MUSICALS:

AMERICAN PROPHET – Arena Stage – Washington, D.C. – July 15^th – August 28^th

The writings and speeches of abolitionist and statesman Frederick Douglass serve as the inspiration for this new musical from composer/lyricist Marcus Hummon and director/creator Charles Randolph-Wright.

This show was a recipient of the Edgerton Foundation New Play Awards prior to this world premiere.  Cornelius Smith Jr. stars as Frederick Douglass with Kristolyn Lloyd (original Broadway cast of Dear Evan Hansen) as his wife, Anna.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

BETWEEN THE LINES – 2ndStage – New York – June 14^th – October 2^nd

This musical is based on the young adult novel by  Jodi Picoult (Wish You Were Here) and her daughter, Samantha van Leer, from 2013. The story surrounds, Delilah, a young girl infatuated with Prince Oliver in a book she loves. Her world and his in the novel come together when he starts speaking to her.

Timothy Allen McDonald collaborated with Picoult and van Leer to write the book. Kate Anderson and Elyssa Samsel wrote the the music and lyrics. Jeff Calhoun (Newsies) directs with choreography by Paul McGill (Hedwig and the Angry Inch).

For tickets and more information, please go here.

FUNNY GIRL – August Wilson Theatre, New York – Open-ended run

When this musical opened this spring on Broadway it was the fact that it had been 58 years since the musical Funny Girl opened on Broadway and turned Barbra Streisand into one of the world’s greatest stars. Then came the whirlwind of controversy about whether Beanie Feldstein was miscast in the role.

She is no longer in the musical. Her understudy, Julie Benko, will be taking over the role until Lea Michele (Glee) assumes the role of Fanny Brice on September 6^th. 

Enter Beanie Feldstein who is tackling the role of Fanny Brice. Like Streisand, Feldstein has only played a supporting role in one musical before this one (Hello, Dolly!). Joining her are Ramin Karimloo as love-interest Nick Arnstein and Jane Lynch as Mrs. Brice (through September 4^th). Tovah Feldshuh will assume the role on September 6^th.  Jared Grimes, the sol recipient of a Tony nomination for this production, dazzles in the role of Eddie Ryan.Michael Mayer directs the show which has a revised script by Harvey Fierstein.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

INTO THE WOODS – St. James Theatre – New York – Now – October 16th

This often-produced musical by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine was such a hit at New York City Center’s Encores series that it was inevitable the show would transfer to Broadway…and it has and the reviews and ticket sales are proof that was a great idea.

If you don’t know the musical, multiple fairytales are all taking place in the same forest at the same time. We’re big fans of Act II where not everything is as happy as it first seems. (Our favorite act is the second act.)

Lear deBessonet directs an all-star cast including Sara Bareilles as the Baker’s Wife, Gavin Creel as Cinderella’s Price and the Wolf, Joshua Henry as Rapunzel’s Prince , Brian D’Arcy James as the Baker, Patina Miller as the Witch and Phillipa Soo as Cinderella.

The recent announcement of an extension means there will be some cast changes that have yet to be announced.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

MJ THE MUSICAL – Neil Simon Theatre, New York – Open-ended run

It was, of course, inevitable that there would be a jukebox musical showcasing the countless hit songs by Michael Jackson. What may set this musical apart from failed attempts to use songs by The Beach Boys, Cher John Lennon and more is that the book is by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage and the show is directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon.

Myles Frost makes his Broadway debut as MJ and was the recipient of a Tony Award for his performance. The show also won Tony Awards for Lighting and Sound Design. The other Tony Award recipient was Wheeldon for his choreography. (Kudos to the outstanding company of dancers that perform this show.) 

We’ve seen the show and while it does gloss over much of the controversy that surrounded Jackson, it is wildly entertaining. Based on the audience response, this show is likely to run for a very long time.

For tickets and more details, please go here.

MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL – Al Hirschfeld Theatre, New York/Touring Company: Currently at The Pantages Theatre, Hollywood – STRONGLY RECOMMENDED

Why turn Baz Luhrmann’s ground-breaking film into a musical? Because you can can can. It might seem impossible to out-Baz Baz, but director Alex Timbres has done exactly that. This is bigger, louder, more song-filled than Luhrmann’s film. Surprisingly it loses nothing in translation.

The musical won 10 Tony Awards including Best Musical. The Broadway production currently stars Ashley Loren as Satine and Derek Klena as Christian. The touring company stars Courtney Reed and Conor Ryan (with Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer as an alternate in the role of Satine).

For tickets and more information on Broadway, please go here. For touring dates, tickets and more information, please go here.

A STRANGE LOOP – Lyceum Theatre, New York – Open-ended run STRONGLY RECOMMENDED

The 2022 Tony Award for Best Musical and the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for drama went to Michael R. Jackson’s musical A Strange Loop. It’s an aptly named meta-musical about a gay Black man who’s writing a musical about a gay Black man who is writing a musical about…You get the picture.  

Stephen Brackett directs A Strange Loop. The ensemble features Antwayn Hopper, L Morgan Lee, John-Mihael Lyles, James Jackson, Jr., John-Andrew Morrison, Jaquel Spivey and Jason Veasey.

This is a wholly original musical that challenges everything we imagine a Broadway musical to be. Jackson does it in all the best possible ways.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

OPERA:

SANTA FE OPERA – Now – August 27^th

Isabel Leonard as Carmen; Mitchell Harper choreographing The Barber of Seville; Quinn Kelsey as Falstaff; the first-ever Santa Fe Opera production of Tristan Und Isolde and the world premiere on Saturday of M. Butterfly by composer Huang Ruo and librettist David Henry Hwang are all good reasons to attend this year’s season at Santa Fe Opera.

If you’ve never been, you owe it to yourself to experience this amazing venue. And be prepared to tailgate!

For tickets and more information, please go here.

PLAYS:

HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES – La Jolla Playhouse – La Jolla, CA – July 26^th – August 21^st

Anytime Moisés Kaufmann and Tectonic Theater Project have a world premiere, it’s a reason to go to the theatre. They’re the team behind The Laramie Project Cycle, The Tallest Tree in The Forest, I Am My Own Wife and more.

This new play is an investigation into the Hoecker Album of photographs from Germany during World War II.  They are named after Karl-Friedrich Hoecker who was an SS officer for the Nazis. Most of the photographs were taken in the summer and fall of 1944.

As the webpage for this production asks, “What hidden secrets can a photograph reveal?” Kaufmann (who co-directs with Amanda Gronich) and Tectonic Theater Project will make it mesmerizing.

For tickets and more information, please go here.

ORESTEIA and HAMLET – Park Avenue Armory – New York – Now – August 13^th

Director Robert Icke received an Olivier Award as Best Director for Oresteia, an adaptation of the three Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus. The show was a critical and commercial success in London.

Equally acclaimed was his production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet at The Almeida Theatre in London. Alex Lawther stars as the conflicted prince. 

Both shows appear in repertory. For tickets and more information for Orestia, please go here. For tickets and more information for Hamlet, please go here.

PRIMA FACIE – National Theatre Live – Beginning July 21^st (check local listings)

Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) stars in this play by Suzie Miller as a young lawyer whose main clients have been men accused of sexual assault. Her perspective on what she’s doing gets challenged when she gets assaulted herself.

It’s a powerful role for Comer and she is considered a front-runner for the Olivier Award next year. She’ll also potentially be up for a Tony nomination as the play is scheduled to open in New York in the 2022-2023 season. So, too, might director Justin Martin.

But you can watch the play in a theater near you as it is part of National Theatre Live’s programming. To locate a theater near you and to get tickets, please go here.

For our weekly Best Bets, please check every Monday for that week’s selections.

Main Photo: Conor Ryan and Courtney Reed in Moulin Rouge The Musical Touring Production (Photo by Matthew Murphy/Courtesy Broadway in Hollywood)

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I’ve seen him in Fire Shut Up In My Bones and MJ The Musical. He’s enormously talented.

Russell is on a two-week break from MJ The Musical so he can play the role of Young Lola in the Hollywood Bowl production of the musical Kinky Boots from July 8th – July 10th. Not bad for a thirteen-year-old, is it?

So how does this young man approach roles that involve molestation (Fire Shut Up In My Bones), depict an enormously popular worldwide superstar like Michael Jackson (even if the show overlooks most of the controversy surrounding him) and now the younger version of a drag queen?

These were just a few of the things I discussed with Russell who wants to be an EGOT (winner of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award). What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity.

How much do you look at what Wayne Brady is doing in his performance to try to figure out how you can be a believable younger version of who his character grows up to be?

So to be the younger version of Wayne Brady it’s just so amazing. And when I’m acting, I normally play younger versions of these people, so I try to practice their actions and like the way they express and like their movements a lot. 

What do you what do you think this show has to say to people your age?

I think to just be yourself and express it as much as possible, especially during like this time. I think this is a very important show, especially during Pride Month.

Tell me about the boots and the experience of being in them. 

It gives me height, which I love. And it’s just mainly about stretching like the heels and the knees and it’s mainly balance. When it comes to wearing the heels, it’s just practice, practice, practice right now.

You’ve got Jerry Mitchell, who’s the director choreographer since day one of this show. You also have Wayne Brady, who’s been in the show before. Jake Shears has been in the show before. What advice are you getting from them? What are you learning from them about this show and the role of young Lola?

I mainly have been following Wayne Brady’s lead when it comes to this role and how this character expresses in a certain form and how a lot of people express themselves and play in different forms as well. And then coming back to that to myself and also expressing myself as how I want to be. And it might be different. It might be the same, but it’s mainly just the process of switching myself into a different character.

Unlike other shows you’ve done, this whole production gets put together in two weeks and is done. What’s that process like for you? 

For me it’s mainly just thinking straight and really focusing on what I have to do during this time. So when it came to MJ and Fire, we had a bit more time. It was like a month at least. And I had more of a chance to discover the role. When it comes to Kinky Boots, it’s fictional so I have a little bit more freedom. But it’s more focusing on this play and to just get it done and be ready.

What’s the difference for you when you’re playing a real person versus a character that’s been created solely for the show? 

When it comes to playing a fictional character, I do have more a little bit more freedom than playing someone who is a nonfiction character. When it comes to playing real people we have to study them and practice their emotions. When it comes to fiction, it’s kind of like something that I could choose.

Fire Shut Up In My Bones is really intense material. You can make an argument that there is intense material in MJ just by virtue of the controversy around who you are portraying in the show. How do you, at your age, process all of this stuff that you’re being asked to do? 

Normally before I do the show I sit down with a parent or guardian and just think about what do you think about it and talk about it. And that it’s just a play, it’s not real. But the events have been real. I think it’s very serious, but it’s also very emotional and very important.

Are there any of the characters that you’ve played the most like you? 

Oh, probably the most like me has been MJ, but when I was younger, Simba has been like the closest to me.

I’m sure you were happy for Myles Frost when he got the Tony Award. (Best Actor in a Musical for MJ)

I was ecstatic. There is a video of us like going crazy about it. I wanted him to win. But of course, there was some doubt because there were these huge stars: Billy Crystal, Hugh Jackman. So him winning, it was just surreal and it was so exciting.

When I saw you in the show, I saw his understudy, Aramie Payton, who I thought was amazing. I couldn’t imagine Myles being any better than that because I thought the understudy was so good.

I know. That’s what I love. He was amazing to me. And that’s just the understudy. The level that they’re both on is just so good and I’m just so happy that I’m able to work with them.

When you look at what Myles has been able to accomplish or what Will Liverman (Fire) has been able to accomplish, or, you look at Wayne and Jake in this show, what do you see in them that you would like your career to be?

I’m only taking the little things from all those people and put them into my experience and what like level I want to reach.

Where do you want to go from here?

I want to be an EGOT.

So where do you start? What’s the first one to get and how are you going to do it? 

Just, of course, originating a role and just something that I love to do. What I want to do is getting a Tony first. So hopefully that does happen.

And where does opera fit into this?

Hopefully it’s in the Grammy selections because Porgy and Bess did win. So hopefully [Fire] will go into that.

Have they made a recording of Fire? You’ve been in the studio or was it from Live in HD?

Yes. It was a live deal. It was very is very exciting. They had to put mikes on me I think three times. It was just very fun knowing that I’ll be able to be on the opera album.

Do you want to do more opera? 

I do.

There’s nothing you don’t want to do, is there?

No, not really. 

So what’s next is going back into M.J… 

Yeah and hopefully just more Broadway shows and more TV shows or just more movies in general.

One last question for you. When you do Kinky Boots at the Hollywood Bowl you’ll be in front of more people that can fit into a Broadway house for an entire week. And that’s just in one show. What do you have to do as a young actor to just be in the moment and do the show and have fun and not worry about however many people might be there? 

So you know there’s a fourth wall. I think of it as no wall. It’s just the center and back. And it’s mainly just keeping my mind on the show and not what everyone else is thinking outside.

Photo: Walter Russell III (Photo courtesy his Facebook page)

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