Today’s Theatre Talk

 

 

The Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center & Burke-Cohen Entertainment will present a live virtual reading of Jeff Cohen’s new play Righteous on Monday August 24 @ 7:30 pm EDT. The reading stars Tony Award-winners Frank Wood and Denis O’Hare, Tony Award-nominees Johanna Day, Jessica Hecht, Daniel Jenkins, and Richard Kind, SAG Award nominee Peter Jacobson and Drama Desk Award winner Ned Eisenberg. Also featured in the cast are Jimmy Burke and Dee Pelletier. Directed by Shana Cooper, the reading is free, although registration is required by visiting here.

 

Corkscrew Theater Festival in collaboration with Sheep Eats Wolf presents corkscrew 4.0, a series of interactive online experiences as twisted, unsettling, absurd, and alienating as the internet itself. Available at corkscrew4pt0.com from Monday, August 10 through Sunday, August 23, these experiences are inspired by the plays programmed for what would have been Corkscrew’s fourth summer season.

Third Rail Projects‘ award-winning THEN SHE FELL, which suspended shows on March 12, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will permanently close the production, a show that set records for dance, immersive theater, and off-Broadway with 4,444 performances total, over the course of seven and a half years. www.thirdrailprojects.com

 

MAC (Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs – macnyc.com) invites all songwriters to submit their original songs for consideration for one of MAC’s two songwriting awards: the Dottie Burman Award and the John Wallowitch Award. Submitters do not need to be MAC members. MAC encourages all songwriters to submit their work for consideration. Submissions must be received by Friday, August 21, 2020. The selected songwriter or songwriting team for each award will receive $500. To qualify, each submitter must submit three original songs they have written at any time that in their own opinion represent their best work and the range of their writing style. Judging will take place from September 1 through 30, 2020. Finalists will be announced on or about October 1st, and the winners will be announced on or about October 8, 2020. The eligibility rules and submission information for each of the awards SUBMISSION EMAIL: burmanaward@gmail.com.  SUBMISSION EMAIL: wallowitchaward@gmail.com

 

“SpotCo sues producer Scott Rudin for $6.3 million in invoices” by Broadway News’ Caitlin Huston – “Advertising agency SpotCo is suing producer Scott Rudin for what it says is more than $6 million in owed payments. At issue is unpaid work the agency says it has done on Rudin’s Broadway productions including “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “West Side Story,” “The Waverly Gallery,” “The Lehman Trilogy,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” “The Music Man”…  http://bway.ly/yatbdp

“How Do You Solve a Problem Like the Tonys?” by The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg – ” … the Tony Awards Management Committee … has had a number of Zoom meetings during which various gameplans have been considered and then tabled as the severity of the pandemic became increasingly clear. … It is understood that there are three primary options under consideration at this time, each of which comes with pros and cons… 1) Ask nom-com members to select nominees from the shows they were able to see before the shutdown and then conduct a virtual Tonys ceremony soon. … 2) Employ the Tonys ceremony in 2021 (assuming one is possible) to honor the best of both the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 seasons, each of which will have been abbreviated due to the pandemic. … 3) Scrap the 2019-2020 Tonys altogether. … ” http://bway.ly/qnicwz

 

REGIONAL:  “Paramount Theatre postpones entire Broadway season for a year” by The Daily Herald – “Rater said the plan is to open “Kinky Boots” on June 30, 2021, and then officially launch the theater’s 10th anniversary Broadway season next Sept. 1.” http://bway.ly/9460fv

“Houston’s Alley Theatre Shuffles 2020-2021 Season, Adding Sweat and Delaying Others” by Playbill’s Dan Meyer – “The Alley Theatre has shuffled its 2020–2021 season plans, adding the Pulitzer Prize-winning Sweat by Lynn Nottage while delaying Duncan Sheik and Kyle Jarrow’s Noir, Amerikin by Chisa Hutchinson, and What-a-Christmas! by Isaac Gómez.” http://bway.ly/280a0y

“Actors Advocate for Full Contractural Pay After Pandemic Forces Play to Close” by KWED’s Nicole Gluckstern – “Called in on their normally scheduled day off to rehearse and then perform the full show, which was filmed by an unscheduled camera crew, the cast and crew were told in an all-hands meeting by Berkeley Rep’s managing director, Susie Medak, that the recording was being made to “honor” their work.” http://bway.ly/ge2qwx

ACROSS THE POND: “New exclusive theatre content of closed West End shows” by Stagezine – “In a series of eight newly commissioned 30 minute videos, casts of some of the West End’s biggest shows have come together for exclusive performances, Q&As and more.” http://bway.ly/r7qd95

“West End Harry Potter and The Cursed Child Extends Suspension Through 21 February” by BroadwayWorld – http://bway.ly/c7mopj

“The Bridge Theatre in London announce plans to re-open in September 2020” by West End Wilma – ” … assuming that the Government gives the go ahead for indoor performances with socially distanced audiences.” http://bway.ly/wq1gvv

 

VINYL: “In the Heights Original Broadway Cast Recording to be Released as Red, White & Blue Vinyl 3-LP Box Set” by BroadwayWorld – “Ghostlight Records has announced that In the Heights – Original Broadway Cast Recording will be released as a special Red, White & Blue-colored vinyl 3-LP Box Set on Friday, September 4.” http://bway.ly/1uhtbk

FOR GOOD: “Broadway’s Best For Breast Cancer, Co-Hosted By Mandy Gonzalez, Returns This Summer” by BroadwayWorld – “This virtual program will air on August 24th at 6 p.m. and is free to join.” http://bway.ly/3my4up

“Audra McDonald, George Salazar, and Joshua Colley Will Headline Sticks & Stones Benefit” by BroadwayWorld – ” … John McDaniel and … Scott Logsdon will present an online highlights concert of their new musical, Sticks & Stones to be broadcast in October. Coinciding with October’s National Bullying Prevention Month, the virtual feature will serve as a benefit … to support Born This Way Foundation.” http://bway.ly/iml9iw

ONLINE: “The always intimate Theatre for One goes online” by AP’s Mark Kennedy – “”Theatre for One,” where one audience member sees one short play performed by a single actor in a portable theater, has now gone online. … the company will feature microplays all written and directed by Black, indigenous and women of color. A selection of the tiny plays will be performed each night for a six-week run starting later this month, with each actor delivering up to 15 performances for a single audience member in the 90 minute window. It will be free to the public.” http://bway.ly/c53o8f

“Newsies: The Broadway Musical, Starring Jeremy Jordan and Kara Lindsay, Will Stream on Playbill” by Playbill’s Andrew Gans – “Playbill will stream Disney’s Newsies: The Broadway Musical August 21. Part of the Playbill Playback series, the 7 PM ET stream will benefit The Actors Fund.” http://bway.ly/5czw2n

“Trevor Nunn-Directed Double Bill of Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape and The Old Tune Now Available to Stream” by Playbill’s Andrew Gans – “Trevor Nunn’s acclaimed productions of Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape and The Old Tune—seen at the Jermyn Street Theatre in January—are now available to stream.” http://bway.ly/cy61h6

IN MEMORIAM: “Award-Winning Director and Choreographer Tony Charmoli Dies at Age 99” by BroadwayWorld – “Tony had a decades long, award-winning career as a director, a producer, and as a choreographer for television, film, and theater. … Tony’s Broadway performing credits [include] Dear Judas, Love Life … as choreographer for Woman Of The Year starring Lauren Bacall, Ankles Aweigh, Eddie Fisher at the Winter Garden and directed Shirley MacLaine’s 1976 show at The Palace.” http://bway.ly/i0qm8l 

GODSPELL: “Can in-person theater return, safely, now? This ‘Godspell’ is the test case” by The Los Angeles’ Times’ Josh Getlin – “ … opening night for Stephen Schwartz’s “Godspell” is finally here … in the Berkshire Theatre Group’s … 100-seat tent in a parking lot next door, with plenty of room to breathe easy. … “The message is that theater can still happen with more than one person on a stage at a time, and it can happen before a [COVID-19] vaccine,” said Kate Shindle, Actors’ Equity president. So far, audiences seem confident to return. The company characterized advance ticket sales as strong for the show, which runs through Sept. 4.” http://bway.ly/op9shb