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.
He will be found in Canada.
Canada has found its Evan. Ahead of the upcoming Canadian premiere of Tony-winning best musical “Dear Evan Hansen,” producers have announced that Vancouver native Robert Markus will take on the titular lonely boy. Performances will begin March 5, 2019 at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto. More principal casting will be announced shortly.
No trouble here.
Jessie Mueller, who appeared on Broadway in last season’s “Carousel,” will follow up that American classic with another. The Tony Award winner has signed on for “The Music Man,” which will play a limited engagement at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Feb. 6–10, 2019. Tony nominee Norm Lewis will star as protagonist Harold Hill in the production, which will be helmed by Marc Bruni (who also directed Mueller to her Tony in “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical”).
“Pretty Woman” will strut the worldwide stage.
“Pretty Woman,” the musical based on the beloved film now running on Broadway, has announced an international production. Launching in Hamburg, Germany, performances will begin at Hamburg’s Stage Theater an der Elbe on Sept. 23, 2019, with an official opening set for Sept. 29. Stage Entertainment, a producer for the Broadway run, will present the engagement. Casting will be announced shortly.
Bowie’s “Lazarus” is Amsterdam-bound.
Also taking the international stage will be “Lazarus,” the musical by the late David Bowie, which will have its Amsterdam premiere in the fall of 2019. The piece, which played a sold-out run Off-Broadway in 2015, will run at the DeLaMar Theater beginning Oct. 13, 2019. Tony winner Ivo van Hove, who directed the New York run, will do so again here, with award-winning Dutch actor Gijs Naber attached to star. Based on the Walter Tevis novel “The Man Who Fell to Earth” as well as the subsequent film in which Bowie starred, “Lazarus” will play a limited three-month engagement.
“Emilia” isn’t going anywhere.
On the heels of its sold-out run at Shakespeare’s Globe, “Emilia” will transfer to the West End. The Morgan Lloyd Malcolm drama will head to London’s Vaudeville Theatre, playing a limited engagement in the spring. Telling the story of Emilia Bassano, a writer, teacher, poet, and mother rumored to be the “Dark Lady” of Shakespeare’s many sonnets, performances will be March 8–June 15, 2019, under the direction of Nicole Charles. It will again feature a 17-woman cast, with three actors portraying the eponymous artist.
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