the week of february 25 - march 3, 2023
march is the month of expectation
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icymi: bills, bills, bills #10
This month’s money diary is from an actor/writer/director in the Mid-Atlantic juggling stage combat classes with bartending at a major regional theater:
As always, the full archive of past money diaries is located here.
in-person theatre
The world premiere of Martin Yousif Zebari’s Layalina runs March 3 - April 2 at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Sivan Battat directs the “surprising new play about how families fall apart—and find each other again—amidst turbulent global and social change.”
Lenelle Moïse’s K-I-S-S-I-N-G starts performances March 3rd at The Huntington in Boston. Co-produced with Front Porch Arts Collective, the “heart-opening story for fans of David Bowie, bell hooks, and fireworks by the Charles” is directed by Dawn M. Simmons.
Molly Beach Murphy, Jeanna Phillips, and Annie Tippe’s new punk-folk-indie rock musical Cowboy Bob premieres March 3rd at Houston’s Alley Theatre. Tippe directs and choreographs the “story of one of the FBI’s most unusual suspects through the eyes of a chain-restaurant waitress desperate to buck her flavorless life and awaken to all that’s possible.”
mica rose and Alison Yueming Qu’s we and other queer goddexxes will have a workshop production on March 4th with Boston’s Company One. Des Bennett directs the “communal exploration of queer and diasporic identity through storytelling, poetry, movement, and audience interaction.”
Alexander Zeldin’s Love is now playing at the Park Avenue Armory. Zeldin directs his own drama that “draws attention to the cracks in the welfare system when several families are brought together in a shelter in the lead up to Christmas.”
Finegan Kruckemeyer’s This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing is now playing at Theater Alliance in DC. Johamy Morales directs the modern fairy tale about “triplet sisters are left in a forest by a woodcutter father and forced to find their own way in the world.”
Lynn Nottage's Crumbs from the Table of Joy is now playing through April 1st at Keen Company. The 1950s-set memory play about father and daughter relocating to Brooklyn and navigating “a changing family dynamic, an unwelcoming neighborhood, and a shifting set of American ideals” is directed by Colette Robert. (If you want $10 off tickets, use the code TRK10T.)
Lloyd Suh’s The Heart Sellers will have a one-day-only reading on March 6th as part of Manhattan Theatre Club’s Ted Snowdon Reading Series. May Adrales directs the “funny and deeply moving new play giving voice to the Asian immigrant experience in the wake of the Hart-Celler Act.”
Adam Rapp’s The Sound Inside starts performances March 7th at Everyman Theatre in Baltimore. The Tony-nominated drama about “the unexpectedly intense bond between an Ivy League professor and her enigmatic student” is directed by Vincent M. Lancisi.
Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s musical Pacific Overtures runs March 7 - April 9 at Signature Theatre in Virginia. Ethan Heard directs the rarely produced “kaleidoscope of stories about sailors, samurai, ‘someone in a tree’ and two friends who choose radically different paths.”
Anna Deavere Smith’s revised Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 starts performances March 8th at LA’s Center Theatre Group. Smith reimagined her original solo performance for an ensemble cast; Gregg T. Daniel directs the “stunning and seminal play that explores the devastating human impact of the five days of uprising following the Rodney King verdict.”
Madhuri Shekar’s A Nice Indian Boy runs March 8 - April 9 at Olney Theatre Center. The “inter-generational, intercultural comedy about an Indian family wrestling with tradition, masculinity, and acceptance” is directed by Zi Alikhan.
Nia Vardalos’ adaptation of Tiny Beautiful Things starts performances March 9th at Baltimore Center Stage. The “fantastical and cathartic play” based on Cheryl Strayed’s online advice column Dear Sugar is directed by Ken-Matt Martin.
2023-24 season announcements
Kansas City Rep announced its 2023-24 season. The line-up includes Martin Crimp’s adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac (directed by Nelson T. Eusebio III), Heidi Schreck’s What the Constitution Means to Me, Christina Ham’s Nina Simone: Four Women, and Little Shop of Horrors (directed by Stuart Carden).
Shakespeare Theatre Company announced its 2023-24 season. The DC theatre will produce Evita (directed by Sammi Cannold), Whitney White’s Macbeth in Stride (directed by Tyler Dobrowsky and Taibi Magar), As You Like It (adapted and directed by Daryl Cloran), Macbeth (directed by Simon Godwin), and Ben Powers’ adaptation of The Lehman Trilogy.
the regional theatre game of thrones
Will Davis is the new artistic director of Rattlestick Theater. The director/choreographer is the first transgender person to lead a major nonprofit institution without a defined LGBTQ mission. Davis succeeds Daniella Topol, who is leaving theatre to pursue a nursing career.
Danilo Gambini is the new associate artistic director at Studio Theatre. He is currently the associate artistic director at Rattlestick and recently directed Arturo Luís Soria’s OBIE-winning solo play Ni Mi Madre.
awards & commissions
The OBIE Award winners were announced. The 37 awards were selected from over 400 productions over the last three seasons, including digital and audio work made during the pandemic. (You can now watch all of the acceptance speeches on the American Theatre Wing’s YouTube channel.)
Woolly Mammoth announced its first Weissberg Commissions. The selected artists are Vivian J. O. Barnes, Gethsemane Herron, Jenn Kidwell, and Justin Weaks. The commissions offer support to “artists born, raised, or based in Washington, DC, and surrounding areas and/or writing about topics that resonate with the DMV.”
what i read this week when i wasn’t reading hilary leichter’s terrace story
Robert Ito on the making of Zoe Sarnak and Rachel Bonds’ new musical The Lonely Few (gift link!), which is now in previews at the Geffen Playhouse (NYT)
The code for the Keen Company production of CRUMBS FROM THE TABLE OF JOY gets you $10 off, not $10 tickets.