Odds & Ends: Phoenix Best Set for Workshop of Jocelyn Bioh's New Musical Goddess & More

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

Phoenix Best Set for Workshop of Jocelyn Bioh's New Musical Goddess
Vassar and New York Stage and Film has announced casting for Powerhouse Theater's upcoming workshop presentation of the new musical Goddess, set to run from July 26-28 in Poughkeepsie, NY. The cast will include Dear Evan Hansen alum Phoenix Best, along with Rodrick Covington, Amber Iman, Janelle McDermoth, Abena Mensah-Bonsu, Adesola Osakalumi, Lance Roberts, Avery Smith and Antoine L. Smith. Directed by Saheem Ali and featuring a book by Jocelyn Bioh and a score by Michael Thurber—who collaborated on School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play—Goddess follows a young man who returns home to the African coastal city of Mombasa, Kenya, to marry his betrothed and step into his family's political dynasty. But when he visits Moto Moto—a steamy afro-jazz club and the stomping ground of his youth—he finds himself drawn to a beautiful, mysterious new singer. Soon, he must decide whether to fulfill the legacy of his lineage, or give in to his love of music and a newfound attraction. For more information on the Powerhouse season, click here.

Pretty Woman, Beetlejuice & More Set for Lambs Club's Cocktails on Broadway Series
Six Broadway musicals have signed on to take part in the new post-performance series Cocktails on Broadway, created by Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian's flagship restaurant, Lambs Club. The series will put a spotlight on a different musical each month through the year's end, featuring free cocktails and light snacks for guests and the chance to mingle with cast members from each show. Shows set to participate include King Kong (July 18), Pretty Woman (August 1), Beetlejuice (September, date TBD), Chicago (October), Tootsie (November) and Waitress (December). In addition, a specialty show-themed cocktail will be offered for purchase at Lambs Club during the month the show is featured, with $2.00 from the sale of each drink benefitting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Cocktails on Broadway will also offer the opportunity to win door prizes and tickets to the featured Broadway shows. Artist Toby Triumph will produce six pieces of exclusive art drawn on Grey Goose bottles, each featuring artwork evoking the show highlighted that month. While each piece will be a standalone piece of art, when placed together, all six bottles will create a unique mural. Triumph will be present and draw live art on several of the event dates. All bottles will be on display at The Lambs Club Bar throughout the program.

Obie Winning-Actress E. Katherine Kerr Dies at 82
E. Katherine Kerr, a New York stage veteran who earned acclaim for numerous performances on and off-Broadway, died on July 1 in Sarasota, FL, according to The New York Times. The cause of death was non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Among Kerr's slew of off-Broadway credits was an Obie-winning turn in Caryl Churchill’s Cloud 9 (1981); other off-Broadway performances include The Trojan Women (1963), The Contrast (1972), Boo Hoo (1979), Laughing Wild (1987), Love Letters (1989), Unfinished Stories (1994) and The Credeaux Canvas (2001). As a writer, Kerr's play Juno's Swans debuted off-Broadway in 1985; she co-wrote the book to the off-Broadway musical Urban Blight (1988), in which she also appeared. Kerr's Broadway credits include No Place to Be Somebody (1971), Night Watch (1972), A Streetcar Named Desire (1973), Mert & Phil (1974) and the play Passion (1983). Her screen credits include Silkwood (1983) and Suspect (1987). Kerr is survived by her great-niece, Tess Weber.

D.C.'s Signature Announces Casting for Assassins
Complete casting has been announced for the upcoming new staging of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's Assassins, set to open at Arlington, Virginia's Signature Theatre next month. Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer is at the helm of the previously announced production, slated to run from August 11 through September 29. The principal company will include Christopher Bloch as Samuel Byck, Kurt Boehm as Ford/Proprietor, Evan Casey as John Hinckley, Vincent Kempski as John Wilkes Booth, Sam Ludwig as Balladeer/Lee Harvey Oswald, Ian McEuen as Giuseppe Zangara, Tracy Lynn Olivera as Sara Jane Moore, Lawrence Redmond as Leon Czolgosz, Bobby Smith as Charles Guiteau and Rachel Zampelli as Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme. In Assassins, nine would-be and successful presidential assassins inspire each other to pull the trigger and change their worlds in a perverse, wry and thrillingly entertaining vaudeville. Signature's production will feature musical direction by Jon Kalbfleisch.