GRACE NOTES - Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011

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Today’s highlights:

* The Dream of the Burning Boy opens at Roundabout Underground.

* Paraffin, Part II of Adam Rapp’s The Hallway Trilogy, opens at Rattlestick.

* August: Osage County, starring Josie de Guzman, opens at Houston's Alley Theatre.

* In Mother Words opens at the Geffen.

* Private Lives begins performances at London's Manchester Royal Exchange.

* A House Not Meant to Stand begins previews at LA's Fountain Theatre.

* The Idealist reading, starring Tony Roberts, Martin Vidnovic and Alison Pill, at 8 PM at The Times Center. Attend in person or watch online: http://bit.ly/hZEMam

* Starship, the Musical, with music and lyrics by Darin Criss, closes at Chicago's Hooper-Leppen Theatre.

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Complete casting has been announced for the Roundabout Theatre Company's upcoming production of the new Broadway musical The People in the Picture, which will star two-time Tony winner Donna Murphy.

The cast of the production, which begins performances at Studio 54 April 1 toward an opening April 28, will also feature Alexander Gemignani (Moishe), Christopher Innvar (Chaim), Nicole Parker (Red), Rachel Resheff (Jenny), Hal Robinson (Doovie, Rabbi Velvel), Lewis J. Stadlen (Avram Krinsky), Joyce Van Patten (Chayesel), Chip Zien (Yossie Pinsker), Brad Bradley, Rachel Bress, Jeremy Davis, Emilee Dupre, Maya Goldman, Louis Hobson, Shannon Lewis, Jessica Lea Patty, Andie Mechanic, Megan Reinking, Jeffrey Schecter and Paul Anthony Stewart.

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The Off-Broadway revival of Tony Kushner's Angels in America has extended for a fourth time at Off-Broadway’s Signature Theatre. The Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning work will spread its wings through April 24.

It has also been announced that Tony nominee Jonathan Hadary will succeed Tony Award winner Frank Wood as Roy Cohn beginning March 29.

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Ashley Brown will return to the title role in Broadway’s Mary Poppins on March 8.

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A by-invitation-only backers' audition of Treasure Island, A New Musical, a reverent adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel, will be held Feb. 28 in Manhattan. The new musical features a book by director Smock and Carla Vitale, who is also the dramaturg, with a score by Corinne Aquilina. Industry only: info@treasureislandthemusical.com.

Directed by Brett Smock, the cast will feature Matthew Gumley (Jim Hawkins), Jamie Jackson (Long John Silver), Zachary James (Israel Hands), Nick Dalton (George Merry), Kevin McGuire (Squire Trelawney), Howard Kaye (Captain Smollett), Erik Liberman (Ben Gunn/O’Brien), Daniel C. Levine (Abraham Gray), Eric Anderson (Billy Bones/Redruth), Don Burroughs (Pew/Thomas Morgan), Mike Masters (Dr. Livesey), Bruce Warren (Black Dog/Job), Matthew Farcher (Dick) and Trisha Rapier (Mother). treasureislandthemusical.com/main.php

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Video: Priscilla’s anti-bullying “It Gets Better”: http://bit.ly/gB7PLD

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Larry King has announced that he will play a series of one-night-only engagements with Larry King: Standing Up beginning April 14 in Torrington, CT.

Additional stops will include the Kirby Center for the Performing Arts in Wilkes-Barre (April 15); the Theatre at Westbury (April 16); the Hippodrome in Baltimore (May 13); the Music Box in Atlantic City, (May 14); the Silver Legacy Resort Casino in Reno (June 10); and the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas (June 11). Additional dates and cities will be announced shortly.

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The White Plains Performing Arts Center will present a three-week limited engagement of Andrew Gerle's Renovations beginning March 17. Based on the book "Renovations: A Father and Son Rebuild a House and Rediscover Each Other" by John Marchese, performances will continue through April 3.

Directed by Mikhael Tara Garver, the cast will feature Todd Cerveris (South Pacific) as John Marchese, Lenny Wolpe (Wicked) as Tully Marchese, Ken Forman (Wilder, Wilder, Wilder) and Liz Larsen (Hairspray).

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La Mirada Theatre presents ArtsPower’s Madeline and the Bad Hat, the national touring musical based on the children’s book by Ludwig Bemelmans. Performances are Sunday, March 13 at 1:30 and 3:30 PM. Madeline and the Bad Hat was adapted for the stage by ArtsPower’s Artistic Director Greg Gunning, who also wrote the lyrics and directed the production. Composer/Orchestrator Richard DeRosa created the original Broadway-style score.

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Casting has been announced for The Old Globe’s production of Groundswell, which plays March 12-April 17, with an opening set for March 17. Set in a beachfront resort on the jagged edge of west South Africa, two men plot to convince their lone guest to invest in their diamond mining scheme. The three men find themselves caught in a power struggle fueled by greed and desperation and will go to any length to secure a chance at a better life.

Kyle Donnelly directs a cast that includes Antony Hagopian (Johan), Mfundo Morrison (Thami) and Ned Schmidtke (Smith).

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TimeOut NY chats with Harvey Fierstein about La Cage then (1983) and now: http://bit.ly/hD4yGV

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Nancy Opel and John Jellison will join the cast of the Tony Award-winning musical Memphis in March, replacing original cast members Cass Morgan and Michael McGrath, who will depart the production March 13.

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Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Heather Alicia Simms and Crystal A. Dickinson will lead the cast of debbie tucker green's [sic] Olivier Award-winning play about young woman searching for the truth of her past, Born Bad, which will receive its U.S. premiere this spring at Soho Rep.

Previews for the production, which will be directed by Leah C. Gardiner, will begin March 31 towards an April 7 official opening. The production will run through April 24. The cast also includes LeRoy McClain, Michael Rogers and Elaine R. Graham.

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Characters from the Broadway musical The Addams Family will be recreated in a series of dolls by Madame Alexander. The doll editions of the titular family's matriarch, Morticia, as well as children Pugsley and Wednesday, will be available in June. The Addams family patriarch, Gomez, will be released in September. Take a look at the dolls here.

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Patch Darragh, Matt Dellapina, Logan Marshall-Green, Michael Pemberton, Darren Pettie, Brian Smith, and Greg Stuhr will participate in a reading of Victor Lewnieski's Where Bison Run, to be offered at Ars Nova on Feb. 28 at 7 PM as part of the theater's Out Loud series. Evan Cabnet will direct the performance. Reservations: rsvp@arsnovanyc.com.

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Daytime drama stars Kristen Alderson, Ellen Dolan, Marnie Schulenberg, and Brittany Underwood will join Daytime Emmy Award nominee Ilene Kristen in Anthony Wilkinson's My Big Gay Italian Wedding, playing at St. Luke's Theatre, March 17-19. Kristen is playing the role of Aunt Toniann in the show through March 26.

The production also features Anthony J. Wilkinson, Marty Thomas, Erik Ransom, Eric Carpenter, Brett Douglas, Liz Gerecitano, Leah Gerstel, Randi Kaplan, Chad Kessler, Marissa Rosen, Meagan Robar, Joe Scanio, Joey Murray, Billy Yoder and Adam Zelasko. biggayitalianwedding.com/

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Vote for the BroadwayWorld San Francisco Awards before the March 31 deadline: http://bit.ly/hGnBcl

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Nominations for the 2011 Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) Awards have been announced (complete list here):

Acting nominees include Leigh Barrett (Trailer Park Musical), Noah Bean (Bus Stop), D. B. Bonds (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), Jennifer Cody (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), Thomas Derrah (Cabaret), Todd Gearhart (Sunset Blvd.), Daniel Jenkins (The Blue Flower), Lucas Kavner (The Blue Flower), Will Lyman (All My Sons), Karen MacDonald (All My Sons), Meghan McGeary (The Blue Flower), Brendon McNabb (The Adding Machine), Burke Moses (Johnny Baseball), Marissa Perry (Hairspray), Stephanie Powers (Suset Blvd.), Martin Rayner (Freud's Last Session), Nikkole Salter (Stick Fly), Anne Scurria (Absurd Person Singular), Teal Wicks (The Blue Flower), Stephanie Umoh (Johnny Baseball), and Rachel York (Into the Woods).

Among the solo performance nominees are Jacqui Parker for Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, Karen MacDonald for The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead, and Leslie Uggams for Uptown/Downtown.

Seth Rudetsky's Deconstructing B'Way is among the nominees for Visiting Production, while Visiting Performer nominees include Jackie Burns (Wicked), Estelle Parsons (August: Osage County), Scott Shepherd (Gatz), and Doug Elkins (Fraulein Maria).

Among the directing nominees are Larry Coen (Gold Dust Orphans' Phantom of the Oprah), Peter DuBois (Becky Shaw), David Esbjornson (All My Sons), Kenny Leon (Stick Fly), Nicholas Martin (Bus Stop), Diane Paulus (Johnny Baseball), and Charles Towers (Four Places).

Nominees in the New Play (Large) category include Lydia R. Diamond's Stick Fly; the Robert and Willie Reale/Richard Dresser musical Johnny Baseball; Bob Glaudini's Vengeance Is the Lord's; Jim and Ruth Bauer's The Blue Flower; Moises Kaufman & Co's The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later; and Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen's Aftermath.

Among the other notable nominees are playwright Melinda Lopez for From Orchids to Octopi; choreographer Casey Nicolaw for Spamalot; set designer Eugene Lee for Vengeance is the Lord's; set designer David Gallo for Stick Fly; and lighting designer Christopher Akerlind for All My Sons.

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Paramount Theatre (23 E Galena Blvd. in Aurora, Ill.) is thrilled to bring Michael Ingersoll and the recent leading cast members of the hit Broadway musical Jersey Boys back to Aurora, with their new show Under the Streetlamp, as an encore to their sold-out performance last winter. Under the Streetlamp will play for one performance only Saturday, March 19 at 8 PM.

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Video: Sneak peek at Danny Boyle’s Frankenstein: http://bit.ly/eSApq2

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Manhattan Theatre Club’s Good People, the latest work from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire, has extended its Broadway engagement an additional two weeks, now through May 8, at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.

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In honor of Tennessee Williams’ 100th birthday, Aurora Theatre Company (2081 Addison Street in Berkeley, CA) presents the playwright’s haunting drama The Eccentricities of a Nightingale April 1-May 8. Directed by Artistic Director Tom Ross, the cast features Beth Wilmurt, Charles Dean, Marcia Pizzo, and Thomas Gorrebeeck, along with Amy Crumpacker, Ryan Tasker, Leanne Borghesi, and Beth Deitchman.

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The world premiere of Lookingglass Theatre's Ethan Frome, Laura Eason's adaptation of the Edith Wharton novel, begins Feb. 23 in Chicago. Opening night is March 5. Performances play to April 17 at Lookingglass Theatre Company's home inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson.

Eason directs the production, featuring Lookingglass company members Philip R. Smith, Andrew White, Louise Lamson and Lisa Tejero, with Erik Lochtefeld.

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Actress and singer Lorna Luft, daughter of late entertainment icon Judy Garland, will be part of the March 11 Carnegie Hall concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of her mother's triumphant performance at the New York venue.

Luft will join Tony Award winner Karen Olivo, Tony winner Heather Headley and original Broadway Mary Poppins star Ashley Brown for the 8 PM concert, which will boast the original line-up and arrangements from Garland's 1961 concert.

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Video: Sneak peek at Pee Wee Herman’s HBO show: http://bit.ly/eXgV0P

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Mike Birbiglia, Aya Cash, John Lithgow, and David Rakoff will perform in the March 2 installment of Selected Shorts, to be held at Symphony Space's Peter Jay Sharp Theatre at 7 PM.

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Colleen Ballinger, Alex Brightman, Catherine Brookman, Allison Case, Kate Morgan Chadwick, Brian Justin Crum, Jeanna de Waal, Meghann Fahy, F. Michael Haynie, Greg Hildreth, Morgan Karr, Rachel Potter, Anthony Rapp, Kate Shindle, Sarah Stiles, Teal Wicks, and Courtney Wolfson are set to perform at a NewMusicalTheatre.com concert, to be offered on Feb. 28 at 8:30 PM at The Canal Room (285 W. Broadway). David Ruttura will direct the event, which will have music direction by Matt Hinkley.

The concert will feature a new song by Michael Friedman, as well as works by Gaby Alter, Sam Carner & Derek Gregor, Bobby Cronin, Drew Gasparini, Jonathan Reid Gealt, Paul Gordon, Michael Kooman & Christopher Dimond, Joshua Salzman & Ryan Cunningham, Jeff Thomson & Jordan Mann, and Will Van Dyke.

The concert will be preceded by a performance at 7:30 PM by Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk as one of their You Made This Tour engagements.

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After months of speculation, “Rock of Ages” film director Adam Shankman has confirmed that Tom Cruise has officially begun work as Stacee Jaxx. He tells the Toronto Sun: "I think we're going to see him every drop the rock'n'roll god. He's pouring himself in this part in a way I've never had an actor do. It's pretty intense. Between the voice lessons, the incredible study... researching the period, it's like 1987, just going there!"

Cruise will perform Styx's 'Renegade' and Bon Jovi's 'Wanted Dead Or Alive'. Alec Baldwin is also in talks for the film, as is Anne Hathaway, who would share a duet of Foreigner's "I Want To Know What Love Is" with Cruise. Gwyneth Paltrow had hoped to sign on, but is unavailable, according to Shankman.

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Placebo, a new musical written by Danny Abosch and Joshua Borths, premiered in November 2010 at the University of Michigan, and was also workshopped in February 2011 at Oklahoma City University. The Original Concept Cast Recording is available through iTunes, or for purchase as a physical disc at placebothemusical.com/castalbum (the recording is also being offered as a promotional free download for a short time at this link).

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RIP. Playwright James McLure has died from cancer, according to a report in The New York Times. He was 59.

McLure's double bill of one act plays Lone Star and Pvt. Wars were seen on Broadway in 1979 after debuting at the Festival of New American Plays at the Actors Theater of Louisville. Among his other works are Laundry and Bourbon, The Day They Shot John Lennon, Max and Maxie, and Wild Oats, as well as a full-length version of Pvt. Wars.

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If you're a theatre geek, you may want to check out the new board game, Be a Broadway Star: beabroadwaystar.com/

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Alfie Boe and Matt Lucas, who made such a big impression starring as Jean Valjean and Thénardier, respectively, in the Les Misérables 25th Anniversary Concert at the O2 last October, will reprise those roles in the West End production at the Queen's Theatre. They will begin performances June 23, with Boe starring through Nov. 26 and Lucas through Sept. 10. Hadley Fraser also joins the company to star as Javert. www.lesmis.com/home

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Casting has been announced for Two River Theater's production of Candida, to run March 22-April 10. David Staller will direct.

The production will star Sue Cremin as Candida, Steven Skybell as Morell, and Will Bradley as Marchbanks, along with Andrew Boyer as Burgess, Jordan Coughtry as Lexy, and Elizabeth Morton as Prossy.

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Although London's The Sun recently reported Tony and Emmy winner Glenn Close would play Susan Boyle in a film about Boyle's life, that information is incorrect. A spokesperson for the award-winning actress told Playbill.com, "This was a completely off-the-wall rumor from a tabloid paper in the UK [and is] not remotely true."

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Clear-Water, a concert presentation of two new musicals, will be presented March 11 at The Bushwick Starr (207 Starr Street) in Brooklyn. The 8 PM concert (doors open at 7:30 PM) will feature performances of the new musicals The Water Dream and Clear.

Water Dream (thewaterdream.com) features book, music and lyrics by by Shawn Cody. The cast will include Anthony Rapp, Karmine Alers, Shawn Cody, Emily Otto, Adam Kern, Cheo Bourne and Doug Chapman with Catherine Hesse, Alisa Ledyard, Alana Rader, Lauren Champlin and Jonathan Gregg. The new musical "featuring whale puppets and an aquarium of real water [is] the story of an overly critical mythologist who, through facing loss and falling in love, becomes an artist: the author of an awe-inspiring myth," according to press notes.

Clear (clearthemusical.com) features book, music and lyrics by Paul Oakley Stovall with additional music by Stew, Ryan Link, Christo Willis and Irv Johnson. The new musical, which "is based on Paul Oakley Stovall's real-life transition from an actor and retail clerk to a member of a President Obama's Advance Team," will feature the talents of Ryan Link, Brad Simmons, John Patrick Walker, Celisse Henderson and Alexis Hightower.

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