Odds & Ends: New Musical from Amanda Green & Scott Ellis to Receive Reading at Williamstown & More

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

New Musical from Amanda Green & Scott Ellis to Receive Reading at Williamstown
Additional casting and more programming have been announced for the 2019 summer season of Williamstown Theatre Festival. Joining the previously announced slate of stars is Jeorge Watson in A Human Being, of a Sort (June 26-July 7), May Calamawy in Selling Kabul (July 10-July 21), Jamey Sheridan in Grand Horizons (July 17-July 28) and Tom Pecinka in Ghosts (July 31-August 18). Also newly announced is WTF's Fridays@3 weekly reading series. Highlights include the play For Nina (July 12) by Robert Emmet Lunney, directed by Dylan Baker, and the new musical Female Troubles (August 2) from Kiss Me, Kate collaborators Amanda Green and Scott Ellis; the tuner features a book by Jennifer Crittenden and Gabrielle Allan, music by Curtis Moore, lyrics by Green and direction by Ellis. For a look at the full 2019 WTF lineup, click here.

Jim Norton to Join Matthew Broderick in London's Starry Messenger
Tony winner Jim Norton (The Seafarer) is among the newly announced complete cast set for the West End premiere of Kenneth Lonergan's The Starry Messenger. The previously announced production, directed by Sam Yates and starring Matthew Broderick and Elizabeth McGovern, will run from May 16 through August 10 at the Wyndham's Theatre. In addition to Norton, new cast members include Olivier winner Jenny Galloway, Rosalind Eleazar, Sinead Matthews, Joplin Sibtain, Sinead Matthews and Sid Sagar.

Two New Works Selected for MCC's Spring 2019 PlayLabs Series
Off-Broadway's MCC Theater has announced a pair of new works set to appear as part of the company's 2019 PlayLabs series. Kicking it off will be Ching Chong Maka Hiya (April 29), written by David Zheng and directed by Zhailon Levingston. The new work follows Jeremy, a Chinese boy from the Bronx who finds himself in jail under the supervision of the facility's newest correctional officers—his close childhood friends. Next up will be Band Aid (May 20), a play with music penned by Zoe Lister-Jones, with original tunes by Lister-Jones, Kyle Forester and Zoe Sarnak. Tony nominee Leigh Silverman will direct the show, which centers on Los Angeles artists Anna and Ben, who are entangled in a fight as they try to find a solution to their fractured marriage. While navigating their dispute, they decide to turn their fights into songs.