Theatre, the work features direction by Bartlett Sher, set design by Michael Yeargan, lighting by Donald Holder, sound by Marc Salzberg, hair and wigs by Tom Watson, music direction by Ted Sperling, and choreography by Christopher Gattelli.

Lerner and Loewe’s musical favorite was last seen in a major London revival in 2001 from producer Cameron Mackintosh. The original Julie Andrews-led production transferred to London in 1958, going on to run for more than five years.

The production first premiered in 2018 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater starring Lauren Ambrose, Harry Hadden-Paton, Diana Rigg, and Norbert Leo Butz. The production was nominated for 10 Tony Awards, taking home a Best Costume Design nod for Catherine Zuber.

For more information, visit ENO.com.

The American premiere of Golden Shield opens May 17, following previews which began April 26. The play is written by Anchuli Felicia King (White Pearl) with direction by May Adrales (Vietgone). It is slated to run through June 12. 

The legal drama follows an American lawyer Julie Chen and her class-action lawsuit involving a technology corporation and the Chinese government. She hires her sister Eva as her translator and the two find themselves having to set aside their past differences. The work previously ran in Melbourne Theatre Company’s Southbank Theatre.

The cast includes Cindy Cheung, Fang Du, Kristen Hung, Daniel Jenkins, Michael C. Liu, Max Gordon Moore, Ruibo Qian, Gillian Saker, Sheffield Chastain, Esther Chen, Ka-Ling Cheung, and Carl W. Hsu.

The show’s creative team includes scenic design by dots; costume design by Sara Ryung Clement; lighting design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew; original music and sound design by Charles Coes and Nathan A. Roberts; hair and wig design by Tom Watson; casting by Andrea Zee; and voice coaching by Ka-Ling Cheung. Michael Medina is the stage manager and Alyssa K. Howard is the production stage manager.

The theatre’s current season also includes Prayers for the French Republic and the recently-extended How I Learned To Drive.