Playhouse News
Premiered at La Jolla Playhouse in August 2016, Ayad Akhtar’s “Junk, the Golden Age of Debt,” received the 2016 San Diego Critics Circle Craig Noel Award for Outstanding New Play on Feb. 6 the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation. The awards event was attended by 500 theater artists, administrators, and fans. Inspired by real-life stories surrounding Wall Street traders Michael Milken and Ivan Boesky, the play concerns guile, greed and the unrelenting drive to succeed. The riveting work opens Oct. 12 on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center. Casting has yet to be announced, according to The New York Times of Feb.6. Akhtar’s previous play, the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Disgraced” (seen at San Diego Rep in October), is this season’s most-produced play nationwide.
The Playhouse recently announced a second (and final) extension, into its seventh week, for their current hit musical, Disney’s “Freaky Friday,” through March 19. Visit www.lajollaplayhouse.org or call 858-550-1010.
Sondheim to receive award
Composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim, whose musical (with James Lapine) “Into the Woods” received its world premiere at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, has received the annual PEN/Allen Foundation Literary Service Award, given “to a critically acclaimed writer whose body of work helps us to understand and interpret the human condition.” Actor Meryl Streep, who starred in and received an Oscar nomination for her role in the 2014 film adaptation of “Into the Woods,” will present the prize April 25 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. A Grammy for Yo-Yo
Yo-Yo Ma and Silk Road Ensemble received a 2017 Grammy Award for “Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble.” Available now, their sixth album, “Sing Me Home,” is winner in the category Best World Music Album. During the early years of his career, even prior to Silk Road Ensemble, Yo-Yo Ma made numerous appearances in the San Diego area, with L.A. Chamber Orchestra and San Diego Symphony at East County Performing Arts Center and at Civic Theatre and Sherwood Auditorium in La Jolla.
Greif-directed musical to open on Broadway Patti Lupone (Helena) and Christine Ebersole (Elizabeth) are due to take “War Paint” to Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre beginning in previews March 7. If you recall, the piece concerns the rivalry between Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden, “who gave birth to the industry that defined the 20th century standard of beauty.” The book is by Doug Wright (recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for “I Am My Own Wife,” which was seen early in its development and later, too, at La Jolla Playhouse) with Jefferson Mays. Mays is a UCSD graduate and multi-award winner, recently for “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.” Scott Frankel wrote the music for “War Paint” with lyrics by Michael Korie. Staging the musical is former Playhouse artistic director (1994-1999) Michael Greif, who staged the original production of “Rent.”
All that jazz
At 5 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 26, White Box Live Arts concludes its jazz series with The Joshua White Trio, Joshua White on piano, Dean Hulett on bass and Dan Schnelle on drums. VIP seating for $30, which includes table seating and food service from The LOT, located at 2590 Truxtun Road, Liberty Station, General admission is $20 and student tickets cost $10. Visit www.sandiegodancetheater.org, or call 619-225-1803.