Previews for Bollywood Kitchen begin January 15, the latest virtual and interactive production at Geffen Playhouse as part of its Stayhouse programming. Led by filmmaker Sri Rao, and inspired by his cookbook of the same name, the show invites audiences to partake in a culinary journey from India to America.
“The two questions I get asked most often at cocktail parties are, ‘Can I get one of your mom’s recipes for homemade Indian food?’ and ‘I’ve never seen a Bollywood movie before, can you recommend one to me?,’” says Rao. “Well, the Geffen is giving me the opportunity to answer both questions at once, and this time, the cocktail party is at my place! Bollywood Kitchen is my way of introducing audiences to two of my passions—Indian food and films—while taking them on a personal journey of my family’s immigrant experience.”
Ingredients found in the Bollywood Box sent to interactive audiences. Courtesy of Geffen Playhouse
Bollywood Kitchen is directed by Arpita Mukherjee and produced in association with Hypokrit Theatre Company. Serving on the creative team are scenic designer Neil Patel, costume designer Arjun Bhasin, lighting designer Amith Chandrashaker, sound designer Sharath Patel, and video designer David Bengali. Opening night is set for January 23.
Multiple tiers of ticketing options allow audiences to choose their own level of participation, including a livestream viewing-only option. For audience members who prefer an interactive experience, a special “Bollywood Box” will be delivered to their doorstep in advance of the performance. Each box includes an assortment of specially curated Indian spices, recipe cards, and other items they’ll need for the show. A shopping list of perishable items that are easy to find in a local grocery store will also be included to complete the dinner menu.
The show joins the currently running Geffen Stayhouse productions of David Kwong’s Inside the Box, Chelsea Marcantel’s Citizen Detective, and Helder Guimarães’ The Future.
Read on for some recent theatre headlines you may have missed in today’s news.
Aleshea Harris Awarded the 2021 Hermitage Greenfield Prize The OBIE Award-winning playwright of Is God Is and What to Send Up When It Goes Down has been named the recipient of the 2021 Hermitage Greenfield Prize, from the Hermitage Artist Retreat in collaboration with the Greenfield Foundation. Harris will receive a six-week residency at the Hermitage and a $30,000 commission for a new work to be presented at Asolo Repertory Theatre in 2023. The prize is awarded annually, rotating between the fields of music, theatre, and visual art. Past winners in theatre include Martyna Majok, Nilo Cruz, John Guare, and Craig Lucas. This year’s finalists, who will also receive a Hermitage residency, are Donja R. Love, Nikkole Salter, and Whitney White.
New Victory Theater Announces 2020–2021 LabWorks Artists New Victory names nicHi douglas, ChelseaDee Harrison, Nambi E. Kelley, and Christopher Rudd as the theatre’s 2020–2021 New Victory LabWorks Artists, all returning for a second year in the new work development program creating theatre for young audiences. In addition to new works development resources, the artists each receive a $15,000 stipend. New Victory has dedicated this year and future years to serving BIPOC artists, including artists with disabilities and artists who identify as LGBTQIA+. Applications for the next cohort of LabWorks Artists is currently open through February 17. A virtual informational session about the program and application process will be held at 5 PM ET on January 19. For more information and to RSVP for the info session, visit NewVictory.org.
Rebecca Luker Award to Be Given as Part of the Lotte Lenya Competition The Kurt Weill Foundation has announced the creation of the Rebecca Luker Award as part of its annual Lotte Lenya Competition, which recognizes talented singer and actors of all nationalities, ages 19–32, who are dramatically and musically convincing in repertoire ranging from contemporary Broadway scores to opera/operetta, including the works of Kurt Weill. The new award honors the late Rebecca Luker, who has served several times as a judge for the competition. It will be given for an outstanding performance of a selection from the Golden Age of American musical theatre by a finalist in the competition. The competition was founded In 1998, to honor the centenary of the birth of Lotte Lenya, one of the foremost interpreters of the music of her husband, Kurt Weill.
2020–2021 Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award Program to Be Presented Online The International Committee of The League of Professional Theatre Women, in collaboration with Martin E. Segal Theatre Center via Howlround, will present a week-long series of events in conjunction with the award, given every three years in order to acknowledge the exceptional work of theatre women around the world. This year’s honorees will include the Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award recipient Hanane Hajj Ali of Lebanon and the Gilder/Coigney Lifetime Achievement Award recipient: the late Franca Valeri of Milan. For more information and program scheduling, visit TheatreWomen.org.
Plus: Check out the trailer for 9 to 5: The Story of a Movement, a new documentary about the women’s workplace equality movement that inspired the hit song and movie. Stars of the Broadway adaptation, including Megan Hilty, Stephanie J. Block, Allison Janney, and Kathy Fitzgerald, join the film’s stars and women’s rights activists to discuss how the themes of 9 to 5 are still relevant today. The documentary airs on PBS in February.
Broadway alums Jay Armstrong Johnson, Jonathan Burke, Jelani Remy, and Adam Roberts, along with Roberto Araujo, have joined the cast of Anjou: The Musical Horror Tale, sharing the role of Henry of Anjou. The stars join a previously announced cast that includes Javier Muñoz, Eden Espinosa, and Shereen Pimentel in the streaming benefit performance.
The event streams on Playbill and YouTube January 29 at 8 PM ET, and will be available to watch through February 2. While free to enjoy, donations are encouraged to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
Jay Armstrong Johnson, Jonathan Burke, and Jelani Remy
Anjou is a modern Mexican opera with music by Guillermo Mendez M. and lyrics by Mendez and Guadalupe Sandoval, in a new English translation by Javier Vilalta.
Performed in the style of a Broadway concept album, actors will split roles throughout the performance. The cast includes Espinosa (Wicked), Bianca Marroquín (In The Heights), Julia Murney (Wicked), and Kristie Dale Sanders (Oklahoma!) as Catherine de’ Medici; Caroline Bowman (Wicked), Pimentel (West Side Story), and Eva Tavares (The Phantom of the Opera national tour) as Margot de Valois; Muñoz (Hamilton) as Charles IX; Austin Colby (Jersey Boys) as Arthur; and Nathan Cockroft, Kevin Curtis (Moulin Rouge!), Gabriel Hyman (Hamilton national tour), and Michael Perrie Jr. (Million Dollar Quartet national tour) as Spirit/Mignon. Marroquín also serves as the Narrator.
As Charles IX is crowned as the new monarch, the Catholic church puts pressure on Queen Catherine de’ Medici to eradicate Protestantism in France. The treacherous queen has a plan of her own: to remain in power through her beloved and overly-conceited son, Henry of Anjou, and to plan her daughter’s wedding with a Protestant knight, while executing one of the bloodiest events in history. Fusing Renaissance-inspired melodies, modern orchestrations, and Latinx-influenced tunes, Anjou turns this tragic moment in history into a exploration of kindness and acceptance against today’s backdrop of injustice.
The streaming production is directed and edited by Araujo with Grammy and Emmy winner John McDaniel (Annie Get Your Gun, The Rosie O’Donnell Show) as music director. Araujo and Vilalta produce.
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is one of the nation’s leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. By drawing upon the talents, resources and generosity of the American theatre community, since 1988 Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has raised more than $300 million for essential services for people with HIV/AIDS, COVID-19 and other critical illnesses across the United States.
The holidays are over and most of us are looking to make up for the extra calories ingested and excess pounds gained. BroadwayWorld wants to help you get moving this January Stretch your muscles and get your heart pumping with our specially curated collection of showtunes to energize your very Broadway workout.
On Broadway, the stage is typically filled with people, all coming together to bring a show to life. However, some of the most riveting productions have come from a single performer. From Elaine Stritch at Liberty to Sea Wall/A Life, look back at 13 socially distance performances that took Broadway by storm—including Song and Dance, with Bernadette Peters earning a Tony Award for her solo Act I performance as Emma.
13 Solo Turns on Broadway Everyone Should Know
13 Solo Turns on Broadway Everyone Should Know
26 PHOTOS
The Belle of Amherst, 1976
Act 1 of Song and Dance,1985
The first act of Song & Dance is one of the few true solo musicals ever to play Broadway. Bernadette Peters won her first Tony Award in 1985 for her portrayal of Emma, an English girl in New York, whose search for love spanned almost two dozen songs. Kenn Duncan / The New York Public Library
The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, 1985
Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, 1994
Freak, 1998
Actor John Leguizamo introduced Broadway audiences to his explosive storytelling style in 1998 when Freak, a semi-autobiographical series of Leguizamo’s family stories co-written with David Bar Katz, opened at the Cort Theatre. Photo by Photo by Joan Marcus
