Theatre News Roundup: 7/30

I'm going to try for a Chicago rush ticket tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!

Another Op’nin, Another Show (OPENINGS)

• John Patrick Shanley's The Dreamer Examines His Pillow officially opens July 30 at the Flea Theater, following previews that began July 25. 

The Party’s Over (CLOSINGS)

• Mrs. Smith's Broadway Cat-Tacular!, the "all-singing, all-dancing demented cabaret on acid" by performance artist and writer David Hanbury, has announced it will end performances Off-Broadway earlier than anticipated. Following previews that began July 10, the final show will play its final performance Aug. 1 at the 47th Street Theatre. An official opening night was on July 20, with an original scheduled run through Sept. 20. 

I Wanna Be A Producer (IN DEVELOPMENT)

• Dear Evan Hansen, the new, original musical by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, officially opens July 30 in Washington, D.C. 
• Kansas City Choir Boy, the musical collaboration between Todd Almond (Iowa) and Courtney Love, which premiered at New York City's HERE earlier this year, will play a limited fall run at the American Repertory Theater's Oberon in October.

I Hope I Get It (CASTING)

• The Public Theater has announced that Danai Gurira's Eclipsed will join the 2015-16 season, with a cast lead by Lupita Nyong’o, winner of the Academy Award for her role in Steve McQueen's "12 Years A Slave." Obie winner Liesl Tommy will direct the New York premiere, set to begin performances Sept. 29, with an official opening night on Oct. 14. The limited engagement will run through Nov. 8.
• Casting announcements for the revival of Spring Awakening. Krysta Rodriguez and Andy Mientus will transfer with the production.
• Carly Hughes returns to the role of Velma Kelly in Chicago for 16 performances only, Aug. 22-Sept. 4, during Amra Faye Wright’s brief hiatus.

• Paul Pecorino has assumed the role of Sylvia St. Croix in Ruthless! after a medical emergency.
• Additional casting for Manhattan Theatre Club's upcoming world premiere of David Lindsay-Abaire's Ripcord, which will begin previews Off-Broadway Sept. 29 prior to an official opening Oct. 20 at New York City Center – Stage I (131 West 55th Street).

I Heard It Through the Grapevine (RUMORS)

• Glenn Close, who won a Tony Award for her performance as Norma Desmond in the Broadway production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, may return to the role on the other side of the Atlantic. Lloyd Webber told London's The Stage that his musical  may be mounted at the London Coliseum. He said, "Glenn wants to do it and I said to her that if she really wants to, we should get on with it."

Brush Up Your Shakespeare (SHAKESPEARE)

• The Drilling Company NY continues its summer stagings of Shakespeare in the Parking Lot with Macbeth, taking place on Manhattan's Lower East Side in the parking lot behind The Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center (CSV). The classic tale of power and revenge is reimagined by director Jesse Ontiveros to take place in the an unnamed banana republic. Performances of Macbeth in the parking lot play Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 PM, continuing through Aug. 26. 

Come to the Cabaret (CABARETS/CONCERTS/ETC)

• Betsy Wolfe and Jeremy Jordan will join forces for concerts next year at the Kennedy Center as part of the NSO Pops season. Broadway Today with Jeremy Jordan & Betsy Wolfe will be presented Feb. 26-27, 2016, in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets, priced $20-$88, will go on sale Nov. 23 to Kennedy Center members and Dec. 2 to the general public.
• Several stars of the original Broadway production of Saturday Night Fever will reunite Aug. 31 at 54 Below for a reunion concert.
• Radio City Music Hall will present Back to the Future in Concert Oct. 15-16. The special event celebrates the  film's 30th anniversary. Over two evenings, movie will be presented on the big screen with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra performing Alan Silvestri’s score live in synch with the movie. The presentation will also feature 20 minutes of new music, added by Silvestri especially for this live concert production.

A Musical (MUSICALS)

• The Vineyard has announced that its new season will kick off with the new musical comedy Gigantic, set at one of the top weight-loss camps for teens in the U.S. The musical features a book by Randy Blair and Tim Drucker, lyrics by Blair and music by Matt roi Berger. The Off-Broadway engagement will run Nov. 11-Dec. 20, with an official opening night set for Dec. 3.

It’s Only a Play (PLAYS)

• Abingdon Theatre Company has announced the three world-premiere plays slated for its 2015-16 season, beginning with JB Reich's Cut Throat in the fall. The 23rd season will also include Charles Messina's A Room of My Own and Ken Levine's Married By Midnight.

Stop! Wait! What?! (EVERYTHING ELSE)

• The Theatre Development Fund (TDF) announced July 30 its fifth season of autism-friendly shows, which are presented through its Autism Theatre Initiative (ATI). The matinee performances of several Broadway productions are adjusted specially for children and adults on the autism spectrum and with other sensitivity issues.
• In a comedic video addressing the dominance of men in the industry, the #MakeItFair project released "a call for gender equality in the stories we tell, the wages we earn, and the future we shape.