Theater News - June 2025
- Javier
- Jun 6
- 6 min read
STAGEFRIGHT by JAVIER
Now probably best known for her role in TV’s mockumentary sitcom Abbott Elementary, Sheryl Lee Ralph originated the part of Deena Jones in the Broadway production of Dreamgirls back in1981, directed and choreographed by Buffalo’s Michael Bennett. Ralph was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. In 2022, she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in Abbott Elementary. Other Broadway credits include Thoroughly Modern Millie and Wicked. She was also in the out-of-town tryout of the new musical The First Wives Club at the Old Globe in San Diego. The show never made it to Broadway but is still reportedly in the works. In 2023, Ralph became the first celebrity and the first Black person to play Mrs. Claus in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, taking over from Buffalo’s Gail Golden (a celebrity herself, in Buffalo) who had played Mrs. Claus for many years.
Speaking of Dreamgirls, a local production of the show is set to play September 10th-28th at Shea’s 710 Theatre produced by Shea’s Performing Arts Center and AnsariSaxon Productions. The name of the company is a composite of Artie winner Naila Ansari who will serve as co-director and choreographer, and Karen Saxon who will be co-director and musical director. Both worked together in the successful The Color Purple. Nikiya Campbell is the lead producer for Shea’s. Talia Mobley plays Deena, with Dasia Cervi as Effie, Shylah Douglas as Lorrell, and George L. Brown as Curtis. The production will also star Augustus Donaldson, Austin Marshall, Nelquan Jones and Zhanna Reed. The ensemble features Damario Burks, Jacqueline Cherry, Jonise Hall, Taliyah Oaks, Anika Pace, Nahiem Paris, Megan Rakeepile and Kendric Warrick.
To celebrate Musicalfare’s move to 710 Shea’s Theatre next season, there will be a one-night only concert A New Stage Awaits on Thursday July 24th from 6 to 9 pm, featuring musical performances and including an open bar and gourmet food stations. This event will take place right on the Shea’s Buffalo Theatre mainstage. Tickets are $125.00 and can be purchased at ovationtix.com
Musicalfare’s season will kick off October 23rd with the very popular musical, Come from Away, the true story of 7,000 stranded airline passengers on 9/11 and the small town in Canada that welcomed them. Directed by Randall Kramer, the show will star Michele Roberts, Steve Copps, Wendy Hall, Bobby Cooke, Bob Mazierski, Emily Yancey, Alex Watts, John Kazcarowski, Debbie Pappas, Kayla McSorley, and Austin Marshall. Season tickets are now on sale. Shows include Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (December 4th-21st) directed by Chris Kelly, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (February 19th-March 8th) directed by Doug Weyand, Jesus Christ Superstar (April 2nd-11th) directed by Kramer, and Hairspray (May 7th-24th) directed by Eric Deeb Weaver.
Neal Radice’s new musical On the Canal, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Erie Canal, will play Shea’s Smith Theatre, September 26th-28th. Presented by Friends of the Buffalo Story & Red Thread Theatre in association with Imagine Theatre, sponsored by Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation, the musical will be directed by Radice,
choreographed by Madeline E. Allard-Dugan, starring Elliot Fletcher Fox, John Kreuzer, Kate Mulberry, Gabrielle Nunzio, Jasmine Ramos, and Mathew Rittler. There will also be 4 free sneak previews performed by the cast outdoors at Canal Side at 4 p.m., Friday-Sunday, September 5th-7th. May I suggest a party at The Big Ditch afterwards?
Good news at Road Less Traveled Productions (RLTP): Scott Behrend is scheduled to direct two shows next season. Coming up in November, Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya adapted by Annie Baker. Set to star: Todd Benzin, Tracie Lane, Darryl Semira, Peter Palmisano, Kristen Tripp Kelley, John Vines, Tina Rausa, and Monish Bhattachayya. Baker is known for her 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, The Flick. RLTP produced her play, Circle Mirror Transformation, a few seasons ago at 710. In February 2026, Behrend will direct Ike Holter’s Exit Strategy. Last year the company presented Holter’s The Light Fantastic. The season opens in September with the much anticipated The Book of Will presented in partnership with Shakespeare in Delaware Park, directed by John Hurley. This play is about actors John Heminges and Henry Condell who are primarily known for compiling and editing the First Folio, a collection of Shakespeare's plays published in 1623. And there is also a musical in the mix, closing the 25-26 season Doug Weyand will direct Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, book by Stephen King, music and lyrics by John Mellencamp.
It will be a busy fall for Buffalo’s playwright Tom Dudzik of Over the Tavern fame. Desiderio’s is presenting his one-acts in September. In October, American Repertory Theater of WNY (ART) is planning the regional premiere of Dudzik’s new play The Gods of Paderewski Drive with a cast that so far includes: Steve Jakiel, Dan Morris, Alyssa Walsh, and Anna Lawyer. ART has also a musical to close its season, the world premiere of John Snodgrass’ Helen of Egypt, a techno-pop influenced musical based on Helen, the classic play by Euripides which begins under the premise that rather than running off to Troy with Paris, Helen (who was married to Menelaus) was sent away to Egypt by the gods. Gabriel Nunzio and Charlie McGregor are set to star.
Irish Classical Theatre Company (ICTC) will close next season with Marina Carr’s Girl on an Altar, based on the ancient myth of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon (Menelaus’s brother by the way). Directed by Anderson Carr, the production will star Keelie Sheridan as Clytemnestra, and Jorge Luna as Agamemnon, also starring Darryl Semira, Paige Batt, and Dave Marciniak. ICTC presented Carr’s The Mai back in 2023. The company’s season will also include a musical, Islander, a two-hander set in a remote Scottish island.
Buffalo’s David Shire has a new musical revue, About Time which is now playing at the Goodspeed’s Terris Theatre in Chester, Connecticut through June 15th. Co-written with Richard Maltby, who also directs, the show follows the songwriters' earlier revues Starting Here, Starting Now and Closer Than Ever. This one is a musical revue “about life, love, and laughter in one's third act.”
Season 2025-26 is already rolling. Now through June 22nd, the Lancaster Opera House presents the George and Ira Gershwin musical Crazy for You, directed and choreographed by Eric Deeb Weaver, with musical direction by Joe Isgar, starring Eric Rivas, Audree Woods, Bobby Cooke, Anna Fernandez, and Michael Wells. Also featured: Dan Bills-Warman, Joe Greenan, Caitlyn Kleinschmidt, Mario Liguori, Timiyah Love, Jon May, Alexandra Montesano, Vinny Murphy, Emory Redfearn, Chrisena Ricci, Aaron Saldana, Christopher Victor, Emily Weber, Theresa Werth, and Madison Wilcox.
The Brazen-Faced Varlets kicked off Pride Month with a production of Shawn Northrip’s The Comedy of Queerers, a hilarious spoof of The Comedy of Errors directed by Lara D. Haberberger. All the parts are played by just five actors: Caitlin Baeumler Coleman, Sarah Emmerling, Heather Fangsrud, Kaylie Horowitz, and Danette Pawlowski. The show plays its final weekend at the Compass Performing Arts Center (545 Elmwood Ave.) June 6th at 7:30, June 5th at 5 p.m. www.varlets.org.
Shakespeare in Delaware Park hits the road with its 5-actors and a version of Romeo & Juliet adapted and directed by Brendan Didio that's just an hour long -- yeah! Running June 11- August 18, the production stars Patrick Burke, Karen Harty, Manny, Mejia, Maria Pedro, and Tabitha Raithel. For locations and dates check www.shakespeareindelawarepark.org/
The world lost actor Loretta Swit on May 30th. Best known for playing Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan on television’s M*A*S*H, she also had an extensive stage career that included Broadway roles in Any Wednesday, Same Time, Next Year, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood, as well as national tours of Mame and The Odd Couple. She starred in acclaimed productions of Shirley Valentine --which she performed over 1,200 times -- The Vagina Monologues, and Love, Loss, and What I Wore, in addition to numerous regional theater credits. In 2017, she appeared in Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks at Shea’s 710 in Buffalo, one of several visits to this city, including serving as the honorary Grand Marshal of Buffalo's 2015 Pulaski Day Parade in Cheektowaga. She will be missed.
Happy Artie Awards everyone, and good luck to all the nominees! See you Monday night at Babeville!
