Broadway NewsAnthony Edwards Saves the Weekend With Surprise Appearance in Broadway’s Girl From the North Country
Watch the behind-the-scenes video with the ER star and wife Mare Winningham, sharing how he prevented the show from cancelling performances.
Mare Winningham and Anthony Edwards
“Is there a doctor in the house,” lead producer Tristan Baker asked during a pre-show announcement at the May 13 performance of Broadway’s Girl From the North Country. He then answered his own question, telling the audience that ER star Anthony Edwards would be stepping into the role of Dr. Walker for the evening.
Due to several company members out of the show with COVID-19, Girl From the North Country was faced with canceling performances, but playwright-director Conor McPherson wondered if Edwards might be able to step in, script in hand. It wasn’t a completely out-of-left-field suggestion, as Edwards is not only an award-winning actor, but is also a fan of the show—and its Tony-nominated lead actress, his wife Mare Winningham.
The couple recorded a backstage video after the performance, explaining how everything fell into place. Check it out below.
Edwards was an original cast member on the long-running NBC medical drama ER, and made his Broadway debut in the 2018 revival of Children of a Lesser God. His other screen credits include Top Gun, Revenge of the Nerds, and the recent Netflix hit series Inventing Anna. He first worked with Winningham in the 1988 thriller film Miracle Mile, beginning the 35-year friendship that would lead to their 2021 elopement.
Featuring music from the Bob Dylan catalogue, Girl From the North Country, playing through June 19 at the Belasco Theatre, offers a slice-of-life look at a small community in Duluth, Minnesota, where the Laine family operates a rundown guesthouse.
On May 7th, the World Premiere of the Spanish version of On Your Feet en Espanol has opened to rave reviews in DC at GALA Hispanic Theatre. Directed and choreographed byoriginal Broadway cast member Luis Salgado, music direction by Walter ‘Bobby’ McCoy.
Readings and WorkshopsLauren Ambrose Stars in Reading of David Adjmi Comedy Marie Antoinette May 14
Michael Kevin Baldwin directs the evening at Connecticut’s Sharon Playhouse.
Lauren Ambrose
Stage and screen star Lauren Ambrose, a Tony nominee for her performance in the recent Broadway revival of My Fair Lady, heads the cast of a May 14 staged reading of David Adjmi’s brassy comedy Marie Antoinette at the Sharon Playhouse.
Directed by Sharon Playhouse Associate Artistic Director Michael Kevin Baldwin, the 7 PM reading at the Connecticut venue also features Emma Simon, Pun Bandhu, Spencer Scott Barros, James Rose, Danny Tieger, Lou Hagen, and Ryan Palmer.
In this contemporary take on the young queen of France, Marie is a confection created by a society that values extravagance and artifice. But France’s love affair with the royals sours as revolution brews, and for Marie, the political suddenly becomes very personal.
Baldwin says, “Marie Antoinette is both outrageously funny and devastatingly poignant. Adjmi uses the tale of the ill-fated French monarch to explore our modern day culture of building up celebrities and then tearing them down.”
Artistic Director Justin Boccitto produces the one-night-only benefit.
AwardsA Case for the Existence of God and Kimberly Akimbo Are 2022 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Winners
The awards will be presented during a private ceremony May 20.
Will Brill and Kyle Beltran in A Case for the Existence of GodEmilio Madrid
The New York Drama Critics’ Circle has named Samuel D. Hunter’s A Case for the Existence of God Best Play of the 2021-2022 season, while David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori’s Broadway-bound Kimberly Akimbowas named Best Musical. The selections were made at the organization’s 86th annual voting meeting.
Special citations were awarded to actor and director Austin Pendleton and for emerging talent to Sanaz Toossi for her plays English and Wish You Were Here.
The awards, to be presented during a private ceremony May 20, include a cash prize of $2,500 for Best Play.
The New York Drama Critics’ Circle comprises 22 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines, wire services, and websites based in the New York metropolitan area. The New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award has been awarded every year since 1936 to the best new play of the season (with optional awards for foreign or American plays, musicals, and special achievements).
Adam Feldman has served as president of the NYDCC since 2005. Joe Dziemianowicz serves as vice president; Zachary Stewart is treasurer.
Your favorite podcast hosts Jason A. Coombs and Samantha Tuozzolo are back with hilarious, talented and absolutely gorgeous Gaby French who made her Broadway debut as Shirley in the five time Tony nominated play HANGMEN Gaby shares her journey with the show from auditioning, to the Covid-19 Pandemic shutting down production during previews in March 2020 to finally gracing the Broadway stage two years later.
The VerdictReviews: What Did Critics Think of Which Way to the Stage Off-Broadway?
The MCC Theater world premiere of Ana Nogueira’s new work opened May 10.
Sas Goldberg and Max Jenkins Daniel J Vasquez
Reviews are in for Ana Nogueira’s Which Way to the Stage world premiere at the Newman Mills Theater. The MCC Theater production opened May 10 in The Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space, following previews which began April 14. The show will run until May 22.
Directed by Mike Donahue, the work takes audiences back to 2015 as it follows two Broadway fans waiting outside the If/Then stage door hoping to get an autograph from star Idina Menzel. The experience they share ends up changing the course of their friendship.
The cast comprises Sas Goldberg (Significant Other), Max Jenkins (Unnatural Acts), Evan Todd (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), and Michelle Veintimilla (The Baker and the Beauty).
Playbill will continue to update this list as reviews come in.
The production features scenic design by 2022 Tony nominee Adam Rigg; costume design by Enver Chakartash; lighting design by Mextly Couzin and 2022 Tony nominee Jen Schriever; sound design by Sinan Refik Zafar; vocal supervision by Liz Caplan; choreography by Paul McGill; and hair, wig, and makeup design by Domino Couture. The production stage manager is Alex H. Hajjar.
Throughout the show’s run, the theatre has scheduled talkbacks with the playwright, director, and casts, as well as multiple audience conversations. The show will host an open caption performance May 13.
Actors’ Equity Association, the national labor union representing more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers in live theatre, has issued a statement in response to news of a leak of photos and videos of a Second Stage Theater production featuring Equity members performing naked.
