Odds & Ends: Heather Headley & More Join the New York Pops' 40th Season at Carnegie Hall

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

Heather Headley & More Set for Carnegie Hall
Tony winner Heather Headley will perform highlights from her career in a solo concert with the New York Pops on February 10, 2023 at Carnegie Hall. The 2022-2023 season marks the New York Pops' 40th anniversary. Headley’s concert is replacing the previously scheduled appearance by Adrienne Warren, who had to withdraw due to a scheduling conflict. Jordan Donica will join guest artists Nikki Renée Daniels, Matt Doyle and Melissa Errico together with the New York Pops and Judith Clurman’s Essential Voices USA on November 18 for a concert entitled Broadway Blockbusters, featuring works by Leonard Bernstein, Alan Menken, Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber and more. Head here for the full season lineup.

Kate Baldwin, Max von Essen & More to Lead Goodspeed's 42nd Street
Goodspeed Musicals will present 42nd Street from September 16 through November 6 in a production directed and choreographed by Randy Skinner. This staging of the backstage musical about a chorus girl becoming an overnight star will feature Kate Baldwin as Dorothy Brock, Max von Essen as Julian Marsh, Blake Stadnik as Billy Lawlor, Carina-Kay Louchiey as Peggy Sawyer, David Jennings as Abner Dillon, Patrick Oliver Jones as Pat Denning, E. Clayton Cornelious as Bert Barry, Lisa Howard as Maggie Jones, Eloise Kropp as Annie Reilly and Lamont Brown as Andy Lee. The ensemble will feature Willie Clyde Beaton II, Sarah Dearstyne, Berklea Going, Candice Hatakeyama, Danielle Jackman, Edward Juvier, Taylor Lane, Brian Shimasaki Liebson, Brady Miller, Christian Probst and Christopher Shin. Kirsty Fuller and Derek Luscutoff serve as swings on the production.

Kate Nash-Scored Only Gold Reveals Casting
Casting has been announced for MCC Theater's previously announced season kickoff Only Gold. Set to begin performances on October 5 and open on November 7, the world premiere musical features a score by Kate Nash, book by Andy Blankenbuehler and Ted Malawer and choreography and direction from Blankenbuehler. It tells the story of a royal family’s arrival in Paris, which sets a flurry of activity into motion, forcing nobility and townsfolk alike to examine the choices they’ve made. The show stars Nash, So You Think You Can Dance winner Gaby Diaz, Terrence Mann, Karine Plantadit, Hannah Cruz, Ryan Steele and Ryan VanDenBoom. The cast also features Haley Fish, Jennifer Florentino, Jacob Guzman, Tyler Hanes, Thayne Jasperson, Reed Luplau, Morgan Marcell, Ximone Rose, Ida Saki, Ahmad Simmons, DeAnne Stewart, Voltaire Wade-Greene and Katie Webber. The limited run will conclude on November 27.

Elizabeth McGovern to Star in Her Play About Ava Gardner at Geffen Playhouse
Downton Abbey's Elizabeth McGovern, who last appeared on Broadway in Time and the Conways, will star in her play Ava: The Secret Conversations at the Geffen Playhouse beginning on April 4, 2023. Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel, the production will continue through May 7 with opening night scheduled for April 13. The California run will mark the U.S. premiere for the play, which is about Hollywood legend Ava Gardner as she teams up with ghost writer Peter Evans on her tell-all biography, a real project that was ultimately abandoned until portions of Evans' work and notes were published following his death in 2012. The show bowed in London earlier this year. Additional casting for the Geffen Playhouse staging will be announced later.

Tony-Winning Producer Chase Mishkin Dies at 85
Chase Mishkin, who received Tony Awards for producing both Dame Edna and Memphis, died on July 24 at her home in Manhattan, The New York Times reports. She was 85. She was born Mary Margaret Hahn on January 22, 1937 in Vanduser, Missouri, she went on to attend Washington University in St. Louis for a semester in 1955. She met her husband Ralph Mishkin while modeling for an advertisement for his carpet manufacturing company. Following his death in 1993, she made her Broadway producing debut with The Apple Doesn't Fall... and went on to earn Tony nominations for producing The Beauty Queen of Leenane, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Dirty Blonde, A Class Act, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Passing Strange, Mary Stuart and Next Fall. Mishkin is survived by her sisters Julie Kahle and Dixie May, stepson Steve Mishkin and five step-grandchildren.