Curtain Call: Re-castings, Revivals and Reunions
Dear Evan Hansen
Broadway: This is a big month for new castings on Broadway as alumni return and current performers take on different roles and different shows. The Music Box Theatre is getting a new Evan in January 2020. Jordan Fisher, last seen on Broadway in Hamilton and the live-action versions of Rent and Grease will tackle the titular role in Dear Evan Hansen January 28, 2020. The Dancing with the Stars champion will succeed Andrew Barth Feldman for a 16-week engagement.
Shoba Narayan, last seen as Eliza in the touring cast of Hamilton, recently joined the cast of Wicked at the Gershwin Theatre on December 16. Also appearing in Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, Narayan will step into the role of Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose.
Previews for the revival of West Side Story began this week at the Broadway Theatre, the new production features the same story and songs as the original with a modern twist. Cameramen and women can be seen on stage at all times filming the actors as they perform. This is then projected onto the back of the stage, so the audience gets a closer look at the performance. Isaac Powell, last seen in Once on the Island, leads the cast as Tony opposite to Shereen Pimentel as Maria. Intricate choreography and special effects make this production different from any West Side Story past with the same classic love story shrouded in an unbeatable score.
Speaking of revivals, Company will return to Broadway on March 22, 2020- fittingly, Stephen Sondheim’s birthday. Directed by two-time Tony winner Marianne Elliot, the cast features Patti LuPone reprising her role as Joanne and Tony winner Katrina Lenk as Bobbie. Just announced, Ain't Too Proud alumni Rashidra Scott will also join the cast as Susan. The new version of the classic musical features gender-swapped roles and lyric updates to bring the story into the modern age.
Bruce Glikas
Off-Broadway: Norm Lewis and Faith Price will star in a production of 42 Street at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The stars will play Julian Marsh and Dorothy Brock respectively and the production will run from May 29 to June 21 next year. Lewis made history as the first African American to play the titular role in Phantom of the Opera and since then has been seen in Once on this Island and Sweeney Todd among others. The musical follows the glitz and glam of show biz, following a director and a star on the rise as they try to make it big.
New York-based company, Page 73, looks forward to the world premiere of Zora Howard’s play, STEW. The story follows three generations of women as they gather in the kitchen to prepare a meal. Here, in the sacred kitchen, maladies of the outside world come to light. Obie Award winner Nikkole Salter joins the cast alongside Portia, last seen in The Rose Tattoo. The production will play Walker Space Theatre January 20- February 22, 2020.
Donnetta Lavinia Grays will star in the upcoming premiere of her play, Where We Stand in 2020. The show opens at Off-Broadway’s WP Theater January 31- March 1 before transferring to Baltimore April 2-26. The one-woman show features a storyteller speaking of temptation, forgiveness and compassion in a divided community. Grays will alternate performances with David Ryan Smith starting February 15.
Monsoon Wedding
International: The adaptations of beloved movies to the stage never seem to cease. Following the trend of Beetlejuice and Mean Girls among others is a stage production of the 1997 romantic comedy, My Best Friend’s Wedding. Leading the production as Julia Roberts’ role, Julianne Potter is X Factor winner Alexandra Burke. The show will tour the United Kingdom and Ireland starting September 19, 2020 Plymouth’s Theatre Royal. The musical will feature classic hits such as “Say a Little Prayer for You” as Potter realizes her love for her best friend just as he is about to marry someone else.
Speaking of weddings, a new musical adapted from Mira Nair’s 2001 film, Monsoon Wedding, will open at Leeds Playhouse in June 2020 before moving to London’s Roundhouse Theatre. The show centers around the chaos and triumphs of planning an extravagant wedding in India.
A concert tour takes Australia next summer to celebrate Miss Saigon and Les Misérables creators Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg. Titled “Do You Hear the People Sing?” performances begin at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival in June 2020 before moving theaters in Sydney and Melbourne. Performers include stars from Broadway, the West End and Australia including Lea Salonga and Joanna Ampil.
Another playwright who wishes to discuss the generational stresses of women in his family is Jeff Ho. In his one-man play, he describes the life of his great-grandmother fleeing native China to Hong Kong in the 1930’s, his grandmother raising a daughter on her own and his own mother moving to Toronto set on becoming an accountant. Ho presents the lives of these women as a piano sonata, allowing their stories to speak through music. Trace is currently running at Canada’s National Arts Centre.