GRACE NOTES - Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011

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Today’s highlights:

* Divine Rivalry opens at Hartford Stage.

* Nursing, Part III of Adam Rapp’s The Hallway Trilogy, opens at Rattlestick.

* Book of Mormon begins previews at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre.

* Cactus Flower, starring Maxwell Caulfield, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s Westside Theatre Upstairs.

* Free SCFTA’s Rock of Ages mini-concert at 1 PM at Costa Mesa’s South Coast Plaza.

* Thurgood, starring Laurence Fishburne, debuts at 9 PM on HBO.

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The cast of Broadway's extended production of The Importance of Being Earnest will welcome Brian Murray, Jayne Houdyshell and Jessie Austrian to the American Airlines Theatre on March 22. They will replace Paxton Whitehead, Dana Ivey and Sara Topham, respectively, in the roles of Rev. Chasuble, Miss Prism and Gwendolen Fairfax.

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Laughing Literally: This Ain’t No Tea Party, a new evening of comedy with music and multi-media presentations, will make its Off-Broadway debut beginning March 14 at the Midtown Theatre, 163 West 46th Street. Opening night is set for Thursday, March 24 at 7 PM. This strictly limited engagement is set to run through May 22 only.

Justin Krebs directs a rotating cast that includes John Fugelsang, Jim David, Dean Obeidallah, Baratunde Thurston, Negin Farsad, Lee Camp, Katie Halper, and Elon James White.

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Pacific Resident Theatre offers the first reading in their Gala Reading Series, celebrating the theatre’s 25th anniversary. Featuring original New York cast members Christine Lahti and Ron Rifkin, Three Hotels, by John Robin Baitz, will be presented Sunday, March 13 at 7 PM.

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Pasadena Playhouse has announced the extension of Dangerous Beauty, due to popular demand. The production will now close one week later, on March 13.

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GN quote of the week: “The best research for playing a drunk is being a British actor for 20 years.” ~ Michael Caine

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Are you an Idiot?

An American Idiot national tour will be launched this fall. They're looking for newcomers to star.

The tour's start date and city were not announced. An open casting call for all roles will be held in Los Angeles March 5, Toronto March 26, Boston April 9 and Chicago April 23 this spring.

Locations and times for the open-call auditions in Toronto, Boston and Chicago will be announced soon at facebook.com/americanidiotbroadway.

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Video: Sutton Foster and Joel Grey chat about Anything Goes: http://bit.ly/gO4kNG

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The National Theatre has announced complete casting for its production of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, which begins previews on March 10 in the company's Olivier Theatre.

Alongside the previously reported Zoe Wanamaker, playing Ranyevskaya, the company will feature Claudie Blakley (as Varya), Mark Bonnar (Trofimov), Pip Carter (Yepihodov), Kenneth Cranham (Firs), Paul Dodds, Craige Els, Mark Fleischmann, Colin Haigh, Conleth Hill (Lopakhin), Gerald Kyd (Yasha), James Laurenson (Gaev), Tim McMullan (Simyonov-Pischik), Jessica Regan, Tim Samuels, Emily Taaffe (Dunyasha), Stephanie Thomas, Joseph Thompson, Rosie Thomson, Ellie Turner, Charity Wakefield (Anya) and Sarah Woodward (Charlotta). Howard Davies will direct the production, which will be designed by Bunny Christie, with lighting by Neil Austin, music by Dominic Muldowney and sound by Paul Groothuis. More information here.

The National has also announced full casting for the musical London Road, which, directed by Rufus Norris, will begin previews on April 7 in the Cottesloe Theatre in anticipation of an official opening on April 14. With book and lyrics by Alecky Blythe, music and lyrics by Adam Cork, the piece focuses how the everyday life of the rural town of Ipswich was shattered by the discovery of the bodies of five women and the subsequent investigation of the murder.

For this show, Clare Burt, Hal Fowler, Howard Ward and Duncan Wisbey will join Rosalie Craig, Kate Fleetwood, Nick Holder, Claire Moore, Michael Shaeffer, Nicola Sloane, and Paul Thornley. More information here.

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Ruby Dee, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, George Faison, Woodie King, Jr., Phylicia Rashad, Tamara Tunie, Jeffrey Wright, Irene Gandy, Donna Walker- Kuhne, Patricia Cruz, and Howard Dodson, along with The Shubert Organization will be honored by The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, The Harlem Arts Alliance and The Broadway League in a ceremony to be held at Gran Piatto d'Oro on Feb. 28. In addition, playwright August Wilson will receive a posthumous honor from the organizations.

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Second Stage Theatre has announced the two world premiere comedies it will present as part of its 2011 Second Stage Theatre Uptown Series, at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre.

In Michael Mitnick's Sex Lives of Our Parents (June 7 - July 3), Virginia is getting married. As her wedding day approaches, unwanted ghosts of her mother's past appear, unearthing a shocking past she never knew -- nor wanted to. Davis McCallum will direct.

Anna Kerrigan's The Talls (Aug. 1-27), directed by Carolyn Cantor, centers on 17-year-old Isabelle Clarke, who must negotiate Catholicism, politics and virginity in the 1970's.

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Video: Guess That Show #2: http://bit.ly/en8ty5

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The Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival will honor four women for their exceptional career and life achievements at its Opening Night Gala on March 24 at The Electric Lodge in Venice:

Suzanna Guzman
Velina Hasu Houston
Charmaine Jefferson
Joan Benedict Steiger

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The Billie Holiday Theatre continues its 39th season with the world premiere of The Legend of Buster Neal, written and directed by Jackie Alexander. The new play began previews Feb. 18 and will open March 4, running through March 27 at the 200-seat Billie Holiday Theatre, Restoration Plaza, 1368 Fulton Street in Brooklyn. The Legend of Buster Neal is the story of five generations of African-American men and their challenges. Charles Anthony Burks, Sidiki Fofana, Stephen Hill, Dennis Johnson, Patrick Mitchell, and Nathan Purdee star.

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Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart will make its Broadway debut this spring, using elements from a starry reading that was seen in October. Joel Grey, who will be seen in the upcoming revival of Anything Goes, will again direct.

Performances will begin at the Golden on April 19 with an official opening scheduled for April 27 (The play will share its opening night with Baby It's You!, which is also scheduled to open April 27, at the Broadhurst).

As he did in the earlier reading, Tony winner Joe Mantello will star as Ned Weeks, along with John Benjamin Hickey as Ned's lover, Felix Turner; and Ellen Barkin, in her Broadway debut, as Dr. Emma Brookner. The NY Times reports that Cheyenne Jackson is currently in negotiations to be part of the cast. Read the full NY Times article here.

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The Tony Award-winning Chicago Shakespeare Theater will open its 2011-12 season this fall with Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman's musical Follies, directed by Gary Griffin, who will use the same approved Follies script as the upcoming spring revival by the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. The Chicago production will be staged in CST's Courtyard Theater Oct. 4-Nov. 6.

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The short-lived Broadway musical Glory Days (book by James Gardiner, score by Nick Blaemire), about a group of high school friends who reunite after their first year away at college, will bow in Los Angeles March 17 at the Lillian Theatre (6322 Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood, part of the Elephant Theatre complex). Calvin Remsberg will direct the 90-minute musical that will officially open March 19 for a run through May 8. James May will serve as music director.

The Los Angeles cast will include Alex Robert Holmes as Skip, Derek Klena as Will, Matthew Koehler as Andy, Ian Littleworth as Jack and understudies Jeffrey Scott Parsons and Alex Martinez Wallace.

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Kate Baldwin, Tituss Burgess, and Lauren Kennedy will perform at an event celebrating the release of Thirteen Stories Down: The Songs of Jonathan Reid-Gealt, to be held on Wednesday, March 30 at 5 PM at the Barnes & Noble at 150 E 86th Street.

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Mandy Gonzalez, America Ferrera, Julian Fleisher, Richard Kind, Marc Kudisch, Nellie McKay, Anthony Rapp, and Nat Wolff will be among the participating artists in The 24 Hour Musicals, to be held at Gramercy Theatre in Manhattan, on March 7 at 8 PM. Ted Sperling will serve as creative director. 24hourplays.com/

The program will feature four brand new musicals, written, cast, rehearsed and performed in a single day, featuring an star-studded line up of Broadway performers, composers, writers, directors, choreographers and musical directors. Additional artists will be announced at a later date.

Following the performance, a VIP reception will take place at The National Arts Club. Proceeds from The 24 Hour Musicals benefit the Exchange, a NYC not-for-profit that develops new theatre work through productions and its development center for innovative theatre companies and artists in the Catskills, the Orchard Project.

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SpeakEasy Stage (539 Tremont Street in Boston) presents the New England Premiere of Neil LaBute’s provocative drama reasons to be pretty March 4-April 2. Paul Malone directs a cast that includes Burt Grinstead, Andy MacDonald, Danielle Muehlen and Angie Jepson.

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The National Entertainment Fund for the Cultural Arts have announced participating artists for the 7th Annual Broadway Purim Shpiel, to be held on Monday, March 14 at 7 PM at the Hudson Theatre. Proceeds will benefit The Birthright Israel Foundation, an organization dedicated to sending young Jews from across the world to Israel.

Playwright David Mamet will open the proceedings with a personal message, and there will be a screening of a new short film by the award-winning playwright and director.

Performers will include Dave Attell, Kevin Earley, Curtis Holbrook, Garrett Long, Anne L. Nathan, and cast members from The Addams Family, Mamma Mia!, and other shows.

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Video: Oscar promo - Anne Hathaway's "Don't Cry for Me Argentina": http://bit.ly/dNW1hJ

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Simon Callow has won the Sheridan Morley Prize for Theatre Biography for "My Life in Pieces." The £2,000 prize, established in 2008, is given for the best biography, autobiography or diary in theater or show business from the preceding year in honor of biographer Sheridan Morley.

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The 2011 edition of Broadway Bears will be held on Sunday, March 6 at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, beginning at 6 PM. Bryan Batt will host the event, which benefits BC/EFA.

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