Zorro Gallops to Atlanta, Mark Rylance Catches a Nice Fish & More Cross-Country Highlights
As the spring season gets into full swing, great theater is happening all across the USA! We’ve sifted through dozens of offerings away from NYC and found great shows in all corners of America. This week, we highlight Mark Rylance’s Nice Fish, the American premiere of Zorro, Steppenwolf’s swamp drama and more!
ATLANTA, GA
Zorro Leaves His Mark
The music of the rumba-flamenco icons the Gipsy Kings meets the world's most famous swordsman in the adventurous new musical Zorro. Adam Jacobs (Les Miserables, The Lion King) stars as the titular swashbuckler in the American premiere of the show, playing at the Alliance Theatre April 3 through May 5. Directed by Christopher Renshaw, Zorro tells the story of Diego de la Vega, the man behind the masked outlaw fighting to restore order, and features more than 30 songs. Draw your swords!
MINNEAPOLIS, MN
A Tony Winner Goes Ice Fish-ing
Mark Rylance put Duluth-based poet Louis Jenkins on the map by quoting Jenkins' work in both of his Tony acceptance speeches. Now the two men have teamed up on a new play, Nice Fish, which premieres at the Guthrie Theater from April 6 through May 18. Based on Jenkins' prose poetry, the play follows Erik and Ron (Rylance), who are confronted with mythic individuals when a blizzard hits while they are ice fishing in the frozen waters of the Upper Midwest.
CHICAGO, IL
NOLA’s Wetlands Take Over the Windy City
Called “without question, the hottest young playwright in America” by the Chicago Tribune, Tarell Alvin McCraney is premiering his newest work at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre from April 4 through June 9. Set in the unstable swamplands at the mouth of the Mississippi River, Head of Passes is a play about faith and kinfolk directed by Tina Landau. In the sweeping drama, Shelah's family and friends plan a surprise birthday party for her, but a dark family secret threatens everything.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
A.C.T.’s Stuck Elevator Sounds the Alarm
Hovering somewhere between opera and musical theater, past and present, and comedy and calamity is American Conservatory Theatre’s Stuck Elevator, playing April 4 through 28. This world premiere musical is based on the true story of a Chinese deliveryman who spent 81 hours trapped in a Bronx elevator. Directed by Chay Yew, the musical charts the fate of Guang, an undocumented immigrant who, fearing for his family, is unwilling to call for help even as he begins to dehydrate.
HOBOKEN, NJ
Jay Gatsby Brings Jazz & Gin to Jersey
Ah, Gatsby, you always look so cool! Before the swanky film remake of The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio comes roaring into theaters next month, New Jersey’s Hudson Theatre Ensemble is presenting a stage adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece. Simon Levy’s version of the Great American Novel has all the elements of great theater—wealth, privilege, sex—set during the Roaring Twenties, and run from April 5 through 14 at the Hudson School Performance Space.
