• GRACE NOTES: Monday, March 30, 2026

     

    Today’s Highlights:

     

       Storm Large in concert opens at NYC’s 54 Below.

     

      Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, by August Wilson, directed by Debbie Allen, featuring Taraji P. Henson (Bertha Holly ), Cedric The entertainer (Seth Holly ), Joshua Boone (Herald Loomis), Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Bynum Walker ), and more, begins previews at Broadway’s Barrymore Theatre.

     

      York Theatre Company‘s Songs for a New World: The Music and Lyrics of Jason Robert Brown benefit concert, directed by Jessica McRoberts, featuring Jay Copeland, Nikki Renee Daniels, Jason Gotay, and Jill Paice, at Theatre at 7 PM at  Off-Broadway’s St. Jean’s.

     

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       Famous Quotations by Jim Bernhard

     

    Fill in the missing words to find a quotation about the theatre:

     

      1. Speed- ____- Plow, play by David Mamet    A. In
      2. Fanny’s First ____, play by George Bernard Shaw    B. It’s
      3. Music ____, musical by George Abbott, Jerry Adler, and Will Holt    C. You
      4. ____ About Nightingales, play by Tennessee Williams    D. In
      5.  The Woman ____ White, musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Zippel, and Charlotte Jones    E. Words
      6. Don’t Drink ____ Water, play by Woody Allen    F. Play
      7. ____ and Music, musical by Sammy Cahn    G. Is
      8. ____ Only a Play, play by Terrence McNally    H. The
      9. Music ____ the Air, musical by Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern    I. The
      10. Talking To ____, play by William Saroyan     J. Not

     

    Scroll down for the answers…

     

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       Jason Graae: It’s a Graae Night for Singing! will take place will take place Wed. Apr. 1 at  7 PM NYC’s 54 Below, with music direction by Gerald Sternbach.

     

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      The world premiere of did you charge your phone for the end of the world?, written & directed by Fletcher Michael, will run at the 2026 New York City Fringe Festival at the Wild Project (195 East 3rd Street.).

     

    Performance dates: 
    Sat. Apr. 14 at8:40 PM
    Mon. Apr. 6 at 6 PM
    Sat. Apr. 18 at 3:40 PM
    Sun. Apr. 19 at 5:20 PM

     

       Lucy Boisvert, Collin Dennis, and Fletcher Michael.

     

       The year is 2034. A city-demolishing asteroid is heading straight for Brooklyn. Rather than alerting the public to the impending catastrophe, the government delays the announcement until a boutique advertising agency can devise a suitably “positive” rebrand for the calamitous space rock. In a culture obsessed with optics, messaging, and spin, the piece  skewers the absurdity of image management in the face of existential threat, blending sharp satire with Infinite Monkey’s signature absurdist edge.

     

     

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       Tom Jacobson’s Hell Mouth will run Apr. 14 – June 6 (opening Apr. 17) at North Hollywood’s Road Theatre, directed by Ann Hearn Tobolowsky.

     

      Canny Lee Gomez (Tim), Taylor Gilbert (Lois/Samara), and Tony Abatemarco (Russel/Spencer.

     

      Torn between his Midwestern parents and the Beverly Hills owners of an unknown Caravaggio Hanging Judas, Tim rediscovers himself while making the art history discovery of the century. Imagine your own mother on the Worls Dressed Women List.

     

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       The Billy Barnes Foundation will present Billy Barnes Bash on Wed. Apr 22 at 8:30 PM at LA’s Catalina Jazz Club, directed by Kay Cole, and hosted by Shawn Ryan, with music direction by Michael Orland.

     

     Eileen Barnett, Cheryl Dano, Michael Deni, Jane A. Johnston, Jackie Joseph, Jeffrey Polk, James Snyder, BJ Ward, and Jo Anne Worley.

     

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       New York Theatre Workshop has announced the first 2 productions of it’s 2026-27 season:

     

      Basquiat (FAll 2026  – dates TBA), written & performed by Roger Guenveur Smith.
    As Mandela stepped out of prison Ellen Stewart rang a bell in the theatre which now bears her name Cause Frederick Douglass dressed as Huey P. Newton was rapping about struggle and progress. Just across the street from where Marc Anthony Thompson is gonna be remixing Basquiat’s greatest hits.

     

      Wild Rose (Fall 2026 – dates TBA), by Nicole Taylor, directed by John Tiffany, with choreography by Steven Hoggett & Vicki Manderson.   There is only one thing in Rose-Lynn’s life that has ever made sense: country music. Fresh out of jail for some past mistakes, free-spirited Rose-Lynn is bursting with raw talent & charisma, and ready to escape Glasgow, Scotland to chase her dream of being a country music singer. But her mother Marion has had enough, insisting that she settle down, ditch the fantasy, and focus on raising her two young kids. Rose-Lynn reluctantly agrees to take a cleaning job and finds an unlikely champion in her new boss Susannah, bringing her dream closer than ever. Now Rose-Lynn must decide if risking everything will really pave the road to Nashville.

     

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      Off-Broadway’s Labyrinth Theatre will present the next Celebrity Charades on Mon. Apr. 20 at 8:30 PM at the City Winery (25 11th Ave).

     

      Chris Rock, Kristen Wiig, Julia Roberts, Robin Williams, Billy Crudup, Edie Falco, Edward Norton, Paul Rudd, Cynthia Rowley, and Julianna Margulies, many more.

     

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       The James Conlon Farewell Concert will take place Fri. Apr. 24 at 7 PM at LA’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

     

    Conlon made a tremendous to the musical life of Los Angeles over his remarkable 20-year tenure as the company’s Richard Seaver Music Director.

     

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       Jiulia: The Poison Queen of Palermo, by Jennifer Nettles, will run June 28 – July 26 (0pening July 10) at the  Perelman Performing Arts Center, directed by Mary Zimmerman.

     

      Jennifer, Nettles i(Julia), Bre Jackson ( La Capitana), Andrew Kober (Pietro), Aubrey Matalon (Renata), Christopher M. Ramirez (Governatore), Didi Romero (Duchessa), Naomi Serrano (Vitoria), and Sam Simahk (Father Paolo), and Jamila Sabares-Klemm and Maya Sistruck, with Kim Onah, Kaleb Wells and Jessica Rush.

     

      The new work tracks a real-life serial killer whose trail of murder begins with an act of self-defense.

     

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       American Voices, curated & performed by Tyne Daly, will take place Sat. Apr. 27 at 8 PM at Greenway Court Theatre.

     

      Tyne Daly loves poetry. And she wants you to love.it, too. American Voices is a curated collection of Ms. Daly’s favorite poets.

     

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       The 40th Anniverary benefit reading of  Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart will take place Mon, Apr. 27 at 7 PM at Off-Broadway’s Public Theater , directed by Tony Kushner.

     

      TBA.

     

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    Answers:   Famous Quotations by Jim Bernhard

     

    Quotation: The play is not in the words—it’s in you.—Stella Adler

     

    1-H. Speed- the- Plow, play by David Mamet

     

    2-F. Fanny’s First Play, play by George Bernard Shaw

     

    3-G. Music Is, musical by George Abbott, Jerry Adler, and Will Holt

     

    4-J. Not About Nightingales, play by Tennessee Williams

     

    5-A.  The Woman In White, musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Zippel, and Charlotte Jones

     

    6-I. Don’t Drink the Water, play by Woody Allen

     

    7-E. Words and Music, musical by Sammy Cahn

     

    8-B. It’s Only a Play, play by Terrence McNally

     

    9-D. Music In the Air, musical by Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern

     

    10-C.Talking To You, play by William Saroyan