TODAY’S THEATRE TALK

 

Producers Grove Entertainment (Beth Williams), Frank Marshall and The Araca Group announced today that Diana A New Musical will premiere on Netflix next year ahead of the Broadway opening. Diana, the upcoming new musical, currently on hiatus due to Covid-19, began previews on Monday, March 2, 2020, and was scheduled to open on Tuesday, March 31, 2020, at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway.  The musical is now set to open on Broadway on Tuesday, May 25, 2021.

Diana, directed by Christopher Ashley, will be filmed without an audience on the stage of the Longacre Theater and will feature the original Broadway cast including Jeanna de Waal as “Diana”, Roe Hartrampf as “Prince Charles”, Erin Davie as “Camilla Parker Bowles”, and two-time Tony Award® winner Judy Kaye as “Queen Elizabeth”. The producers have worked closely with Actor’s Equity Association on all protocols. The complete cast of Diana includes Zach Adkins, Tessa Alves, Ashley Andrews, Austen Danielle Bohmer, Holly Ann Butler, Stephen Carrasco, Bruce Dow, Richard Gatta, Lauren E.J. Hamilton, Emma Hearn, Shaye B. Hopkins, Andre Jordan, Gareth Keegan, Nathan Lucrezio, Tomǡs Matos, Chris Medlin, Laura Stracko, and Bethany Ann Tesarck .

BENEFITS GALORE: Online Reading of a new play, Judgment Day, written by Rob Ulin (“Roseanne,” Hulu’s “Ramy”), directed by Matthew Penn (“Law & Order,” “Orange Is the New Black,” BSC’s Typhoid Mary, 10×10 New Play Festival) and starring Tony Award winners Jason Alexander, Patti LuPone, Santino Fontana and Grammy Award winner Michael McKean, will benefit Pittsfield, MA’s Barrington Stage Company and The Actors Fund. The reading of Judgment Day will premiere on Saturday, August 22 at 7:30 pm and will be available for viewing for a limited period of 96 hours only through Tuesday, August 25.

Vanguard Theater Company’s Broadway Buddy Mentorship Cabaret will air on BroadwayHD as a benefit for The Actors Fund. The show will feature an introduction by composer, actor and playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda.

As part of the company’s mission to create a safe space for artists on pre-professional tracks who need mentoring and support, Vanguard created the Broadway Buddy Mentorship Program to pair up-and-coming young artists with established Broadway professionals. The concert will feature student mentees performing virtual duets with acting mentors hailing from Broadway shows. August 13, 8 pm

The Tony Award-winning Newsies: The Broadway Musical will stream in its entirety, for free for one night only Friday, August 21, 7 pm on Playbill.com as a benefit for The Actors Fund! This special arrangement is made possible by Disney Theatrical Productions and Disney+.

The evening will also feature filmed appearances by cast members and will conclude with a brand-new video, featuring cast members from the Broadway and North American Tour productions of Newsies. Captured live on stage at The Pantages Theatre, Newsies stars original Broadway Company members Jeremy Jordan (reprising his Tony Award-nominated performance), Kara Lindsay, Ben Fankhauser and Andrew Keenan-Bolger, with North American Tour stars Steve Blanchard, Aisha de Haas and Ethan Steiner.

You can also catch Jeremy, Kara, Ben and Andrew on a very special Newsies reunion episode of Stars In The House with Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley this Thursday, August 13 at 8 pm ET on StarsInTheHouse.com!

“What is Stage Fright?”Stage Fright is a one night only, virtual reading of a new show, presented in an exclusive, online, fundraiser event! In this unique spin on stage and screen suspense classics, Stage Fright is an interactive musical thriller! Get your tix today! All proceeds from this event go to supporting MTC and The Actor’s Fund. https://www.musictheatreofct.com/stagefright?linkNum=2&campaignID=385695&patronID=1178850106&memberID=efbd625c14cc1fd88695e37871e05f9c

 

Virtual Watch Party celebrating Part II of the Armory and National Black Theatre‘s 100 Years | 100 Women initiative marking the centennial anniversary and complex legacy of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted some women the right to vote. Launched earlier this year, 100 Years | 100 Women asked a diverse group of more than 100 artists, activists, scholars, students, and community leaders who self-identify as women or gender non-conforming to creatively respond to this milestone anniversary. Register now for access to the Virtual Watch Party on August 18, and follow @ParkAveArmory on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, for more information about the event and participants.

LOVE MANSIONS? Join New York Adventure Club Wed. August 16, 5:30 pm for a digital exploration of the magnificent mansions and estates tied to Jay Gould, a railroad magnate from the late 19th century whose unscrupulous business practices made him one of the richest (and most reviled) men in America. The Gilded Age Mansions of the Jay Gould Family Railroad Dynasty. Led by historian Gary Lawrance, our virtual showcase of the Gould family’s incredible private properties around the United States and beyond.

 

CAMPAIGN: “‘Be An #ArtsHero’ Calls for $43.85 Billion in Relief; Letter to Senators of the 116th Congress Reaches Nearly 10,000 Signatures” by BroadwayWorld – “The campaign asks the U.S. Senate to pass $43.85 billion in direct relief to Artists and Arts Institutions, with fair allocation to marginalized communities who are disproportionately impacted: those who are BIPOC, LGBTQ+, disabled, etc.” http://bway.ly/wtaspn

LICENSING: “Music Theatre International Acquires Licensing Rights for Streaming Musical A Killer Party” by Playbill’s Logan Culwell-Block – “Theatrical licensor Music Theatre International has acquired rights to develop and license a 90-minute adaptation of the musical streaming series A Killer Party: A Murder Mystery Musical.” http://bway.ly/c3xkye

 

READING: “George Takei, Daniel Davis and More To Star In Silver Foxes” by BroadwayWorld – “Sing Out, Louise! Productions will hold an industry-only streamed reading of Silver Foxes, an original play written by … Stan Zimmerman and James Berg starring George Takei, Daniel Davis, Jim J. Bullock, Garrett Clayton, and Daniele Gaither. The cast will be directed by … Michael Urie.” http://bway.ly/ev9tcp

OFF-BROADWAY: “La MaMa’s New ‘Breaking It Open’ Season Offers Hybrid Residencies to Philip Glass, Shauna Davis, More” by Playbill’s Ryan McPhee – “La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club has laid out plans for its 2020–2021 season, which will focus on the creation of new works across the digital and physical theatre landscape during the coronavirus pandemic.” http://bway.ly/lfxl5g

FOR GOOD: “Jeremy Pope, Keala Settle, Lena Hall, Jeremy O. Harris and More to Take Part in Oasis: A Virtual Variety Show” by BroadwayWorld – “The Ali Forney Center … will present its 11th annual Oasis: A Virtual Variety Show summer benefit virtually this year at 7:00 p.m. EST, Wednesday, August 19 on Benny Drama’s YouTube Channel.” http://bway.ly/756skz

“Audra McDonald, Rachel Brosnahan, More Bring Covenant House’s Stage and Screen Sleep Out Online” by Playbill’s Ryan McPhee – “A live broadcast will take place August 24 beginning at 8 PM ET.” http://bway.ly/23yjbn

BACKSTAGE: “What Performances of the First Equity-Approved Musical Look Like” by Backstage’s Diep Tran – “On stage, the performers maintain a six-feet distance, with the aid of plastic partitions that separate the front row from the back. When they pass each other on stage, they put masks on, which are kept around their necks during the show. There is no physical contact; the performers dance in place and any physical actions dictated in the script are mimed and reacted to separately. Props are limited and frequently sanitized.” http://bway.ly/hsqsdu

 

TV: “Sara Bareilles to Star in Tina Fey’s Peacock Comedy” by The Hollywood Reporter’s Rick Porter – “Tina Fey and Robert Carlock’s Peacock comedy Girls5eva has found one of its leads in Sara Bareilles” http://bway.ly/fqvemw

ACROSS THE POND: “‘It’s a Herculean effort’: UK theatre festivals adapt for summer of Covid” by The Guardian’s Chris Wiegand – “From Brighton to Belfast, socially distanced performances are popping up in unexpected spaces, including the beach, a shopping centre and a church.” http://bway.ly/9jii

IN MEMORIAM: “Obie Award Winner Salome Bey Dies at 86” by Playbill’s Andrew Gans – “Salome Bey, the singer-songwriter, composer, and actor who was known as Canada’s First Lady of the Blues, died August 8 at the age of 86.” http://bway.ly/4xt03l