edjames

Closing Sunday, August 11.... 'The Prom' will have its last dance on Broadway in August "The Prom" will soon be playing its swan song. The musical about a troupe of wacky actors who come to the aid of an Indiana high schooler barred from bringing her girlfriend to the prom will have its final performance at the Longacre Theatre on Aug. 11. The show opened to mostly favorable reviews in November and garnered seven Tony nominations, including one for best musical. Its lack of a win in any category failed to give the show a bump at the box office. When it closes, "The Prom" will have played 23 previews and 310 regular performances. Even though it's leaving Broadway, "The Prom" still has a full dance card. A national tour will launch in February 2021 and Ryan Murphy is writing and executive producing an adaptation for Netflix that will air next year. A Young Adult novel based on the show is slated to come out in September. "The Prom" is the latest in a string of Broadway closings announced after the June 9 Tony Awards. "Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus" wrapped on Sunday, two months ahead of its original closing date. On Monday, "Hillary and Clinton," which had been scheduled to run through July 21, announced its final performance will be on Sunday.

Closes Sunday, JUNE 30

Closing on Sunday.... ‘Hillary and Clinton’ to End Broadway Run Early Lucas Hnath’s play about a familiar-sounding power couple will wrap up on June 23. “Hillary and Clinton,” a Broadway play that explores the relationship of a political power couple, will close on Sunday, four weeks earlier than scheduled. The play, by Lucas Hnath, stars Laurie Metcalf and John Lithgow and is directed by Joe Mantello. It opened in April; at the time of its closing it will have played 37 previews and 77 regular performances at the John Golden Theater. Set a hotel room in New Hampshire in 2008, the play imagines an interaction between Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton — not the real ones, but characters with the same names in an alternate universe — talking about her struggling campaign for president that year. The play, with Scott Rudin as a lead producer, cost $4.2 million to capitalize; that money has not been recouped. It is the third play that Mr. Rudin has shuttered in rapid succession this spring, following the early closings of a “King Lear” revival and the new play “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus.” None were financial successes, though another of Mr. Rudin’s productions, Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” is a major hit. “Hillary and Clinton” was nominated for only one Tony Award, for Ms. Metcalf’s performance, and did not win. It was struggling at the box office, grossing $291,098, 36 percent of its potential, during the week that ended June 9, according to the Broadway League.

OMG...I'd better book an appointment with Dr. Botox for some nip and tuck work! It'll take weeks to get ready.

IMO (another opinionated opinion) Bourne and his company are near genius. They "trot" this production out because there is a demand by audiences to see it, and because it makes money, which is what makes the world go round. Oh well, Ben, I'm sad that you won't be there.....

Tickets now on sale. Highly recommended. New York City Center presents A New Adventures production Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake Dance Mainstage Jan 30 – Feb 9, 2020 Tickets start at $35 https://www.nycitycenter.org/pdps/2019-2020/matthew-bournes-swan-lake/

And off I went off to downtown Brooklyn. It's a neighborhood I am very familiar with and this new theater is located almost across the street from BAM, and other theaters in the neighborhood. It's a lovely new theater complex and the seating is stadium style, so sight lines are not a problem. I sat in row E which has a large enough space to stretch out your legs. The play? Well, I agree it makes you question racism, however, as the play begins you think it's going in one direction and then it moves into another, and another, and another. It's almost like being on a psychedelic drug trip as the play, and the characters become more and more outrageous. The musical sound track is straight out of the 70's and 80's, classic soul hits. At the end, the play becomes very confrontational and in-your-face. The play ends it's run on June 30. Ben Brantley's review says it all: Review: Theater as Sabotage in the Dazzling ‘Fairview’ Let me give you fair warning on “Fairview,” Jackie Sibblies Drury’s dazzling and ruthless new play: If you see it — and you must — you will not be comfortable. That’s not because the seats at Soho Rep, where this extraordinary show opened on Sunday night, are any harder or lumpier than those of most small, downtown theaters. But you will undoubtedly be squirming in yours. You will also wind up questioning your basic right to sit there, especially if, like the majority of New York theatergoers, you are a white person. And some time after the show has ended, when you’re thinking straight again, you’ll realize just how artfully you have been toyed with before the final kill, as the mouse to one canny cat of a play. Directed with disarming smoothness and military precision by Sarah Benson, “Fairview” begins amicably enough, or so it would appear. What occurs in its protracted first scene isn’t all that different from a standard-issue sitcom episode of, say, the mid-to-late 1980s. A middle-class, impeccably coifed and made-up mom, Beverly Fraser (Heather Alicia Simms), is anxiously preparing for a party in her fastidiously appointed, beige-on-beige home. It’s her formidable mother’s birthday, and Beverly wants everything to be perfect. But her loving husband, Dayton (Charles Browning); their teenage daughter, Keisha (MaYaa Boateng); and especially Beverly’s officious sister, Jasmine (Roslyn Ruff), aren’t being very helpful. Will the carrots be peeled and cooked, the cake baked and the table set as it should be before grandma, who is upstairs, makes her entrance? Sounds like a snooze, doesn’t it? Still, you may detect an occasional tear — so small it barely lets light through — in the glossy expositional blandness. For instance, the music Beverly has on melts and mutates for a microsecond; every now and then, the expression on her face turns lost and wary; and the geography of the characters’ entrances and exits feels strangely illogical, when you think about it. And that, really, is all I can say about what happens in “Fairview,” at least without spoiling one of the most exquisitely and systematically arranged ambushes of an unsuspecting audience in years. Oh, I do need to mention that the Fraser family is black. I know, I know. That distinction is immaterial in the 21st century, at least in reference to what appears to be a kind of every-person generic comedy. Yeah, right. And I have a miracle diet I’d like to sell you. Ms. Drury has been a playwright to watch for several years now, with intellectually probing, form-questioning works that include “Really” and “We Are Proud to Present …” But nothing she has done previously has prepared audiences for “Fairview,” starting with a title whose resonance fully registers only after the play is over. Examined element by element, “Fairview” presents nothing theatrically new. Many of its tools of subversion date to the early days of the Absurdists and the mind games of Pirandello and Ionesco, while others — more technologically sophisticated — are staples of the contemporary European avant-garde. But Ms. Drury and Ms. Benson have assembled vintage ingredients with a purposeful, very American ingenuity that restores the shock value to such classic audience baiting. And I found myself thinking that this must be what it was like to come upon the work of Edward Albee — the tutelary deity of the theater of discomfort — Off Broadway in the early 1960s. “Fairview” is structured as a series of perspective-altering surprises, and they keep coming at you even when you think its creators must surely have emptied their bag of tricks. You begin watching by feeling mildly amused, then uneasy, then annoyed, then unsettled. And then abruptly you’re free-falling down a rabbit hole, and there’s no safe landing in sight. This sustained act of sabotage is realized by an impeccably synced team. As the artistic director of Soho Rep, where she staged Sarah Kane’s “Blasted” and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s “An Octoroon,” Ms. Benson is a past master of the drama of disruption, and she is at the top of her game here. Every aspect of “Fairview” has a slyly manipulative raison d’être. That includes Mimi Lien’s tidily framed set, with its invisible mirror of a fourth wall; Montana Levi Blanco’s increasingly outrageous costumes; and the “gotcha!” lighting (by Amith Chandrashaker) and sound (Mikaal Sulaiman). But don’t underestimate the importance of Ryan Courtney’s props, which assume alarmingly multifarious roles, and Raja Feather Kelly’s choreography. Dancing is a big part of “Fairview,” but it isn’t there for entertainment purposes, or not for long, anyway. As for the ensemble — which also includes Hannah Cabell, Natalia Payne, Jed Resnick and Luke Robertson — it does exactly what the play requires of it, which is saying something. The women, especially, inhabit their artificially constructed roles with an in-the-moment immediacy, only marginally rimmed with unease. Playing the youngest family member, Ms. Boateng also winds up with the heaviest acting duties, and she executes them with unblinking, confrontational clarity. “Isn’t she cute?” a part of you may say when her Keisha bounds onto the stage. You will be punished for ever having thought so. As you may have inferred, “Fairview” is all about race, and especially about how white people look at black people. More broadly, you might argue, it’s about the defective lenses through which we view one another and the world around us. But, no, it’s all about race. It may seem untoward to suggest that anything good is emerging from the ethnically dis-United States at this frightening juncture in its history. But it’s worth remarking that racial alienation and division have been the basis for the most exciting American plays of recent years, including “An Octoroon” and Scott R. Sheppard and Jennifer Kidwell’s “Underground Railroad Game.” “Fairview” is a galvanizing addition to this gallery. It is also a glorious, scary reminder of the unmatched power of live theater to rattle, roil and shake us wide awake. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/17/theater/review-theater-as-sabotage-in-the-dazzling-fairview.html

Today's NYTimes announced: Ed Harris to Succeed Jeff Daniels in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ on Broadway Mr. Harris, featured in “Westworld” on television, is a four-time Oscar nominee. Ed Harris will succeed Jeff Daniels as the star of “To Kill a Mockingbird” on Broadway. Mr. Harris, featured in “Westworld” on television, is a four-time Oscar nominee and was nominated for a Tony in 1986, for his performance on Broadway in “Precious Sons.” He also appeared on Broadway in 1996, in “Taking Sides.” Mr. Daniels, who was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance in “Mockingbird,” will finish his tenure as Atticus Finch in the play on Nov. 3, and Mr. Harris will begin on Nov. 5. The casting is being promoted in advertising in The New York Times on Sunday; a production spokesman declined to comment. The play, a new adaptation of the Harper Lee novel written by Aaron Sorkin, opened in December. It has been selling quite strongly at the box office, has recouped its $7.5 million capitalization costs, and is planning a national tour, starring Richard Thomas, beginning in August of 2020. It was not nominated in the best play category at the Tony Awards, but Celia Keenan-Bolger, the actress playing Atticus’s daughter Scout, won as best actress in a featured role.

FYI, tickets now on sale for the summer Encores! Off-Center series of shows, INCLUDING, Sondheim's ROAD SHOW (July 24-27), PROMENADE (July 10 & 11) and WORKING ( (June 26-29)

First up, a show I have been longing to see again. I saw a London production in '96. Wonderful score. Encores! Mack and Mabel Feb 19 – 23, 2020 General Public Tickets Available Aug 5 The Encores! season opens with Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart’s Mack and Mabel. Follow the dramatic, romantic entanglements of silent movie pioneer Mack Sennett and his comedienne-muse Mabel Normand. Relive Herman’s timeless score which includes the beloved ballads, “Time Heals Everything” and “I Won’t Send Roses.” Love Life Mar 18 – 22, 2020 General Public Tickets Available Aug 5 Love Life, the only collaboration between Kurt Weill and Alan Jay Lerner, is a journey through American history with a family that never grows any older. Directed by Victoria Clark, the story is accentuated with vaudevillian acts and features some of Weill’s most beautiful and accessible songs, including “Mr. Right,” and “Here I’ll Stay.” Little-seen but much-discussed, Love Life has had a large and direct impact on Broadway shows such as Gypsy; Cabaret;Follies; and Hallelujah, Baby! Thoroughly Modern Millie May 6 – 10, 2020 General Public Aug 5 Dick Scanlan and Jeanine Tesori’s Thoroughly Modern Millie is a raise-the-roof tribute to the indomitable spirit of New York and the diverse people who call it home and features showstopping numbers like “Forget About the Boy” and “Gimme Gimme.” Starring Ashley Park (Mean Girls, The King and I) with direction by Encores! Resident Director Lear deBessonet, and playwright Lauren Yee working with the show’s original authors as creative consultant, the team will explore the work with a fresh perspective to deliver a thoroughly modern Thoroughly Modern Millie.

The first casualty of the Tony Awards announced that it is closing on Sunday. Taylor Mac’s ‘Gary’ Will Close Early on Broadway The profane and bloody comic “sequel” to “Titus Andronicus” has been dying at the box office. Taylor Mac’s first Broadway play, “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus,” will close on Sunday, seven weeks earlier than scheduled. The play is an experimental comedy that imagines a conversation between a maid and a clown left to clean up the dead bodies after the bloodshed that roils the ruling class in Shakespeare’s gory tragedy. An unusual project for Broadway, it marked the arrival of Mr. Mac to the commercial stage. His previous works, in which he often starred, were produced in nonprofit spaces. His best-known project, “A 24-Decade History of Popular Music,” has been presented to acclaim around the world. “Mess is both the aesthetic and the subject of ‘Gary,’ ” The New York Times theater critic Jesse Green wrote in praising the show. And “Gary” was nominated for seven Tony Awards, including best play. But it was shut out at the Sunday ceremony, and is the first show to announce a closing afterward. Directed by George C. Wolfe, “Gary” had a cast of Broadway favorites: the Tony winners Nathan Lane and Julie White, along with multiple nominee Kristine Nielsen.

Viewers for Sunday night's telecast was 5.5 million. An ALL TIME LOW for the telecast and a 15% drop from last year1

Here's Michael Reidel's NYPost's scathing review of the Tony Award broadcast: Tony Awards offered little surprise, a lackluster James Corden By Michael Riedel June 10, 2019 | 8:30am | Update A Tony Awards that had the potential to deliver some jaw-dropping upsets delivered nothing but a lackluster telecast hosted by James Corden, who, though he did a brilliant job three years ago, seemed past his sell-buy date. As expected, “Hadestown” won the top prize — Best Musical — as well as seven other awards, including Best Score (Anais Mitchell), Director (Rachel Chavkin) and Featured Actor, the great Andre De Shields. Whether all those Tony wins lead to a major uptick in ticket sales remains to be seen. The number “Hadestown” did on the telecast surely was baffling to anybody who hasn’t seen the show. Reeve Carney looking sad and screaming out “Eurydice!” is not up there with Jennifer Holiday singing “And I’m Telling You, I’m Not Going” from “Dreamgirls.” An investor in the show texted me during the telecast, “I think our advance just went down.” “The Ferryman,” Jez Butterworth’s gripping look at the troubles in Ireland in the early 1980s, didn’t surprise anyone by winning, as it deserved to, Best Play. “Oklahoma!” — radically rethought for our “woke” era — beat the traditional revival of “Kiss Me, Kate,” while “The Boys in the Band” turned back a stiff challenge from Kenneth Lonergan’s “The Waverly Gallery.” The highlight of this year’s awards ceremony was Elaine May’s win for Best Actress for her portrayal of a woman stricken with dementia in “The Waverly Gallery.” May, a showbiz legend at 87, never speaks to the press. But she accepted her award with that same impeccable comic timing she honed years ago with Mike Nichols. “This is the first award for acting I’ve ever won,” she said. “And let me tell you how I did it.” She got a big laugh before praising Lonergan, her fellow cast members — Lucas Hedges in particular, the “Manchester by the Sea” star who played her grandson — and her producer, Scott Rudin. The only surprise of the night came when Bertie Carvel, brilliant as Rupert Murdoch in “Ink,” James Graham’s terrific play about newspapers, picked up the award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. He beat out Gideon Glick, from “To Kill a Mockingbird,” who was favored to win as the boy loosely modeled on Truman Capote, Harper Lee’s childhood friend. The musical numbers, always the highlight of the Tonys and designed to sell as many tickets as possible, were a bust on the telecast. “The Cher Show” was a disaster. Stephanie J. Block won Best Actress in a Musical, but there was something off with the tempo in “Believe.” When the number ended, CBS cut to audience members at Radio City Music Hall, who seemed underwhelmed despite all those Bob Mackie costumes. “Beetlejuice” did a frenetic number that won’t sell a ticket at the Winter Garden. “Beetlejuice” is about to be squished. Word on the street last night was that Hugh Jackman will be taking “The Music Man” to the Winter Garden next season. “Oklahoma!” performed the title song with every cast member looking as if they hated being in America in the Trump era. But that might work for them. It could sell some tickets to NPR listeners. The number that came off the best was from “The Prom,” a struggling but delightful musical that some of us hoped might have pulled off an upset last night. It didn’t happen, and I fear for the show’s future. As for Corden, this was not his finest hour. The opening number, written especially for the telecast, was a dud, and he seemed a bit tired throughout the evening. There was a skit where he had Broadway actors dissing each other, and I can only hope he did not have script approval on that one. I’m sending you back to carpool karaoke, James. Next year, let’s get Hugh Jackman.

And congrats to these worthy winners: Best Orchestrations Michael Chorney and Todd Sickafoose, Hadestown **Winner** Simon Hale, Tootsie Larry Hochman, Kiss Me, Kate Daniel Kluger, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! Harold Wheeler, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations Best Choreography Camille A. Brown, Choir Boy Warren Carlyle, Kiss Me, Kate Denis Jones, Tootsie David Neumann, Hadestown Sergio Trujillo, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations **Winner** Best Book of a Musical Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations Dominique Morisseau Beetlejuice Scott Brown & Anthony King Hadestown Anaïs Mitchell The Prom Bob Martin & Chad Beguelin Tootsie Robert Horn **Winner** Best Costume Design of a Play Rob Howell, The Ferryman **Winner** Toni-Leslie James, Bernhardt/Hamlet Clint Ramos, Torch Song Ann Roth, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus Ann Roth, To Kill a Mockingbird Best Costume Design of a Musical Michael Krass, Hadestown William Ivey Long, Beetlejuice William Ivey Long, Tootsie Bob Mackie, The Cher Show **Winner** Paul Tazewell, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations Best Scenic Design of a Play Miriam Buether, To Kill a Mockingbird Bunny Christie, Ink Rob Howell, The Ferryman **Winner** Santo Loquasto, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus Jan Versweyveld, Network Best Scenic Design of a Musical Robert Brill and Peter Nigrini, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations Peter England, King Kong Rachel Hauck, Hadestown **Winner** Laura Jellinek, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! David Korins, Beetlejuice Best Sound Design of a Play Adam Cork, Ink Scott Lehrer, To Kill a Mockingbird Fitz Patton, Choir Boy **Winner** Nick Powell, The Ferryman Eric Sleichim, Network Best Sound Design of a Musical Peter Hylenski, Beetlejuice Peter Hylenski, King Kong Steve Canyon Kennedy, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations Drew Levy, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! Nevin Steinberg and Jessica Paz, Hadestown **Winner** Best Lighting Design of a Play Neil Austin, Ink **Winner** Jules Fisher + Peggy Eisenhauer, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus Peter Mumford, The Ferryman Jennifer Tipton, To Kill a Mockingbird Jan Versweyveld and Tal Yarden, Network Best Lighting Design of a Musical Kevin Adams, The Cher Show Howell Binkley, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations Bradley King, Hadestown **Winner** Peter Mumford, King Kong Kenneth Posner and Peter Nigrini, Beetlejuice Recipients of Awards and Honors in Non-competitive Categories Special Tony Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre Rosemary Harris Terrence McNally Harold Wheeler Special Tony Awards Marin Mazzie Sonny Tilders and Creature Technology Company Jason Michael Webb Regional Theatre Tony Award TheatreWorks Silicon Valley Palo Alto, CA

And the winners are: 2019 Tony Awards Winners: Best Musical Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations Beetlejuice Hadestown **Winner** The Prom Tootsie Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical Stephanie J. Block, The Cher Show **Winner** Caitlin Kinnunen, The Prom Beth Leavel, The Prom Eva Noblezada, Hadestown Kelli O'Hara, Kiss Me, Kate Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical Brooks Ashmanskas, The Prom Derrick Baskin, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations Alex Brightman, Beetlejuice Damon Daunno, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! Santino Fontana, Tootsie **Winner** Best Play Choir Boy Author: Tarell Alvin McCraney The Ferryman Author: Jez Butterworth**Winner** Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus Author: Taylor Mac Ink Author: James Graham What the Constitution Means to Me Author: Heidi Schreck Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play Paddy Considine, The Ferryman Bryan Cranston, Network **Winner** Jeff Daniels, To Kill a Mockingbird Adam Driver, Burn This Jeremy Pope, Choir Boy Best Revival of a Musical Kiss Me, Kate Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! **Winner** Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre Be More Chill - Music & Lyrics: Joe Iconis Beetlejuice - Music & Lyrics: Eddie Perfect Hadestown - Music & Lyrics: Anaïs Mitchell **Winner** The Prom - Music: Matthew Sklar, Lyrics: Chad Beguelin To Kill a Mockingbird - Music: Adam Guettel Tootsie - Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek Best Direction of a Play Rupert Goold, Ink Sam Mendes, The Ferryman **Winner** Bartlett Sher, To Kill a Mockingbird Ivo van Hove, Network George C. Wolfe, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus Best Revival of a Play Arthur Miller's All My Sons The Boys in the Band Author: Mart Crowley **Winner** Burn This Torch Song Author: Harvey Fierstein The Waverly Gallery Author: Kenneth Lonergan Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical Lilli Cooper, Tootsie Amber Gray, Hadestown Sarah Stiles, Tootsie Ali Stroker, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! **Winner** Mary Testa, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! Best Direction of a Musical Rachel Chavkin, Hadestown **Winner** Scott Ellis, Tootsie Daniel Fish, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! Des McAnuff, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations Casey Nicholaw, The Prom Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical André De Shields, Hadestown **Winner** Andy Grotelueschen, Tootsie Patrick Page, Hadestown Jeremy Pope, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations Ephraim Sykes, Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play Annette Bening, Arthur Miller's All My Sons Laura Donnelly, The Ferryman Elaine May, The Waverly Gallery **Winner** Janet McTeer, Bernhardt/Hamlet Laurie Metcalf, Hillary and Clinton Heidi Schreck, What the Constitution Means to Me Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play Bertie Carvel, Ink **Winner** Robin De Jesús, The Boys in the Band Gideon Glick, To Kill a Mockingbird Brandon Uranowitz, Burn This Benjamin Walker, Arthur Miller's All My Sons Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play Fionnula Flanagan, The Ferryman Celia Keenan-Bolger, To Kill a Mockingbird **Winner** Kristine Nielsen, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus Julie White, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus Ruth Wilson, King Lear

Thank you for your recommendation. Yes, it's on my list and I'll look Ito getting tickets soon as I have enough free time to search dates and prices. Thank you, again. .

Thanks Beethoven for your review and commentary. This was on my list and somehow, I forgot all about, it but you've provided me with inspiration to seek out a ticket. Got one for the Thursday matinee...

Forgot to mention - 2 Parts, 7 hours, so be prepared for a marathon, however the reviews were very good.... If you're interested, here are some London reviews: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/mar/29/the-inheritance-review-stephen-daldry https://variety.com/2018/legit/reviews/the-inheritance-review-play-1202739184/ inheritance-young-vic-reviewperhaps-important-american-play https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/theatre/the-inheritance-noel-coward-review-a3961826.html

‘The Inheritance,’ an Epic Gay Play, is Coming to Broadway Matthew Lopez’s drama, inspired by the novel “Howards End” and presented in two parts, won this year’s Olivier Award for best new play. “The Inheritance,” an ambitious and award-winning two-part play that explores contemporary gay male lives against the backdrop of recent history, is coming to Broadway this fall. Although written by an American and set in New York, the play began its life in London, where it was staged last spring at the Young Vic, and then transferred to the West End. It was a commercial hit and a critical success, honored with this year’s Olivier Award for best new play. Written by Matthew Lopez (“The Legend of Georgia McBride”), “The Inheritance” is inspired by E. M. Forster’s novel “Howards End.” Stephen Daldry (“Billy Elliot”) will direct the production, which runs more than six hours over two separately sold sections. Matt Wolf, writing in The New York Times, called the play“capaciously moving.” Dominic Cavendish, writing in The Telegraph, described it as “perhaps the most important American play of the century so far” and said, “Star ratings are almost beside the point when confronted by work of this magnitude but hell, yeah, five.” The Broadway staging will be produced by Tom Kirdahy, Sonia Friedman Productions, and Hunter Arnold. It is scheduled to begin previews Sept. 27 and to open Nov. 17 at the Ethel Barrymore Theater. John Benjamin Hickey and Vanessa Redgrave were part of a London cast made up mostly of young actors. The Broadway ensemble has not been announced.

Some interesting observations in today's NYPost.... Forget the Tony Awards: Here are Broadway’s worst moments this season Broadway raked in $1.8 billion at the box office this past year — and some of us want our money back. Overhyped performances, silly plots and sheer, WTF awfulness made us groan into our overpriced, sippy-cup cocktails. Which is why, ahead of Broadway’s annual salute to itself — Sunday night’s Tony Awards ceremony at Radio City Music Hall, broadcast live at 8 p.m. on CBS — we give you . . . the Groany Awards. Most misguided mashup “Our Lips Our Sealed”! “We Got the Beat”! “Cool Jerk”! What ideal ditties for a big, fat summer Broadway hit, you’d think. Well, the bizarre, money-draining Go-Go’s musical “Head Over Heels” pairs the beloved songs with a 16th-century story by Sir Philip Sidney that no tourist has ever heard of — and audiences didn’t go-go. Biggest bait and switch Walk down 50th Street and you’ll see the marquee at the Circle in the Square Theatre: “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!” You sit waiting to find out if the farmer and the cowman will be friends, but instead you’re tortured by director Daniel Fish’s version of that beloved musical — one featuring a blood-soaked wedding dress, neon green lights and a nightmarish dream ballet. Most regrettable encore One year after her Tony-winning turn in “Three Tall Woman,” Glenda Jackson returned in a gender-bending “King Lear.” The problem lies not in that she plays the king, but how: disconnected and shrill, barking her lines as if each were a soliloquy. Dear Ms. Jackson, you’re not in Parliament anymore. Worst example of a parallel universe From Lucas Hnath, writer of the infinitely superior “A Doll’s House, Part 2,” came the head-scratcher “Hillary and Clinton.” Question: If Hill and Bill look and sound nothing like their real-life counterparts, why bring in a ringer for Barack? Musical least ready for prime time Not since Suzanne Somers appalled us with “The Blonde in the Thunderbird” has anything as inept as “Gettin’ the Band Back Together” played Broadway. Tacky, derivative and jammed with Jersey jokes, it opened with its producer trying to rally the crowd like a bad bar mitzvah DJ. Grossest sound effect No contest: the farts issuing from the flatulent corpses in “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus.” Nathan Lane, giving his customary 150 percent, seems amused, but many theatergoers looked queasy. No intermission, no escape. Most pointless foreplay It’s only 20 minutes or so before Adam Driver explodes into “Burn This.” Until then, a meandering story about a funeral and a tedious discussion of writing make time stand still. Even a playwright as wonderful as Lanford Wilson could have used an editor. Or a delete key. Blandest PC rewrite . . . Shakespeare was a genius. Amanda Green? Not so much. To make this season’s “Kiss Me, Kate!” more post-#MeToo friendly, she neutered some of the Bard’s barbs and has Kate slapping around Petruchio. Equality? We say spousal abuse. . . . and a reason to get the hook! “Brush Up Your Shakespeare,” Cole Porter’s classic name check of all the Bard’s plays, usually leaves the audience wanting more. Not in this “Kiss Me, Kate!”: Each time the singing goons barge back onstage, you want to kick ’em right in the Coriolanus. Worst musical by Eddie Perfect This is a tough one. The unfortunately named Australian composer Eddie Perfect made his Broadway debut this season — twice — with a pair of duds: “King Kong” and “Beetlejuice.” But while the monkey musical slipped on a banana peel in nearly every regard, it’s the foul-mouthed, coke-sniffing “Beetlejuice” that’s least perfect. Most ear-splitting sound design The cult-y teen show “Be More Chill” brought out the cranky old person in every theatergoer over the age of 16, with its ludicrously high decibel levels. It’s hard to care about any characters when you’re at a Twisted Sister concert. Silliest update A few insensitive old stories need to be updated for changing times, sure. But those needed fixes shouldn’t get laughs, like the “King Kong” character Ann Darrow does when she refuses to scream like a victim on her film set. Really, guys? Heck, if a 2-ton gorilla ran at Arnold Schwarzenegger, he’d squeal too.

Caught yesterdy's matinee performance and was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this production. I saw the original with Joan Allen and John Malkovich waaaay back when (1984, I seem to remember). I was blown away by Malkovich's performance. Adam Driver is good but he's no Malkovich (sorry to say). BUT, I did enjoy the entire cast, especially Keri Russell, and Brandon Uranowitz. It's a strange tale but filled with funny moments (thanks to the character of Larry) and Mr. Driver captures the essence of a man completely lost in a drug and alcohol fueled world spinning out of control. The show ends its run on June 30th.

Obie Awards Honor ‘What the Constitution Means to Me’ The annual awards ceremony, which celebrates theater beyond Broadway, also gave a prize to Quincy Tyler Bernstine for sustained excellence of performance. Heidi Schreck’s “What the Constitution Means to Me” was named the best new American play of the 2018-19 theater season at the Obie Awards on Monday night. The Obies honor Off Broadway and Off Off Broadway work, and the prize was for the show’s run last year at New York Theater Workshop. The play, a much-praised autobiographical reflection on gender and American law, has since transferred to Broadway, where it is now among five contenders for the Tony Award for best new play. Presented by the American Theater Wing and the Village Voice, the Obies do not have set categories, but rather distribute whatever honors the judges deem appropriate each season. This year, the Obies honored five actors, singling out Quincy Tyler Bernstine, who starred in a Lincoln Center Theater production of “Marys Seacole,” for “sustained excellence of performance,” and also gave prizes to Mia Barron, for “Hurricane Diane” at New York Theater Workshop; Francis Jue, for “Wild Goose Dreams” at the Public Theater; and Cherise Boothe and Heather Alicia Simms for a revival of “Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine” at the Signature Theater Company. Three playwrights won Obie Awards: Marcus Gardley, for “The House That Will Not Stand” at New York Theater Workshop; Madeleine George, for “Hurricane Diane”; and Suzan-Lori Parks, for “White Noise” at the Public Theater. The Obies also honored three directors, recognizing the “sustained excellence” of Jo Bonney and Leigh Silverman, as well as awarding Stevie Walker-Webb for “Ain’t No Mo’” at the Public Theater. Six designers were recognized: Dede M. Ayite, for sustained excellence in costume design; Isabella Byrd, for lighting design in “Light Shining in Buckinghamshire” at New York Theater Workshop; Palmer Hefferan, for sustained excellence in sound design; Cookie Jordan, for sustained excellence in hair, wigs and makeup; Clint Ramos, for set design in “Wild Goose Dreams”; and Louisa Thompson, for sustained excellence in scenic design. At the ceremony, held at Terminal 5 and hosted by Rachel Bloom, special citations were also given to the playwright Clare Barron and the director Lee Sunday Evans for “Dance Nation” at Playwrights Horizons; to Jordan E. Cooper for writing and starring in “Ain’t No Mo’"; to the playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury and the director Lileana Blain-Cruz for “Marys Seacole”; to the cast and creative team of “The Jungle” at St. Ann’s Warehouse; and to the director Daniel Fish and the rest of the creative team of a revival of “Oklahoma!” that had an Off Broadway run at St. Ann’s Warehouse and has since transferred to Broadway.

Point well taken....

The Drama Desk Award winners were taken directly from the Playbill.com site, any confusion on dates is their fault, not mine. http://www.playbill.com/article/networks-bryan-cranston-hadestown-among-2019-drama-league-award-winners As posted, the site says the award ceremony was held on May17. Fake news?

he 2019 Drama League Awards ceremony was held May 17 at the Marriott Marquis Times Square. The annual theatre industry event builds to the presentation of the Distinguished Performance Award, which goes to only one artist (53 were nominated this year) and can only be won once in an actor's lifetime. This year, the award went to Network star Bryan Cranston. The actor was previously nominated for the distinction in 2014 for his Broadway debut in All the Way; he went on to win a Tony Award for his performance as Lyndon B. Johnson. Cranston is also currently Tony–nominated for his performance as Howard Beale in the Ivo van Hove–directed Network. Four productions were also recognized in the additional competitive categories. OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION OF A BROADWAY OR OFF-BROADWAY MUSICAL Hadestown OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A BROADWAY OR OFF-BROADWAY MUSICAL Kiss Me, Kate OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION OF A BROADWAY OR OFF-BROADWAY PLAY The Ferryman OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A BROADWAY OR OFF-BROADWAY PLAY The Waverly Gallery The 85th annual ceremony, also awarded honorary awards to current Kiss Me, Kate star Kelli O'Hara, Beeltejuice director Alex Timbers, and Gary playwright Taylor Mac.