Curtain Call: 'Fire Shut Up In My Bones' Continues Historic Debut At Lyric Opera
Samuel L. Jackson - David Livingston / Stringer
Broadway: Samuel L. Jackson and Danielle Brooks will star in a Broadway revival of The Piano Lesson. This run will mark the directorial debut of LaTanya Richardson Jackson, the wife of Samuel L. Jackson. LaTanya was previously a Tony award nominee for her 2014 performance in A Raisin in the Sun. The Piano Lesson tells the story of two siblings and the ghosts of their past as they navigate the consequences of their inheritance.
Off Broadway: Audible Theatre’s Concert, An Evening with Amber Iman will be opening at the Minetta Lane Theatre from April 21-23. Amber Iman is a Broadway veteran, who made her debut portraying Nina Simone in Soul Doctor. Later, she would play Peggy Schuyler and Maria Reynolds in the first National Tour of Hamilton and was the first female performer to return to Broadway after the pandemic shutdown, performing an invite-only concert at the Broadway Theatre. An Evening with Amber Iman will be recorded live and released internationally as an Audible Original.
Heartland opened at the 59E59 Theaters. The drama stars Mari Vial-Golden, Mark Cuddy, and Owais Ahmed, telling the story of Dr. Harold Banks, a retired professor, his adopted daughter Geetee, and Nazrullah, his unexpected Afghan refugee roommate. The production is being directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh and will run from March 26th-April 10th.
Poet and playwright Dave Harris’s Exception to the Rule has finished casting and is set to open on May 18th as a Roundabout Underground Production. The ensemble-focused play centers around six black students as through their shared detention experience at the worst school in the city.
Regional: The Gloria Estefan bio-musical On Your Feet! will be having a Spanish-Language world premiere in Washington DC at the GALA Hispanic Theatre. The musical tells the story of Grammy winners Emilio and Gloria Estefan and the story of their personal triumphs, as well as their professional careers. These performances will include new lyrics by Gloria Estefan and be presented in Spanish with English surtitles.
Beastgirl, a new musical based on Elizabeth Acevedo’s book of bestselling folk poems will have its world premiere at the Kennedy Center in Studio K. Directed by Rebecca Aparicio, this musical provides an all-encompassing expression of ancestral bondage and shared culture as it tells the story of three sisters, immigrating to the United States from the Dominican Republic.
Fire Shut Up in My Bones premiered at the Lyric Opera in Chicago. This new opera from six-time Grammy Award winner Terence Blanchard tells the coming-of-age story of New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow. Based on his memoir, the opera tells a unique story of Black America through a fusion of Opera and Jazz as Charles, played by Will Liverman, struggles to find for self-acceptance in 1970’s rural Louisiana.
The global hit musical Six has begun its ‘Aragon’ North American national tour. It will be starring Khaila Wilcoxon, Storm Lever, and Olivia Donalson. This inventive musical comedy explores the lives of the six wives of Henry VIII through the lens of a pop concert. The tour opened in Chicago and is set to stop in Washington DC, Orlando, Boston, Columbus, Los Angeles, and San Diego.
slap.bang.kiss - Melbourne theater company
International: The Melbourne Theater Company’s Families and Education Program has produced an original stage play. SLAP. BANG. KISS. Award-winning playwright Dan Giovannoni crafts an ambitious story about three teens who each become activists in a story that examines the nature of hope and identity. Directed by Katy Maudlin and starring Sarah Fitzgerald, Conor Leach, and Tsungirai Wachenuka, this play is set to open on April 21st, with an additional regional tour scheduled for the first week of May.
