Peter Filichia, James Marino, and Michael Portantiere talk about the 50th Anniversary of A Chorus Line. Reviews include JOY: A New True Musical @ the Laura Pels Theatre, Polishing Shakespeare @ 59e59, A Midsummer Night’s Dream @ Ensemble Shakespeare Company, A Midsummer Night’s Dream @ Shakespeare in the Parking Lot, The Matchmaker @ Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, The Wicked Stage: Songs About Show Business, Hosted by Christine Pedi @ 54 Below, and Josh Sharp’s solo show ‘Ta-da!’ @ Greenwich House Theater.
Betsy Wolfe (Joy) in JOY: A New True Musical Production Photos by Joan Marcus
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Peter Filichia | [email protected] | Facebook
PETER FILICHIA is a playwright, journalist, and historian with a number of books. Peter’s new day-by-day desk calendar – A SHOW TUNE FOR TODAY – 366 Songs to Brighten Your Year – has been released! Peter also has columns at Masterworks Broadway, Broadway Select, and many other places.
Showtune for Today: Sherry! from The Man Who Came to Dinner
Peter Filichia & Friends: Broadway Tales and Tunes, Monday August 4 @ 54 Below
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.
Celebration: The Songs of Tom Jones & Harvey Schmidt @ Laurie Beechman, September 9, 2025
MP: Waiting for Guffman (movie) @ The Paris
James Marino | [email protected] | Facebook
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A Chorus Line 50th Anniversary:
A Chorus Line IBDB | IMDB |
DONNA McKECHNIE’S RETURN TO A CHORUS LINE – FULL SHOW:
PF + JM: JOY: A New True Musical @ the Laura Pels Theatre, through August 17, 2025
Based on the life of trailblazing businesswoman and inventor Joy Mangano, Tony Award nominee Betsy Wolfe will play ‘Joy’ with Jill Abramovitz as ‘Toots,’ Honor Blue Savage as ‘Christie,’ Adam Grupper as ‘Rudy,’ Brandon Espinoza as ‘Tony,’ Jaygee Macapugay as ‘Lorraine,’ Paul Whitty as ‘Cowboy Eddie,’ Charl Brown as ‘Dan,’ and Gabriela Carrillo as ‘Ronni.’
They will be joined by ensemble members Dana Costello, Ryan Duncan, Gaelen Gilliland, Sydni Moon, Manuel Santos, Brian Shepard, Allysa Shorte, and Alan Wiggins. Rounding out the cast are Briana Brooks, Nora Mae Dixon, Michał Kołaczkowski, Lael Van Keuren, and Jerome Vivona.
JOY: A New True Musical is an uplifting work based on the true story of entrepreneur and inventor Joy Mangano. Her journey—also told in the 2015 film JOY, starring Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence—now comes to life on stage. From single motherhood and financial struggles to building a business empire, Joy’s story epitomizes the power of resilience and determination, an inspiring celebration of a woman who never gave up and redefined the American Dream!
The powerful and uplifting new musical features a book by Tony winner Ken Davenport, music and lyrics by GRAMMY® and Tony Award nominee AnnMarie Milazzo, music supervision and arrangements by Andy Einhorn, choreography by Emmy Award® winner Joshua Bergasse, and direction by Lorin Latarro. Additional material is by Amanda Yesnowitz.
The creative team for JOY: A New True Musical includes Tony Award nominee Anna Louizos (Scenic Design), Tina McCartney (Costume Design), Yael Lubetzky (Lighting Designer), Daniel Lundberg (Sound Designer), Tony Award nominee David Bengali (Projection and Video Design), Liz Printz (Hair and Wig Design), Jillian Zack (Music Director), Gary Mickelson (Production Stage Manager), with ShowTown Theatricals serving as general manager.
JOY: A New True Musical Production Photos by Joan Marcus
L-R: Jill Abramovitz (Toots), Honor Blue Savage (Christie), Brandon Espinoza (Tony), Jaygee Macapugay (Lorraine), and Adam Grupper (Rudy) in JOY: A New True Musical Production Photos by Joan Marcus
PF: Polishing Shakespeare @ 59e59, through August 24, 2025
MP: A Midsummer Night’s Dream @ Ensemble Shakespeare Company
A Midsummer Night’s Dream @ Shakespeare in the Parking Lot
This year’s venue is the Parking Lot of Lower East Side Prep, 145 Stanton Street (entrance on Rivington St. betw. Norfolk and Suffolk). Subways are F to Delancey Street and M to Essex Street.
Schedule
July 17 to August 2, 2025
Shows are Thursdays to Saturdays at 7:00 PM.
The Drilling Company, founded by Hamilton Clancy, is comprised of an ensemble/rep company not unlike Shakespeare’s company. Its members are veterans of the Off and Off-Off Broadway scene whose on-camera appearances commonly populate everything from streaming series to summer blockbusters. This year’s cast includes longtime SITPL veterans Alessandro Colla, Una Clancy, David Marantz, Evangeline Fontaine, Lizabeth Allen, Andy Rowell, and Patrick Hart along with newcomers Miranda Reilly, Lia Bonfilio, Chris Martel, Marion Stenfort, Aria Martinelli, Adama Joy Sall, Curtiss Howard, Jasmine Gonzalez , Thammie Laine Quach, Moon Cat, Leah Schwartz and Kaleb Baker. Assistant Director is Kathleen Simmonds.
PF: The Matchmaker @ Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival (Garrison, NY), through August 3, 2025
Directed By: Davis McCallum
Composer: Alex Bechtel
Sound Designer: Liam Bellman-Sharpe
Props Design: Buffy Cardoza
Stage Manager: Janelle Caso*
Lighting Designer: Lily Fossner
Costume Design: Charlotte Palmer Lane
Choreography: Susannah Millonzi
Voice Coach: Alithea Phillips
Cast: Blaze Adler-Ivanbrook^, Tyler Bey, Helen Cespedes, Aamar-Malik Culbreth^, Zach Fine, Dylan Scarlett Foster^, Anvita Gattani^, Katie Hartke, Carl Howell, Melissa Mahoney, Sean McNall, Kurt Rhoads, India Shea^, Nance Williamson* and Victor Yang^
Take the Metro-North Hudson Line to Garrison from points south or north. On weekends, trains departing from Grand Central Station generally arrive in Garrison every half-hour on weekends, while trains departing from Poughkeepsie generally arrive in Garrison every hour. To find a complete seasonal schedule, visit Metro-North’s website or stop at a regional kiosk.
When you arrive, taxi service may be sparse. Be sure to reserve a local taxi pickup in advance of your trip or try out a ride-hailing service such as Lyft or Uber. HVS offers a FREE Weekend Shuttle from the Train Station (details below). Travel time from the Garrison to the HVS Theater Tent is roughly 5 minutes by car. It is not walkable.
MP: Christine Pedi’s The Wicked Stage at 54 Below: Scintillatingly Delightful!
The Wicked Stage: Songs About Show Business, Hosted by Christine Pedi @ 54 Below, July 21, 2025
PF: Josh Sharp’s solo show ‘Ta-da!’ @ Greenwich House Theater, through August 23, 2025
Written by and Starring JOSH SHARP
Directed by 2025 Tony Award Nominee SAM PINKLETON
Premiering Off-Broadway this Summer at the GREENWICH HOUSE THEATER
For A Strictly Limited Engagement Through August 23, 2025
MP: Stupidest theater related comments
He won multiple Tonys for the books he provided for musicals, but he also wrote a play that closed in Philadelphia.
If you take the first two words of that flop’s title, you’ll have the name of a person who has never appeared on Broadway, but one who did provide voices for a play that opened in the first decade of this new century.
It received one and only one Tony nomination – but that one nomination resulted in a win.
Who’s the writer? What was the play? Who provided the voices and in what show did he do it? Finally, who won the Tony for that show?
Michael’s Musical Moments
A CHORUS LINE, “I Hope I Get It”
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