Hundred Acre Woods is coming to a city near you. Disney’s Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Stage Adaptation launches a nationwide tour September 16 in Irving, Texas, and will wrap up May 7, 2023, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Inspired by the books by A. A. Milne and their Disney animated adaptations, the family-friendly show brings together Pooh, Christopher Robin, and their best friends Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, Owl (and Tigger, too!).

The brand-new story is told with life-sized puppetry, accompanied by an original score from Nate Edmondson, which features some of the songs written for the animated feature by The Sherman Brothers, including “Winnie the Pooh,” “The Blustery Day,” “The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers,” “Whoop-De-Dooper Bounce,” and Milne’s “The More It Snows.”

Get a Sneak Peek of Off-Broadway’s Sesame Street: The Musical

The show, created and directed by Jonathan Rockefeller of Rockefeller Productions, premiered Off-Broadway in October 2021. It played a 3-month limited engagement at Theatre Row, followed by a return summer engagement.

For a full tour schedule, visit WinnieThePoohShow.com.

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Check Out New Photos of Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Adaptation

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Chicago’s Porchlight Music Theatre will hold its annual ICONS Gala September 23 at The Ritz-Carlton, Chicago. The evening will honor Tony winner Donna McKechnie with the 2022 ICON Award, which celebrates a notable artist
who has made an indelible contribution to American entertainment
through our art form of music theatre.

McKechnie will also perform at the gala and join journalist Paul Lisnek for an intimate, onstage conversation as she accepts the award.

“I am honored to be this year’s Porchlight Music Theatre ICON Award recipient,” said McKechnie. “The ICONS Gala is definitely going to be a party, and I look forward to performing a few songs for Porchlight’s supporters and celebrating its history and future.”

McKechnie won a Best Actress Tony for the original production of A Chorus Line. Other Broadway credits include Company, On the Town, and Promises, Promises. 

Previous ICON Award recipients include Joel Grey and Chita Rivera.

In addition to the ICON Award, Porchlight will present The Luminary Award to supporters Dan Ratner and The
Genevieve and Daniel Ratner Foundation for their history of philanthropic
and volunteer leadership. Past honorees include Rick and Deann Bayless and
the Bayless Family Foundation, Elaine Cohen and Arlen D.
Rubin, Jim Jensen, and Jean Klingenstein.

Visit PorchlightMusicTheatre.org for more information. 

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From Company to Chorus Line: Look Back at Donna McKechnie on the Stage

Donna McKechnie, Dean Jones and Pamela Myers in Company.

(l.-r.) Susan Browning, Donna McKechnie and Pamela Myers in the original production of Company

Photo by Martha Swope

Donna McKechnie records the Chorus Line cast album

Donna McKechnie and Harve Presnell in Annie Warbucks

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The 74th Annual Emmy Awards were presented September 12, and a number of Broadway artists and artists with theatre connections took home top prizes.

Sheryl Lee Ralph, known for originating the role of Deena Jones in Dreamgirls, received the first major performance award of her career. A stalwart of stage and screen, Ralph was Tony- and Drama Desk-nominated for her role in the original Broadway cast of Dreamgirls and has received many NAACP Award nominations throughout her career, but her Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Emmy win for the role of Barbara Howard in the comedy Abbott Elementary marks the first time Ralph has taken home the prize.

Ralph was visibly moved by the milestone and chose to perform a selection from Dianne Reeves’ soul song “Endangered Species” in lieu of a traditional speech. Ralph received a standing ovation from the assembled crowd and capped off her acceptance with the following quote.

“To anyone who has ever, ever had a dream, and thought your dream wasn’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t come true. I am here to tell you that this is what believing looks like. This is what striving looks like. And don’t you ever, ever, ever give up on you, because if you get a Quinta Brunson in your corner, if you get a husband like mine in your corner, if you get children like mine in your corner, and if you’ve got friends like everybody who voted for me, cheered for me, loved me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Ralph is now the second Black woman in the history of the Emmy Awards to take home the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. The first was Jackée Harry, who received the top honor for 227 in 1987. Ralph’s speech is available to view below.

In addition to Ralph, movie musical favorite Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia! film) received the Best Actress, Limited Series or TV Movie Emmy for her portrayal of Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout, Jennifer Coolidge (The Women) received the Supporting Actress, Limited Series or a Movie Emmy for her work on The White Lotus, and Jean Smart (The Man Who Came to Dinner) received the Best Actress, Comedy Emmy for Hacks.

Winners of the Creative Arts Emmys were announced last week, including Schmigadoon! and Annie Live!

For a complete list of this year’s winners of the Emmy Awards, click here.

The Public Works production of As You Like It, a musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s comedy by Shaina Taub and Laurie Woolery, completes its run September 11, wrapping up the 2022 season of The Public’s Free Shakespeare in the Park. As You Like It officially opened August 30 following a preview period which began August 10 at Central Park’s Delacorte Theater.

In the Shakespeare comedy, the exiled Orlando, Duke Senior, his daughter Rosalind, and niece Celia find a welcoming community filled with love in the Forest of Arden.

The adaptation, directed by Woolery, premiered for a five-night run in the 2017 Public Works program. It was scheduled to return for the summer season in 2020, but postponed due to the pandemic. Similar to the original Public Works production, the summer staging features two rotating ensembles of 127 New Yorkers representing all five boroughs.

Returning to As You Like It Post Pandemic Through Darius de Haas’ Lens

The cast includes Damion Allen as William, Tristan André as De Boys/Attendant, Ato Blankson-Wood as Orlando, Lori Brown-Niang as Agent/Puppet-deer, Brianna Cabrera as Silvia, Darius de Haas as Duke Senior, Bianca Edwards as Phoebe, Pierre Harmony Graves as De Boys/Arden Dancer/Young Orlando Dad, Rebecca Naomi Jones as Rosalind, Jonathan Jordan as Andy, Bobby Moody as De Boys/Arden Dancer, Renrick Palmer as Oliver, Eric Pierre as Duke Frederick, Idania Quezada as Celia, Christopher M. Ramirez as Touchstone, Edwin Rivera as De Boys/Attendant, and Shaina Taub as Jaques. De Haas, Perez, and Taub are all reprising their roles from the 2017 Public Works production.

Serving as understudies and standbys are Amar Atkins, Sean-Michael Bruno, Danyel Fulton, Emily Gardner Xu Hall, Trevor McGhie, Mike Millán, Kevin Tate, and Claudia Yanez.

The creative team also features scenic designer Myung Hee Cho; costume designer Emilio Sosa; lighting designer Isabella Byrd; sound designer Sun Hee Kil; hair, wig, and makeup designer Leah Loukas; and puppet designer James Ortiz. Original choreography is by Sonya Tayeh, with choreography restaging and additional choreography by Billy Griffin. Prop management is by Corinne Gologursky, with Delacorte 2022 sound system design by Daniel Lundberg, orchestrations by Mike Brun, music direction by Andrea Grody, music coordination by Dean Sharenow, and fight direction by Lisa Kopitsky. Kristen Gibbs serves as production stage manager, joined by Anaïs Bustos and Jessie Moore as stage managers.

Symphony Space will present a one-night-only celebration of the late Mary Rodgers and her just-published memoir—Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers, co-written with New York Times Chief Theater Critic Jesse Green—September 18.

The program of readings and music will feature Green, actors Deborah S. Craig and Tony winner Kelli O’Hara, and author Meg Wolitzer. 

Mary Rodgers, the daughter of famed composer Richard Rodgers, composed the music for Once Upon a Mattress, and her writing credits also included the children’s novel Freaky Friday. Reviewing Shy for The New York Times, Daniel Okrent wrote, “I’ve never read a more entertaining (and more revealing) book about Broadway. Rodgers’s voice careens between intimate, sardonic, confessional, comic. The book is pure pleasure—except when it’s jaw-droppingly shocking.”

For more information on the event, visit SymphonySpace.org.

New York Theatre Workshop’s world premiere of american (tele)visions, a co-production with Theater Mitu, begins performances Off-Broadway September 9 ahead of a September 29 opening night, with the limited engagement set to continue through October 16. Written by NYTW Playwright-in-Residence Victor I. Cazares, the production is directed by Rubén Polendo.

Featured in the cast are Clew (Angels in America), Raúl Castillo (Looking), Ryan J. Haddad (Hi, Are You Single?), Elia Monte-Brown (New Amsterdam), and Bianca “b” Norwood (Seven Deadly Sins).

The memory play follows “Hero of Ages Lost” Erica as she pushes her shopping cart through a ’90s Walmart, telling the story of an undocumented Mexican family. The production features live performance, live camera feeds, and pre-recorded video.

The show also has scenic and costume design by Bretta Gerecke, specialty costumes by Project Runway star Mondo Guerra, lighting design by Jeanette Yew, and technology design by Justin Nestor, Alex Hawthorn, and Kelly Colburn. The production is cast by David Caparelliotis, with J. David Brimmer serving as fight director, Andy Arden-Reese as intimacy director, Dawn-Elin Fraser as voice and text coach, and Shelley Miles as stage manager.

The Off-Broadway company’s upcoming season also includes Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Merrily We Roll Along, set to star Daniel Radcliffe; Clare Barron’s adaptation of Chekhov’s Three Sisters, directed by Sam Gold; Liliana Padilla’s How to Defend Yourself, co-directed by Rachel Chavkin (Hadestown) and Steph Paul (The Last Match); and Inua Ellams‘ The Half-God of Rainfall. Performance dates for the remainder of the season are to be announced.

Visit NYTW.org.