Stagefright

Theater News by Javier

Stephen McKinley Henderson and his wife,Pam Henderson, at the reception following the conferral of his SUNY honorary doctorate at Buffalo State University.

The great Stephen McKinley Henderson (or should I say Dr. Henderson) was named Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa, presented by Buffalo State University.  The event took place on the university’s campus on April 15. Before the conferral, students performed scenes from some of the plays that Henderson starred in on Broadway. Following the ceremony, there was a reception and then a performance of Dominique Morisseau’s Pipeline.

The 2025-26 theater season is coming to an end, but it certainly isn’t slowing down in Buffalo. There are enough shows opening in the next week to satisfy every taste. It seems like Curtain Up all over again.

It is Shakespeare’s birthday (and they just found where he lived in London) and if you can’t wait until the Shakespeare in the Park summer season to enjoy the bard, the Kenan Center in Lockport can hold you over with The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised] [Again]. Directed by Kevin Leary, this hilarious show stars a trio with plenty of comic energy, Buffalo’s perfect ensemble of three stooges: Kevin Craig, Brendan Didio, and Jeremy Kreuzer. The play runs April 30-May 10. Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Didio! You know why.

The much-anticipated production of Musicalfare’s Hairspray opens May 7 at 710 Main, directed and choreographed by Eric Deeb Weaver, with associate direction and choreography by Alexandria Watts (she tells me she doesn’t have any Valu Home Center coupons), and music direction by Allan Paglia. Louis Colaiacovo stars as Edna (yes, the Harvey Fierstein/John Travolta role), and he just told me he feels very confident in high heels. The musical also stars Lizzie Arnold, Dasia Cervi, Glen Chitty, Bobby Cooke, Arin Lee Dandes, David P. Eve, Jasmine Fiero, Stevie Lou Kemp, Mario Liguori, Timiyah Love, Austin Marshall, Robert McKnight, Talia Rose Mobley, Brenna Ring, Aaliyah Ryan, Marc Sacco, Penelope Sergi, Jenn Stafford, Kendric Warrick, Michael Wells, and Audree Woods. That’s a huge cast! Glad they’re performing in a larger venue!

And speaking of musicals, that timeless classic, The Sound of Music is part of Shea’s next season. It’s a brand new production that’s been touring for a year, directed by Jack O’Brien, choreographed by Danny Mefford, and now starring Christiane Noll as Mother Abbess, and Starring Buffalo alum Nicholas Rodriguez as Max. Mefford is no stranger to Buffalo, he directed and choreographed the Irish Classical Theatre (ICTC) production of  The Fitzgeralds of St. Paul back in 2024.

The ICTC will open next season with Emma, based on Jane Austen’s classic novel;  Ibsen’s Ghosts, in a new adaptation will be in the third slot. And there is a yet to be announced play, which is likely to be Spring Awakening – the original play, not the musical adaptation.

Kander and Ebb’s musical Curtains is up next at O’Connell & Company, April 30^th – May 16^th at Canterbury Woods Performing Arts Center, starring (among others, it’s a  cast of twenty) Lisa Ludwig, Nicholas Lama, Ashleigh Chrisena Ricci, Aimee Walker, John Kreuzer, Guy Tomassi, Michael Seitz, and Maria Kreutinger.

With Jonathan Young at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ after a matinee of "1776"

And big news: Jonathan Young! OMG! Yes, our Jonathan Young is starring as Edward Rutledge from South Carolina, the youngest signer of the Declaration of Independence, in the musical 1776 at the prestigious Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ. If you’ve read Liza’s new book, that’s where she appeared in Carnival. Michele Ragusa was there in She Loves Me and in Kiss Me Kate. That’s where Ann Miller did Follies. Well, young Mr. Young delivers it, stopping the show with “Molasses to Rum,” and the press has been phenomenal! He still remembers making his professional debut when he was a high school student, in BUA’s production of Jonathan Tollins’s Secrets of the Trade, holding his own alongside Jimmy Janowski, Lisa Ludwig, David Granville, and Matthew Crehan Higgins. He was so young, we had to be careful not to swear during rehearsals!  

Jimmy Janowski, teenaged Jonathan Young, and Lisa Ludwig in a publicity photo for Jonathan Tolllins's Secrets of the Trade

Janowski will be back on stage at Torn Space, playing the veteran drag queen in The Legend of Georgia McBride, a part he was first scheduled to play over a year ago. He’s sure to be off book! Directed by Dan Shanahan, the production also stars Bebe Bvlgari, Michael Seitz, Annette Daniels Taylor, and Christine Turturro.  The show opens May 29^th, just in time for Pride Month!

Busy Bebe Bvlgari will also be starring in Second Generation Theater’s production of Pure Glitter, a new comedy by Douglas Lyons – well, let’s go ahead and call it “a new gay comedy”…. We saw the very successful reading at Second Gen a few months ago. Lyons also wrote the Broadway hit Chickens & Biscuits. Pure Glitter opens May 1st at Shea’s Smith Theater, and the playwright will be there!  Directed by Matthew Gilbert-Wachowiak who is the cast as well, the production also stars Daniel Lendzian, Brandin Smalls, Greg Howze, and Matthew Crehan Higgins. The play runs May 1-17 at Shea’s Smith Theatre

With Cole Escola, author and star of the international hit, Oh, Mary!

So Cole Escola’s play, Oh, Mary! won the 2026 Olivier Award for Best Entertainment Comedy or Play. It’s still running in London, going very strong in New York, and the national tour will kick off in September. The stop closest to us will be Cleveland. The fabulous Elaine Paige got the Special Award. She was the original Evita; the current West End revival won an Olivier for its leading lady, Rachel Zegler.  No surprise, Paddington the musical got most of the major awards. He was born in Peru, you know.

We were all so shocked and saddened by the untimely death of David Bondrow, artistic director of the Lancaster Opera House. I met him when he was eleven years old; I directed him in a production of The Sound of Music back in 1994. He played – to quote Googie Gomez in Terrence McNally’s 1975 comedy, The Ritz – one of those “fucking Trapp kids.” The play was produced by the now defunct Upstage New York, which existed to encourage and provide opportunities for new talent. It was performed at Park School.  On opening night, David gave me a card that he’d made himself. On the front, there is a megaphone. You opened it, and it said, “Cut It!” He was making fun of me. We had a very short summer rehearsal period, seven kids, and if something wasn’t working, I would threaten to cut it. I still have the card. David’s parents were always very supportive of his theatrical endeavors. A couple of years later, BUA was auditioning for a show, The Boys in the Band. David’s dad brought him to the audition, and I had to tell him, this is not actually about “boys.” By the way, our production of The Sound of Music starred African-American actor Mary Craig as Mother Abbess, years before Audra did it. Ms. Lona Geiser, who is now married to Thomas LaChiusa, played sixteen-year-old Liesl. LaChiusa directed the current production of The Odd Couple at Lancaster Opera House, where Bondrow was scheduled to play Oscar. LaChiusa took over the part. David was devoted to the Opera House, and worked wonders there. God bless him, and God bless the other departed members of our Sound of Music company: Donny Jenczka and Christopher Jenkins.

Lona Geiser, who was16 going on 17, with David Bondrow, who was eleven years old and going on to make WNY theater history, in The Sound of Music at Upstage New York.