Odds & Ends: Billy Porter to Direct World Premiere Play in Boston & More

Here's a quick roundup of stories you might have missed today.

Billy Porter to Direct World Premiere Play in Boston
Billy Porter is spreading his talents around. The Tony-winning Kinky Boots original and Golden Globe-nominated star of Pose has signed on to direct Dan McCabe's world premiere play The Purists as part of Huntington Theatre Company's 2019-2020 season. The Boston production will run from August 30-September 29, 2019. The Purists follows a former rapper, a DJ and a showtune-loving telesales director who have become an unlikely group, hanging out and sparring about music on a stoop in Queens. When an impromptu rap battle erupts between two younger female emcees, everything gets questioned. The Huntington's new season of shows will also include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead; Quixote Nuevo; When We All Fall Down; Sweat; Our Daughters, Like Pillars; and The Bluest Eye.

Alan Cumming, Christy Altomare, Erich Bergen & Garrett Clayton to Read New Play Sparkler
A foursome of mega-talents will come together later this week for a reading of the new play Sparkler by Erik Champney. Tony nominee Sheryl Kaller will direct the private industry reading, set for March 29 in New York City. The cast will include Tony winner Alan Cumming ("Daddy"), Christy Altomare (Anastasia), Erich Bergen (Waitress) and Garrett Clayton (Hairspray Live!). Sparkler is set in 1964 Hollywood, where Clayton Boyd (Erich Bergen) is the prototypical icon, movie star, husband and devoted father—as far as the public knows. Behind closed doors, however, Clayton is an impulsive alcoholic and a closeted gay man whose hidden desires are bursting at the seams. The Hollywood moguls have kept his private life out of the public arena—until Jack (Garrett Clayton) arrives. Now Clayton's make-believe marriage is threatened, along with his public image.

Site-Specific Little Shop Extends at Bool's Flower Shop
Good news for the upcoming site-specific staging of Little Shop of Horrors. The highly anticipated production has been extended through May 2 at Bool's Flower Shop in Ithaca, NY. The shop has been repurposed as Mushnik's Skid Row Florists on the fictional Skid Row in New York City for the staging set to begin on April 24. The previously announced production has also announced casting. Leading the company will be Logan Geddes as Seymour, Audrey Fisher as Audrey, Amber Ward as Chiffon, Sushma Saha as Crystal, Courtney Long as Ronnette, Dharon Jones as Orin Scrivello, D.D.S., Kylie Heyman as Audrey II and Jaden Boyd as Mushnik, with Sami Schonberger and Tanner George as understudies. The production team includes producers Jacob Stuckelman and Ben Fleischer, director Alisar Awwad, music director Daniel Mullarney, choreographer Maria Scherer and lighting designer Chris Perrone.

Amanda Jane Cooper's Somewhere Over the Rainbow to Play Encore Performance
Amanda Jane Cooper, the former Broadway.com vlogger who played an acclaimed run as Glinda in Wicked, has added an encore turn to her new show at midtown's Feinstein's/54 Below. Following the sold-out show on April 7 at 9:30pm will now be a performance on June 7 at 9:30pm. Cooper's cabaret, titled Somewhere Over the Rainbow: A Night of Story and Song, will feature songs ranging from musical theater and pop to folk and R&B. Dan Micciche will music-direct.