Roundabout Theatre Company‘s production of Birthday Candles by Noah Haidle concludes its Broadway premiere run May 29. Preview performances began March 18 at the American Airlines Theatre, ahead of an April 10 opening night. 

Vivienne Benesch directs the cast, led by Emmy winner Debra Messing (Will and Grace, Outside Mullingar) and including Tony nominee John Earl Jelks (Sweat, Radio Golf), Enrico Colantoni (Just Shoot Me, Veronica Mars) in his Broadway debut, Crystal Finn (Roundabout’s Bobbie Clearly), Susannah Flood (The Cherry Orchard), and Christopher Livingston (Roundabout’s Something Clean).

The play follows Ernestine Ashworth (Messing), who, through the baking of a birthday cake over a 100-year period, examines her life and place in the universe.

READ: Playwright Noah Haidle Examines a Lifetime in Birthday Candles

The design team includes set design by Christine Jones, costume design by Toni-Leslie James, lighting design by Jen Schriever, sound design by John Gromada, and original music by Kate Hopgood.

Birthday Candles was commissioned by Detroit Public Theatre where it premiered in 2018. Revenue generated from the Broadway run and from future productions will help fund DPT’s new theatre venue, slated to open in the fall. Haidle is a DPT board member, and fellow Broadway playwright Dominique Morrisseau serves as the company’s executive artistic producer. A group of over 150 DPT supporters attended the Broadway production of Birthday Candles this spring.

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See Debra Messing and Company in the World Premiere of Birthday Candles

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MCC Theater’s soft resumes performances May 28 following cancellations due to breakthrough COVID-19 cases within the company. The show played one preview performance May 12 at the The Susan & Ronald Frankel Theater, located in The Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space. Opening night has been rescheduled to June 9 and the production is now set to run through June 26. It was originally set to run through June 19.

Written by Donja R. Love and directed by Whitney White, the story follows a correctional boarding school teacher, Mr. Isaiah, and his response to one of his students dying by suicide. Featured in the cast are Leon Addison Brown as Mr. Cartwright, Biko Eisen-Martin as Mr. Isaiah, Dharon Jones as Antoine, Essence Lotus as Dee, Travis Raeburn as Bashir, Shakur Tolliver as Kevin, Dario Vazquez as Jamal, and Ed Ventura as Eddie.

During the show’s limited run, the theatre will host Black and Brown Theater Night and multiple audience conversations.

The play features scenic design by Adam Rigg, costume design by Qween Jean, lighting design by Cha See, sound design by Germán Martínez, original music by Mauricio Escamilla, and fight direction by UnkleDave’s Fight-House. The prop supervisor is Andrew Diaz and the production stage manager is Rachel Denise April.

For more information, visit MCCTheater.com.

Stars in the House—the live-streamed concert series created by Playbill correspondent and SiriusXM Broadway host Seth Rudetsky and producer James Wesley—spotlights the recent (and Broadway-bound) City Center Encores! production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods May 26.

Guests include Sara Bareilles, Gavin Creel, Jordan Donica, Ta’Nika Gibson, and Brooke Ishibashi. Watch the stream, which will feature live performances, above beginning at 8 PM ET.

 READ: Encores! Into the Woods Sets Broadway Transfer With Patina Miller, Brian D’Arcy James, Phillipa Soo, Joshua Henry, Sara Bareilles, More

Stars in the House launched March 16, 2020, and has raised more than $1 million to support The Actors Fund and its services in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. It has also raised funds for the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund in support of the Black Lives Matter movement as well as Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

New shows feature performances by stars of stage and screen, in conversation and song with Rudetsky and Wesley. Peter Flynn serves as streaming director.

Click here to watch previous episodes.

To make a tax-deductible donation to The Actors Fund visit StarsintheHouse.com/Donate.

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Check Out Photos Of Heather Headley, Sara Bareilles, Denée Benton, More in Encores! Into The Woods

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