Subscribers: If your software garbles this newsletter, read it at GraceNotesStage.com.

 Have a glorious Memorial Day holiday.  GRACE NOTES returns on Tues. May 28. 

This Weekend’s Highlights:

Friday, May 24

* GAYFESTNYC‘s Moonlight and Love Songs, by Steven C. Sickles, featuring Nick Bailey, DH Johnson, Kathryn Markey, Gerald McCullouch, Robert Meksin, Corey Richmond Skaggs and Christine Verleny, opens at Off-Broadway’s June Havoc Theatre.

* A Midsummer Night’s Dream, featuring Michelle Terry, John Light, Huss Garbiya, Tala Gouveia, Tom Lawrence, Christopher Logan, Molly Logan, Fergal McElherron, Edward Peel, Pearce Quigley, Stephanie Racine and Matthew Tennyson, begins previews at London’s Shakespeare’s Globe.

* Jeff Arch, Ben Toth and Sam Forman’s Sleepless in Seattle – The Musical, featuring Tim Martin Gleason, Joe West, Chandra Lee Schwartz, Sabrina Sloan, Sachin Bhatt, Terron Brooks, Todd Buonopane, Jay Donnell, Cynthia Ferrer, Charissa Hogeland, Katharine Leonard, Robert Mammana, Teya Patt, Adam Silver, Yuka Takara, Lowe Taylor and Carter Thomas, begins previews at Pasadena Playhouse.

 * Sarah Ruhl’s Dear Elizabeth, starring Mary Beth Fisher and Tom Nelis, begins previews at Berkeley Rep.

* Charlie Rosen’s Broadway Big Band concert, featuring Nick Blaemire, Jason Robert Brown, Ariana DeBose, Santino Fontana and Monet Julia Sabel, at 11 PM at 54 Below.

Saturday, May 25

* South Pacific, featuring Rob Gallagher, Kim Carson, David McDonald, Amy Jo Phillips, Peter Carrier, opens at Northport, NY’s Engeman Theater.

* Stephen Sach’s Heart Song, featuring Pamela Dunlap, Tamlyn Tomita, Juanita Jennings, Andrea Dantas, Mindy Krasner, Elissa Kyriacou,Sherrie Lewandowski and Norma Maldonado, opens at LA’s Fountain Theatre.

* The Guardsman, by Ferenc Molnár, adapted by Richard Nelson, featuring Finn Wittrock, Sarah Wayne Callies and Shuler Hensley, begins previews at The Kennedy Center.

* The West End Men concert, starring Lee Mead, with special guest Kerry Ellis, begins previews at London’s Vaudeville Theatre.

* The Winslow Boy, featuring Henry Goodman, Sia Berkeley, Deborah Findlay, Naomi Frederick, Nick Hendrix, Stephen Joseph, Wendy Nottingham, Charlie Rowe, Peter Sullivan, Richard Teverson and Jay Villiers, closes at London’s Old Vic.

* Jonathan Harvey’s Beautiful Thing, starring Suranne Jones, closes at the West End’s Arts Theatre.

* John Hartmere and Damon Intrabartolo’s Bare, featuring Ross William Wild, Michael Vinsen, Lilly-Jane Young, Melanie Greaney, Dale Evans, Liam Ross-Mills, Rosanna Yeo, Fia Houston-Hamilton, Natalie Chua, Dan Krikler, Dean John Wilson, Jordan Lee Davies, Yvette Robinson, Hannah Levane and Matt Harrop, closes at the UK’s Union Theatre.

* Wendy Beckett’s Love Therapy, featuring David Bishins, Christopher Burns, Alison Fraser, Margot White and Janet Zarish, closes at Off-Broadway’s DR2 Theatre.

* Laura Benanti in concert closes at 54 Below.

Sunday, May 26

* “Behind the Candelabra” film, starring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, with Dan Aykroyd, Scott Bakula, Rob Lowe, Tom Papa, Paul Reiser, Cheyenne Jackson and Debbie Reynolds, debuts at 9 PM on HBO (check local listings).

* Sondheim Unplugged concert, featuring Joy Franz, Hunter Herdlicka, Ann Morrison, Jim Brochu, Vivan Reed, Julie Reyburn and Lucia Spina, at 7 PM at 54 Below.

* Judy Kuhn in concert at 7 PM at Hudson, NY’s Club Helsinki.

* Kyle Dean Massey concludes his run as Fiyero in Wicked at Broadway’s Gershwin Theatre.

* Tanya Barfield’s The Call, featuring Kelly AuCoin, Kerry Butler, Eisa Davis, Crystal A. Dickinson and Russell G. Jones, closes at Off-Broadway’s Playwrights Horizons.

* LAByrinth Theater Company‘s A Family for All Occasions, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, featuring Jeffrey DeMunn, William Jackson Harper, Justine Lupe, Deirdre O’Connell and Charlie Saxton, closes at Off-Broadway’s Bank Street Theatre.

* Other Desert Cities, featuring Larry Bryggman, Emily Donahoe, Scott Drummond and Martha Hackett, closes at DC’s Arena Stage.

* Washington National Opera’s Show Boat, featuring Andriana Chuchman and Jennifer Holloway (Magnolia), Michael Todd Simpson and Rod Gilfry (Gaylord Ravenal), Alyson Cambridge and Talise Trevigne (Julie), Morris Robinson and Soloman Howard (Joe), Angela Renée Simpson and Gwendolyn Brown (Queenie), Bernie Yvon (Frank), Kate Loprest (Ellie), Lara Teeter and Wynn Harmon (Captain Andy) and Mary-Pat Green and Cindy Gold (Parthy), closes at the Kennedy Center.

* Sense & Sensibility The Musical, featuring Stephanie Rothenberg, Mary Michael Patterson, Nick Verina, Jeremiah James, Robert Petkoff, Ed Dixon, Ruth Gottschall and Joanna Glushak, closes at Denver Center Theatre Company.

* Steel Magnolias, featuring Elyse Mirto, Teri Ralston, Alyson Lindsay Schuster, Joanna Strapp, Von Rae Wood and Stephanie Zimbalist, closes at Laguna Playhouse.

* Spamalot, featuring Tom Hewitt, Jonathan Hammond, Brian Sears, Brian Shepard Kevin Covert, Jeremy Webb, Adam Monley and Janine DiVita, closes at Houston’s TUTS.

* Parade, featuring Caitlin Humphreys, Harrison White, Jeanette Dawson, Jeff Skowron, Jordan Lamoureux, Norman Large, Robert Yacko, Rufus Bonds Jr., Valerie Rose Lohman and Zach Ford, closes at Fullerton CA’s Plummer Auditorium.

* Hello Again closes at Kansas City, MO’s Spinning Tree Theatre.

* The Beaux’ Stratagem, featuring Abby Craden, Deborah Strang, Apollo Dukakis, Freddy Douglas, Alison Elliott, Alan Blumenfeld, Robertson Dean, Joel Swetow, Luke Peckinpaugh, Time Winters, Blake Ellis and Malia Wright, closes at Pasadena’s A Noise Within.

Monday, May 27

* The Pop Show: Tribute to Elton John concert, featuring Len Cariou, Christopher Jackson, Kyle Dean Massey, Leslie McDonel, Natalie Douglas, Van Hughes, Jarrod Spector and Daniel Quadrino, at 7 PM at NYC’s Birdland.

* Popesical in Concert: You Choose the Pope concert, featuring Patti Murin, Marshal Kennedy Carolan, Lindsay Nicole Chambers, Madeleine Doherty, Natalie Charle Ellis, David Perlman, Tally Sessions and Jason Michael Snow, at 7 PM at Joe’s Pub.

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  Reviews for Murder Ballad at Off-Broadway’s Union Square Theatre:

NY Times (Ben Brantley):  ”If anything, Murder Ballad is more entertaining than it was before. This is partly because its downtown theater is more suited to a story that reaches its climax in a trendy club on Lafayette Street.”

NY Daily News (Joe Dziemianowicz):  ”The rock-infused fable about fidelity by Julia Jordan (book and lyrics) and Juliana Nash (music and lyrics) premiered last fall at Manhattan Theatre Club. On Wednesday, 30 blocks south at the Union Square Theatre, the show reopened. It remains hot and sweaty, energetic and intriguing, rough and ragged.”

NY Post (Elisabeth Vincentelli):  ”Murder Ballad isn’t ground-breaking, but that’s not its mission. This is a solid, well-crafted effort that revarnishes the old love-triangle premise. And Juliana Nash’s muscular-yet-melodic score uses rock better than most musicals.”

Variety (Marilyn Stasio): “I love you, I hate you, I’ll kill you. That’s the lurid premise of Murder Ballad, the hot and sticky rock opera that made auds sweat when it opened six months ago at Manhattan Theater Club’s studio space.  Reconfigured for a commercial transfer in a larger theater, this hot-blooded property written by Julia Jordan and set to music by Juliana Nash still steams up the room with its violent tabloid tale of illicit love, lust and betrayal. The immersive staging adds to the drama by dangling the possibility that one of the battling lovers might land in your lap.”

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  Video:  Hilarious outtakes from the Vanya and Sonia commercial.

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Off-Broadway’s Atlantic Theater Company has announced its 2013-14 season:

* Women or Nothing (Aug. 28 – Oct. 16), world premiere by Ethan Coen, directed by David Cromer.  ”Women or Nothing is a comedy about two women so desperate to have a child that one of them will even sleep with a man. Who the man is, what he thinks is going on, what the women think about what he thinks, and what the mother of one of the women reveals about her own colorful past—it all defies belief. Why then does it all make sense?”

* The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Jan. -Feb.), by Alan Sillitoe, adapted by Roy Williams. “In this stage adaptation of Alan Sillitoe’s classic short story, award-winning British playwright Roy Williams brings the young, defiant Colin Smith into the 21st century. Colin, with few prospects in life, finds himself in a prison school for criminal activity. He turns to long distance running as an escape, only to have the school exploit him for his talent, offering him a possible way out. Will he run his race for them, or for his independence?”

* The Threepenny Opera (Mar.-Apr.), directed by Martha Clarke

* Between Riverside and Crazy… (May-June), world premiere by Stephen Adly Guirgis. “The Feds want them busted, the Landlord wants them out, and the Church wants them back. For ex-cop and recent widower Walter Pops Washington and his ex-con son Junior, when the struggle to hold on to one of the last great old rent stabilized apartments on Riverside Drive collides with their dozen broke house guests, a too-faithful Church lady—and a gun-toting pimp, it seems Old Ways must finally yield to New Days…”

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An Evening of Movies and Musicals will play London’s Apollo Victoria Dec. 1 at 7 PM for one night only, starring John Owen-Jones and Louise Dearman.  .  

Owen-Jones and Dearman will be joined by the West End Gospel Choir and musical actress Sarah Lark, a finalist on the BBC talent show “I’d Do Anything” to star in Oliver! in the West End. The evening will be hosted by actor and presenter Christopher Biggins.

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Charles Bloom‘s newest album, “In Here,” is backed by a live orchestra and features Josh Grisetti, Nikki Renee Daniels, Christine Ebersole, Jason Graae, Claybourne Elder, Vicki Lewis, Damon Kirsche, Howard McGillin, Gregory Jbara, Jill Paice, Christy Faber, David Burnham, Liz Larsen, John Dossett, Ashley Fox Linton and Aaron Lazar.

“Some of the finest songs I’ve ever heard. Charles Bloom is one of the most gifted composer/lyricists in our industry. His work is a constant reminder of what great songwriting was and is.”  ~ Peter Filicia, Theatermania

  Order the CD and download the mp3 here.

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The Caucasian Chalk Circle extends its run at Off-Broadway’s Classic Stage Company through June 23.  This 2-week extension allows Lea DeLaria to join the cast, replacing Mary Testa, who departs June 9.

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Richard M. Sherman and Alan Menken: The Disney Songbook, will take place Aug. 10 at the Anaheim Convention Center in the D23 Expo Arena. The composers will perform together for the first time.

Admission to the concert will be on a first-come, first-served basis and is included in the price of a ticket to the D23 Expo.

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2013 Toronto Theatre Critics’ Award winners:

Production of a Play: Terminus
Production of a Musical: The Book of Mormon
Canadian Play: Hannah Moscovitch,This Is War
International Play: Mark O’Rowe, Terminus 
Actor in a Play: Michelle Monteith, Little One
Actress in a Play: Stuart Hughes, The Crucible
Actor in a Musical: Bruce Dow, Of a Monstrous Child: a Gaga Musical
Actress in a Musical: Bree Greig, Do You Want What I Have Got? A Craiglist Cantata
Supporting Actor in a Play: Alon Nashman, THIS
Supporting Actress in Play: Maev Beaty, Proud
Supporting Actor in a Musical: Darrin Baker, Falsettos
Supporting Actress in a Musical: Bryn McAuley, Snow White: The Deliciously Dopey Family Musical.
Director of a Play: Mitchell Cushman, Terminus
Director of a Musical: Casy Nicholaw and Trey Parker, The Book of Mormon
Design: Nick Blais, Terminus 

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Katonah, NY’s Caramoor presents a semi-staged production of She Loves Me June 22 at 8:30 PM and June 23 at 4 PM.  Ted Sperling will lead the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and will direct the production in the Venetian Theater. Michele Lynch will choreograph.

The 50th anniversary of the musical will star Alexandra Silber, Santino Fontana, Montego Glover, John Cullum, Ryan Silverman, Brad Oscar, Etai BenShlomo and Jonathan Freeman.

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Lisa O’Hare, who starred in the Hartford Stage/Old Globe Theatre premiere productions of the new musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, will repeat her work in the upcoming Broadway production this fall. Previews begin Oct. 2, with an opening set for Nov. 17 at the Walter Kerr Theatre.

As previously reported, Jefferson Mays will also repeat his work on Broadway.

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The 2013 Rhinbeck Writers Retreat will take place June 23 – Aug. 25.

Eighteen writers, developing nine new musicals, will gather for individual week-long residencies throughout July and August.  Panelists who selected the 2013 works include Mara Isaacs (McCarter Theatre), Donna Lynn Hilton (Goodspeed Musicals) and Kent Nicholson (Playwrights Horizons).

The selected writing teams and musicals:

* Peter and the Wall by Timothy Huang.

* Unbound by Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk.

* Annie Golden: Bounty Hunter, Yo! by Joe Iconis, Jason Williams and Lance Rubin.

* Catch by Rob Shapiro. Underwritten by Alec Stais and Elissa Burke.

* Alice Bliss by Jenny Giering, Laura Harrington and Adam Gwon.

* Family Album by Stew and Heidi Rodewald.

* Ladykillers by Patricia Cotter and Lori Scarlett.

* Radioactive by Will Reynolds and Eric Price.

* Noir by Kyle Jarrow and Duncan Sheik.

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Peter Ustinov’s The Moment of Truth will run June 26 – July 20 (opening June 28) at London’s Southwark Playhouse.

The cast features Bonnie Wright, Rodney Bewes, Mark Carey, Callum Coates, Toni Kanal, Damian Quinn, Miles Richardson and Daniel Souter.

This will be the first London staging of Ustinov’s play since 1951, a largely forgotten work about “the mechanics of toppling governments, the pretenses of war and the power of propaganda.”

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Michael Ball will headline Summertime – An Evening of Gershwin Sept. 1 at 5 PM, as part of the outdoor Live by the Lake concert series at London’s Kenwood House on Hampstead Heath.

Special guests include Kerry Ellis, Gina Beck and David Shannon.

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Sherie Rene Scott‘s Pieces of Meat returns to 54 Below June 17-29.

“After over 26 years of the happy, healthy vegetarian [lifestyle] — never having been tempted — I suddenly found myself faced with the overwhelming desire for meat.  This was obviously something I wanted to keep very private, and I was having a big internal struggle with, and so I wrote about it.”

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  Article:  Audra McDonald on her “Go Back Home” album, PBS special, Marlene Dietrich’s ABC, upcoming projects, and more.

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Neil LaBute‘s 10-episode drama “Full Circle” will air on DIRECTV’s Audience this fall.

The cast features Tom Felton, Minka Kelly, Julian McMahon, David Boreanaz, Keke Palmer, Devon Gearhart, Billy Campbell, Kate Walsh, Noah Silver, Ally Sheedy, Cheyenne Jackson and Robin Weigert.

The series marks the television debut of LaBute, which “examines the human condition and relationships through a series of conversations between 11 people whose lives, unbeknownst to them, are intertwined.” Each episode takes place in a restaurant and features a conversation between two characters, with one of the character’s storylines carrying over into the next episode through a conversation with a new character and that character then being featured in the following episode. The process continues until the final episode.

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Times Square’s Brooklyn Diner has dedicated its giant 15-Bite “All Beef” Hot Dog to Harvey Fierstein.

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Kinky Boots will be taking over the airwaves on Sirius XM this Memorial Day Weekend, offering a preview of the show’s Original Broadway Cast Recording (Masterworks Broadway).

Sirius XM listeners will be the first to hear the new Kinky Boots recording before its May 28 release, and they’ll get the scoop on the musical with in-studio conversations from Cyndi Lauper, Harvey Fierstein, Jerry Mitchell and the show’s stars, Billy Porter, Stark Sands, and Annaleigh Ashford. They’ll take over Sirius XM’s ‘On Broadway’ channel all weekend long to play songs from the new album and some of their own favorite showtune picks.

The Kinky Boots takeover weekend will have its grand finale on Monday night on the ‘Showtime’ channel, which will offer listeners the chance to hear the entire show, complete and uninterrupted, for the very first time.

Click here for the complete schedule.

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Humor Abuse, the hilarious and heartfelt story of growing up in a circus, created by Lorenzo Pisoni and Erica Schmidt, directed by Schmidt and featuring a tour de force performance by Pisoni, will be presented at LA’s Mark Taper Forum Sept. 17 – Nov. 3 (opening Sept. 21).

Humor Abuse replaces the previously announced production of What the Butler Saw, which is being postponed to another season at the Taper.

“Pisoni took to the stage at age two as the youngest clown in the Pickle Family Circus, the much beloved one-ring circus founded by his parents in San Francisco. He signed his first contract as a performing partner at age six, all under the eye of his exacting father, who taught him that comedy is a deadly serious business. In Humor Abuse, through reminiscences and a whirlwind of juggling, pratfalls, doubletakes, dodging sandbags and flinging himself in and out of a trunk, Pisoni delivers a tender homage to his perfectionist father, to the art and the discipline of comedy, and to the magic of the circus.”

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  Audio:  Demos from The Craft – The Musical (inspired by the cult film of the same name).  Music and lyrics by Kevin Michael Jones and book by Peter Filardi.

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Subscribers: If your software garbles this newsletter, read it at GraceNotesStage.com.

Today’s Highlights:

* Rattlestick Playwrights Theater‘s Basilica, world premiere by Mando Alvarado, featuring Jake Cannavale, Rosal Colon, Bernardo Cubria, Selenis Leyva, Yadira Guevara-Prip, Alfredo Narciso and Felix Solis, opens at Off-Broadway’s Cherry Lane Theatre.

* Conor McPherson’s The Weir, featuring Dan Butler, Billy Carter, John Keating, Sean Gormley and Tessa Klein, opens at Off-Broadway’s Irish Rep.

* Noah Racey’s Pulse, featuring Racey, Lauralyn McClelland, Frances Bradley, Anthony J. Russo, Christopher Erk and Danny Gardner, opens at FL’s Asolo Repertory Theatre.

* Mame, starring Andrea McArdle and Lea DeLaria, opens at PA’s Bucks County Playhouse.

* GAYFESTNYC‘s Moonlight and Love Songs, by Steven C. Sickles, featuring Nick Bailey, DH Johnson, Kathryn Markey, Gerald McCullouch, Robert Meksin, Corey Richmond Skaggs and Christine Verleny, previews at Off-Broadway’s June Havoc Theatre.

* Race, featuring Clarke Peters, Jasper Britton, Charles Daish and Nina Toussaint-White, begins previews at London’s Hampstead Theatre.

* NC Hunter’s A Picture of Autumn, featuring Christian Coulson, Helen Cespedes, Curran Connor, Barbara Eda-Younf, Katie Firth, Jonathan Hogan, George Morfogen, Paul Niebanck and Jill Tanner, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s Mint Theater.

* South Pacific, featuring Rob Gallagher, Kim Carson, David McDonald, Amy Jo Phillips, Peter Carrier, begins previews at Northport, NY’s Engeman Theater.

* Seth’s Broadway Chatterbox discussion, with guest Stark Sands, at 5 PM at NYC’s Don’t Tell Mama.

* Tommy Tune interview (by Richard Skipper), at 7:30 PM at Oakland Garden, NY’s Queensborough Community College.

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  Audio:  Listen to the entire cast album of Kinky Boots.  I have no idea how long this link will be available.

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Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? has been nominated for four Tony Awards this year, including Best Revival of a Play, but now the show is under scrutiny for a possible infraction of the Tony Award committee’s strict set of rules.

The infraction, the New York Post reports, is due to a brochure that was sent to award voters that had not been approved by the manager of the Tony Administration, Jean Kroeper Murphy. The Tony committee is slated to meet today, and penalties for the possible offense could include suspending the production’s producers’ Tony Votes or disqualifying the show’s nominations.

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Additional casting has been announced for The Public Theater‘s June 10 gala performance of The Pirates of Penzance at 8 PM at Central Park’s Delacorte Theater.

Previously announced: Kevin Kline (Pirate King), Glenn Close (Ruth), Eric Idle (Sergeant) and Martin Short (Major-General Stanley).

Newly added: Anika Noni Rose (Mabel), Montego Glover (Kate), Jonathan Groff (Frederick) and Norm Lewis (Samuel).

Ensemble: Sarah Bolt, Darius Nichols, Eliseo Roman, Martín Solá, Matthew Stocke and Frank Vlastnik.

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CBS announced a new broadcast agreement with the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing that will keep the annual Tony Awards broadcast on the CBS Television Network through 2018.

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Little Miss Sunshine, the new musical by William Finn and James Lapine, will make its NYC debut at Off-Broadway’s Second Stage Theatre, with previews beginning Oct. 15 and an opening in November (date TBA).

Casting TBA.

The musical has reportedly undergone a major overhaul since its world premiere at California’s La Jolla Playhouse in February 2011, retaining only three songs from the original version.

Second Stage artistic director Carole Rothman told the NY Times that there are currently no plans for a Broadway transfer after the show’s Off-Broadway run, although Broadway producers Beth Williams and Barbara Whitman are providing some financial support for the fall production.

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Clint Eastwood will helm the screen adaptation of the Jersey Boys.  Auditions are currently underway.

The film will begin shooting late this summer in Los Angeles.

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“The Hinterlands,” an upcoming seven-part musical webseries about a bullied gay teen growing up in Middle America, will launch online this fall.

The cast features Connor Russell, Erin Dilly, John Bolton, Zoe Considine, David Andrew Anderson, Caitlin Kinnunen, Daniel Quadrino, Andrew Brewer, Brianne Wylie and actors from the Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan.

  The Hinterlands website.

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Judy Kuhn in concert will play May 26 at 7 PM at Hudson, NY’s Club Helsinki.

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Broadway Stands Up for Freedom offers a benefit concert July 22 at 7:30 PM at NYC’s Skirball Center, hosted by Susan Blackwell, directed by Daniel Goldstein, with musical direction by Georgia Stitt.

Performers: Randy Graff, Tonya Pinkins, Carrie Manolakos, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Kate Baldwin, Anthony Rapp, Julie Halston, Nellie McKay, Lisa Kron, Zachary Prince, Liana Stampur and Clinton Curtis.  Additional performers TBA.

All proceeds benefit the NYCLU’s youth programming, including work for LGBT teenagers; the Teen Health Initiative, which educates teenagers on their rights to access health care in New York City; and its work to stop overly aggressive policing and military recruiting in the city’s public schools.

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  Video: Norbert Leo Butz and Kate Baldwin sing “Time Stops” from Big Fish.

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Steve Kazee will return to 54 Below July 8-13, with his solo show that includes several original songs by Kazee and the Shiny Liars. The concerts also offer audiences a first listen to material Kazee plans to capture on his upcoming debut album, which is aiming for an early fall release.

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  Orion Griffiths, Mr. Pippin, was crowned the winner of the sold-out, seventh annual Broadway Beauty Pageant, which was held May 20 at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.

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I Can’t Sing! – The X Factor Musical will begin performances at the West End’s London Palladium Feb. 27, 2014, prior to an official opening March 26, directed by Sean Foley.

Previously announced with the title X Factor – It’s Time to Face the Musical!, it has already undergone two workshops, and is written by stage and television comic Harry Hill  and composer Steve Brown.

“I Can’t Sing! goes behind the microphone and under the judges’ desk to reveal the (not necessarily accurate) story of heartache and laughter that keeps millions tuning in every week to the television talent show. It is described as an affectionate poke at the world’s most talked-about talent show that will please friends and foes of ‘The X Factor’ in equal measure.”

 I Can’t Sing – The X Factor Musical website.

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NYC’s 92Y Lyrics & Lyricists presents Brush Up Your Shakespeare: The Bard and the Broadway Musical June 1-3, co-written by Mark Lamos and Deborah Grace Winer, hosted by Lamos, with musical direction by Wayne Barker.

Performers: Christine Andreas, Daniel Breaker, Britney Coleman, Max von Essen and Heather Jane Rolff.

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Applications are being accepted now through August 1 for the second annual T. Fellowship, established in honor of late Broadway producer T. Edward Hambleton, who passed away in 2005.  The program will begin in the fall.

Click here for more information and application guidelines.

The Fellowship is a one-year program managed by Columbia University School of the Arts that is offered to aspiring theatrical producers. During the first phase of the program, the Fellow will take classes and serve as an apprentice to working professionals. During the second phase, he or she will receive a $14,000 stipend to develop a new theatrical production, budgeted at $20,000.

Some of Broadway’s most accomplished producers will serve as mentors throughout the program, including Margo Lion, Gregory Mosher, Tom Schumacher, Jeffrey Seller, David Stone, and program founder Harold Prince.

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  Audio: Audra McDonald sings “Go Back Home” (from The Scottsboro Boys).

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Principal casting has been announced for St. Louis Muny‘s production of South Pacific, to run July 8-14, directed by Rob Ruggiero.

The cast features Laura Michelle Kelly (Nellie), Ben Davis (Emile de Becque), Loretta Ables Sayre (Bloody Mary), Josh Young (Lt. Cable), Sumie Maeda (Liat), Tally Sessions (Luther Billis), James Anthony (Capt. George Brackett), Michael James Reed (Cdr. William Harbison), Caitlin Chau (Ngana) and Spencer Jones (Jerome).

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Patrick Pacheco (LA Times), Jesse Green (New York Magazine) and Michael Musto, with hosts Michael Riedel & Susan Haskins, share their Tony Predictions 2013 on “Theater Talk,” which premieres  May 24 at 1 AM (Saturday morning) on Thirteen/PBS, and repeats in the New York metro area on CUNY TV at 8:30 PM, May 25 at 12:30 PM and May 26 at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM.

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  Douglas C. Baker, producing director for Los Angeles’ Center Theatre Group, was honored with the Samuel J. L’Hommedieu Award last week at the Broadway League’s Spring Road Conference, held from May 15-18 at New York City’s Millennium Broadway Hotel.

The award recognized his outstanding achievement in presenter management after over 20 years with CTG. Baker’s role at CTG includes supervising all of the productions and presentations at the Ahmanson Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum, the Los Angeles Music Center, and Culver City’s Kirk Douglas Theatre.

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Pasadena Playhouse has announced its 2013-14 season:

* Smokey Joe’s Cafe (Sept. 17 – Oct. 13), directed by Jeffrey Polk.

* Stoneface (Nov. 5 – Dec. 1), by Vanessa Claire Stewart,  directed by Jaime Robledo, starring French Stewart as Buster Keaton

* Aladdin and His Winter Wish (Panto at the Playhouse) (Dec. 11-29)

* Above the Fold (Jan. 28 – Feb. 23), by Bernie Weinraub, directed by Steve Robman

* A Song at Twilight (Mar. 18 – Apr. 13), by Noël Coward, directed by Art Manke

* Artistic Director’s Choice (May 27 – June 22), directed by Sheldon Epps

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Free Movie Mondays returns to Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center:

“The Wedding Singer” - July 8
“Buena Vista Social Club” - July 15
“The Lion King” - July 22
“The Phantom of the Opera” - July 29
“Evita” - Aug. 5

Movie Mondays are held on the Center’s 46,000-square-foot Arts Plaza. The popular films are projected on the side of Segerstrom Hall. Guests are encouraged to bring beach chairs or other easily portable seating items. Set-up begins at 5:30 PM, with the movie starting at dusk (approximately 8 PM). Guests may bring their own snacks and picnic suppers. This year, Patina Catering has created special themed menus for each movie in addition to offering a selection of assorted snacks and beverages available for purchase. Barbecues and similar food preparation are not permitted.

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Off-Broadway’s Transport Group offers a concert presentation of Once Upon a Mattress June 17 at 7 PM at Off-Broadway’s Signature Theatre, directed by Jack Cummings III.

Jackie Hoffman stars as Winnifred, with John “Lypsinka” Epperson as Queen Aggravain.  Additional casting TBA.

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Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts has selected its new president - Broadway producer Jed Bernstein. Bernstein will replace current leader Reynold Levy in early 2014.

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Peter Shaffer’s pair of one-act plays The Private Ear and The Public Eye, will receive their first major U.K. revival in 50 years, directed by Alastair Whatley.  They will be presented, again in a double-bill, for a U.K. national tour, beginning previews Aug. 29 and opening Sept. 6 at Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud Theatre.

Click here for more information and the complete tour schedule.

The cast will feature Jasper Britton as Charles, Steven Blakeley in the dual roles of Bob and Julian, Rupert Hill as Ted and Siobhan O’Kelly in the dual roles of Doreen and Belinda.

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The annual West End LIVE, a weekend of free entertainment from West End productions and performers, returns to Trafalgar Square June 22-23.

Now in its ninth year, it will feature live performances from Billy Elliot The Musical, Horrible Histories, Jersey Boys, The Lion King, Mamma Mia!, Matilda The Musical, Les Misérables, Monty Python’s Spamalot, The Phantom of the Opera, Stomp, Thriller Live, Top Hat, War Horse, We Will Rock You andWicked appearing alongside newcomers Burn The Floor, The Bodyguard, A Chorus Line, The Color Purple, Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story On Stage, From Here to Eternity, The Golden Voice, High Society, Let It Be, Limbo, Merrily We Roll Along, Once, Peter Pan: Never Ending Story, The Showstoppersand The Sound of Music.

 West End Live website.

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“A Raisin in the Sun Revisited: The Raisin Cycle at Centerstage” will air as part of the PBS Arts Fall Festival Oct. 25 at 9 PM ET; check local listings.

The 60-minute documentary special follows the process of mounting The Raisin Cycle, from the first rehearsal through the openings of Bruce Norris’ Clybourne Park and Kwame Kwei-Armah’s Beneatha’s Place, which are being performed in rotating repertory at the Baltimore venue.

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Casting has been announced for the upcoming production of Love, Loss, and What I Wore, which will play Philadelphia Theatre Company June 25 – July 7, directed by Karen Carpenter.

The cast features Mary Birdsong, Aisha de Haas, Kate Flannery, Ashley Austin Morris  and Joyce Van Patten.

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Subscribers: If your software garbles this newsletter, read it at GraceNotesStage.com.

Today’s Highlights:

* To Kill a Mockingbird, starring Robert Sean Leonard, opens at London’s Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park.

* Murder Ballad, featuring John Ellison Conlee, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Will Swenson and Caissie Levy, opens at Off-Broadway’s Union Square Theatre.

* Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, starring Douglas Hodge, with Nigel Planer, Myra Sands, Jack Shalloo, Alex Clatworthy. Paul J. Medford and Jasna Ivir, begins previews at the West End’s Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

* Erica Lipez’s The Tutors, featuring Louis Ozawa Changchien, Matt Dellapina, Aubrey Dollar, Keith Nobbs and Chris Perfetti, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s Second Stage Uptown.

* Rod MacLachlan’s Good Television world premiere, featuring Talia Balsam, Jessica Cummings, John Magaro, Kelly McAndrew, Zoe Perry, Luke Robertson, Andrew Stewart-Jones and Ned Van Zandt, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s Atlantic Theater Company.

* 22@54 benefit concert, hosted by Joe Iconis, featuring NYU graduate writers Danny Abosch, Avi Amon, Nikko Benson, Landon Braverman, John Carden, Jason Carlson, Ashley Chapman, Thirza Defoe, Nolan Doran, Jesse Goldman, John Grimmett, Kiran Gupta, Julia Gytri, Benjamin Halstead, Derek P. Hassler, Jiyoung Kim, KiYun Kim, Sujin Kim, Yan Li, Teresa Lotz, Daphny Maman, Collin Martin, Naomi Matlow, Helen Park, Shane Parks, Kendell Pinkney, Jason Purdy, Aden Kent Ramsey, Sarah Rebell, Janine Robledo, Tidtaya Sinotuke, Clare Tran and Patty Weinstein, with performances by Max Crumm, Daniel J. Edwards, Sevan Greene, Adam Halpin, Patty Nieman, Eileen Patterson, Aaron Riesebeck, Katie Thompson, Carrington Vilmont, Benjamin Eakeley, Jenny Fellner, Sara Jean Ford, Karl Josef Co, Megan McGinnis, Curtis Wiley, Jason “SweetTooth” Williams  and Remy Zaken, at 11 PM at 54 Below.

* Frances Ruffelle‘s Beneath the Dress concert, at 9:30 PM at 54 Below.

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Encores! has announced its 2014 season (no link available yet):

* Little Me (Feb. 5-9), directed by John Rando, starring Christian Borle.

* The Most Happy Fella (Apr. 2-6), directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, starring Shuler Hensley.

* Irma La Douce (May 7-11), directed by John Doyle.

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Luis Bravo’s Forever Tango returns to Broadway July 9 – Sept. 15 at the Walter Kerr Theatre.  The production features Gilberto Santa Rosa, 16 tango dancers, one vocalist and an 11-piece orchestra.

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 2013 Off-Broadway Alliance Award winners:

New Musical: Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812
New Play: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Musical Revival: Closer Than Ever
Play Revival: The Piano Lesson
Unique Theatrical Experience: Buyer & Cellar
Family Show: Bunnicula

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“On Stage Across America,” a new monthly series uniting Playbill Magazine and Time Warner Cable news channel NY1, will launch in June, bringing in-depth theatre coverage to television viewers across the U.S.

The new 30-minute segment, to air the first Saturday of each month, is based on NY1′s popular “On Stage” series, which debuted in 1998. NY1 theatre reporter Frank DiLella and Playbill Magazine editor Blake Ross co-host the series that will showcase coverage from Broadway, national tours, regional theatre and high school drama programs.

“On Stage Across America” will launch June 1 with a segment featuring interviews with the Aaron Tveit as well as coverage of regional high school musical theatre competitions.

Each show will also include a list of local theatre events relevant to each Time Warner Cable market. The series will also be available on local On Demand channels in TWC markets.

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  GN Quote of the Week: “Cesar Romero would attend the opening of a napkin.”   ~ Jim Backus

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Michael John LaChiusa offers a May 24 post-show talkback at Kansas City, MO’s Spinning Tree production of Hello Again.

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  Audio:  Caesar Samayoa performs “Jaquenetta” from the upcoming Shakespeare in the Park world-premiere musical Love’s Labour’s Lost.

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Mike Birbiglia’s My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend will be presented June 2 at 8 PM at Carnegie Hall.

The evening will mark the final performance of the show, which has been seen in more than 20 cities.

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The New Voices Collective will present the world premiere of Leaving Home (music by Sam Davis, book and lyrics by Sean Hartley), a bill of three one-act musicals, June 10 at 8 PM at Off-Broadway’s Symphony Space.  Annette Jolles directs, with musical direction by David Loud.

The cast includes Stanley Bahorek, Sarah Corey, Malcolm Gets, Edward Hibbert, Kirsten Scott, A.J. Shivley and Sally Wilfert.

“Leaving Home brings together three short musicals, each of which explores the lives of young women as they emerge from the relative innocence of childhood into the darker, more intriguing world of being an adult,” press notes state. “The plays take familiar folk tales or myths as their starting point—each one updated and transported to present-day New York City and environs.”

Home After Dark is based on the myth of Persephone and Demeter and set in the suburbs of New Jersey. In the musical, a teen-aged girl with an overly possessive mother makes a date over the internet with an older man.

Love and Real Estate, a dark take on “The Three Little Pigs,” follows three sisters who come to Manhattan, buy apartments, and meet the same mysteriously charming—and potentially dangerous—young man.

Pamela, the final play in the trilogy, is based on Hamlet but set in Darien, CT. A young woman has come back to her childhood home to attend her father’s second wedding and is visited by the ghost of her recently departed mother, who claims she was murdered by the father’s new wife.

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  Carol Burnett is the recipient of the 2013 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

The Oct. 20 gala evening will be filmed for broadcast Oct. 30 on PBS stations nationwide.

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In response to ticket demand, 54 Below has added an additional performance to Matthew Morrison‘s upcoming June engagement.

Morrison will perform June 2 at 9:30 PM and June 4 at 7 PM. An additional performance has been added June 1 at 8 PM.

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Judy Kuhn will celebrate the release of her latest solo recording — “Judy Kuhn: All This Happiness,” due June 4 — with two concerts at 54 Below June 10 and 12 at 7 PM.

Album Track List
“Help Me”
“I Love the Way You’re Breaking My Heart”
“Happiness / In Buddy’s Eyes”
“Temptation”
“Something Cool”
“The Best Is Yet to Come”
“Losing You”
“Dance Me to the End of Love”
“Forbidden Fruit”
“Goodbye Joe”
“Life Is But a Dream”
“Night Ride Home”

  Pre-order the CD here.

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  Audio:  Lindsay Mendez performs “Hand in Hand” from “Kerrigan-Lowdermilk Live.”

   Download the album here.

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The Public Theater has announced a fourth and final extension for the critically acclaimed musical Here Lies Love, starring Jose Llana and Ruthie Ann Miles, which will now continue through July 28.

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Brynn O’Malley will join the previously announced Rob McClure and Tony Danza in Jason Robert Brown’s Honeymoon in Vegas at NJ’s Paper Mill Playhouse, to run Sept. 26 – Oct. 27.

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Sag Harbor’s Bay Street Theatre presents Lend Me a Tenor May 28 – June 23 (opening June 1), directed by Don Stephenson.

The cast features Judy Blazer, Scott Cote, Betsy DiLellio, Donna English, Nancy Johnston, Noah Plomgren, Steve Rosen and Roland Rusinek.

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Upcoming at the Starry Summer Nights Concert Series at NYC’s Town Hall (all at 8 PM):

July 8: Brian Stokes Mitchell
July 15: Broadway Rising Stars 
July 18: The Hit Men
July 22: Linda Eder

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  Video:  Behind the scenes of Sleepless in Seattle, which begins previews May 24 at Pasadena Playhouse.

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The fourth annual Broadway on the High Seas cruise will visit Tahiti, Bora Bora, Moorea and the surrounding French Polynesian Islands Mar. 20-29.  Information and reservations: playbill@judyperlcruises.com.

The cruise will be an intimate affair, catering to a limited amount of passengers — 150 cabins only — and will include a two-day stay in Tahiti with a seven-day cruise to the surrounding islands.  Packages include round-trip air from Los Angeles, gratuities, open bar, complimentary water sports, hotel packages and an entertainment itinerary jam-packed with concerts, interviews, Broadway trivia, cocktail parties and late-night gatherings with our stars and more.

Performers: Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Lea Salonga, Sutton Foster, Christine Ebersole, Rebecca Luker, Will Swenson and Danny Burstein. Seth Rudetsky will return for his fourth year as music director, performer and host.

  Broadway on the High Seas website.

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Roman Polanski and David Ives have written a film adaptation of “Venus in Fur,“ which will be directed by Polanski.  No timeline has been announced.

The film stars Emmanuelle Seigner and Louis Garrel.

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Lapham’s Quarterly has announced its annual gala, The Decades Ball: The 1950s, to be held June 3 at NYC’s Capitale (130 Bowery at Grand Street).

Oskar Eustis, artistic director of The Public Theater, will emcee the evening, which will feature readings and performances that highlight voices from screen, stage, music and literature of the era.

Performers: Tom Hanks, Patricia Clarkson, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Martha Plimpton, Ari Graynor, Tony Kushner and Paul Muldoon and Nellie McKay.

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Subscribers: If your software garbles this newsletter, read it at GraceNotesStage.com.

Today’s Highlights:

* Avenue Q opens at London’s fringe Highgate’s Upstairs at the Gatehouse.

* Inherit the Wind, starring Michael McCarty and Matthew Harrison Brady, opens at PA’s Bristol Riverside Theatre.

* Lea Salonga‘s Back to Before concert opens at NYC’s Café Carlyle.

* The Scottsboro Boys, featuring Hal Linden, Joshua Henry, Trent Armand Kendall, JC Montgomery, Clinton Roane, Christian Dante White, Gilbert L. Bailey II, David Bazemore, Ayanna Berkshire, Shavey Brown, Christopher James Culberson, Max Kumangai, Justin Prescott, Cedric Sanders, Deandre Sevon and C. Kelly Wright, begins previews at LA’s Ahmanson Theatre.

* Company, featuring Matthew Scott, Sherri Edelen, Thomas Adrian Simpson, Tracy Lynn Olivera, Evan Casey, Erin Driscoll, James Gardiner, Sandy Bainum, Bobby Smith, Erin Weaver, Paul Scanlan, Madeline Botteri, Rachel Zampelli and Jamie Eacker, begins previews at VA’s Signature Theatre.

* Let’s Make Noise: The Music & Lyrics of Janine McGuire concert, featuring Janet Krupin, Jarrod Spector, Katie Branden, Adam Kaplan, Christiana Little, Justin Gregory Lopez, Tracy McDowell, Micah Nameroff, Madeline Rhodes, Leela Rothenberg, Isabel Santiago, Arri Simon, Scoop Slone and Rachel Stern, at 9:30 PM at NYC’s Laurie Beechman Theatre.

* The Paris production of Sunday in the Park with George, starring Julian Ovendon, is now available for listening here.

* Theater Talk’s 2013 Season’s End Critics’ Panel hosted by Michael Riedel, with Ben Brantley, Peter Marks and Joan Rivers, airs online here.

* Giant cast album, starring Kate Baldwin and Brian d’Arcy James, released on mp3.    Download here.

* Audra McDonald‘s “Go Back Home” album released on mp3 and CD.   & Order/download here.

* ”Kerrigan-Lowdermilk Live” album, featuring Matt Doyle, Mandy Gonzalez, Lindsay Mendez, Andy Mientus, Laura Osnes, Alysha Umphress, Jenni Barber, Steven Booth, Sara Chase, Katrina Rose Dideriksen, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Nadia Quinn, Dee Roscioli, Morgan Karr, Carrie Manolakos, Jesse Ruben, Nathan Tysen and The Spring Standards, released on mp3.    Download here.

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Off-Broadway’s 2013 Obie Award winners:

Performance
Eisa Davis, Sustained Excellence
Brandon J. Dirden, The Piano Lesson (Signature Theatre)
Shuler Hensley, The Whale (Playwrights Horizons)
Matthew Maher, Sustained Excellence
Paul Thureen, Blood Play (The Debate Society/Bushwick Starr)

Direction
Lear deBessonet, The Good Person Of Szechuan (Foundry Theatre/La MaMa)
John Rando, All In The Timing (Primary Stages)
Ruben Santiago-Hudson, The Piano Lesson (Signature Theatre)
Eric Ting, We Are Proud To Present A Presentation… (Soho Rep)

New American Play (tie With $500 to each playwright)
Lisa D’Amour, Detroit
Julia Jarcho, Grimly Handsome

Playwriting
Ayad Akhtar, Disgraced (LCT3)
Annie Baker, The Flick (Playwrights Horizons)

Music/Lyrics
David Byrne & Fatboy Slim, Here Lies Love (Public Theater)

Design
Laura Jellinek, Sustained excellence of Set Design
Clint Ramos, Sustained excellence of Costume Design

Special Citations
David Levine & Marsha Ginsberg, Habit (Crossing the Line Festival/FIAF & PS122)
Dave Malloy & Rachel Chavkin, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812  (Ars Nova)
Nature Theater of Oklahoma, Life and Times: Episodes 1-4 (Public Theater/SoRep)

The Ross Wetzsteon Award (with check for $1,000)
Clubbed Thumb

Grants
Fulcrum Theater ($1,000)
Half Straddle ($1,000)

Lifetime Achievement
Lois Smith
Frances Sternhagen

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  Broadway Grosses for the week ending May 19:

Frontrunners (by Gross)
1. The Lion King ($1,887,665)
2. Wicked ($1,748,141)
3. The Book of Mormon ($1,701,989)
4. Lucky Guy ($1,387,476)
5. Kinky Boots ($1,269,683)

Underdogs (by Gross)
5. Rock of Ages (450,030)
4. Macbeth ($444,348)
3. The Assembled Parties ($354,725)
2. Ann  ($247,041) 
1. The Big Knife ($229,239)

Frontrunners (by Capacity)
1. The Book of Mormon (102.63%)
2. Lucky Guy (102.44%)
3. I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers (102.21%)
4. Kinky Boots (100.91%)
5. Pippin (100.82%)

Underdogs (by Capacity)
5. Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark (78.35%)
4. Nice Work If You Can Get It (77.96%)
3. The Big Knife (65.34%)
2. The Trip to Bountiful (64.09%)
1. Ann (39.62%)

Data provided by the Broadway League.

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Complete casting has been announced for First Date (book by Austin Winsberg, with music and lyrics by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner), which will begin previews July 9 and open Aug. 4 at Broadway’s Longacre Theatre.  Bill Berry directs, with musical staging by Josh Rhodes.

The cast features Zachary Levi, Krysta Rodriguez, Sara Chase, Kristoffer Cusick, Blake Hammond, Kate Loprest and Vicki Noon.

“When tightly wound Aaron (Levi) is set up with serial-dater Casey (Rodriguez) a quick drink at a busy New York restaurant turns into a hilarious, high-stakes dinner. As the date unfolds in real time, the couple quickly finds they are not alone on this date as Casey and Aaron’s inner critics take on a life of their own when other restaurant patrons and the wait staff get into the act. Dinner is served with sides of Google background checks, fake emergency phone calls, supportive best friends, manipulative exes and protective parents, who sing and dance them through ice-breakers, appetizers and potential conversational land mines. First Date is Broadway’s new hysterical and hopeful new musical about the chances we take to find love.”

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Drama at the Village Voice:

Michael Feingold, the long-serving lead drama critic of The Village Voice, and one of the most senior voices within the New York theatre critics corps, was let go from that post May 17.

The day of bloodletting at the 58-year-old alternative weekly also included the departure of respected restaurant critic Robert Sietsema and gossip columnist Michael Musto, both of whom had been with the paper for 20 years or more.

The timing of Feingold’s dismissal was particularly curious in that it came just days before the Obie Awards. The Obies, created in 1955 by then Voice theatre critic Jerry Tallmer, honor the best of Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway. The ceremony is one of the most high-profile events on the Village Voice calendar. For decades, Feingold has sat on the committee that decides the awards, which are presented without nominations.

The current turmoil at the Village Voice began May 9, when editors Will Bourne, who became editor last November, and Jessica Lustig, the deputy editor since January, walked out rather than meet management’s demands that the 20-person stuff be cut by 25 percent.

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……and a different kind of drama on Broadway…..

A theatregoer at the May 19 matinee performance of The Nance had to be rescued by members of the New York City Fire Department after he fell onto the marquee of the Lyceum Theatre when a window gave way unexpectedly.

The patron was seated directly in front of the windows in the theatre’s second mezzanine level just prior to the start of the 3 PM matinee. The French door style windows open out onto 45th Street.  Apparently the patron leaned back in his chair, prompting the window fixture to open and causing him to topple two to three feet onto the marquee of the Lyceum Theatre.

The NYC Fire Department rescued the patron from the marquee shortly thereafter using a cherry picker  outside the theatre. No glass was broken, and the patron was treated for minor injuries.

The cast of The Nance was unaware of the occurrence, and the performance began as scheduled.

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  Video:  Sneak peek at Goodspeed’s Hello, Dolly!, starring Klea Blackhurst.

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Off-Broadway’s York Theatre Company will present a return engagement of I’m a Stranger Here Myself, written and performed by Mark Nadler, May 28 – June 9.

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“Carole King: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize In Performance at the White House” will be broadcast May 28 at 8 PM on PBS, as well as being live-streamed here at 7 PM.

In addition to King, performances will also include Gloria Estefan, Billy Joel, Jesse McCartney, Emeli Sandé, James Taylor and Trisha Yearwood.

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Off-Broadway’s Pearl Theatre Company has announced its 2013-14 season:

* You Never Can Tell (Sept. 3 – Oct. 13), by George Bernard Shaw, directed by David Staller.
* And Away We Go (Nov. 12 – Dec. 15), world premiere by Terrence McNally
* No Exit (Feb. 25 – Mar. 30), by Jean Paul Sartre
* The Rivals (Apr. 22 – May 5), by Richard Brinsley Sheridan

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Nicky Silver’s new adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s 1993 play Make Up Your Mind will be performed at Boston’s SpeakEasy Stage Company Nov. 1-30, directed by Cliff Fannin Baker.

Casting TBA.

“Roland Stackhouse thinks our greatest obstacle is indecisiveness — and he has the answer! — Make Up Your Mind Inc. But just as business takes off, romance rears its head, and Stackhouse finds himself in a world of wealthy coquettes, paid enforcers, blue movies and confused clergy. It’s a world only Kurt Vonnegut could imagine! Kurt Vonnegut’s Make Up Your Mind is really about more than sticking to decisions—it’s about that rarest of all commodities, human connection.”

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  Video:  Highlights from Tommy at the Stratford Festival.

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Stark Sands, a 2013 Tony nominee for his performance in the new musical Kinky Boots, will be the special guest at Seth’s Broadway Chatterbox May 23 at 5 PM at NYC’s Don’t Tell Mama.

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Additional artists have been announced for the Night of a Thousand Judys benefit concert, to play June 17 at 8 PM at NYC’s Kaufman Center.

Previously announced: Martha Wash, Christiane Noll, Molly Pope, Madeleine Peyroux, Karen Mason and Danielle Grabianowski.

Newly added: Carolee Carmello, Justin Vivian Bond, Lea DeLaria, Telly Leung, Jaime Cepero, Scott Matthew, Natalie Joy Johnson and Nancy Anderson.

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Dirty Rotten Scoundrels will make its Australian debut at Sydney’s Theatre Royal in October (dates TBA), directed by Roger Hodgman.

Casting TBA.

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Casting has been announced for the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity Gala -  One Acts for a Cause, offering three new pieces, on June 16 at 7 PM at Off-Broadway’s Signature Theatre. The evening will raise funds for the non-profit Safe Horizon.

* Neil LaBute’s Over the River and Through the Woods, featuring Estelle Parsons and Celia Keenan-Bolger.
* Winter Miller’s This Is How We Do It, featuring Jenni Barber and Krystina Alabado
* John Patrick Shanley’s Tennessee, featuring Ivette Dumeng and Dustin Kerns.

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Theater Breaking Through Barriers presents the 3rd Annual Short Play Festival, Still More of Our Parts, June 13-28 at Off-Broadway’s Clurman Theatre, featuring world-premiere short plays by Neil LaBute, Samuel D. Hunter, Jerrod Bogard, Bekah Brunstetter, Bruce Graham, and Lynn Manning.

Cast: Tonya Pinkins, Mary Theresa Archbold, Russell Barnes III, Christine Bruno, Samantha Debicki, Shannon DeVido, David Harrell, Lawrence Merritt, Ann Marie
Morelli, Jamie Petrone, Shawn Randall and Jonathan Todd Ross.

Directors: Christopher Burris, Nicholas Viselli, Christina Roussos, Russell Treyz, Karen Case Cook and Roberto Cambeiro.

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The Robben Island Bible, a staged reading of a play written and directed by Matthew Hahn, will be held at DC’s Folger Theatre June 3 at 7 PM.

The cast features Andre deShields, Nasser Faris, KenYatta Rogers and Nehal Joshi.

“During the 1970’s, political prisoners in South Africa’s Robben Island prison were allowed to have one book, other than a religious text. South African prisoner Sonny Venkatratham asked his wife to send him The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. He then passed the book to a number of his fellow political prisoners, each marking and dating his favorite passage in the Shakespearean text. Overall, the book contains thirty-two signatures, including those of Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki, Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada and MacMaharaj, all luminaries in the struggle for a democratic South Africa. The play’s writer and director Matthew Hahn interviewed many of the prisoners in 2008, and drew upon those interviews and Shakespeare’s words to create a play that explores how life imitates art.”

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The world premiere of Peter Lefcourt’s The Assassination of Leon Trotsky: A Comedy will run June 21 – July 28 (opening June 28) as a guest production at LA’s Odyssey Theatre.

Directed by Terry Hanauer, the cast features Leandro Cano, Holly Hawkins, Greyson Lewis, Ashley Platz, Christopher Rivas and Joel Swetow.

“Part Picasso at the Lapine Agile, part Noises Off, we find ourselves in the midst of a play about Leon and Natalya Trotsky’s final days in Mexico as guests of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, when a group of actors revolts against the playwright and turns his world upside down. The Assassination of Leon Trotsky: A Comedy is outrageous, sexy, and completely unpredictable fun. A killer new comedy from the team that brought you last years smash-hit, critically-acclaimed Mutually Assured Destruction.”

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GAYFESTNYC presents Scott C. Sickles’ Moonlight and Love Songs, to run May 23 – June 2 (opening May 24) at Off-Broadway’s June Havoc Theatre, directed by Steven Petrillo.

The cast features Nick Bailey, D.H. Johnson, Kathryn Markey, Gerald McCullouch, Robert Meksin, Corey Richmond Skaggs and Christine Verleny.

“Moonlight and Love Songs finds forty-five and alone, architect Harry Wallace’s romantic dreams come true when he falls in love with Jim, a young college student. Their romance seems motion picture-perfect until a staggering revelation causes it to implode. Public outrage follows as Jim attempts to repair the damage caused by his betrayal and Harry finds himself complicit in the deception.”

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Confirmed: Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG), the UK’s largest theatre owner/operator and a multi award winning theater production group, has through its subsidiary, Lyric Theatre LLC, acquired Broadway’s Foxwoods Theatre from Live Nation Entertainment.

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  Tony Award nominee Shalita Grant, who is currently making her Broadway debut in Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, as well as pianist Alessio Bax, are the recipients of the 2013 Martin E. Segal Awards, which were presented May 20 at Lincoln Center.

The awards “mark Mr. Segal’s demonstrated history of leadership and commitment to supporting and developing the careers of up-and-coming artists.”

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CT’s Westport Country Playhouse presents George Kelly’s The Show-Off June 11-29, directed by Nicholas Martin.

The cast features Jayne Houdyshell, Will Rogers, Clea Alsip, Mia Barron, Nat DeWolf, Robert Eli, Adam LeFevre, Karl Baker Olson and Marc Vietor.

“Set in 1920s Philadelphia, the title character in The Show-Off is Aubrey Piper, a blowhard, a first-rate annoyance, and a shameless liar – a show-off of the worst kind. He also happens to be marrying into the Fisher family, forcing the Fishers to learn to cope with this human oddity who has blustered his way into their lives.”

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John Bucchino and Friends returns to London’s St. James Studio Theatre June 30, with two performances at 4 PM and 8 PM.

The evening will also feature John Barr, Amelia Cormack, Sophia Ragavelas, Matthew Barrow, Ashely Robinson, Christina Lund, Phoebe Coupe, Linnea Stenbeck, Suzanna Kempner, Belinda Wollaston and Hila Pliltman.

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John Barrowman will host ABC’s new singing competition series “Sing Your Face Off.”  Debbie Gibson has also signed on as a judge, alongside Darrell Hammond.  No air date has been announced, but it is rumored that the show is aiming to premiere this summer.

Contestants include Sebastian Bach, Jon Lovitz, Landry Fields, China Anne McClain  and Lisa Rinna.

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When the Queen herself unfortunately could not pay 10-year-old cancer patient Oliver Burton a visit due to her busy schedule, Helen Mirren took her current onstage character in The Audience off-stage and came to see him, still in character.

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Subscribers:  If your software garbles this newsletter, read it at GraceNotesStage.com.

Today’s Highlights:

* Laura Benanti in concert opens at 54 Below.

* Lucy Kirkwood’s Chimera, featuring Claudie Blakley, Stephen Campbell Moore, Elizabeth Chan, Vera Chok, Karl Collins, Trevor Cooper, Nancy Crane, Sean Gilder, Sarah Lam, Andrew Leung, David KS Tse and Benedict Wong, begins previews at London’s Almeida Theatre.

* Tom Kitt and Amanda Green’s High Fidelity concert, featuring Will Chase, Jenn Colella, Ana Gasteyer, Adam Chanler-Berat and Mario Cantone, along with The Indigo Girls, at 9:30 PM at 54 Below.

* Broadway’s Future Songbook Series free concert, featuring the songs of Hyeyoung Kim and Michael Cooper, with Emma Hunton, Gavin Gregory, Bonita J. Hamilton, Alice Lee and Jonathan Shew, at 6 PM at the NY Public Library for the Performing Arts.

* David Drake’s The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me BC/EFA benefit, featuring author Drake, BD Wong, Robin De Jesus, Andre de Shields, Rory O’Malley, Claybourne Elder, Anthony Rapp, Wesley Taylor, Brandon Cordieiro, Donald C. Shorter, Jr., Aaron Tone and Chad Ryan, at 8 PM at NYC’s Gerard W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College.

* Magic to Do benefit gala, honoring Ben Vereen, featuring Stephen Schwartz, Norm Lewis, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Leslie Uggams, Priscilla Lopez, Julia Murney, Tonya Pinkins, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Josh Young, Kathy Fitzgerald, Amanda Brown, Ted Louis Levy and John Pizzarelli & Jessica Molaskey, at 7:30 PM at NYC’s LaGuardia Arts High School.

* NEO9 benefit concert, featuring works by Julianne Wick Davis, Carmel Dean, Kait Kerrigan, Rebekah Greer Melocik and Georgia Stitt, with Sally Wilfert, Michael Winther, Elizabeth Ward Land, Kate Baldwin, Meghann Fahy, Kate Wetherhead, LaChanze, Marja Harmon, Heath Calvert, Lisa Brescia and Titus Burgess, at 7: 30 PM at Off-Broadway’s York Theatre.

* Songs in the Key of Equality benefit for Swish, featuring Jeff Blumenkrantz, Caroline Bowman, Christina DeCicco, Jill Paice, Molly Tynes, Ryann Redmond and Gregory Hainey, at 7 PM at NYC’s (le) Poisson Rouge.

* Off-Broadway’s Second Stage Annual Spring Gala, featuring Stephanie J. Block, Michael Cerveris, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Derek Klena, Lyndsay Mendez, Betsy Wolfe, and a performance by the cast of Dogfight, with Nick Blaemire, Steven Booth, Adam Halpin, F. Michael Haynie and Josh Segarra, at 6 PM at NYC’s Best Buy Theatre (1515 Broadway).

* NYC’s Ensemble Studio Theatre 45th Anniversary Gala, honoring Jeffrey Richards and Jerry Frankel, featuring Elizabeth Ashley, Candice Bergen, Norm Lewis, David Mamet, Kathleen Marshall, Michael Mayer, Pam MacKinnon, Chris Noth, Laura Osnes, Diane Paulus, Duncan Sheik, Daniel Sullivan, Frank Wildhorn, Michael Wilson and 2009′s Hair cast members, at 6:30 PM at NYC’s SIR Stage 37.

* Broadway Beauty Pageant benefit, with judges Andrea Martin, Billy Porter and Michael Urie, at 8 PM at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.

* Mack & Mabel benefit concert, starring Davis Gaines and Vicki Lewis, at 8 PM at Long Beach’s Musical Theatre West.

* The Acting Company‘s Goodbye, My Fancy benefit reading, by Fay Kanin, featuring Dana Ivey, Marylouise Burke, Jay O. Sanders, David Lansbury, Anita Keal, Angela Pierce, Michele Tauber, Kevin Orton and Kelsey Landon, at 7 PM at Off-Broadway’s Playwrights Horizons.

* Project Shaw‘s Mrs. Warren’s Profession reading, featuring Matt Doyle, Richard Easton, Harriet Harris, Amelia Pedlow, Tony Sheldon, Lenny Wolpe, with NY1′s Roma Torre, at 7 PM at NYC’s Players Club.

* Kimberly Vaughn and Stanley Jay Gelber’s Lord Tom reading, featuring Phillip Boykin, Bobbi Bordley, Brigid Brady, Lisa Brescia, Cole Bullock, Nile Bullock, Carrie Compere, Carla Duren, Alan H. Green, John Hickok, Russell Arden Koplin, Laird Mackintosh, Jim Poulos, Elizabeth Teeter and Gordon Joseph Weiss, at 4 PM at Off-Brodway’s Peter Jay Sharp Theatre (also May 21 at 11 AM). Reservations: LordTom@Brierpatchproductions.com.

* Terri Minsky’s Amazing Frogs and Toads reading, featuring Katie Aselton, Devon Gummersall, Adam Shapiro and Abigail Spencer, at 8 PM at Hollywood’s Celebration Theatre. Reservations: thepieceproject@gmail.com.

* Jim Caruso’s Cast Party concert, featuring Stephanie J. Block, Robert Creighton, Andy Karl, Jessie Mueller, composers Benj Pasek & Justin Paul and Lesli Margherita, at  9:30 PM at NYC’s Birdland.

* Monday Nights, New Voices concert, featuring the work of composer Zoe Sarnak  with Mykal Kilgore, Max Chernin, Ashley Dillard, Bethany Fagan, Philly Lopez and Tony Ponella, at 7 PM at NYC’s Duplex.

* “Mel Brooks: Make a Noise” documentary, featuring Joan Rivers, Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Susan Stroman, and more, at 9 PM on PBS.

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FUNDAY MONDAY!

  GRACE NOTES Quiz – Happy Haunting, by Jim Bernhard

Name the plays and musicals in which these ghosts figure:

1. A deceased wife is inadvertently summoned by an eccentric medium and then tries to break up her former husband’s second marriage.
2. A carnival barker killed in a robbery is allowed to return to earth to do one good deed.
3. A king’s ghost urges his son to avenge his death and his widow’s remarriage to his brother.
4. A deceased husband gives his widow a sign that it’s all right for her to remarry.
5. After he’s murdered, a banker contacts his girlfriend via a fraudulent psychic.
6. Ghosts of a governess and a valet possess two children.
7. A sculptor is encouraged to “just keep moving on” by his grandmother’s ghost.
8. This ghost appears at a banquet to haunt the man who ordered his murder.
9. The grandmother of a bride-to-be and the late wife of her intended return from the grave to stop the marriage.
10. A businessman who is as “dead as a doornail” tries to save his former partner from his fate.

Scroll down for the answers…

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2013 Drama League Award winners:

Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical: Kinky Boots 
Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical: Pippin
Distinguished Performance: Nathan Lane, The Nance
Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre: Bernadette Peters
Unique Contribution to the Theatre: Madison Square Garden Entertainment and The Rockettes
Excellence in Directing: Jerry Mitchell

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2013 Drama Desk Award winners:

Play: Christopher Durang, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Musical: Matilda
Revival of a Play: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Revival of a Musical or Revue: Pippin
Actor in a Play: Tracy Letts, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Actress in a Play: Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful
Actor in a Musical: Billy Porter, Kinky Boots
Actress in a Musical: Laura Osnes, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Featured Actor in a Play: Richard Kind, The Big Knife
Featured Actress in a Play: Judith Light, The Assembled Parties
Featured Actor in a Musical:  Bertie Carvel, Matilda
Featured Actress in a Musical:  Andrea Martin, Pippin
Ensemble Performance:  The cast of Working: A Musical – Marie-France Arcilla, Joe Cassidy, Donna Lynne Champlin, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Nehal Joshi and Kenita R. Miller.
Solo Performance:  Michael Urie, Buyer & Cellar
Director of a Play: Pam MacKinnon, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Director of a Musical: Diane Paulus, Pippin
Choreography:  Chet Walker and Gypsy Snider, Pippin
Music: David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, Here Lies Love
Lyrics:  Tim Minchin, Matilda
Book of a Musical:  Dennis Kelly, Matilda
Orchestrations: Danny Troob, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Music in a Play:  Glen Kelly, The Nance
Revue: Old Hats
Set Design:  Rob Howell, Matilda
Costume Design:  William Ivey Long, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Lighting Design: Justin Townsend, Here Lies Love
Projection Design:  Peter Nigrini, Here Lies Love
Sound Design in a Musical (three-way tie):  Steve Canyon Kennedy, Hands on a Hardbody……. Scott Lehrer and Drew Levy, Chaplin: The Musical……. Tony Meola, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Sound Design in a Play:  Mel Mercier, The Testament of Mary
Unique Theatrical Experience:  Cirque Du Soleil: Totem

Special Awards:
* The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF), Isaac Robert Hurwitz, Executive Director and Producer: “For a decade of creating and nurturing new musical theater, ensuring the future of this essential art form.”
 * Wakka Wakka (Gabrielle Brechner, Kirjan Waage, and Gwendolyn Warnock): “For sophisticated puppet theater, as represented by this season’s SAGA, that explores with wit, imagination, and insight serious issues of our times.”
* Jayne Houdyshell: ”For her artistry as an exceptionally versatile and distinctive Broadway and Off-Broadway performer.”
* Samuel D. Hunter: ”His empathic and indelible The Whale affirms his arrival as a distinguished dramatist who depicts the human condition.”
* Maruti Evans, the Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award: ”For his ingenious lighting designs, reflecting an exquisite and bold theatrical aesthetic. This season’s The Pilo Family Circus and Tiny Dynamite confirm his incandescent creativity.”

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The Tony Awards Administration Committee will assemble May 23, to ”discuss any possible infractions by this year’s Tony nominated shows. The activities of the meeting are confidential but we expect to have a resolution to this quickly.”

According to the New York Post, the meeting concerns a purported violation concerning a brochure that was sent to Tony voters by Jeffrey Richards, producer of the Tony-nominated revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? All material sent by producers of Tony-nominated shows to Tony voters must be approved by the Tony Awards before they are mailed; Richards, the Post says, failed to follow this strictly enforced rule.

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The Kennedy Center board of trustees has announced a key revision to the selection process for the esteemed Kennedy Center Honors, which will now allow members of the public to participate via an online recommendation.

This expansion, effective immediately, invites members of the public to submit the names of artists they feel have made significant contributions to American culture through the performing arts. The Kennedy Center states that the primary criterion is “excellence, and artistic achievement in dance, music, theatre, opera, motion pictures, and television.”

Click here to recommend a prospective honoree.

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  Rumor:  Lucky Guy may be London-bound with star Tom Hanks.

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“Mad Men’s” Vincent Kartheiser will star as Mr. Darcy in the Guthrie Theater production of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, to run July 6 – Aug. 31 (opening July 11), adapted by Simon Reade and directed by Joe Dowling.

Additional casting TBA.

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Broadway Inspirational Voices will perform their third annual spring concert, Expect the Great, at NYC’s First Corinthian Baptist Church (1912 Seventh Avenue) June 2 at 7 PM.

Led by Michael McElroy, Expect the Great will feature performers from Motown, The Lion King, Wicked, Spider-Man, The Book of Mormon, Annie, Kinky Boots and more.

Some proceeds from the concert go to BIV’s Educational Outreach Program, in which members participate in outreach programs to provide music to children in need.

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 Fiona Shaw will bring The Rime of the Ancient Mariner to the Brooklyn Academy of Music Dec. 10-22 as part of the Next Wave Festival, directed by Phyllida Lloyd.

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The Chicago production of The Book of Mormon will close Oct. 6 at the Bank of America Theatre (after 43 weeks and 344 performances), at which time it will tour to San Francisco, Denver and Los Angeles (dates TBA).

Nic Rouleau and Ben Platt co-star as Elder Price and Elder Cunningham, respectively, with Syesha Mercado as Nabulungi.

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  Article: Vanity Fair’s “How Rebecca, Broadway’s Hot Mess of a Musical, Managed One Day of Rehearsal.”

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Joe’s Pub will host a one-night-only concert performance of Popesical in Concert: You Choose the Pope, a new musical comedy by Adam Overett, directed by Denis Jones, May 27 at 7 PM.

The piece gives audiences a musical glimpse into the papal conclave; that’s the process by which cardinals choose a new pope. In Overett’s take, the candidates include Australian Cardinal Wallaby, questionably Catholic Cardinal Bergenstein, and the dubiously named Cardinalissimo Francisco Franco.

The cast features Patti Murin, Marshal Kennedy Carolan, Lindsay Nicole Chambers, Madeleine Doherty, Natalie Charle Ellis, David Perlman, Tally Sessions and Jason Michael Snow.  Note: All of the women in the cast are playing male cardinals.

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  Rumors abound about James Corden in consideration for The Baker in the film version of “Into The Woods.”  But did you know he could sing?

Video:  ”Don’t Stop Me Now”
Video: “Pray”

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Ensemble Theatre Company of Santa Barbara presents Terrence McNally’s Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune June 6-23 (opening June 8), directed by Saundra McClain.

The cast features Dee Ann Newkirk and Rick Gifford.

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Off-Broadway’s Irish Rep presents Gibraltar, adapted by Patrick Fitzgerald from James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” to run June 5-30 (opening June 13).

Terry Kinney directs a cast that includes Cara Seymour and Patrick Fitzgerald.

“Haunted by the death of a son and incapacitated by the havoc that loss has wrought on their relationship, Leopold and Molly Bloom are treading water. Leopold’s solution—let Molly take a lover, then she’ll appreciate him more. She’ll tell him all about it, and they’ll recover their lost language of love. He embarks on his Odyssey around Dublin, knowing full well that Molly is going to have an affair that afternoon. Can this gambit work? We wander far and wide with our unconquered hero until day turns to night and he returns home to the comfort of his bed and sleep. Then Molly awakens. And has the last word: ‘Yes.…’”

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Off-Broadway’s MCC Theater has announced its free Spring 2013 PlayLab Readings:

June 3, 7 PM: Mercy, by Adam Szymkowicz, directed by Ethan McSweeny,  ”Orville is grieving the vehicular manslaughter of his beloved wife.  When by chance he faces the driver who killed her, he begins an agonizing conflict between revenge and forgiveness.”

June 10, 7 PM: Going Home, written & directed by Ed Napier.  ”When Tony leaves Manhattan for his mother’s funeral in Ceredo, West Virginia, he is thrown into the maelstrom of ancient family grudges and unexpressed affection.  Rich with local color and ribald humor, this is a story of coming to terms with what place your past has in your future.”

June 23, 7 PM:  New Hampshire, New York, by Ashlin Halfnight, directed by May Adrales.  ”Christmas in New York City.  This delightful comedy follows the travails of loves found and lost and found again by a group of five confused but endearing characters in search of a soul-mate.”

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  Article:  Susan Stroman on the Mel Brooks HBO documentary, Big Fish, Bullets Over Broadway, The Scottsboro Boys in LA & UK, Blazing Saddles, and more.

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LA’s Ebony Rep continues its remount of Jeff Stetson’s Fraternity through June 2, directed by Henry Miller.

The cast features Obba Babatundé, Harvey Blanks, Rocky Carroll, Nasir Najieb, Roger Robinson, William Allen Young and Tucker Smallwood.

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  Rumor: According to The Telegraph, Broadway’s Foxwoods Theater could soon be purchased by the UK-based Ambassador Theater Group, which owns around 40 theaters across the pond. Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark currently runs at the Foxwoods.

ATG is expected to offer Live Nation between $60 and $70 million for the venue, which would be its first house in the U.S.

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London’s Donmar Warehouse has announced its 2013 fall season:

* The Same Deep Blue Water as Me (Aug. 1 – Sept. 21), by Nick Payne, directed by John Crowley, with Monica Dolan, Peter Forbes, Joanna Griffin, Nigel Lindsay, Daniel Mays and Niky Wardley.
* Roots (Oct. 3 – Nov. 30), by Arnold Wesker, directed by James Macdonald, with Jessica Raine, Linda Bassett, Emma Stansfield and Michael Jibson.
* Coriolanus (Dec. 6 – Feb. 8), directed by Josie Rourke, starring Tom Hiddleston.

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Mel Brooks will receive the 41st AFI Life Achievement Award, the highest accolade for a career in film, to be presented a gala tribute on June 6.

The event will air June 15 on TNT, followed by another airing on TCM on July 24.

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CT’s Weston Playhouse presents Next to Normal, to run July 11-27, directed by Michael Berresse.

The cast features Heidi Blickenstaff, Aaron Ramey, David Ayers, Dan DeLuca, Margo Seibert and Etai BenShlomo.

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How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse has been extended at Hollywood’s Theatre Asylum through June 29.

The cast features Patrick Bristow (who also directs), Jayne Entwistle, Jess McKay, Chris Sheets, Mario Vernazza, Henry Watkins and Vanessa Whitney.

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  GRACE NOTES Quiz answers — Happy Haunting:

1. Elvira Condomine tries to break up the second marriage of her former husband, Charles – Blithe Spirit.
2. Carnival barker Billy Bigelow is allowed to return to earth – Carousel.
3. King Hamlet urges his son, Prince Hamlet, to avenge his death and his widow’s marriage to his brother – Hamlet.
4. Ephraim Levi gives his widow, Dolly Levi, permission to remarry – Hello, Dolly! (and in The Matchmaker, on which it is based).
5. The banker Sam Wheat contacts his fiancée, Molly Jensen, via the psychic Oda Mae Brown – Ghost the Musical.
6. Ghosts of the governess, Miss Jessel, and the valet, Peter Quint, haunt the children, Miles and Flora – The Innocents.
7. George, the sculptor, is encouraged by the ghost of his grandmother Marie – Sunday in the Park with George.
8. Banquo appears at a banquet to haunt Macbeth – Macbeth.
9. Grandmother Tzeitel and Lazar Wolf’s late wife, Fruma-Sarah, appear as ghosts to stop young Tzeitel from marrying Lazar – Fiddler on the Roof
10. Jacob Marley tries to save his former partner, Ebenezer Scrooge – A Christmas Carol.

Got a quiz you’d like to submit?  Send it on over.  Text only, 10 questions or less, please. 

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