B'way Update: Dirty Dancing, Macbeth, Rhino Rumors, Etc.

There is plenty of news and rumors of upcoming Broadway and Off-Broadway shows. 

Annalese Starzec and Blake Zelesnikar in
Dirty Dancing: The Musical in Chicago.
Credit: Matthew Murphy

The current North American tour of Dirty Dancing: The Musical will make a stop on Broadway. Previews begin at the Lena Horne Theater on Feb. 12, 2027 prior to a March 14 opening in time for the 40th anniversary of the 1987 film. The engagement runs through Sept. 5. Lonny Price who appeared in the original film directs. The score features songs from the film including the Oscar-winning "(I've Had) The Time of My Life." This is the latest in a series of stage adaptations of the story of Frances "Baby" Houseman who falls in love with a dance instructor while vacationing with her family in the Catskills. 

According to Deadline.com, Anthony Mackie (the new Capt. America in the Marvel film franchise) will take on the lead in the 49th Broadway production production of Shakespeare's Macbeth. He will follow in the bloody footsteps of Maurice Evans, Paul Rogers, Philip Anglim, Nicol Williamson, F. Murray Abraham, Christopher Plummer, Kelsey Grammar, Patrick Stewart, Alan Cumming, Ethan Hawke, and Daniel Craig. Kenneth Branagh, Alec Baldwin, Raul Julia and Liev Schrieber are among those to essay the role Off-Broadway. Previews begin in late March or early April 2027 at a Broadway theater TBA. Further casting will be announced at a later date.

Anthony Mackie will switch from Marvel
to Macbeth.

This production is a transfer of a 2023 Donmar Warehouse staging in London starring David Tenant and Cush Jumbo. The staging featured an innovative sound design by Tony and Olivier winner Gareth Fry with the audience wearing headphones and the actors speaking into microphones so it feels as if they are right in the middle of the action. (Other than the Deadline report, there has been no official press release.)

Holiday Catch-Up on Oscar Films, Part 2

We continue with the holiday catch-up on potential Oscar-nominated and other award-winning films.

Frederick Wiseman's 
Les Menus Plaisirs--Les Troisgros

Les Menus Plaisirs--Les Troisgros: The day after Christmas, I went to Film Forum for Frederick Wiseman's latest masterpiece Les Menus Plaisir--Les Troisgros. I knew it was four hours long and that would probably be the only chance I would have to see it. This 44th doc from the 93-year-old legendary filmmaker did not make the Oscar shortlist for Best Documentary Feature, but was named Best Nonfiction Film by the New York Film Critics Circle and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Why did Oscar snub this fascinating portrait of a Michelin 3-star restaurant? Maybe it was the length?

I admit there were moments when I dozed off, but the overall effect was overwhelming, detailing every aspect of the three family-owned restaurants in the south of France. We watch the chefs buying produce at the local market, discussing whether or not to include rhubarb in the asparagus and whether the sauce should have shaved or whole almonds, preparation in the kitchen, lunch service at 350 Euros a head, visits to cheese caves, cattle ranches, and vegetable farms. In the past few years, I've been enraptured by Wiseman's take on the British Museum, Boston City Hall, the New York Public Library system and my own neighborhood of Jackson Heights. This film adds to the collection of comprehensive portrait of institutes.