Stonewall drama to play the Stonewall Inn
“Hit the Wall,” Ike Holter’s documentary-style drama about the legendary events that occurred on the night of June 28, 1969, in and around the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village (now considered an iconic moment in the gay rights movement), will receive a site-specific production next month at the Stonewall Inn by the Tribe Theatre Company. The play was previously produced Off-Broadway in 2013 at the Barrow Street Theatre, which itself is just a few blocks away from the Stonewall Inn.
Drama Book Shop to close doors, likely relocate
The Drama Book Shop, a beloved hangout for the theater community and a provider of scripts at affordable prices, will leave its longtime location on West 40th Street in early 2019. According to Crain’s New York, its lease is about to expire and the landlord wanted to significantly raise the rent. Allen Hubby, its vice president, told Crain’s that they are looking for a new location. The bookstore is a century old and received a special Tony Award in 2011. It was previously located on the second floor of a building on Seventh Avenue.
Andrea McArdle graduates to playing Miss Hannigan
Andrea McArdle, who is best known for originating the title role in “Annie,” will now play the villainous Miss Hannigan in a short run of the 1977 family-friendly musical in November at the Axelrod Performing Arts Center in Deal Park, New Jersey. McArdle played Miss Hannigan once before in North Carolina. It is worth noting that McArdle lost the Tony Award for best actress in a musical to Dorothy Loudon, the original Miss Hannigan.
French Woods to play Feinstein’s/54 Below
French Woods, a prominent theater camp in Upstate New York, which I attended as a teenager (along with many other far more talented people who have gone on to become professional theater artists), will be celebrated at Feinstein’s/54 Below on Nov. 18 with a concert featuring former campers revisiting roles they performed at French Woods. I am tentatively slated to return to the role of John Adams, which I played in “1776” at French Woods in 2001. Other contemporaries of mine who are set to participate include Sean Patrick Doyle (“Jerry Springer: The Opera”), Lauryn Ciardullo (“Aladdin”), Peter Duchan (“Dogfight”), Ana Nogueira (“The Vampire Diaries”), Natalie Weiss (“Everyday Rapture”) and Dani Spieler (“A Bronx Tale”).
Spotted …
Hugh Jackman, Naomi Watts and Lee Daniels at “The Ferryman” … Bruce Willis at the “Big Apple Circus” … Cyndi Lauper at “Pretty Woman” … Danielle Brooks at “The Band’s Visit.”
