Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who regularly appeared on the New York stage before winning fame on the hit sitcom “Modern Family,” will return to Broadway next spring in Second Stage’s revival of Richard Greenberg’s baseball dramedy “Take Me Out.” Ferguson will play Mason, a money manager who unexpectedly falls in love with baseball. Denis O’Hare won a Tony in 2003 for the same role. Last week, it was announced that Jesse Williams ("Grey’s Anatomy," "The Butler") will lead the cast of the revival, playing a baseball star who publicly reveals that he is gay.
‘The Inheritance’ coming to Broadway this fall
"The Inheritance," a two-part drama by Matthew Lopez ("The Legend of Georgia McBride") inspired by E.M. Forster’s novel "Howards End" that explores the connections between three generations of gay men, will transfer to Broadway in the fall. It will begin previews at the Barrymore Theatre on Sept. 27, with opening night on Nov. 17. Directed by Stephen Daldry ("Billy Elliot"), "The Inheritance" premiered at London’s Young Vic and then transferred to the West End.
Lizzie Borden rock musical postponed
A summer Off-Broadway run of “Lizzie,” a rock musical about Lizzie Borden (who was famously tried for the 1892 ax murders of her father and stepmother and was acquired), has been postponed “due to unforeseen circumstances,” as per the news release. “We hold out all hope for a production to come together at a future date,” the producers said in a statement. The cast was to include Shannon O’Boyle (“Kinky Boots”), Ciara Renée (“The Hunchback of Notre Dame”) and Eden Espinosa (“Wicked”).
Sarah Silverman’s ‘Bedwetter’ musical set for Off-Broadway run
“The Bedwetter,” a new musical written by actress and stand-up comic Sarah Silverman, playwright Joshua Harmon (“Bad Jews”) and Adam Schlesinger (“Cry-Baby”), will receive its world premiere next sext season in an Off-Broadway production by the Atlantic Theater Company. The company’s 2019-20 season will also include new works by Jack Thorne (“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”), Stephen Adly Guirgis (“Between Riverside and Crazy”) and Ethan Coen (one half of the Coen Brothers).
‘King Lear’ to close early
The new Broadway production of “King Lear” starring Glenda Jackson, which opened in April to mixed reviews and has performed below expectations at the box office, will close on Sunday, a month earlier than originally expected. “King Lear” received only a single Tony nomination (Ruth Wilson for best featured actress in a play). Directed by Sam Gold, the production features an original score by Philip Glass and runs three and a half hours. Last year, Jackson returned to Broadway for the first time in 30 years in a revival of Edward Albee’s “Three Tall Women” and won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.
‘Evita’ and revised ‘Millie’ to play City Center
The 2020 Encores! season at City Center will include new productions of Kurt Weill’s experimental 1948 marital relations vaudeville “Love Life,” Jerry Herman’s much-beloved 1974 silent film tribute “Mack and Mabel” and a revised version of the 2002 Tony-winning musical comedy “Thoroughly Modern Millie” starring Ashley Park (“Mean Girls”) in the title role. “Millie” has recently come under scrutiny for its comic use of “yellowface.” City Center will also present Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1978 rock opera “Evita” for two weeks in November.
Spotted …
Antonio Banderas at “Come From Away” … M. Night Shyamalan at “The Ferryman” … Will Ferrell at “Beetlejuice” … Ben Stiller and Matt Bomer at “The Prom” … Kelly Ripa at “Network.”
