Virtual Theatre Today: Tuesday, July 28- with Ann Reinking, Dominique Morisseau and More!
Today July 28 in live streaming Ann Reinking visits Backstage Live, Broadway unites to SavetheArts on Stars in the House, and so much more
Harlem9 Will Present 48Hours in…Harlem Digitally Due to Coronavirus
Harlem9, the collaborative producing organization composed of a group of Black theatre professionals, will present its annual theatre festival online this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. 48Hours in…™Harlem will stream August 20–24, beginning at 7 PM ET each evening on Veeps.com.
The festival brings together six playwrights, six directors, and 18 actors, including A Strange Loop star Larry Owens and choreographer Raja Feather Kelly. Penning the pieces are playwrights are Keith Josef Adkins, Brittany K. Allen, Tracey Conyer Lee, Nadine Mozon, jeremy o’brian, and L. Trey Wilson. Kelly directs one piece, as do Marjuan Canady, nicHi douglas, Malika Oyetimein, Logan Pitts, and Dominique Rider.
The roster of performers includes Owens, Mikayla LaShae Bartholomew, Eric Berryman, Kaaron Briscoe, Ashley Bufkin, Brandon E. Burton, Shavanna Calder, Broderick Clavery, Rasheda Crockett, Patricia R. Floyd, Freddie Fulton, Ashley N. Hildreth, Manu Kumasi, April Matthis, Javon Q. Minter, AK Murthadha, David Ryan Smith, and D. Woods.
The new plays were written in 48 hours July 17–19, then rehearsed and recorded during an additional 48-hour period July 24–25.
For this year’s festival, playwrights were inspired by the same six Black plays from 48 Hours in..‘s. inaugural year: Zooman and the Sign, The Colored Museum, Day of Absence, Funnyhouse of a Negro, Dutchman, and Black Terror.
Playbill Vault’s Today in Theatre History: July 27
1982 Little Shop of Horrors begins a 2,209-performance run at Off-Broadway’s Orpheum Theatre. Based on the Roger Corman cult classic about a man-eating plant, the Alan Menken–Howard Ashman musical stars Lee Wilkof and Ellen Greene. The 1986 film version of the musical, directed by Frank Oz, stars Rick Moranis, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin, John Candy, and Greene reprising her stage role as Audrey.
2000 Nathan Lane stars as Sheridan Whiteside opposite Jean Smart as Lorraine Sheldon in a revival of the Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman play, The Man Who Came to Dinner, opening at the Roundabout Theatre Company‘s new Broadway house, the American Airlines Theatre.
2000 Martin McDonagh’s A Skull in Connemara opens at Seattle’s ACT Theatre in its first American staging. Part of the playwright’s Leeanne Trilogy, the work follows a gravedigger who comes across the remains of his late wife, dredging up memories and rumors about her mysterious death several years ago. The play goes on to receive an Off-Broadway staging from Roundabout Theatre Company at The Gramercy in 2001.
2001 Alan King plays legendary film producer Samuel Goldwyn in Mr. Goldwyn at New York Stage and Film in Poughkeepsie, New York. Marsha Lebby and John Lollos’ play transfers Off-Broadway the following year.
2004 A production of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s Sweeney Todd opens at London’s new Trafalgar Studios with a cast of actor-musicians performing the bloody tale of revenge and meat pies.
2006 Patrick Swayze makes his long-awaited West End debut in the production of Guys and Dolls as Nathan Detroit at the Piccadilly Theatre.
2008 I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, which opened Off-Broadway at the Westside Theatre on August 1, 1996, plays its final performance. The musical revue played a total of 20 previews and 5,003 regular performances, making it the second longest-running musical in Off-Broadway history.
2009 The world premiere of Lila Rose Kaplan’s Wildflower, starring Nadia Bowers, Ron Cephas Jones, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Jake O’Connor, and Renée Felice Smith opens at Second Stage Uptown at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre.
2011 A Latin-themed adaptation of The Wizard Of Oz takes the stage when The Yellow Brick Road opens at Off-Broadway’s Lucille Lortel Theatre. The production is directed by Devanand Janki and choreographed by Janki and Robert Tatad, starring Virginia Cavaliere as Dora, Natalie Toro as La Bruja, and Ryan Duncan as Scarecrow.
2015 Fernanda Coppel’s King Liz officially opens Off-Broadway at Second Stage Uptown, starring Karen Pittman as sports agent Liz Rico who fights to stay on top in a man’s industry. Directed by Lisa Peterson, the cast includes Michael Cullen, Jeremie Harris, Russell G. Jones, Caroline Lagerfelt, and Irene Sofia Lucio.
2016 Richard Strand’s Civil War-set historical dramedy Butler opens at 59E59. Inspired by real-life historical events, the play follows the story of Benjamin Butler and Shepard Mallory, an escaped slave who seeks sanctuary at Butler’s fort. Directed by Joseph Discher, the cast features Ames Adamson, John G. Williams, David Sitler, and Ben Sterling.
2018 The world premiere of Tom Kitt, Thomas Meehan, and Nell Benjamin‘s musical Dave, based on the 1993 film of the same name, opens at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. Drew Gehling stars as Dave Kovic, a high school teacher (and presidential lookalike) who is hired by the Secret Service as a stand-in for the Commander-in-Chief. Directed by Tina Landau, the cast also includes Mamie Parris as the First Lady, and Douglas Sills as Chief of Staff.
Today’s Birthdays: Alexandre Dumas, fils (1824–1895), Miles White (1914–2000), Keenan Wynn (1916–1986) Beatrice Pearson (1920–1986). Maureen McGovern (b. 1949), Simon Jones (b. 1950),.
Watch Little Shop of Horrors composer Alan Menken talk about the musical:
VIDEO: HAMILTON Original Cast Members Phillipa Soo, Daveed Diggs, Renee Elise Goldsberry, and More Share Their Favorite Fan Moments
A new video was released on the official Hamilton social media accounts, featuring the show’s original stars sharing their favorite fan moments.
VIDEO: Watch A CHORUS LINE Reunion on STARS IN THE HOUSE- Live at 8pm!
Stars in the House continues today 8pm with a very special anniversary of A Chorus Line A Chorus Lineis amusicalwith music byMarvin Hamlisch, lyrics byEdward Kleban, and a book byJames Kirkwood Jr.andNicholas Dante. Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater, the musical is centered around seventeenBroadwaydancersauditioningfor spots on achorus line.
Check Out the Lineup for BOLD’s Short Play Festival of Work by Black Womxn
BOLD, the organization dedicated to building up Black women in the performing arts, will showcase the work of nine Black womxn artists in a free, online short play festival next month. Broadcast online over three nights, BOLD 2020 will feature six new plays written and directed by Black womxn.
The theme of the festival is BOLD 2020, with a focus on artists who are writing with urgency in light of, as well as in response to, the systemic silencing of Black womxn’s voices.
“The restoration of our culture is dependent on the amplification of the Black womxn’s voice,” shares Destinee Rea, the co-founder, with Tia DeShazor, of BOLD. “We are in desperate need of their stories being creatively shared and grafted into the American canon.”
The festival will run August 14, 21, and 28, from 6–7:30 PM ET. Each night will consist of two 10-minute plays, followed by a talkback with the director and playwrights.
The lineup of writers includes Agyeiwaa Asante, Brittani Samuel, Chanel Carroll, Jazmine Stewart, Kristen Adele Calhoun, and Lakhiyia Hicks, with directors Kristolyn Lloyd, Tavia Jefferson, and Bianca LaVerne Jones.