B'way Update: 12th Night, Last Five Years, Etc.

Peter Dinklage, Lupita Nyong'o, 
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and Sandra Oh
will star in Twelfth Night next summer.

Initial casting has been announced for the Public Theater's Summer 2025 production of Twelfth Night at the newly renovated Delacorte Theater in Central Park. (The theater is closed this summer as the upgrades are in progress.) The company will be headed by Emmy winner Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) as Malvolio, Tony winner Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family, Take Me Out) as Sir Andrew Agucheek, Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o (Twelve Years a Slave) as Viola and Golden Globe and SAG Award winner Sandra Oh (Killing Eve). 

"Twelfth Night is the epitome of joy," said director of the upcoming production and Public Theater Associate Artistic Director/Resident Director Saheem Ali. "It also happens to be the first production I ever saw at The Delacorte, as a college student taking the Chinatown bus from Boston. I'm delighted to be reuniting with my dear friend Lupita Nyong'o, joined by fellow Public Theater alums Peter Dinklage, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and Sandra Oh. Free Shakespeare in the Park is a gift to our city. I'm honored to be helming this production as we reopen The Delacorte after an extensive and essential revitalization."

This will be the seventh production of Twelfth Night presented by the Public in Central Park. Previous revivals were seen in 1969 (directed by founder Joseph Papp), 1986, 1989, 2002, 2009, and a musical adaptation for Public Works in 2018. 

B'way Update: Forbidden B'way Postponed; Theater Award News

The first Broadway production of Forbidden Broadway has been postponed indefinitely. The latest edition of the long-running satirical revue was to have played the Hayes Theater beginning on July 29 with an opening set for Aug. 15. The limited engagement was to have played through Nov. 1. The producers cited the high volume of shows competing for theatergoers' attention and dollars.

“We made the difficult decision today to postpone the upcoming Broadway production of Forbidden Broadway on Broadway: Merrily We Stole A Song,” said producers Ryan Bogner, Victoria Lang and Tracey McFarland in a statement. “The Broadway landscape is enormously crowded at this moment, and while we adore Forbidden Broadway, we are disappointed that the show will not open at the Hayes on Broadway this summer. New programming for the Hayes Theater this summer will be announced soon.”

The Hayes is currently housing Paula Vogel's Mother Play which is scheduled to run until mid-June. The memory play has received excellent notices and might extend its run depending on cast schedules and if it reaps any Tony Award gold. 

This is the second recent Broadway production to announce a postponement. Rod Madge's solo My Son's a Queer (But What Can You Do?) was to have played the Lyceum but plans were scuttled in February.

Bebe Neuwirth and Chita Rivera
Credit: Emilio Madrid-Kuser

Theater Award News: Tony winner Bebe Neuwirth, currently starring in the revival of Cabaret, will announce the nominees for the Chita Rivera Awards on Mon. April 29 on ABC's GMA3 during the 1pm block. This means we will have a double dose of theater award nominations. Earlier the same day, Kathleen Turner will give out the Drama Desk nominations on WNBC's New York Live at 11:30 am.

Then, the next day, April 30, the Tony Award nominations will be read by Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Renee Elise Goldsberry. A portion of the press conference will be broadcast on CBS Mornings at 8:30am. The full announcement will drop on the Tony Awards' YouTube Channel beginning at 9am.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson and
Renee Elise Goldsberry will
announced the 2023-24 Tony nominees.

B'way Update: Take Me Out Returns; Leads for Merrily

Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Jesse Williams
in Take Me Out.
Credit: Joan Marcus

The Tony-winning revival of Take Me Out will return to Broadway this fall. The 2002 Richard Greenberg play about a gay baseball player coming out is reopening at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater on Oct. 27 for a limited run of 14 weeks. Jesse Tyler Ferguson who won a Tony for his performance as Mason Marzac, the gay business manager, and Jesse Williams who was nominated for his role as Darren Lemming, the out gay player, will reprise their roles but the remainder of the cast has not been announced. The Second Stage revival opened at the Hayes Theater on April 4 and ran for 79 performances. Because of extensive nude scenes, audiences were required to secure their phones in locked containers during the performance. Controversy erupted when a nude video of Jesse Williams was shared online.

'Town' and 'Out' Set for B'way 2021

Announcements continue for the (projected) Broadway reopening in 2021. The Broadway League announced on Monday, refunds and exchanges will be granted up until Jan. 3 of next year. Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters have been closed since March 12 due to the corona virus pandemic. Several productions announced previews and openings beginning in March. The League also said there would be "rolling" openings in early 2021 but so far, the earliest show with a specific date is Tracey Letts' The Minutes which begins previews at the Cort Theater on March 1.

Patrick J. Adams, Jesse Williams and Jesse Tyler Ferguson
in Take Me Out.
Credit: Catherine Wessel

Second Stage's revival of Take Me Out, Richard Greenberg's 2002 play imagining an openly gay major league baseball player who comes out during a championship season, will begin previews at the Helen Hayes Theater on March 22 with an opening set for April 22. The production was originally set to throw out its first pitch on April 21 of this year. The cast is headed by Jesse Williams (Grey's Anatomy), Patrick J. Adams (Suits), and Drama Desk winner Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family). Scott Ellis (Tootsie, She Loves Me) directs. The original production opened at London's Donmar Warehouse in 2002 and then transferred to Public Theater Off-Broadway. The subsequent Broadway transfer won the 2003 Tony Award for Best Play and Best Featured Actor for Denis O'Hare.

B'way Season Winds Down; New One Takes Shape

Michael Cera and Kieran Culkin in This Is Our Youth

As the 2013-14 Broadway season winds down, 2014-15 begins to take shape. Definite productions include Holler If Ya Hear Me, the Tupac Shakur musical; the revival of This Is Our Youth with Michael Cera, Kieran Culkin, (pictured in an Australian production of the play) and fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson, all making their Broadway debuts along with playwright Kenneth Lonergan; Sting's The Last Ship; and Ewan McGregor, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Cynthia Nixon in The Real Thing. Shows which have announced but don't have a definite date yet include Bradley Cooper in The Elephant Man, and the revival of On the Town which is definitely going into the Lyric (formerly the Foxwoods) knocking out the previously-announced King Kong. 

Here's a rundown of the remaining openings and award events in 2013-14 as well as what's up for 2014-15 and beyond.

April 16--Of Mice and Men (Longacre)
April 17--Act One (Vivian Beaumont)

April 20--Violet (American Airlines/Roundabout)

April 20--The Cripple of Inishmaan (Cort)

April 21--The Velocity of Autumn (Booth)
April 21—Your Mother’s Copy of the Kuma Sutra (PH/Peter Sharp)
April 22--Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Belasco)
April 22--Outer Critics Nominations Announced by Cicely Tyson and Vanessa Williams (Friars Club)
April 23--Casa Valentia (Friedman/MTC)
April 23--Drama League Nominations Announced by Christopher Seiber and Judith Light (Sardis)
April 24--Cabaret (Studio 54/Roundabout)
April 25--Drama Desk Awards Nominations  Announced by Fran Drescher, Robert Lopez and Kristin Andersen-Lopez (54 Below)

April--Annapurna (New Group/Acorn)
April 29--Tony Award Nominatons Announced by Lucy Liu and Jonathan Groff (DIamond Horseshoe Night Club/Paramount Hotel)
May 4--Lortel Awards Hosted by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman (NYU Skirball Hall)
Nay 5--NY Drama Critics Circle Awards Announced.

May 5—The City of Conversation (Mitzi Newhouse/Lincoln Center)
May 16--Drama League Awards Hosted by Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Marriott Marquis)
May 19--Obie Awards Hosted by Tamara Tunie and Hamish Linklater (Webster Hall)
May 22--Outer Critics Circle Awards (Sardi's)
June 1--Drama Desk Awards Hosted by Laura Benanti (Town Hall)
June 8--Tony Awards Hosted by Hugh Jackman (Radio City Music Hall)

June 9—Fly By Night (Playwrights Horizons)

June 17—When We Were Young and Unafraid (MTC/City Center Stage I)

June 19--Holler If Ya Hear Me (Palace)
June--Macbeth (Kenneth Branagh) (Park Ave. Armory)
Sept. 11--This Is Our Youth (Cort)
Oct.--On the Town (Lyric)
Oct. 5--The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Barrymore)
Oct. 26--The Last Ship (Neil Simon)
Oct. 30--The Real Thing (American Airlines/Roundabout)
2014 (Sometime)—Dames at Sea, Liberace Musical, Titanic, The Elephant Man, The Color Purple

Fall 2015--Fiddler on the roof
2015--Winter--Noises Off, The River
2015-16--Houdini, Night Mother, The King and I (Lincoln Center)
Future--Disney's Frozen, Soul Train, Pretty Woman

Project Runway Season 12: Episode 4: Tie the Knot...Around Sandro's Neck

Sandro losing it

I was so confused by the opening of this week's Project Runway I didn't know which end was up. We opened with the climactic screaming match between Ken and Sandro with the latter stomping out into the street outside Parsons and threatening to smash the camera following him. This is the clip we've been seeing in promos all season and at first I thought this was all a reaction to the end of last week's episode. But then we flashback to "36 hours earlier" and learn this was just to whet your appetite for the big heapin' slice of drama pie to come.

The real action begins with everyone ruminating on Timothy's departure on the end of episode 3 then we cut to the workroom and find out this week's challenge consists of using bowties as a take-off point for a dress. The inspiration is from guest judge Jesse Tyler Ferguson and his Tie the Knot organization which sells bowties and gives to proceeds to the fight for Marriage Equality (which still needs to be fought; this weekend in upstate NY, I actually saw a bumper sticker with M = and then a stick figure of a man and woman; the elderly couple owning the car were at a yard sale and I felt like asking them "So is your marriage endangered because of mine?").

Frantic Theatergoing and Free Comic Book Day

John Lloyd Young and Linda Lavin announcing
the Drama Desk nominees at 54 Below

This has been a hectic week of theatergoing and comic book shopping. There are a lot of shows to catch up with at the end of the season as we prepare for Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Tony voting. Another important event is Free Comic Book Day, a promotional event for the comic industry when they try to draw in new customers with free offers at the various comic-book stores, which falls on the first Saturday in May.

The Drama Desk nominees were announced by previous DD winners John Lloyd Young (Jersey Boys) and Linda Lavin (Broadway Bound, The New Century) on Monday at 54 Below. The next day Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Sutton Foster performed similar chores in giving out the Tony nominees. My reactions to both lists and that of the Outer Critics Circle will be explored in an upcoming blog post. Wednesday was the Tony nominees reception and that afternoon I attended the matinee of The Nance with Nathan Lane. Thursday I caught up with Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, which was presented earlier this season at Ars Nova and is now in a new location called Kazino all the way down on 10th Ave. They give you a Russian dinner as part of the show which is based on a section of War and Peace. The show didn't get out until midnight. Friday I was supposed to see Pippin, but Patina Miller, nominated for all the major awards as the Leading Player, was out that night and I had to reschedule.