A Little Life - 2022 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 16

Seven Dials Playhouse's Origin Stories season is the first full season programmed under Seven Dials Playhouse's new artist-led model. See the full lineup here!

Ben Joyce, Zachary James, Christine Allado, Dex Lee and Adam Strong will lead an onstage company of over 50 in the UK professional premiere of The Hunchback of Notre Dame at the Prince Edward Theatre. Learn more!

Overall, A BEAUTIFUL NOISE—now on stage at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa through August 10, 2025—comes off as guaranteed musical candy for Neil Diamond devotees, thanks to its current form as a polished, tidy, nostalgia-baiting jukebox musical loaded with familiar hits, sprinkles of sparkle, and enough vocal authenticity to make fans of his music swoon. The impressive performances—from the lead vocals to the 'Beautiful Noise' ensemble's hypnotic, lyrical dance moves—bring a measurable level of enjoyment. But as a deep-dive drama? It's, well… just fine. The show's narrative stakes are satisfactory, but a bit paper-thin. While certainly clever in concept, the book often sacrifices real, emotional complexity for palatable, crowd-pleasing moments, and this therapy-session-as-framing-device never truly develops into the kind of character exploration one hopes for in a definitive bio-musical.

Writer and director Rynn Vogel and her husband, Adam J. Jefferis talk about their latest Shakespeare mashup, Roswell That Ends Well, running weekends, August 2–24, at Media Park in downtown Culver City.

Opera Collective Ireland will present Cautionary Tales by Errollyn Wallen - a cheeky, high-energy opera for children and families, touring this September for a limited run.

A brand-new tour of Elf The Musical will launch on November 1. Managed by Crossroads Live North America, the tour will come to 10 cities this holiday season. Learn more here!

Laura Whitmore will take centre stage at The Everyman this August, starring as Rachel Watson in the smash-hit Wiltshire Creative production of The Girl on the Train.

Today’s subject Jonathan Rockefeller is currently living his theatre life bringing “Suuuuny days” to Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater as the book writer and director for Sesame Street the Musical. The shows will continue its DC residency through August 31st.

Telling the story of Lee Krasner, artist and wife of American painter Jackson Pollock, Lee explores the life and artworks of the woman behind the great painter at Park Theatre.

Tony Award winners Sutton Foster (“Anything Goes,” “Thoroughly Modern Millie”) and Kelli O’Hara (“The King and I”) – each acclaimed as a Broadway performer and song-and-dance artist of the first order – are also known for solo concert appearances.

Drew & Dane Productions will be leading the development of Mr. Holland's Opus, a musical adaptation of the 1995 Oscar-nominated film, with book and lyrics by BD Wong and music by Wayne Barker.

Offerings of the musical theater cover a vast array of topics.  There is the tale of the young prince who wants to find his “Corner of the sky” (PIPPIN), the flower girl who wants to be a lady (MY FAIR LADY), and the dairy man who has a life ruled by tradition (FIDDLER ON THE ROOF).

DINOSAUR WORLD LIVE, winner of the prestigious 2024 Olivier Award for Best Family Entertainment, returns for its third major tour of the United States. The interactive children's theatre show that brings dinosaurs to life on stage will be visiting The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts.

ArtsFairfax has named new members and new officers to its Board of Directors, including Michael Liberman as Board Chair. Learn more about the company and the changes here!

In her debut Edinburgh Fringe show, Candace Bryan will share an hour of stand-up anchored around the incredible story of how, after 30 years of absence, her biological mother slid into her Instagram DMs. Learn how to attend!

After runs in Chicago and on Broadway, Good Night, Oscar arrives at the Barbican Centre in London this month. The show, starring Sean Hayes as the titular character, follows famed character actor and pianist Oscar Levant on an unforgettable night as a guest star on Jack Paar’s late-night television talk show. Recently, we had the chance to speak with Ben Rappaport, who plays the role of Jack Paar in Good Night, Oscar. We discussed what it’s been like to be a part of the show since 2022, how he has worked on the role and how it feels to be bringing the show to the West End.

This past season contained a higher than usual amount of Broadway shows involving death; in fact, Operation Mincemeat and Dead Outlaw both specifically revolved around transporting a corpse! And Death Becomes Her leans into the hilarity as two women become gorgeous living corpses before our very eyes, thanks to a touch of magic. But plays and musicals about death and its attendant macabre topics have been a part of the theatre landscape for many decades...

Stage One has announced the 13 brilliant rising producers who have been selected for the Bridge the Gap programme for 2025/26. Bridge the Gap is a bold Stage One initiative championing under-represented voices in commercial theatre producing.

The Crown's Ed McVey and Eastenders alum and Strictly Come Dancing finalist Maisie Smith will star as Ripley and Marge respectively in the first ever UK tour of THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY, opening at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham.

Pasadena Playhouse has revealed the largest and broadest slate of community classes for all ages after the historic purchase of the Pasadena Playhouse campus. Learn more!

Playwrights Jocelyn Bioh and Samuel D. Hunter and multi-sector leader Audrey Choi have joined the Dramatists Guild Foundation Board of Directors. Learn more here!

Award-winning comedy icons, writers, actors, and drag queen powerhouses BenDeLaCreme & Jinkx Monsoon are coming back to town with the internationally acclaimed, The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show. Check out the tour dates here!

The Martha Graham Dance Company has announced the third season of GRAHAM100, a celebration of the company formed 100 years ago by visionary choreographer Martha Graham.

Following a record-breaking UK, Ireland and European tour, ROYO, Runaway Entertainment and Curve have announced Johannes Radebe will make his West End debut, reprising the role of Lola in Kinky Boots.

I’ve been writing about the lack of female representation in creative teams for at least 15 years. When I wrote a series on female playwrights a couple of years back, there was a sense that things were getting better. Indeed, when Julia Jordan handed off leadership of the Lillys in December 2023, she proudly reported that gender parity had been reached on off-Broadway stages dedicated to new plays. There was even talk of sunsetting the organization, which has been a driving force in the fight for gender parity.