This Week on Broadway for November 12, 2023: Pal Joey @ City Center

BROADWAYRADIO

11/12/23

James Marino,Michael Portantiere,Peter Filichia

This Week on Broadway for November 12, 2023: Pal Joey @ City Center

Subscribe: RSS

Peter Filichia, James Marino, and Michael Portantiere talk about Pal Joey @ City Center (Gala), Roundabout’s I Need That, Gingold Theatrical Group’s Arms and The Man, Ode To The Wasp Woman @ The Actors Temple Theatre, and John Philip in “Oceans of Love and Life”

“This Week on Broadway” has been coming to you every week since 2009. It is the longest-running running Broadway and theatrical podcast with hundreds of shows giving thousands of reviews and interviews.

Subscribe to BroadwayRadio in Apple Podcasts by CLICKING HERE.

Support BroadwayRadio on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/broadwayradio

Patreon listeners get This Week on Broadway first, on Sunday afternoon before it is released to the general public on Sunday evening.

Panel:

Peter Filichia | [email protected] | Facebook
PETER FILICHIA is a playwright, journalist, and historian with a number of books. His new book, Brain Teasers for Broadway Geniuses, is now available wherever finer books are sold. Peter also has columns at Masterworks Broadway, Broadway Select, and many other places.

Michael Portantiere | [email protected] | Facebook
MICHAEL PORTANTIERE is a theater reviewer and essayist. He is the founder and editor of CastAlbumReviews.com. He is also a theatrical photographer whose photos have appeared in The New York Times and other major publications. You can see his photography work at FollowSpotPhoto.com.

Matt Tamanini | [email protected] | Twitter | Instagram
MATT TAMANINI is a theatre, entertainment, and sports journalist who has been covering theatre for more than a decade. He is the news editor for TheStreamable, the co-managing editor for Land-Grant Holy Land, and is a host and producer for multiple shows on BroadwayRadio.

James Marino | [email protected] | Twitter | Facebook
BroadwayStars

Note: This week we had listeners join us while recording. These listeners are Patreon members who support BroadwayRadio. If you would like to join us in the future, become a supporter at Patreon.com/BroadwayRadio.

Pre:

Sheldon Harnick Memorial
Iconic Lyricist Sheldon Harnick to be honored Nov. 9th by Broadway Community in Celebration of Life
Broadway Luminaries will Perform a Tribute at Music Box Theater followed by all 41 Broadway theaters simultaneously dimming their lights

An array of Broadway luminaries, including Danny Burstein, Robert Cuccioli, Jason Danieley, Harvey Fierstein, Rob Fisher, Jessica Hecht, Judy Kuhn, Nancy Opel, David Rockwell, Alan Schmuckler, Elena Shaddow, Alexandra Silber, Emily Skinner, Deborah Grace Winer, Sherman Yellen, and Karen Ziemba will gather on Thursday, Nov. 9th at the Music Box Theater beginning at 2 pm to pay tribute to the iconic lyricist Sheldon Harnick.

The Dramatists Legal Defense Fund (DLDF) announces the second edition of Banned Together: An Anti-Censorship Theatre Podcast. This year’s edition will feature two episodes, which will both be released on Monday November 6. Episodes will be available to stream until November 30 by visiting www.thedldf.org.

Sleep No More Closing
Sleep No More, the site-specific, immersive experience that introduced an entirely new art form to — and forever changed — New York’s theatrical landscape, has announced its final extension and will close on January 28, 2024. Created by Punchdrunk (Felix Barrett and Maxine Doyle, directors) and produced by Emursive (co-founders Jonathan Hochwald, Arthur Karpati, Randy Weiner) in association with Rebecca Gold Productions, Sleep No More began previews on March 7, 2011. Nearly 13 years later it will have played exactly 5,000 performances to more than two million attendees.

‘Here Lies Love’ Announces November Closing Date
https://www.playbill.com/article/here-lies-love-announces-closing-date-on-broadway

Details Announced for Immersive UK ‘Starlight Express’
https://www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/New-Details-Revealed-for-the-Return-of-STARLIGHT-EXPRESS-in-London-20231107

Reviews:

MP: Pal Joey @ City Center (Gala)
In this brand-new adaptation, directed by Savion Glover and Tony Goldwyn, Joey Evans is a Black jazz singer in the 1940s struggling to make it big his way, with his sound, on Chicago’s vibrant nightclub circuit. This Rodgers and Hart classic incorporates additional beloved tunes from the duo’s songbook, as well as an updated book by Richard LaGravenese and Daniel “Koa” Beaty.

Led by Loretta Devine (Dreamgirls) as the newly scripted character Lucille, Aisha Jackson (Once Upon a One More Time) as Linda, Elizabeth Stanley (Jagged Little Pill) as Vera, and Ephraim Sykes (Ain’t Too Proud) as Joey, the cast features an ensemble of dance talents including tap queen Dormeshia and Savion Glover himself. An essential role in the storytelling of this adaptation, Glover’s bold dance stagings illustrate the cultural vitality of Joey’s musical artistry and heritage.

MP + PF: I Need That @ the American Airlines Theatre / Todd Haimes Theatre, through December 30, 2023
I Need That at Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, President/CEO, in memoriam; Scott Ellis, Interim Artistic Director). The world premiere of Theresa Rebeck’s play is directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel.

I Need That features Danny DeVito, Lucy DeVito and Ray Anthony Thomas.

Sam (Danny DeVito) doesn’t get out much. Actually, he doesn’t get out at all, opting instead for the safety of his house in the company of his things—his many, many things. But when a notice from the government arrives alerting Sam that he must clean up his property or face eviction, he’s forced to reckon with what’s trash, what’s treasure, and whether we can ever know the difference between the two.

The creative team for I Need That includes: Alexander Dodge (Sets), Tilly Grimes (Costumes), Yi Zhao (Lights), Fitz Patton, Bradlee Ward (Sound), and Fitz Patton (Original Music).

I Need That opens officially on Thursday, November 2, 2023. This is a limited engagement through Saturday, December 30, 2023 at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway (227 West 42nd Street).

American Airlines Theatre to be renamed in honor of Roundabout Theatre Company’s Todd Haimes
The announcement was made moments before the lights of Broadway were dimmed in honor of the late artistic director.

MP: Gingold Theatrical Group’s Arms and The Man @ Theatre Row’s THEATRE TWO, through through November 18, 2023

MP + PF: Ode To The Wasp Woman @ The Actors Temple Theatre, through January 31, 2024

MP: John Philip in “Oceans of Love and Life” @ Don’t Tell Mama, directed by Marilyn Maye with David Pearl as Music Director, November 7, 8, 11 and 15

PF: Telling Tales Out of School @ New Federal Theatre, ASP/Castillo Theatre, through November 12, 2023

Following an enthusiastically received work-in-progress of the play last May, New Federal Theatre (NFT) is presenting the world premiere of “Telling Tales Out of School,” a new play by Wesley Brown. The piece offers a unique perspective on the Harlem Renaissance by providing a character study of four of its most-noted female prime movers–Zora Neale Hurston, Nella Larsen, Jessie Fauset and Nancy Cunard–revealing their ambitions, longings and resentments and illuminating the feminine energy they brought to the movement. Director is Woodie King, Jr., founder and Producing Director Emeritus of NFT and an iconic figure of Black Theater. King and NFT received a 2020 Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre and the Off-Broadway Alliance named him a “Legend of Off-Broadway.”

News:

MP: Liz Callaway gets a Grammy Nomination!

2024 Grammy Award nominations announced — including Best Musical Theater Album

Peter’s Brainteasers:

The First was a musical about Jackie Robinson, a baseball player who wore a uniform with the number 42 on its back.

What musical theater character wore a baseball uniform that sported the number 33?

Michael’s Musical Moments

Liz Callaway, To Steve With Love

Music Opener:

Opening Medley (beginning with “Company”):