Read on for some recent theatre headlines and videos you may have missed.
Porchlight Honors Joel Grey
Chicago's Porchlight Music Theatre's three-day fundraiser PorchlightPalooza will stream August 21–23 on Facebook and YouTube. In addition to performances from top Chicago talents and highlights from the company's history, the event will feature an interview with 2020 ICON Award recipient Joel Grey hosted by newsman Bill Kurtis. The tribute to Grey will include highlights from his Tony-winning career and greetings from artists saluting his influence on musical theatre, including Bob Balaban, Patrick Cassidy, Kristin Chenoweth, Raul Esparza, Josh Gad, Tom Kitt, David Mamet, Joe Mantegna, Howard McGillin, Mandy Patinkin, Benj Pasek, Bernadette Peters, Lonny Price, Chita Rivera, Susan Stroman, Paul Oakley Stovall, Stephen Wallem, and Maury Yeston. Linda Madonia music directs the tribute to the Cabaret star with performances by Andres Enriquez, Erica Evans, Cory Goodrich, Christopher Kelley, Laura Savage, and Joey Stone.
Dianna Agron, Kyle Soller, More Film Works by Playwright's Prize Finalists
Several stage and screen favorites have brought rising playwrights' words to life as part of Platform Presents' Playwright's Prize competition. Nine finalists from around the world are in the running for the £5,000 cash prize. Before a winner is determined, check out excerpts from some of the titles, as performed by Kyle Soller (The Inheritance), Phoebe Fox (A View From the Bridge), Dianna Agron (Glee), George MacKay (1917), and Aimee Lou Wood (Sex Education) on YouTube.
Video Submissions Open for Sticks & Stones
Nearly 100 performers between the ages of 16 and 23 are being sought to join John McDaniel and Scott Logsdon’s Sticks & Stones, a retelling of the Bible’s story of David (of Goliath fame), now set in the world of teen bullying. Starring Joshua Colley, George Salazar, and Audra McDonald, the show will be presented as a virtual concert staging to support Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation. Click here to learn more and submit a video.
READ: How to Create Your Best Self-Tape Audition
Sutton Foster Talks About Her Career and Aging
On the August 11 episode of ABC’s What Would You Do?, two-time Tony winner Sutton Foster talks about how her career has changed as she gets older. “I grew up playing the girl with the bags in her hand and the big dreams looking at New York City, and there’s a reality that I’m not going to play that role anymore,” said the Younger star. Speaking about being on the TV Land comedy series, Foster said she was 39 when they filmed the pilot. “I had my feet in both worlds, so it’s been an interesting show to be a part of as I’m navigating my own second act.” Check out the full interview below.
David Lang’s in nature
Take a look below at the debut of in nature, created by Pulitzer-winning composer David Lang as a hybrid between live and pre-filmed performances in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The piece recently made its world premiere as a co-presentation between the choir The Crossing and the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center. Twenty members of The Crossing recorded their vocal parts one at a time in Philadelphia, with their videos subsequently accompanying four singers from the Montana-based Roots in the Sky, who performed in a socially distanced arrangement on the WMPAC stage.
