You don’t have to be a Broadway baby to scratch your onstage acting itch. In fact, all around the country—and outside of it—there are bustling theater communities producing works so vibrant they’d have Edward Albee rolling over in his grave. Want in on that action? You’d be wise to know the ins and outs of industry happenings, and this is a good place to start: From across the pond and back again, here is the week’s biggest regional theater news.
You can stop the beat.
Though it was only recently announced, the Michael Jackson musical “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” has cancelled its world premiere in Chicago. The project will instead premiere directly on Broadway in the summer of 2020. Producers for the piece, which features a book by Lynn Nottage, cited the just-resolved Actors’ Equity strike as the reason behind the cancellation. (For more on the strike, head here.) Tony winner Christopher Wheeldon will direct and choreograph.
Williamstown whips out the big guns.
Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced a particularly stacked lineup for its annual summer programming. Notable among the productions is “Grand Horizons,” a world premiere by Bess Wohl that will be directed by Leigh Silverman and star Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Mary Steenburgen, and a new translation of Henrik Ibsen’s “Ghosts,” which will star Uma Thurman. Productions will run June 25–Aug. 18 in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
A dame returns to the stage.
After a 12-year hiatus, Maggie Smith has set her return to the London stage—and with a hefty undertaking at that. The British actor will star in “A German Life,” a new one-woman play by Christopher Hampton depicting the real-life figure Brunhilde Pomsel. Under the direction of Jonathan Kent, the production will run April 6–May 11 at the Bridge Theatre.
Big names step behind the scenes.
Cynthia Erivo and Leslie Odom, Jr., both Tony Award winners, as well as Odom, Jr.’s wife Nicolette Robinson, have all signed on as producers of “Witness Uganda.” The documentary musical, currently playing its West Coast debut at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles, recently extended its run through March.
From screen to stage.
Two television singing competition champs are taking their acts to the stage. “American Idol” winner Taylor Hicks and “The X Factor” finalist Rachel Potter will together star in “Shenandoah” at the Atlanta-area Serenbe Playhouse. The immersive production will incorporate more than 100 soldiers and horses into the staging, under the direction of Serenbe Artistic Director Brian Clowdus. Performances will run March 13–April 7.
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