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Stagefright

The fabulous Holland Taylor (pictured above with playwright Lee Kalcheim) is back on Broadway. Previews for her one-woman play, Ann, inspired by the life of former Texas governor Ann Richards, began at Lincoln Center this week. Holland, who turned 70 last month, has been working on this play for quite a while. Its last run prior to Broadway was at the Kennedy Center in DC. Probably best known for her TV work in Two and a Half Men, Taylor has done extensive work on the stage, including Kalcheim’s Breakfast With Les and Bess, which was a major hit back in 1983. My favorite will always be, of course, A. R. Gurney’s The Cocktail Hour, in which she originated the role of the daughter opposite Buffalo’s grand dame, Nancy Marchand.

David Bondrow is directing the musical Oklahoma!, opening March 1 at the Lancaster Opera House. It was 70 years ago in March that this Rodgers and Hammerstein classic first opened on Broadway. The Opera House production will star Michael Niederer, Emily Yancey, Jeffrey Coyle, Tim Lewis, Cassandra Angerosa, David Mitchell, Steve Vaughan, and Katy Clancy as Aunt Eller. In the last Broadway revival of the show in 2002, Andrea Martin played Aunt Eller and was succeed by Patty Duke.

Subversive Theatre has postponed the opening of The Un-American, Anna Kay France’s adaptation of Manny Fried’s work, which was scheduled for March. In its place, the company will present the one-man show Clarence Darrow by David Rintels. Directed by Tom Loughlin, Darrow will be portrayed by SUNY Fredonia professor James Ivey. The show will run March 8-30. Busy Mr. Loughlin will also direct the SUNY Fredonia Department of Theatre and Dance production of the Anthony Newley/Leslie Bricusse musical Stop the World, I Want to Get Off—also opening on March 8.

My Name Is Asher Lev has also been postponed at the Jewish Repertory Theatre. Running in its place, May 9-June 2, The God of Isaac, a warm comedy by Chicago playwright James Sherman. Directed by Saul Elkin, the production will star Lisa Ludwig, AdamYellen, Kristen Bentley, David Butler, and Tom Loughlin.

Chautauqua Theater Company will kick off its 2013 summer season on June 28 with a yet-to-be-announced play by Tennessee Williams. The season will continue with the Pulitzer Prize winning Clybourne Park and will conclude with Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors.

Desiderio’s Dinner Theatre will present the madcap comedy Roomies by Jack Sharkey, February 23-April 21. Directed by Jay Desiderio, the show will star Sara Kow Falcone, Scott Mackmin, Justin Fiordaliso, Claudia Gioia, and Rob Dziechciarz.

Fela!, one of the most critically acclaimed musicals of the 2009-2010 Broadway season, will play Shea’s one night only on April 5. Fela! is based on the life of Fela Kuti, the Nigerian musician and human rights activist who created Afrobeat, a blend of jazz, funk, and African rhythm and harmonies. The touring production stars Michelle Williams, also known as one-third of the R&B group Destiny’s Child. Williams made her Broadway debut in Aida, and has also appeared in The Color Purple and in both the New York and London productions of Chicago, playing Roxie Hart.

The Broadway cast recording of Once won the Best Musical Theater Album at the Grammy Awards. Inspired by the indie movie of the same name set and in the streets of Dublin, Once also won the 2012 Tony award for Best Musical. This delightful show is still going strong on Broadway. It opens in Dublin this week and will premiere in London in March. The national touring company kicks off this fall, and with Shea’s presenter Albert Nocciolino among its producers, Buffalo should be a likely candidate to get it.

Coming up next for TOY, The Borrowers, based on the fantasy novel by Mary Norton. Directed by Meg Quinn, the play will star Arin Lee Dandes, Loraine O’Donnell, Marc-Jon Filippone, Lee Becker, Jacob Kahn, and Annette Daniels Taylor. The play runs for two weeks only, March 15-24.

Another theater community marriage: Congratulations to actors Nick Lama and Jamie Nablo Lama (pictured below), who wed this week!