It's Friday! Yippie! Time for some WEEK AHEAD planning!
Saturday, January 24
LAST CHANCE→ It's your last chance to see Sting in his semi-autobiographical musical The Last Ship. Sting wrote the score (and now stars) in the folksy tuner about a blue-collar seafaring town whose future is in jeopardy. Joe Mantello directs. (Neil Simon Theatre, 250 W. 52nd St., btwn. Broadway & 8th Ave. Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets.)
Sunday, January 25
GO→ Roger Bart, Andrea Martin, Adam Pascal, Kerry Butler and our own Seth Rudetsky bring the Disaster! to California. A one-night-only benefit production of Rudetksy and Jack Plotnick's musical comedy features a score of pop and disco hits like, "Hot Stuff," "I Am Woman," "Signed, Sealed Delivered," and "Knock On Wood." Proceeds benefit the Actors Fund. (6 PM, Los Angeles Theater Center, 514 S. Spring Street, LA, CA. Info/tickets.)
Monday, January 26
GO→ After a year-long stint in The Book of Mormon's London and road company, two-time Tony nominee Gavin Creel is back in the U.S. of A! Celia Keenan-Bolger, Caissie Levy and Susan Blackwell are on the welcoming committee by way of a one-night-only benefit for the Performing Arts Project. (9:30 PM, Joe's Pub, 425 Lafayette St., tickets start at $30. Info/tickets.)
Tuesday, January 27
Previews→ Tony winner Cynthia Nixon makes her directorial debut with a pair of pros leading the cast. Two-time Oscar winner Dianne Wiest and Tony winner Tonya Pinkins star in Rasheeda Speaking, a dark comedy about an epic workplace power struggle fueled by snooping, paranoia and racial tension. (New Group at The Signature Center, 480 W. 42nd St., btwn. 9th & 10th Aves. Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets.) Wednesday, January 28
GO→ Billy Porter, who took home a Tony in 2013 for Best Actor in a Musical for his fabulous turn as Lola in Kinky Boots, takes a leave of absence from the Cyndi Lauper tuner (he'll be back in April) for Billy's Back on Broadway. The show kicks off Lincoln Center's popular American Songbook series. Expect Ms. Lauper herself to make an appearance during the show for a rousing rendition of "Happy Days Are Here Again"/ "Get Happy"! A day later, Tony nominee Norm Lewis makes a return engagement to the same place in his solo show Who Am I?, which will be filmed for "Live from Lincoln Center." (7:30 PM & 9:30 PM, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 3 Columbus Circle. Info/tickets.)
Thursday, January 29
OPENING→ Classic Stage Company's mounting of Ivan Turgenev's 1872 A Month in the Country opens starring a handful of notable television actors, including Peter Dinklage ("Game of Thrones"), Taylor Schilling ("Orange is the New Black"), Anthony Edwards ("ER") and Annabella Sciorra ("The Sopranos") alongside Tony winner Elizabeth Franz. (CSC, 136 E. 13th St., btwn. 3rd & 4th Aves. Info/tickets.)
Friday, January 30
PREVIEWS→ The newest "little musical that could" Brooklynite, about a hardware store clerk who longs to be a superhero, makes its way to New York. Up-and-coming writer Peter Lerman teamed up with co-writer and Tony-winning director Michael Mayer to create the musical inspired by the real-life Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company. Officially opens Feb. 25. (Vineyard Theatre, 108 E. 15th St., btwn. Union Sq. E. & Irving Pl. Info/tickets.)
