Stagefright - Theater News
- Javier
- Jun 26
- 6 min read
By JAVIER
You know summer is finally here when Shakespeare in Delaware Park opens its season. In its 51st year, SDP opened the seldom produced Pericles, Prince of Tyre on June 18th, under the brilliant direction of Scott McKenna Campbell with a first-rate ensemble cast. The production features original music by Tom Makar. Before opening night, SDP hosted a party at The Terrace. Pericles runs through July 12th. The production makes us wonder why we don't see this play more often; it's delightful. Kate Olena and Pamela Rose Mangus are a hoot. (Of course, Ms. Rebecca Elkin, daughter of SDP founder Saul Elkin, has seen Pericles before, at the Globe Theatre in London.)
Elkin will be back at the Jewish Repertory Theatre next season in the final offering, Jason Odell Williams's Church and State, directed by Steve Vaughan, also starring fellow Artie winners Steve Copps, Aleks Malejs, and Dave Wysocki. The company's season kicks off in October with Deborah Zoe Laufer's The Last Yiddish Speaker, directed by Kyle LoConti, starring Christian Brandjes, Arin Lee Dandes, Devin Klumpp, and Sam Prezioso. In February, David Lundy directs Jeff Cohen's The Soap Myth, starring Kai Crumley, David Marciniak, Peter Palmisano, and Jen Stafford.
Lundy has joined the board of directors of the Irish Classical Theatre Company — good news to have an artist join such a board. Meg Quinn has joined the board of Shea's Buffalo. It's a full circle for Quinn who, many years ago, worked as the phone operator for the theater.
2026 Leading Actor Artie Award winner Robert Creighton was not able to attend the ceremony this year, so his son delivered the acceptance speech — adorably and very professionally. Creighton is in rehearsals for Cagney (confirm exact title), which opens June 30th at the prestigious Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, NY. Mr. Creighton's bio in the production's press release is very up to date — he mentions his Artie Award! The fabulous Melissa Manchester, last seen locally in concert at the Riviera in North Tonawanda, also stars in Cagney.
It's an all-musical season for Theatre of Youth's 55th, with some distinctly local flavor. Their season begins in November with the musical The Pigeon Gets a Big Time Holiday Extravaganza, based on the books by Mo Willems, directed by Grace Aroune. Coming in February, The Magical Closet Mystery: The Musical, based on the book The Magical Closet Mystery: A Puerto Rican Adventure by Buffalo's own María Pérez-Gómez and directed by her sister, Víctoria Pérez. In the story, three siblings are transported from their closet in Buffalo to their homeland of Puerto Rico. The TOY season ends with The Little Engine that Could: The Musical, based on the book by Watty Piper, with music and lyrics by Buffalo's Drew Fornarola and book and additional lyrics by our own Donna Hoke, directed by Kyle LoConti.
Speaking of Fornarola, his company, Starring Buffalo, is heading back to the Southtowns, returning to Wayland Brewing Company in Orchard Park. The Second Annual Broadway at the Brewery takes place on Wednesday, July 22nd, doors open at 6 p.m., show starts at 7 p.m., for an evening of upbeat Broadway tunes. With music direction by Joe Isgar, the show stars Jesse Nager, Susan Lewis-Friedman, Isabella Bindemann, and Michael Duffy. Rumor has it that The Wiz is up next for Starring Buffalo in the coming season.
Congratulations to director-choreographer Naila Ansari and her husband, Paolo, who welcomed baby Ares Almazan Carbonell Catilo on June 15, 2026, at 5:06 p.m., weighing 7 lbs. 15 oz. He was due on July 4th but didn't want to keep his audience waiting!
Daniel Lendzian's clever adaptation of A Christmas Carol will be back at the Alleyway Theatre in December. The company's season starts with Gina Gionfriddo's Becky Shaw, which was just on Broadway and nominated for a Tony for Best Revival of a Play. The season will include Stephen Sondheim's seldom produced musical adaptation of Aristophanes' The Frogs. The Studio Theatre in Buffalo did the Aristophanes version back in 1956, with Conrad Schuck (father of Conrad John Schuck) as Dionysus and Elsie Robertson (already playing old-lady roles) as the elderly barmaid. Also supporting the work of local playwrights, in the October–November Halloween slot, the Alleyway audience will be treated to Jacob Albarella and Jason Kaiser's comedy, The Haunting of Hooverton Hotel, featuring four college kids, a broken-down van, a dark and stormy night, and a creepy hotel at the end of a road that doesn't appear on any map.
Dorothy, Blanche, Rose, and Sophia are back for yet another episode of The Golden Girls, presented by O'Connell & Company at Shea's Smith, August 14–30. Rumor has it that this time we will meet Dorothy's ex-husband Stanley, who will be played by Eric Rawski.
Single tickets are already on sale for Second Generation Theatre's production of Mean Girls, which plays June 3–20 (2027, that is — plan in advance to secure your tickets) at Shea's 710. Directed by the fabulous Michael Gilbert-Wachowiak, who will have to undergo meanness training, since there's nothing mean about him (except those mean purses), the show is set to star, among others, the also fabulous Leah Berst, Brittany Basset-Baran, Anika Pace, Penelope Sergi, Ember Tate-Steele, and the glamorous Nicole Cimato.
Bess Wohl's Liberation won Best Play at the 2026 Tony Awards, following its 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Drama win and making her the fourth woman in Tony Awards history to receive the honor. Set in 1970s Ohio, the feminist drama explores women's lives, generational change, and equality across two eras.
Chautauqua Theater Company is rolling into summer 2026 with a lively mix of new work and familiar voices, anchored by the world premiere of Sharyn Rothstein's Best for Baby (directed by Oliver Butler) and a return to August Wilson with How I Learned What I Learned. Beyond the mainstage, CTC is leaning even further into its role as a new-play incubator, with a robust lineup of readings, workshops, and an expanded FutureNow program, all unfolding alongside the debut of the Roe Green Theater Center. The result is a season that invites audiences not just to see theater, but to experience it in motion — tracking new plays from first spark to full production. Not to be missed: the Chautauqua Lecture Series welcomes Broadway stars Sutton Foster and Kelli O'Hara for a conversation on their lives and careers, July 2nd. The joint appearance and discussion will serve as a preview of the pair's performance with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra later that evening.
Matinee Bar is working to reopen better than ever after its flooding disaster, and there are some fun ways to help. First is Tee Off for Matinee: round up a four-person team for the golf tournament on Sunday, July 12th, at Delaware Park Golf Course. Or you can Sing Your Heart Out by buying a $30 ticket to Broadway Karaoke, hosted by Matinee Buffalo, on Wednesday, July 8th, at Town Ballroom, available at the box office or townballroom.com. Every ticket sold goes directly to Matinee, and Pizza Amoré's food truck will be parked outside all night, with a portion of those sales also benefiting the cause. You can also give directly — Matinee has launched a GoFundMe: gofund.me/e132409be. And if you'd rather contribute something tangible, Matinee is also accepting donated gift baskets, gift cards, and raffle items, both for Town Ballroom and the golf tournament.
Josh Groban fans will be happy to know that he's coming to CMAC in Canandaigua on August 18 to sing with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and excited to know that Theater Talk and Buffalo Toronto Public Media are giving away five pairs of tickets to see him. Don't miss your chance to see the star of Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 and Sweeney Todd on Broadway. For your chance to win, fill out the short form at https://www.btpm.org/giveaway.
Lancaster Opera House is getting a little bit serious with next season's production of The Elephant Man, to be directed by Drew McCabe, starring Artie nominee Rick Lattimer as Merrick. Artie winner Melinda Capeles joins the cast as Mrs. Kendal (Anne Bancroft in the movie, which was produced by her husband, Mel Brooks, who kept his name off the credits because he thought audiences would expect a comedy), which will also feature Steven Maiseke, Ray Boucher, Mark Saglian, Andrew Brown, Jessie Ferkin, and Jessie Nablo.
