Best Bets: April 13th – April 19th

Philip Glass’s Complete Etudes, Stravinsky’s Firebird, a Wayne McGregor world premiere and more Broadway shows populate Best Bets: April 13^th – April 19^th.

FEAR OF 13 – James Earl Jones Theatre – New York, NY – Now – July 12^th 

OPENING NIGHT:  April 15^th

Lindsey Ferrentino’s play had its world premiere in October 2024. The production starred Adrien Brody and was directed by Justin Martin. This Donmar Warehouse production received Olivier Award nominations for Best New Play and Best Actor for Brody.

Brody is making his Broadway debut as is Tessa Thompson.

Fear of 13 tells the true story of a Nick Yarris who spent more than two decades on death row for a crime he did not commit. He was finally released after DNA testing provide his innocence.

Ferrentino’s play is inspired by a 2015 documentary of the same name.

Joining Brody and Thompson in the play are Ephraim Sykes, Michael Cavinder, Eddie Cooper, Victor Cruz, Eboni Flowers, Joel Marsh Garland, Jared Wayne Gladly, Joe Joseph, Jeb Kreager and Ben Thompson.

David Comer directs.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

MILK AND HONEY  – J2 Spotlight Musical Theatre Company at AMT Theater– New York, NY – April 16^th – April 26^th

This rarely performed musical was the first from composer/lyricist Jerry Herman (he of Hello, Dolly! fame). It tells two stories: one of Phil Arkin (Eric Michael Gillette) who meets Ruth Stein (Kelly Lester) while visiting his daughter in Jerusalem. Despite his being married, but estranged from his wife, they fall in love.

Simultaneously, Clara Weiss (Neva Small) is one of a group of widows touring Israel hoping to find new husbands.

This production is directed by Robert W. Schneider with music director Harry Collins and choreography by Oren Korenblum.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

PROOF – Booth Theatre – New York, NY – April 16^th – July 19^th 

OPENING NIGHT: April 16^th

I was a big fan of David Auburn’s Proof when I saw it in 2001. The play won Tony Awards for Best Play, Best Actress (Mary-Louise Parker) and Best Director. It also received the Pulitzer Prize that year.

Auburn’s play tells the story of a daughter coming to grips with newly discovered details about her recently deceased mathematics professor father, Robert. She discovers a new mathematical proof in a notebook given to her by one of Robert’s ex-students, but can’t determine immediately whether she or her father had written it.

Ayo Edebiri stars as Catherine with Don Cheadle as Robert, Jin Ha as the ex-student Hal and Kara Young as her estranged sister, Claire.

This first-ever revival is directed by Thomas Kail.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

FIREBIRD – Dance Theatre of Harlem – New York City Center– New York, NY – April 16^th – April 19^th

Stravinsky’s Firebird is being performed by Dance Theatre of Harlem using the iconic choreography by John Taras. What makes these performances really exciting is the participation of Gateways Music Festival’s Gateways Festival Orchestra who will be performing the score live.

If you don’t know Gateways Festival Orchestra, they are a 58-piece ensemble of all-Black musicians.

Conducting the performances will be Jeri Lynne Johnson (April 16, 18, 19) and Tania León (April 17^th).

Firebird is joined by Blake Works IV (The Barre Project) by William Forsythe, Passage of Being by Jodie Gates and New Bach by Robert Garland on April 16^th.  Forsythe’s The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude and a tribute to Fatima Robinson will be part of the April 17^th performance.

April 18^th features Garland’s Higher Ground and his Nyman String Quartet No. 2 along with Forsythe’s The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude joining Firebird. The final performance includes Forsythe’s Blake Works IV, Garland’s Nyman String Quartet No.2 and Gates’ Passage of Being.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

EAT ME – South Coast Repertory – Costa Mesa, CA – Now – May 3^rd 

OPENING NIGHT: April 17th

This is the world premiere of a new play by Talene Monahon whose Meet the Cartozians was a critical and commercial success off Boradway last year.

Her new play is centered around the kind of disorder you might think would be good to have, but it does have potentially serious consequences. That is Gourmand syndrome which is an eating disordered where those suffering from it are suddenly obsessed with fine dining and sorts of culinary pleasures.

At the center of the play are five characters: Beatrice (Kacie Rogers), Chris (Sheldon D. Brown), Cindy (Ann Gee Byrd), Jen (Carolyn Ratteray) and Stevie (Jake Borelli) who all have their own relationships with food. There is also the character of The Gourmand (Jeorge Bennett Watson).

Sounds like a recipe for a fun evening of theater. Caitlin Sullivan directs.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

PHILIP GLASS’S COMPLETE ETUDES – University Musical Society – Ann Arbor, MI – April 18^th

All 20 of Glass’s etudes will be performed by Timo Andres, Inon Barnatan, Janice Carissa, Vicky Chow, Aaron Diehl, Lara Downes, Lisa Kaplan, Daniela Liebman, Christian Sands and Justin Snyder. They will each perform two of the etudes.

You can also stream the event free as it happens on April 18^th at 7:30 PM EDT and it will remain available for 10-days afterwards.

HERE is a link to attend the concert. HERE is a link to watch the streaming concert.

WAYNE McGREGOR: ALCHEMIES  – Royal Ballet – London, England – April 18^th – May 6^th

Choreographer McGregor just received an Olivier Award this weekend in acknowledgment of his outstanding contribution to dance.

What better follow-up to that award than to offer the world a world premiere.  That’s all I know about the work as it does not presently have a title. All I know is the music was written by Bushra El-Turk and Saul Nash is the costume designer.

The program also includes his Untitled, 2023 which is set to music by Anna Thorvaldsdottir and Yugen which features music from Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

FALLEN ANGELS – Todd Haimes Theatre – New York, NY – NOW – June 7^th

OPENING NIGHT: April 19th

There is certainly no lack of talent in this second revival of Noël Coward’s 1927 play.

The cast has Rose Byrne making her first return to Broadway since 2014’s You Can’t Take It With You; Tony Award-winner Kelli O’Hara (who also has seven additional Tony nominations); Tracee Chimo (Drama Desk winner for 2010’s Circle Mirror Transformation); Mark Consuelos making his Broadway debut; three-time Tony nominee Christopher Fitzgerald (who always makes me laugh) and Aasif Mandvi appearing in his first Broadway show since 2002.

The play is center on two upper-class women whose marriages have long since lost their passion. When a former lover to them both shows up old flames are ignited in the way that only Coward could imagine.

9-Time Tony Award nominee for Best Director Scott Ellis directs.

Worth noting that this is quite the time for Coward’s play. It was revived last November at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London.

For tickets and more information, please go HERE.

That’s all for Best Bets: April 13^th – April 19^th.

Enjoy your week! Go see a show!

Main Photo: Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Alexandra Hutchinson in Firebird (Photo by Nic Arieli/Courtesy Gateways Music Festival)