Curtain Call: Broadway Producer Ron Simmons Dies At Age 63
Ron Simmons
Broadway: Ron Simmons, who produced big-name plays such as Thoughts of a Colored Man and the revival For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf, died June 12 at age 63. His production company SimonSays Entertainment announced his death, and the cause of it has not been made known.
Rapper Nas announced at a 40th-anniversary screening of Beat Street at the Tribeca Film Festival that he will be joining the creative team for the Broadway musical adaptation of the film. He will collaborate with the show's producers, Arthur Baker, Michael Holman, and Richard Fearn to bring Beat Street to Broadway and create new music for the film's soundtrack. Additional creative team members will be announced in the coming weeks.
Amber Gray will join the cast of the new Broadway musical The Royal Pirate, playing the role of Mary Hallet. The cast also includes Eric William Morris as Black Sam Bellamy, Eddie Cooper as Blackbird, and Lauren Molina as Paulsgrave Williams. The Royal Pyrate will have a workshop tour beginning at the Almanack Arts Colony on August 20 and 21, and then at the Waterfront Barge Museum on August 24 and 25.
Broadway actress Jade Stice is dead at age 63 after a hiking accident. She’s best known for her appearances in 13 Daughters and Dreamgirls at the Hawaii Theatre, as well as Singing in the Rain and Chess at Diamond Head Theatre. She also directed and choreographed Diamond Head Theatre’s production of Jekyll & Hyde.
& Juliet, which opened on Broadway November 17, 2022, at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, has officially recouped its $17 million production costs as of April 14. This makes it the first production of the 2022-23 Broadway season to announce its recoupment. A North American tour of the production will start in September of this year.
Domenica Feraud - Vimeo
Off Broadway: The casting for Domenica Feraud’s new play Someone Spectacular, which will premiere Off-Broadway this summer, is now complete. The cast features Gamze Ceylan as Evelyn, Alison Cimmet as Nelle, Delia Cunningham as Jude, Marcus Gladney Jr. as Julian, Ana Cruz Kayne as Lily, and Damian Young as Thom. Previews will begin July 17 at the Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre, and the play will officially open July 31.
Long long - HANS & JUNG GbR
Regional: Derek Charles Livingston is officially the new artistic director for Stages, replacing Kenn McLaughlin, who will step down at the end of June after 25 seasons. Livingston is leaving his three-year role as director of new-play development at the Utah Shakespeare Festival for this position.
Theatre Communications Group has officially revealed the participants for the 2024 Rising Leaders of Color (RLC) Program. All based in Chicago, the names of them include India Nicole Burton, Nora Carroll, Tiffany Fulson, Jamal Howard, Willow James, and Sierra Rosetta. The cohort was chosen by a panel of theatre professionals and is funded by the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Walt Disney Imagineering, Disney Live Entertainment, and the Joyce Foundation.
Theatre Mu has announced that Katie Bradley will be the company’s temporary artistic director beginning in August, while the board looks for someone to fill the position long-term in replacement of artistic director Lily Tung Crystal. In this position, Bradley will report to the board of directors, produce Crystal’s programmed 2024-25 season, and oversee Mu’s ongoing outreach and community programs.
The casting for the Muny production of Dreamgirls is now complete. The cast will star Tiffany Mann as Effie Melody White, Aisha Jackson as Deena Jones, Courtnee Carter as Lorrell Robinson, Charl Brown as Curtis Taylor Jr., Nick Rashad Burroughs as James "Jimmy" Thunder Early, Ron Himes as Marty, Aramie Payton as C.C. White, Robby Clater as Wayne, and Natalie Kaye Clater as Michelle Morris. The play will be showcased on the James S. McDonnell Stage in Forest Park, Missouri June 27–July 3.
Barrington Stage Company revealed its casting for four of the company’s 30th anniversary season productions. This includes Next to Normal, which is directed by Alan Paul, who is the artistic director of the company. Next to Normal will run from August 13 to September 8 at Round House Theatre, and will star Natalie Joy Johnson as Diana, Alan H. Green as Dan, Adante Carter as Gabe, Madison McBride as Natalie, Ben Clark as Henry, and Joseph Morales as Dr. Madden.
Signature Theatre’s 2024-25 season has now been revealed. It will include five musicals and two plays, four of which are Washington DC premieres. The DC premiere of Soft Power will run from August 6-September 15 in the MAX Theatre; The DC premiere of Primary Trust will run from September 10-October 20 in the ARK Theatre; A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum will run from October 29-January 12, 2025 in the MAX Theatre; Job will run January 28-March 16 in the ARK Theatre; In the Heights will run from February 11, 2025-May 4, 2025; Hedwig and the Angry Inch will run from April 15, 2025-June 22, 2025; and the season will close with the DC premiere of The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical June 3, 2025-July 13, 2025.
The Dallas Opera revealed that Long Long is receiving the 2023-24 Maria Callas Debut Artist Award for his role in Roméo et Juliette this season. In other news, four new members were elected to the Dallas Opera Board of Directors. This includes Roger Carroll, Milene Carvalho, Dr. Michael Lindsey, and Malcolm Winspear.
Mary Cardwell Dawson will be inducted into the 2024 North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. Dawson was previously posthumously awarded in 2023 the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award for promoting Black performers and fighting against systemic racism. The induction ceremony for this year’s North Carolina Music Hall of Fame will take place October 17.
VisionIntoArt received a $600,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation that will support projects centering around disabled artists and seeking to reimagine more accessible and inclusive processes for creative growth in opera. It will also fund the VisionIntoArt Impact Lab Fellowship, which facilitates research and creative documentation around artistic methods and models that come from the organization’s projects.
anna himali howard
International: Sheffield Theatres announced its cast and creative team for the stage adaptation of Chariots of Fire. The cast features Bethany Antonia as Florence and Frank, Adam Bregman as Harold Abrahams, Richard Cant as Master of Caius, Waleed Elgadi as Sam, Bessy Ewa as Sybil, and more. The creative team includes Ben Stones as designer, Lilac Yosiphon as associate director, Richard Howell as lighting designer, Alexandra Braithwaite as sound designer, Frew as composer, Ben Wright as movement director, and more. The show will run at the Crucible Theatre from July 6-27.
Volcano announced that Andrew Adridge will be the company’s first Managing Director. He took the position June 3 and will co-lead the company with Ross Manson, who is the founder and artistic director.
The Siemens Arts Program, which is a two-year academy training program, awarded Dayner Tafur-Díaz the Karajan-Akademie’s scholarship. During Tafur-Díaz’s time in the program, he will assist Kirill Petrenko, the chief conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker, and conduct a concert with the Karajan-Akademie Chamber Orchestra in the Chamber Music Hall of the Philharmonie Berlin.
Yusif Eyvazov joined Ariosi Management for General Management. This summer, Eyvazov will be at the Teatro alla Scala to play in Turandot and the Arena di Verona for Tosca. He also sings at the Macerata Opera Festival.
The Festival d’Aix en Provence announced that Julia Bullock will be pulling out of its production of Pelléas et Mélisande due to personal reasons. Chiara Skerath will be Bullock’s replacement for the role of Melisande. The production will run from July 6-17.
Jane Harrison’s play The Visitors, directed by Wesley Enoch, will embark on an Australian tour from July to September. The play, co-produced by Moogahlin Performing Arts and Sydney Theatre Company, offers insight into one of the most impactful and painful days in Australian history and shows how communities respond to change and the unknown.
Ivan Cheng was announced on May 17 as one of the three recipients of the 2024 Royal Conservatoire of Scotland honorary doctorates. The other two are Akram Khan, who’s worked with Kylie Minogue and Florence and the Machine, and Vashti Bunyan. All three will be honored along with the class of 2024 at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland's summer graduation on July 4.
Go Live Theatre Projects announced that Sita McIntosh, who previously ran Inclusive Audiences, will be its new chief executive officer. McIntosh will have the role full-time in the fall, succeeding Susan Whiddington CBE, who is leaving next month after 27 years. The two will work together until then to make sure it’s a smooth transition.
China Plate will showcase the world première of Please Do Not Touch by Casey Bailey, which is an evolution of Bailey’s 2021 poetry collection of the same name. Tijan Sarr will play the leading role of Mason, and the play itself will be directed by Gail Babb. Please Do Not Touch will run in Belgrade’s B2 auditorium from September 11-21.
Anna Himali Howard is now the new work manager at Birmingham Hippodrome, which is a new role aiming to strengthen the new work and artist development department. To do this, it will provide regular activity for local theatremakers and amplify under-represented voices. Himali Howard will lead new projects in the department, which will be announced in the next couple of weeks.
