Just in case Donald Trump should take a trip to Broadway in the coming weeks, there is a seat waiting for him at “The Terms of My Surrender,” Michael Moore’s new one-man Broadway show, which begins previews on Friday. In an interview with BroadwayWorld.com, Moore revealed that he is reserving seats for Trump and his family at every performance. “We’ll be sending them a very nice invitation,” Moore added. This is not the first time Trump has received reserved seating on Broadway. Two years ago, George Takei responded to Trump’s rhetoric on the campaign trail by holding a seat open for him to attend a performance of “Allegiance,” his short-lived Broadway musical depicting a Japanese-American internment camp during World War II. Alas, Trump never arrived.
Mandy to ride ‘The Great Comet’
Mandy Patinkin, whose expansive acting career has encompassed musical theater (“Evita,” “Sunday in the Park with George”), film (“The Princess Bride”) and television (“Homeland”), will return to Broadway for just three weeks beginning Aug. 15, taking over the role of Pierre in the pop opera “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812.” Pierre was played by Dave Malloy (who wrote the show) when it premiered Off-Broadway in 2012, and then by Josh Groban when it opened on Broadway last year. At present, Okieriete “Oak” Onaodowan (“Hamilton”) is playing the role. At 64, Patinkin will be considerably older than the rest of the cast.
Nude ‘Hamlet’ to play Prospect Park
To be or not to be nude — is that now the question? Last week we published an article about free outdoor productions of Shakespeare plays throughout the city (besides, of course, Shakespeare in the Park). A new addition to the list is an all-nude, all-male, all-free, open-air version of “Hamlet,” which will be presented by Torn Out Theater at the Music Pagoda in Prospect Park from Aug. 10 to 13. Last year, the group produced “The Tempest” in the flesh. According to the company’s website, the production “will ask tough questions about how the male body is perceived in America today.”
Bedlam trades Shakespeare and Austen for Peter Pan and Wendy
Bedlam, a small-scale theater troupe that has won acclaim for its no-frills, exciting productions of Shakespeare and other classic works (including its hit adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility”), will present “Peter Pan” (the original 1904 play by J.M. Barrie) at The Duke on 42nd Street in November and December. According to a news release, six actors will play 25 characters including the Pirates, Lost Boys and Indians. In a statement, artistic director Eric Tucker said that “Peter Pan” “feels like the perfect play for Bedlam because J.M. Barrie’s dry wit and humor provide for so many thrilling possibilities for invention.”
Brown and Lucas to join Thurman in ‘Parisian Woman’
Tony winner Blair Brown (who plays Judy King on “Orange Is the New Black”) and Josh Lucas (“Sweet Home Alabama”) will join Uma Thurman in “The Parisian Woman,” a new contemporary political drama by Beau Willimon (“House of Cards”), which will be produced on Broadway in the fall. Brown will play a newly nominated chairwoman of the Federal Reserve who befriends Chloe (Thurman), a well-connected socialite. “The play is about Chloe’s self-reckoning,” Willimon said in a statement. “It’s about her relationship to personal responsibility and love in these troubled times.”
Met sets operas for free Summer HD Festival
The Metropolitan Opera will present 10 free screenings of recent Met performances as part of its annual Summer HD Festival, to be held at Lincoln Center Plaza from Aug. 26 through Labor Day. Following a special screening of Ingmar Bergman’s film version of “The Magic Flute,” the festival will include the Met’s new productions of “Rigoletto” (which is set in Las Vegas) and “Tristan und Isolde” (to be stretched over two nights due to its length). Seating for 3,000 will be made available for each screening on a first-come basis.
David Greenspan will make a ‘Strange Interlude’
Eugene O’Neill’s five-hour, nine-act, rarely seen 1928 drama “Strange Interlude” will be revived in the fall by the Transport Group and turned into a one-man showcase for the quirky performer-playwright David Greenspan. The experimental play (which won a Pulitzer Prize in its day) revolves around characters who reveal their private thoughts in soliloquies. Under the direction of Jack Cummings III, Greenspan will perform the entire play and portray all eight of its characters. It will play Brooklyn’s Irondale Center in October and November.
200 New Yorkers set for ‘As You Like It’ in the park
Bronx Wrestling Federation, Freedom Dabka Group, Harambee Dance Company and The Sing Harlem Choir will make group cameos in the upcoming Public Works production of “As You Like It,” which runs Sept. 1-5 at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park. This massive pageant/musical adaptation based on Shakespeare’s pastoral comedy (with songs by Shaina Taub) will feature approximately 200 New Yorkers, with professional actors appearing alongside members of various community groups, including the Brownsville Recreation Center, Domestic Workers United, Fortune Society and Children’s Aid Society. For info on obtaining free tickets visit publictheater.org.
Spotted . . .
Joe Biden, Amy Schumer, John Krasinski and Rob Lowe at “Dear Evan Hansen” . . . Sara Bareilles at “Seeing You” . . . Faye Dunaway at “Come From Away” . . . Wynonna Judd at “Waitress” . . . Dr. Ruth at “Beautiful” . . . Lea Thompson at “A Doll’s House, Part 2.”
