Music producer Clive Davis has been enlisted by Mayor de Blasio to organize a mega concert tentatively set for Aug. 21 in Central Park, part of the ‘Homecoming Week’ in New York City.
On Saturday June 5, New 42 presented honors to the New York City Department of Education, Office of Arts and Special Projects, and Jody Gottfried Arnhold, a teacher in New York City public schools for 25 years, and a leading supporter of dance and arts education. Speakers included Fiona Howe Rudin (Chairman, New 42 Board of Directors) and Russell Granet (President & CEO, New 42), Bill de Blasio, Meisha Porter, and Brian Stokes Mitchell. Performances included a variety of professional and student performers, culminating with Sara Bareilles, who sang “Love Song,” “Brave,” and “She Used To Be Mine” from Waitress.
Phylicia Rashad will star in the Broadway premiere of Dominique Morisseau’s Skeleton Crew, the Manhattan Theatre Club announced Monday. The play, which will be directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, will begin performances Dec. 21 and open Jan. 12 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Additional casting and the creative team for Skeleton Crew will be announced at a later date.
In addition, Manhattan Theatre Club also announced dates for the postponed Broadway production of Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive, starring Mary-Louise Parker and David Morse. The play has set a first preview date of March 29, 2022 and an opening night on April 19. Mark Brokaw directs the production, produced with Daryl Roth and Cody Lassen in association with the Vineyard Theatre.
Stomp – the drumbeat hit, will return off Broadway on Tuesday, July 20 as New York City’s theater scene emerges from its now-15-month Covid hibernation. Tickets will go on sale on June 21.
Paradise Square – a new musical about 19th Century New York is on its way to Broadway. It explores race relations in the 19th C and will star Joawuina Kalukango, Chilina Kennedy, John Dossett, Sidney DuPont, A.J. Shively, Nathaniel Stampley, Gabrielle McClinton and Jacob Fishel. Watch for Feb. 22, 2022 previews with a March 20 opening at the Ethel Barrymore Theater.
Darknights and Daydreams (Working Title), a new play adapted by Michael Uslan from his inspiring memoir, The Boy Who Loved Batman, to Broadway during the 2022 / 2023 season. Bob Nederlander Jr. & Nederlander Worldwide Productions as producers . . . Michael Uslan, the Originator and Executive Producer of the Batman movie franchise, brings his play to life on stage.
National Black Theater will be replacing its longtime home with a 21-story building that will include a mix of housing, retail and, on floors three through five, a gleaming new home for the theater. [Sade] Lythcott and other National Black Theater leaders see the $185 million project, and the partnership they are entering with developers, as a new chapter with the financial and institutional backing to allow them to live out the dream of Teer, who died in 2008: to nurture a space where Black artists can thrive.
The Met, whose pre-pandemic annual budget was slightly above $300 million, is moving ahead with plans for a 2021-22 season, but it must first contend with some harsh financial realities. A key factor is the loss of $150 million in revenue because of the pandemic, according to the company. That has left the Met seeking pay cuts from its 2,500 union employees.
