Countertenor to perform all roles in ‘Figaro’ at Little Island
Performing any of the lead characters in Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” is challenging enough, but that isn’t stopping countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo from singing all of their music at once in a 90-minute “remix” adaptation of the landmark 1786 opera beginning Aug. 30. Costanzo’s version of “The Marriage of Figaro” will mark the final production of the four-month summer season at Little Island, the newly opened 2.4-acre park on the Hudson River, following original works by artists such as Twyla Tharp, Susan Sarandon, and Chris Perfetti. Costanzo will be joined by a pit orchestra and members of the Young People’s Chorus of New York City. “I have been waiting for a chance to sing every note of this piece since I got my first taste singing Cherubino at 17 years old…It is perhaps the most insane thing I’ve ever done, and I relish every second of it,” Costanzo said in a statement.
Marsalis joins Louis Armstrong bio musical as orchestrator and arranger
In a last-minute change of plans, a new music team led by bandleader and jazz musician Branford Marsalis has joined the new bio musical “A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical,” which will begin previews at Studio 54 on Broadway on Oct. 16. Marsalis will create new musical arrangements and orchestrations for the musical, which will star Tony Award winner James Monroe Iglehart as Armstrong and feature songs from Armstrong’s career. “Louis Armstrong was a force of nature…We both grew up in New Orleans, where music is an integral part of life and infuses your soul, just as the spirit of Louis infuses all the songs in ‘A Wonderful World,’” Marsalis said in a statement.
John Gallagher Jr. will return to Broadway in ‘Swept Away’
John Gallagher Jr., who appeared in the original Broadway casts of the rock musicals “Spring Awakening” and “American Idiot,” will return to Broadway in “Swept Away,” a new musical with folk-rock songs by the Avett Brothers, which will begin previews at the Longacre Theatre on Oct. 29. Gallagher previously appeared in regional runs of “Swept Away” at Berkeley Repertory and Arena Stage. With direction by Michael Mayer (“Spring Awakening”) and a book by playwright-screenwriter John Logan (“Gladiator”, “Red”), the musical is set off the coast of New England circa 1888 following a violent shipwreck.
Shaw’s ‘The Devil’s Disciple’ to be reconceived with cast of five women
Each fall, the Gingold Theatrical Group and director David Staller present an Off-Broadway staging of a work by the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. These have previously included “Heartbreak House,” “Caesar & Cleopatra,” “Candida,” and “Arms and the Man.” This year, Staller will direct “The Devil’s Disciple,” an early Shaw play set in Colonial America that was adapted into a 1959 film with Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas and Laurence Olivier. In Staller’s new production, five women will play all of the male and female roles. “As we approach a pivotal election season, this play serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of individual action and standing up for our beliefs,” Staller said in a statement.
