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What to Watch in The New Year: March 15

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The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown until March 27th. Broadway’s Nasia Thomas and Nicholas Edwards star in a streaming production of The Last Five Years. Directed by Tony winner Jason Michael Webb.

Nasia Thomas

The New York Pops Up Festival a thousand in-person performances throughout the state from now through June. Most events associated with NY PopsUp will be unannounced (and unticketed) and will be designed so that New Yorkers happen upon them in their everyday lives. (Since we can’t have large gatherings right now, we want to bring a lot of small things to the public where they are) NY PopsUp is a surprise that you happen upon, rather than an event or concert you are alerted to via a notification or a schedule.

7pm: Julius Caesar, Starring Patrick Page By Shakespeare@ Tony nominee Patrick Page (Hadestown) stars in the title role with Jordan Barbour (The Inheritance) as Brutus and Keith Hamilton Cobb (American Moor) as Cassius. West End Harry Potter and the Cursed Child performers Jamie Ballard and James Howard co-star as Mark Antony and Metellus Cimber, respectively. 

The production is also be available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, and Stitcher.

Produced by Jersey City’s Shakespeare@, this audio production is the third installment of the season, produced and adapted by Artistic Director Sean Hagerty.

Hagerty has crafted the production into four weekly parts and partnered with the Emmy-winning team at Sonic Designs to capture the lost art and thrill of radio drama all without leaving the confines of quarantine.

Julius Caesar features original music composed by Joan Melton with sound design by the Emmy-winning team of Dan Gerhard and Ellen Fitton of Sonic Designs. Justin Goldner is the music producer and supervisor, and casting is by Robin Carus. Sydney Steele serves as the associate producer. 

7pm: Experiments: Three Ring Circus Written by Sean Patrick Higgins. Directed by Ted Schneider. James Banks, his wife, and his mistress host James’ daughter, her boyfriend, and James’ soon to be brother-in-law for a family dinner. A riotous night of misinterpretation and near misses ends up outing love in the most farcical of ways ultimately leading to a very unexpected proposal. Three Ring Circus is a farce with bite which explores interracial relationships in our modern America.

7pm: The Niceties until the 28th Who gets to tell the story of race, history and power in America? In this riveting, provocative play, a black student and her white professor – both brilliant – debate whether the legacy of slavery defines our past, and our present.

The Niceties made its MV Playhouse debut in October as a live virtual reading and is back by popular demand for a virtual two-week run.  Amy Brenneman and Tsilala Brock will reprise their roles as Janine and Zoe.

7:30pm: New Federal Theatre Celebrates Women’s History Month

Hospice (streaming until March 15) by Pearl Cleage, directed by Awoye Timpo, and featuring Margaret Odette and Patronia Paley.

When Jenny Anderson left her lover and moved into her grandmother’s unoccupied house to await the birth of her first child, the last person she expected to show up was her gravely ill mother, ex-patriot poet, Alice Anderson, who she has not seen for twenty years.

The play was first produced by Woodie King, Jr., at the New Federal Theatre in 1983. The premiere production was honored with five AUDELCO Awards for achievement off-Broadway, including Best Play, Best Playwright, Best Director and Best Actress.

Ma Rose (March 20, streaming until March 22) by Cassandra Medley, d irected by Eileen Morris, and deaturing Denise Burse Fernandez, Elain Graham, Nambi E. Kelley, Lizan Mitchell, and Kim Sullivan.

An aged matriarch finds her mind and her life are slowly slipping away. She considers her wandering mind and her contact with ancestors an opportunity to gain wisdom and make amends. 

7:30pm: Gallathea First performed in 1588, John Lyly’s Gallathea is a queer love story set inside the landscape of classical myth. In order to avoid becoming dinner for a sea monster, Gallathea and Phillida are sent into the forest dressed as boys. Meanwhile, three shipwrecked brothers set out to seek their fortunes, Cupid stirs up his usual trouble, nymphs fall for mortals, and Neptune–God of the Sea–waits to make his move. This playful pastoral of love, desire, and finding yourself is an affirmation of identity–joyfully reclaimed for 2021.

​Directed by Emma Rosa Went and featuring Olivia Rose Baressi, Helen Cespedes, Nathaniel P. Claridad, Yonatan Gebeyehu, Amy Jo Jackson, Layla Khoshnoudi, Rami Magron, Christopher Michael McFarland, Jason O’Connell, Aneesh Sheth, David Ryan Smith, and Zo Tipp.

Presented by Red Bull Theater in collaboration with The Drama League. A recording of the livestream will be available until 7 PM ET March 19.

7:30pm: Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann A triptych of operatic vignettes based on the stories of E. T. A. Hoffmann, Offenbach’s late masterpiece about a poet’s three great loves may seem a light, frilly fantasia on its surface (it was a hit at the Parisian Opéra-Comique when it premiered in 1881), but it reveals hidden depths as the night wears on. A ravishing trio of singers portray Hoffmann’s beloveds—animatronic doll, diva, courtesan—with each showcasing alluringly different shades of the female voice.

8pm: The Bridges of Madison County Cast Reunion The online show The Jesse Walker Show will reunite cast and creative team members from the 2014 Broadway musical The Bridges of Madison County.

Scheduled to be part of the event are Tony winner Kelli O’Hara, Steven Pasquale, Hunter Foster, Caitlin Kinnunen, and Derek Klena, plus Tony-winning composer-lyricist Jason Robert Brown, Tony-winning book writer Marsha Norman (The Secret Garden), and Tony-winning director Barlett Sher (South Pacific).

The two-hour panel will help raise funds for The Actors Fund. 

8pm: Pajama Cast Party will feature live musical performances by jazz vocalist Jane Monheit (celebrating the release of her new cd), Broadway’s Michael Winther, magician Dana Daniels and actor/singer Shu Q.

Wil Premieres through March 17. Will Swenson, Ann Harada, Eric McCormack, Oliver Dench and more star in a reading of a new feature project by Dan Rosen. The work follows a young William Shakespeare and what happens when he lands his first professional gig running a summer stock theater program while finishing Romeo and Juliet. The free reading benefits The Actors Fund and The Actors Fund Canada.

The Year of Magical Thinking through March 17. Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking for Off-Broadway’s Keen Company.

Adapted from Didion’s best-selling memoir, the performance is directed by Keen Artistic Director Jonathan Silverstein.

The Year of Magical Thinking paints a vivid and heartfelt picture of a family dissolving while Didion struggles to maintain security through her grief and memories. Didion relives the death of her husband of 40 years, writer John Gregory Dunne, as the couple sat down for dinner in their New York City apartment. Complicated by Didion’s ailing comatose daughter, Quintana, who Didion would also lose, the events of one night—and the year that followed—are recounted in a candid and intimate manner.

Treason the Musical Online West End stars Lucie Jones, Oliver Tompsett and more appear in this concert of Ricky Allan and Kieran Lynn’s musical Treason, which follows the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 in which Guy Fawkes and his anarchist supporters tried to blow up the U.K. Halls of Parliament. The concert was filmed at Cadogan Hall in London.https://www.youtube.com/embed/tUSY3MtAvSM?feature=oembed

Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures Festival: The Car Man The series, highlighting Bourne’s twists on ballet classics, continues with The Car Man, available on demand for 10 days.

The Car Man features Christopher Trenfield as Luca, Zizi Strallen as Lana, Dominic North as Angelo, Kate Lyons at Rita, and Alan Vincent as Dino Alfano.

Assassins Reunion: Original Off-Broadway Cast The original cast and creative team of the 1991 Off-Broadway debut of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s Tony-winning Assassins will reunite virtually to celebrate the musical’s 30th anniversary.

The free online event is part of the Studio Tenn Talks: Conversations with Patrick Cassidy series and will feature Studio Tenn Artistic Director Cassidy as well as other original cast members Victor Garber, Greg Germann, Annie Golden, Lyn Greene, Jonathan Hadary, Eddie Korbich, Terrence Mann, Debra Monk, William Parry, and Lee Wilkof plus Sondheim and Weidman, director Jerry Zaks, musical director Paul Gemignani, and orchestrator Michael Starobin.

Jill Eikenberry

Jericho NNR Premiere. Marsha Mason, directs Jill Eikenberry in Jack Canfora’s play, which serves as New Normal Rep’s inaugural production. The thought-provoking piece explores how people cope with personal and collective catastrophe as a family reunites for Thanksgiving dinner after tragedy

SuperYou Musical the new musical that last year pivoted from its traditional opening to a drive-in concert in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, is now heading online. A filmed version of the drive-in presentation will stream on Broadway On Demand 

The musical, penned by Lourds Lane, tells the story of a woman and her superheroine creations that suddenly come to life, reminding her of the power of her own voice.

Prior to the 8 PM stream, Playbill will host a virtual red carpet event, with interviews with the cast and creative team. A digital afterparty will also take place at 9 PM.

TRANS(4)MISSIONS Disability intersects with all populations in our world: Every age, race, gender and sexual orientation. Theater Breaking Through Barriers  strives to create a common ground for all voices and serve as an ambassador in the quest for full, systemic equality in our world.

The eleven original plays constituting the 4th Virtual Playmakers’ Intensive represent a diverse chorus within American culture. Created for and rehearsed entirely on the Zoom platform, TBTB’s VPI4 will stream live performances of these new short works directly to you, wherever you may be!

An Iliad (Streaming) Court Theater. A film of the site-specific production at Chicago’s Oriental Institute by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare.

hieroglyph] by San Francisco Playhouse presented as an on-demand video stream through April 3rd, 2021. 

San Francisco Playhouse and Lorraine Hansberry Theatre present a co-production of the new play [hieroglyph] by Erika Dickerson-Despenza.

The cast features Jamella Cross, Safiya Fredericks, Khary L. Moye, and Anna Marie Sharpe. The work is directed by Margo Hall, marking Lorraine Hansberry Theatre’s first staged production since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and the first production Hall has directed for the company since taking the helm in September 2020.

The Things Are Against Us Susan Soon He Stanton’s The Things Are Against Us will be the next production in MCC’s LiveLab one-act digital reading series. Ellie Heyman directs the cast, which includes Juan Castano, Emily Davis, Susannah Flood, Babak Tafti, and Danny Wolohan, in tthe play set in a mysterious house with a mind of its own. 

John Lithgow, Daniel Breaker, More Sing Adam Guettel’s Myths & Hymns (Episode 2) By MasterVoices The central project of MasterVoices’ 2020-2021 season will be a virtual rollout of award-winning composer Adam Guettel’s theatrical song cycle, Myths and Hymns, in an online staging conceived by Ted Sperling. 

SoHo Playhouse Presents Typical Soho Theatre and Nouveau Riche present the world premiere of Typical, the film version of the stage play, released exclusively on Soho Theatre On Demand 

Written by Ryan Calais Cameron and directed by Anastasia Osei-Kuffour, Typical uncovers the man and the humanity behind the tragic true-life events of Black British ex-serviceman Christopher Alder and the injustice that still remains twenty years since his story emerged. 

7pm: Franz Kafka’s Letter to My Father M-34 through March 28
In 1919, the ailing writer wrote a letter to his father full of intense mixed emotions.

Expirer Wilma Theater Dive into a cyberspace underworld through this interactive website. Demons, both classical and contemporary, lurk among the virtual artifacts, waiting to be purged. Part of this Philadelphia theater’s weekly Hothouse Shorts.

The Manic Monologues Current Slave Play Tony nominee Ato Blankson-Wood, Rent Tony winner Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Accidentally Brave playwright Maddie Corman, and more stage favorites will explore mental health this winter in a new digital production from the McCarter Theatre Center.

The Manic Monologues debuts February 18 with 21 true-life monologues that users can explore at their own pace and through an interactive element virtually respond to.

Christa McAuliffe’s Eyes Were Blue Center Theater Group
through April 4. $10 Kemp Powers’ play tells the story of twins, one who dreamt of space, the other who became a successful attorney, who have lived starkly different lives, because one has dark skin and the other passes as white. The action plays out in 1980s New York and a Minnesota courthouse in 2006.

Simply Sondheim Signature Theater of Arlington. Available through March 26. Thirty Sondheim songs performed by a 16-piece orchestra and a dozen singers, including Norm Lewis, Emily Skinner, Solea Pfeiffer and Conrad Ricamora

Directed by Golden Globe winner Marsha Mason, Napoleon in Exile stars Emmy nominee Jane Kaczmarek and Will Dagger as mother and son. After the performance, the artists join host Claudia Catania to discuss writing for actors and bringing theater chops to the world of sitcom TV.

Playdate: A Playing House Reunion By Play-PerView. Stars and co-creators of USA’s comedy series Playing House, Lennon Parham and Jessica St. Clair, will appear for Playdate: A Playing House Reunion. Proceeds for these events will benefit Feeding America.

Suzanna, co-owns and publishes the newspaper Times Square Chronicles or T2C. At one point a working actress, she has performed in numerous productions in film, TV, cabaret, opera and theatre. She has performed at The New Orleans Jazz festival, The United Nations and Carnegie Hall. She has a screenplay and a TV show in the works, which she developed with her mentor and friend the late Arthur Herzog. She is a proud member of the Drama Desk and the Outer Critics Circle and was a nominator. Email: suzanna@t2conline.com

Broadway

Santino Fontana Brings Voice, Comedy and Showmanship To 54 Below

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Tony Award® winner Santino Fontana brings his tremendous talent to 54 Below and it is a show that wraps you up in his humor, charm, vocal prowess, laid back demeanor, jeopardy style musical choices and over all entertaining. By the end of the show you feel as if you know him or at least a part of him. Starting off with Charles Strouse and Lee Adams’s “Stick Around,” the night turned into a Russian roulette of material.  The audience picked numbers and as Santino put it “if you don’t like the show, it’s your fault.” First up for my show was the naughty but amusing  “Making Love Alone” followed by Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella‘s “Do I Love You,” which made for an amusing combination of songs. During Cinderella Mr. Fontana had shoes that were built up 2 inches inside and 2 inches outside, which cause a tremendous amount of pain, so the song told the story of his plight, which made the song take on a much different meaning. Sondheim’s “Anyone Can Whistle,” was sung for a Carol Burnett tribute, that luckily we were treated to.

 

His guest for the evening was Sarah Steele (“The Good Wife,” The HumansThe Country House) who sang “out There On My Own” from Fame. On the 14th it will be Greg Hildreth (Company, Disney’s FrozenRodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella). Click on the name and you can hear that version.

Showing off his baritone side with Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “If I Loved You.” We almost got to see Santino in Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields”s Sweet Charity, instead we got hint of what that would be like with “Too Many Tomorrows.” A hilarious version of “I feel Pretty” from West Side Story lightened the mood and had the room in tears. Recreating his duet “Love Is An Open Door” from Frozen, Santino channeled Dorothy Michaels from Tootsie. Again the room was laughing with the sheer comedic genius that won Mr. Fontana a Tony Award. Bringing the energy to a calmer state was the emotional Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley’s “Who Can I Turn To?”

Vocally the most impressive song of the night was “Joey, Joey, Joey” from Most Happy Fellow. Mr. Fontana’s voice was glorious in the tones and the subtle texturing. Keeping in the ballad mode and honoring Marilyn Bergman he launched into the iconic “Where Do You Start,”while accompany himself on the piano, which was highly impressive. Back to the uptempo mode “I Met A Girl” from Bells Are Ringing, was given a rigorous, amusing take. This was his original audition song. Lerner and Loewe’s “How to Handle a Woman,” from the recent Camelot, showed how Santino would have made an excellent King Arthur.

Another favorite moment of the night was “Buddy’s Blues” from Follies. Already a personal favorite, this made me want to see Santino play this role at a later date, though personally I would cast him as Ben.

For the finale songs “The Music In You” from Cinderella, told how he and the cast loved watching the magnificent Victoria Clark perform. “This Can’t Be Love” from 1938 Rodgers and Hart musical The Boys from Syracuse, ended up in an encore, of Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones’s “They Were You” from The Fantasticks, which made my guest producer Pat Addiss extremely happy.

Cody Owen Stine

Santino was backed by his musical director and accompanist Cody Owen Stine, who played flawlessly.

Santino Fontana

Santino Fontana opened September 10th at 54 Below and you can still catch this marvelous show tonight September 14th. 54below.com

This is a do not miss!

 

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Talking With Mauricio Martínez About His New Show 5’11, Based in NYC and More

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I met Emmy Award winner Mauricio Martínez when he was performing in Children of Salt and have watched him ever since. He then became known for the Broadway musical On Your Feet!, but before that he appeared in the Emmy Winning TV Show El Vato NBC, the hit Señora Acero Telemundo and several Mexican telenovela. T2C talked to this prolific actor/ singer to learn more.

His new show at 54 Below talks about all the self-tape sides filling up his Dropbox. In his new show, 5’11, Based in NYC, Mauricio is putting those to good use in a musical “What If…,” sorting through what might have been. Pushing aside the ring light, you will lean more about this uber talented Mexican American.

His show on October 5 and 6 at 7pm is at 54 Below. The show feature Linedy Genao (Bad CinderellaOn Your Feet!) and Alexis Michelle (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”) and is written by Mauricio Martínez & Robbie Rozelle, with musical direction and arrangements by Brian J. Nash. Directed by Robbie Rozelle.

Video by Magda Katz

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Ken Fallin’s Broadway: Linda Purl Not Just An Actress

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Last night Linda Purl took the audience at The Green Room 42 on a magical journey.

Linda Purl and Ryan Spahn

 

In 2020 Linda Purl starred as Ryan Spahn mother in Vivian Neuwirth’s Mr. Toole at 59E59 Theaters.

Ms Purl just released her fourth album of standards, This Could Be the Start. If the CD is anything like the concert this s a must have,

 

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Linda Purl Had The Room In Her Hand at The Green Room 42

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You know Linda Purl, for her work on Movies of the Week, Happy Days, The Bold and the Beautiful, Matlock, Murder She Wrote, The Office and more. Recently she released her fourth album of standards, This Could Be the Start, and she celebrated its debut with a special concert Monday, September 11th at The Green Room 42.

Standards such as “This Could Be The Start,” I’ve Gotta Lot of Living,””Shall We Dance,” “Caravan,“Blue Moon,” “Let’s Get Lost,” “Taking a Chance on Love,” “Here’s To Life” and more were given a sultry, laid back, come hither approach. You can tell Ms. Purl is an actress first, as these song, all told stories that wrapped you in their spell. The lyrics become front and center, but are thrown away with a knowing that surpasses time. Part of the magic is the alternating rhythms to the originals that make these versions stand out and draw you in.

Penny Fuller, Lorna Dallas, Linda Purl

Part of this intoxication is her musical director Ted Firth, who is a musical genius. Purl has been working with him for 15 years. When ever I fall in love with an arrangement, inevitably it is always Ted Firth at the helm. Firth was on piano with David Finck on bass and Ray Marchica on drums. Purl smartly uses the best of the best.

Linda and Ted Firth

During Ms. Purl’s patter we learned about her love of hiking, she hails from Colorado, her partner, Patrick Duffy, and their sourdough starter company, as well as painting old trees with paint and glitter.

Kevin Spiritus, Jamie deRoy, Linda and Pat Addiss

Purl knows how to keep her audience in the palm of her hand and wanting more. She is warm, engaging and a song stylist, that will keep you coming back for more.

Pat Addiss, Dan Lauria, Linda Purl, Kevin Spiritus

Penny Fuller, Lorna Dallas, Linda Purl, Richard Hillman, Ted Firth

Linda Purl, Richard Hillman, Ted Firth

All photo’s and video are Magda Katz

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Daisy Jopling and Frank Shiner Raise Money To Give Kids The Gift 0f Music

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Classical/rock violinist Daisy Jopling, vocalist Frank Shiner and her fabulous band performed at Chelsea Table + Stage Saturday, September 9 at 9:30 PM. The duo perform an eclectic mix of music from blues and standards to classical. The magical band that accompanied them included Ray DeTone on guitar, Sofia Gould on saxophone, Jeff Miller on piano, Lavondo Thomas on bass and Dan Weiner on drums.

17 year old, Sofia Gould was a Daisy Jopling student and one of the reasons this foundation is so needed.


For a special treat 17 year old Melisa Muñoz played a mean trumpet.

Daisy tours the world with her own band, and also runs a music mentorship foundation.

The Daisy Jopling Foundation has given 6,810 children world class music performances for free.
4,500 hours of time volunteered.
1,000 residents given free tickets to our concerts.
920 children served in their mentoring programs.
Partnered with over 50 non-ройt organizations to.
transform their student’s lives.


Daisy was the first international violinist to perform a major concert at the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt on November 4, 2022, collaborating with Egyptian stars Hany Adel, Wust El Balad and Noha Fekry.

Daisy started off by playing a concerto at the Royal Albert Hall in London at the age of 14, the opening of the Vienna Festival, 53 stunning concert halls in China, creating “Illuminance” on Bannerman Island, NY which aired on PBS in 2021 and 2022, and performing her own “Awakening” Concert at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center.

Daisy Jopling, Frank Shiner

Frank Shiner released his debut album, The Real Me, in 2014, A second LP, Lonely Town, Lonely Street, he released on his own Bakerson Records label. He is now writing a musical about his dad, in which he debuted one of the songs.

They ending the concert with  “Joy To The World.” This was a great night of raising funding for children and music.

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