Follow cast member Mary Glen Frederick through a two-show day at Shake & Bake: Love’s Labour’s Lost at the 50-seat custom space at 94 Gansevoort Street. Each night the performers prepare and serve the audience an eight-course tasting menu, complete with wine pairings, throughout the action of the play.
The cast includes Oge Agulué as Longaville, Mary Glen Fredrick as Rosaline, Matthew Goodrich as Berowne, Rami Margron as Maria/Costard, Charles Osborne as Don Adriano de Armado/Boyet, Darren Ritchie as King Ferdinand of Navarre, Victoria Rae Sook as Princess of France, Alex Spieth as Understudy, Alan Trinca as Understudy, and Joe Ventricelli as Chef.
The production features design by Shawn Lewis with Justin West as associate designer.
Follow her through her two-show day below:
Spend a Two-Show Day at Shake & Bake: Love’s Labour’s Lost
Spend a Two-Show Day at Shake & Bake: Love’s Labour’s Lost
44 PHOTOS
WELCOME TO MY REIGN OF TERROR EVERYBODY. I’m Mary Glen Fredrick, and I’m playing Rosaline in Shake & Bake’s brand spankin’ new production of Love’s Labour’s Lost! We serve you a rollicking Shakespeare comedy, sick music and dance breaks, and an eight-course wine and tasting menu, right in the heart of the Meatpacking District. I’m gonna be taking you along for a TWO SHOW DAY, so fasten your seatbelts, cause you’re mine for the next 44 photos. LET’S GO. Mary Glen Frederick
Most of our gorgeous and talented cast gathers to warm up and also express our undying love for each other. Mary Glen Frederick
Rami Margron (doubling in a masterful turn as sweet Maria and rakish Costard) stretches like a boss. Should I use past or present tense for this? I’m gonna use present tense. Mary Glen Frederick
Victoria Rae Sook (throwing down the utmost Girl Power as The Princess of France) warms up those dulcet tones. Mary Glen Frederick
Charles Osborne (who will make you pee from laughing so hard as both the lovelorn Don Armado and the saucy Boyet), in the great tradition of Lizzo, been working on his fitness. Mary Glen Frederick
Oge Agulué (stealing hearts nightly as most tender Longaville) puts all of our warmups to shame and THAT’S OKAY. Mary Glen Frederick
“O, he hath drawn my picture in his letter!” Berowne writes a sexy love poem but didn’t exactly go to art school. Mary Glen Frederick
Here’s a closeup because it is of the UTMOST IMPORTANCE that you all see the drawings that our incredible assistant stage manager Kacey Gritters creates every night. Her goal is to make me break when I open the letter onstage, and honestly, WOULDN’T YOU? Mary Glen Frederick
When an eight-course meal is served as a part of the show, your backstage is also a kitchen! Head Chef Dave Goldman and our wonderful Brie Hayes prep the dessert (a delectable panna cotta served at the final curtain). Mary Glen Frederick
FIGHT CALL. Matthew Goodrich (whose charmingly randy Berowne chafes against his vow of abstinence) and Darren Ritchie (our resident crooner and most commanding King of Navarre) get frisky with that whisk(-y). Is everyone this bad at writing captions? I should go. Mary Glen Frederick
The national tour production of the award-winning musical Come From Away began performances at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre October 9 where it will continue through November 4.
With a book, music, and lyrics by Tony and Grammy nominees Irene Sankoff and David Hein, Come From Away is directed by Tony winner Christopher Ashley (Come From Away) with musical staging by two-time Tony nominee Kelly Devine (Rocky) and music supervision by Grammy nominee Ian Eisendrath.
The Broadway Center Stage production of Little Shop of Horrors plays the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ Eisenhower Theater October 24–28.
Michael James Leslie Joseph Marzullo/WENN
The cast includes How I Met Your Mother‘s Josh Radnor, seen on Broadway in The Graduate and Disgraced, as down-on-his-luck plant-shop worker Seymour, Tony nominee Megan Hilty (Wicked, Smash, Noises Off) as Audrey, Tony nominee Lee Wilkof (who originated the role of Seymour in the original Off-Broadway production) as Mr. Mushnik, Tony nominee Nick Cordero (A Bronx Tale, Bullets over Broadway) as Orin Scrivello, D.D.S., Amber Iman (Shuffle Along, national tour of Hamilton) as Crystal, Amma Osei (Rock of Ages) as Ronnette, and Allison Semmes (Motown ) as Chiffon.
Michael James Leslie, who originated the role of the Voice of the Plant in the Los Angeles, London, and Broadway productions of Little Shop, again voices Audrey II in the Kennedy Center presentation of the popular musical. Leslie recently replaced Tony winner James Monroe Iglehart, who departed the company due to unforeseen circumstances unrelated to the production, according to a Kennedy Center spokesperson.
The limited engagement also features musical direction by Joey Chancey, set design by Tony winner Donyale Werle, lighting design by Cory Pattak, costume design by Jennifer Caprio, sound design by Tony winner Kai Harada, and projection design by Alex Basco Koch.
Conceived and executive-produced by Jeffrey Finn, the Broadway Center Stage series launched last season with semi-staged productions of Chess,In the Heights, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. In addition to Little Shop, this season will feature Meredith Willson’s The Music Man (starring Tony nominee Norm Lewis) and The Who’s Tommy.
Andrea McArdle, who was Tony-nominated for originating the title role in the 1977 Broadway smash Annie, will play Miss Hannigan in the Axelrod Performing Arts Center production of the Martin Charnin, Charles Strouse, and Thomas Meehan musical. Performances runs November 2–8 in Deal Park, New Jersey.
McArdle returns to the role for a second time, having played Miss Hannigan at North Carolina Theatre in 2010.
Annie is directed and choreographed by So You Think You Can Dance Emmy Award nominee and Broadway Wicked veteran Al Blackstone.
Featuring a book by Meehan, music by Strouse and lyrics by Charnin, Annie opened in April 1977, making McArdle a star overnight. At the time, she was the youngest performer ever to be nominated for a Tony as Best Lead Actress in a Musical. Her co-star, the late Dorothy Loudon, won the Tony for her performance as Miss Hannigan.
McArdle’s Broadway appearances also include Les Misérables, Starlight Express, Beauty and the Beast, and State Fair.
The Heart of Rock & Roll, the new musical inspired by the music of Huey Lewis and the News, ends its West Coast run October 21. Directed by Gordon Greenburg (Holiday Inn), the show opened September 17 at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California. The musical features Matt Doyle (The Book of Mormon, Spring Awakening) and Katie Rose Clarke (Miss Saigon) in the leading roles.
The Heart of Rock & Roll follows Bobby (Doyle), a Chicagoan whose failed band leads to him returning to corporate America. While working, he meets his boss, Cassandra (Clarke), who has also traded in her personal life for a professional one. Together, the two realize their dreams when Bobby gets another shot at stardom and Cassandra is up for the CEO job. And, of course, there’s a little bit of love mixed in.
Written by Jonathan Abrams (book) with a story by Tyler Mitchell and Jonathan Abrams and orchestral arrangements by Brian Usifer (Frozen, Kinky Boots), The Heart of Rock and Roll was awarded the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award.
The rest of the cast includes Paige Faure, John Dossett, Patrice Covington, F. Michael Haynie, Billy Harrigan Tighe, and Lindsay Nicole Chambers, Orville Mendoza, and Zachary Noah Piser. The creative team features Lorin Lataro (choreography), Derek McLane (scenic design), Paloma Young(costume design) and Howell Binkley (lighting design).
First Look at Matt Doyle and Katie Rose Clarke in Huey Lewis and the News Musical The Heart of Rock & Roll
First Look at Matt Doyle and Katie Rose Clarke in Huey Lewis and the News Musical The Heart of Rock & Roll
Gordon Greenberg directs the new musical, which opened at San Diego’s Old Globe September 14.
14 PHOTOS
Orville Mendoza, Katie Rose Clarke, Matt Doyle, James Royce Edwards, and Robert Pendilla Jim Cox
Matt Doyle, Patrice Covington, and cast Jim Cox
Katie Rose Clarke, Billy Harrigan Tighe, Robert Pendilla, Christopher Ramirez, and Josh Tolle Jim Cox
John Dossett and cast Jim Cox
Matt Doyle and Orville Mendoza Jim Cox
John Dossett and Katie Rose Clarke Jim Cox
F. Michael Haynie, Lucas Papaelias, Matt Doyle, and Zachary Noah Piser Jim Cox
Matt Doyle and Lindsay Nicole Chambers Jim Cox
Nicolette Burton, Matt Doyle, Oyoyo Joi, and Salisha Thomas Jim Cox
When Jonathan Haas first arrived in New York in 1976, playing in a Broadway pit orchestra was, well, less than prestigious. “It was the last stop on the train,” he says. “It was not considered anything that would give you bragging rights.” But since then, the music world has changed its tune. “To be a Broadway musician [now] represents the highest level of musical excellence.”
This is why New York University, where Haas is the co-director of NYU Orchestras, added to its program earlier this fall with a new ensemble course: the Broadway Orchestra. Taught by longtime Broadway bass player and music coordinator-contractor-director-supervisor John Miller and Tony-winning music director, conductor, and vocal arranger Ted Sperling, the class will prepare students with the skills—musical and business—to help them forge a path to playing in a Broadway pit.
Of course, NYU and other schools like it have long offered degrees in instrumental performance. “What differentiates this is that it is a full-on study of—and the performance of—Broadway, both in practicum as well as in history,” says Haas.
Sperling and Miller’s curriculum teaches the breadth of style required of Broadway musicians, specific sight-reading and performance requirements unique to Broadway, as well as the logistics of landing a job in a freelance field.
The goal, musically, is for their students to be able to tackle the unique confluence of genres present in the Broadway repertoire—sometimes within a single score. “To succeed in this business, it’s really great if you can be a master of all of [these styles] and know how to play several different ones in the course of one evening,” says Sperling.
Courtesy New York University
Plus, the duo is prepared to inform students of the distinct challenges within each instrumental section, and build their skillset to tackle them. For example, “Broadway has this long tradition of woodwind doublers, where each musician in the reed section plays three to five instruments. That’s pretty specific to Broadway,” says Sperling. More generally, “playing a stringed instrument in a Broadway orchestra is very different from playing it in a symphony. Playing in a rock band is very different from having to follow a conductor. And, playing in a jazz situation is very different from having to do something that’s reliable eight times a week but still feels free and jazzy. We’re trying to synthesize [all of this].”
Students will learn this hands on—plus the mechanics of playing a show and following a conductor—as they learn the scores to Guys & Dolls and (this spring) Anything Goes while performing as the orchestra for the two musicals put on by NYU Tisch School of the Arts, in conjunction with the students in the university’s vocal performance program.
These young musicians will combine exploration of the musical theatre canon with the even-more necessary discipline of sight-reading. “For a lot of these younger people, the way into the business is by being a substitute for someone who has the permanent position on a show,” Sperling explains. “You don’t even get any rehearsal as a substitute; you have to leap in and just do a performance.”
But Broadway Orchestra is “not just a course in ‘how to sight-read’,” Sperling clarifies. It’s learning about the structure and history of Broadway music. “City of Angels, for example. What are the specific challenges of that score? What is it like to sight-read it? Then, how does it get better when we actually rehearse it? And what is it like to do just a plain orchestra rehearsal? What is it like when you add a singer to it? We’ll invite some people who worked on the original production to talk to us about how things evolved, things that they learned they liked or didn’t.”
On top of these artistic skills, Miller asserts that an advantage of his course is its focus on helping students actually get hired. “How to have people know of you, how you can best work on a website, how you can best network,” says Miller. “I wish I would have known this when I left University of Michigan.”
Courtesy New York University
Unlike careers in classical orchestras, there is no procedure of sending in tapes and resumés, no protocol of blind auditions to earn your chair. “Broadway and freelance work has no such animal of auditions,” says Miller. “Part of this is to let [the students] know what it is that puts you in the category of people wanting to work with you.”
Who better to teach them than the perpetually employed stalwarts of the business: Miller and Sperling? “Our faculty, who are coming in with this incredible expertise that you can’t find most anyplace other than in New York City” is a main reason why NYU is the birthing ground for a formal program of this kind, according to Haas. “Being in New York City here at NYU is a real bonus because not only is [Broadway] an alternative, it can be a way of life for a musician. That’s why it belongs in a place like NYU, because that’s what we’re trying to do here.”
Ruthie Fierberg is the Senior Features Editor of Playbill covering all things theatre and co-hosting the Opening Night Red Carpet livestreams on Playbill’s Facebook. Follow her on Twitter @RuthiesATrain, on Instagram @ruthiefierceberg, or via her website.
