Sunday Scoop Week of 8/9/26 What's Happening This Week and More

A) Beginning Peformances 

In  New York

1) The Bathroom Attendant

124 Bank Street Theater 8/13 - 8/30

2) benevolent

IATI Theater 8/14 - 9/5

3) House of the Negro Insane

59E59 Theaters  8/14 - 9/6

4) The Life and Times of Tilly Norwood

wild project 8/11 - 8/23

5) Paranormal Activity

August Wilson Theatre 8/15 - 1/3

6) The Whole Sky All Diamonds

Loft Story 8/12 - 8/22

In  New York & Pennsylvania

7) Your Queen Presents: Petrus

Grand Foyer at United Palace, NY  8/14

Asian Arts Intiative 9/9 & 9/11

In Pennsylvania

8) Rent 

Bucks County Playhouse 8/13 - 9/13

B) Cast Changes

In  New York

9) 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

New World Stages

10) Heated Rivalry

The Culture Club

C) Closing Soon

In  New York

11) That Math Show

Theater555 Closing 8/16

D) Concerts

In  New York

12) Eric Person

Dante Park 8/12

E) Exhibition

In  New York

13) Octopus & Others: Acts of Collaboration & Poetics

El Museo del Barrio 8/6 - 11/15

F) Festivals 

In  New York

14) Spiderwoman Theater's Block Party Pow Wow

De Graw St. (Btwn Court & Smith St.) 8/15

G) Recordings

15) Cats: The Jellicle Ball

16) Generate Music by Prism Quartet

H) Run Extension

In  New York

17) 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

New World Stages  - Now closing 10/11

18) Disruption

The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at The Pershing Square Center - Now closing 10/4

I) What Else Is Happening

In  New Jersey

19) NJPAC Applications for Sarah Vaughn International Jazz Vocal Competiton

Deadline 9/8

In  New York

20) Buena Vista Social Club Dance Along Hosted by Lupita Nyong'O

Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre 8/14

21) HERE Arts Center Hosting Happy Hours@HERE This August

22) Isla Community Engagements 

WP Theater  

In Philadelphia

23) Philadelphia Area Upcoming Pride Events

A) Beginning Peformances 

In  New York

Courtesy of Spincycle NYC

1) The Bathroom Attendant

THE BATHROOM ATTENDANT is set in a ramshackle apartment on the outskirts of Vegas. Here, an ex-prize fighter and his neighbor, a former adult film star, are visited by a young man with a secret and an offer they can’t refuse. Booze, betrayal and blackmail ignite an explosive night that will change their lives forever. 

124 Bank Street Theater (124 Bank St.)

8/13 - 8/30

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit sparkplugproductions.com.

2) benevolent

Set in 1917, benevolent follows four young women consigned to New York’s Inwood Benevolent Home, a draconian reformatory for fallen and friendless girls.

Forced into drudgery in the basement laundry, the women forge unlikely connections. But when one of them finds herself in trouble, the others must decide what they're willing to risk in order to help her.

Fierce, funny, and frank, benevolent is a piercing illumination of female solidarity: both the intimate places it can be found — and the shocking ways it can be broken.

IATI Theater (64 E. 4th St.)

8/14 - 9/5

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.goodapplescollective.com/benevolent.

3) House of the Negro Insane

The year is 1935. For years, Attius has lived behind the imposing walls of Central State Hospital – one of only seven US psychiatric institutions built to house "insane and idiotic negroes" – where the homeless and destitute are confined alongside the diseased and the criminally insane. Attius has carved out a meager existence within the hospital, building coffins, quietly crafting the final boxes for those who will never see freedom again. But everything changes when two new patients arrive, and Attius is forced to confront a possibility he buried long ago – a chance at life beyond the walls.

59E59 Theaters (59 E. 59 St.)

8/14 - 9/6

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.59e59.org.

4) The Life and Times of Tilly Norwood

It’s September 2022, and a young woman named Tilly has a roommate who’s trying not to strangle her, so she vows to finally get a real acting job… by locking herself in her room and doing 500 “self-tapes” (video auditions) in 2 weeks. She’s never taken an acting class, so her plan is to study all the audition videos she can find on YouTube for the roles that made actors famous, like Rachel McAdams for The Notebook, and especially Evangeline Lilly for Lost, memorizing every nuance of behavior. After this 2-week immersion Tilly hasn’t landed an acting job yet, but she reemerges into the living room with strange abilities… but will these new-found “super powers” be helpful in paying the rent? Can she finally rise to stardom before their living situation descends into chaos? The new show takes a satirical aim at the synthetic creativity we’re starting to live with, and perhaps have been putting up with for longer than we may realize. Absolutely no generative AI will be used in the writing or making of any aspect of the show. 

the wild project (195 E. 3rd St.)

8/11 - 8/23

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit thewildproject.org,

5) Paranormal Activity

James and Lou move from Chicago to London to escape their past, but they soon discover that places aren’t haunted, people are… With an original story inspired by the film franchise, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY reimagines the modern ghost story with an intimacy that only live theatre can provide.

August Wilson Theatre (245 W. 52nd St.)

Beginning perfomances 8/14

Opening Night 9/15

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit  paranormalbroadway.com.

Courtesy of DD PR

6) The Whole Sky All Diamonds

The Whole Sky All Diamonds is set inside a tech company on the verge of explosive success or possible collapse. At Füfl, what began as a revolution, a dream not just of changing the internet, but of transforming the very way humans communicate, has, for its employees, become just another job… another grind. But as a new hire upends the orbit of everyone at the company, romance, betrayal and heartbreak spread through the office like a slow-motion server crash.  Inspired by the worlds created by Anton Chekhov, the play explores how painful it is to connect in this über-connected world. How do we say what needs to be said when we can’t find the words? Or when there are no words? 

Loft Story (748 Manhattan Ave.,  Brooklyn)

8/12 - 8/22

For more information or to purchase tickets, www.wholeskyalldiamonds.com.

In  New York & Pennsylvania

Courtesy of Edu Diaz

7) Your Queen Presents: Petrus

A darkly comic solo blending drag, clown, shadow puppetry, and magical theatricality to uncover the wild true story behind Beauty and the Beast.  The piece, developed with Associate Director Federica Borlenghi, follows Queen Catherine de' Medici as she recounts the life of Petrus Gonsalvus, a Canary Islander with hypertrichosis who was taken to the French court in the 16th century and transformed into spectacle.

Grand Foyer at United Palace (4140 Bwy)

August 14, 7:30 PM

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit unitedpalace.boletosexpress.com/theatre-in-the-foyer/88640

Asian Arts Intiative (1219 Vine St.)

Cannonball / Philadelphia Fringe Festival

9/9 - 9/11

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit phillyfringe.org

In Pennsylvania

8) Rent 

Bucks County Playhouse (70 Main St., New Hope)

8/13 - 9/13

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit bcptheater.org/shows/rent

B) Cast Changes

In  New York

Courtesy of Vivacity Media Group

9) 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Kevin McHale plays his final performance as William Barfée 8/16

Featuring a Tony Award-winning book by Rachel Sheinkin (Striking 12, Sleeping Beauty Wakes) and a vibrant score by Tony Award winner William Finn (Falsettos, A New Brain), this new production of the musical is directed & choreographed by Danny Mefford (Kimberly Akimbo, Dear Evan Hansen). The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a fast-paced and funny D-E-L-I-G-H-T. As six wonderfully unique and impassioned contestants vie for the championship by spelling their way through vexing vocabulary, hilarious and poignant personal stories unfold…along with a dash of riotous audience participation. This charmingly witty and touching musical has entertained audiences across the world since its Tony–winning Broadway debut in 2005.

New World Stages (340 W. 50th St.)

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit spellingbeenyc.com 

10) Heated Rivalry

Jimin Moon will play their last performance as Shane Hollander 8/12.

Aaron Alcaraz joins the cast as Shane Hollander 8/13 - 8/30.

The Culture Club (530 W. 27th St.)

Through 11/1

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit  www.heatedrivalryparody.com.

C) Closing Soon

In  New York

Courtesy of Richard Hillman PR

11) That Math Show

From the company that produced more than 800 performances of That Physics Show and That Chemistry Show, The Science Theater Company returns to off-Broadway with That Math Show. Presented in association with the National Museum of Mathematics (MoMath.org), That Math Show is created by and features Dr. Arthur Benjamin, a nationally known "math-e-magician", and MoMath’s Visiting Professor for Public Outreach, who shares the beauty and magic of mathematics. His math-magic has been covered in The New York Times, Scientific American and People Magazine. Reader's Digest named him "America's Best Math Whiz." That Math Show is entertainment and wonder for anyone who lives in a world of mathematics...and that means everyone. Can you square a 4-digit number in your head faster than a calculator? That Math Show mathemagician can!

Theater555 (555 W. 42nd St.)

Closing 8/16

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.thatmathshow.com.

D) Concerts

In  New York

12) Eric Person

Saxophonist and composer Eric Person returns to the Dante Park stage to celebrate the release of his thirteenth CD Extra Pressure. For this performance he and his band celebrate the Centennial birthdays of two of jazz's greatest innovators: Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Eric Person’s body of work as a leader and sideman are stylistically diverse and intrepid. He has performed and recorded with leaders within the vanguard of the jazz world namely McCoy Tyner, Dave Holland, Houston Person, Wallace Roney, Chico Hamilton, and World Saxophone Quartet. And others outside of jazz such as Bootsy Collins, Ben Harper, Vernon Reid and Living Colour. Critics have long taken note of Eric’s signature sound on alto and soprano saxophone. John Chacona of Signal to Noise writes “Eric cultivates a sheer beauty of sound that’s often breathtaking.” Bill Milkowski called Person “a risk-taking improviser, accomplished composer, and inveterate swinger.”

Dante Park (on Broadway Between 63rd & 64th)

Wednesday August 12, 1:30 PM

This is free event.

For more information visit ericperson.com

E) Exhibition

In  New York

13) Octopus & Others: Acts of Collaboration & Poetics

El Museo del Barrio is proud to present Octopus & Others: Acts of Collaboration & Poetics, an exhibition inspired by a significant project from the museum’s history by artist, poet, and Exit Art co-founder Papo Colo. Octopus: An Act of Sculpture (1982)—an accordion-style outdoor book composed of eight-by-four-foot plywood panels—was first staged in El Museo’s courtyard in 1982. Anchored by a recent gift of several panels from the project to El Museo’s Permanent Collection by Colo, presented here for the first time in more than four decades, Octopus & Others showcases the power of collaboration between artists and poets and of artworks that embrace and subvert the book form and its function. 

El Museo del Barrio (1230 5th Ave. at 104th St.)

8/6 -  11/15

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit elmuseo.org/exhibition/octopus-others-acts-of-collaboration-poetics.

F) Festivals 

In  New York

Courtesy of Spincycle NYC

14) Spiderwoman Theater's Block Party Pow Wow

Spiderwoman Theater -- the oldest, continually running, Native feminist theater company in the Americas -- will celebrate its 50th Anniversary with SPIDERWOMAN THEATER’S BLOCK PARTY POW WOW: AN INDIGENOUS CELEBRATION , a family-friendly afternoon of art, culture, heritage and neighborhood unity.

On the border of historic Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill

(DeGraw St. between Court & Smith St.)  

(easily accessible from the F & G lines at Carroll Street Station) from

Saturday, August 15, 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Ths event is free and open to the public, no reservations required. 

For more information visit www.spiderwomantheater.org

G) Recordings

15) Cats: The Jellicle Ball

CATS: The Jellicle Ball, the wildly acclaimed Tony Award-winning musical revival, will record a cast album to be released this winter on Atlantic Records.

The album will be recorded by the full company of CATS: The Jellicle Ball and will be produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Alana da Fonseca. Dates and pre-order information for the album will be announced at a later date.

16) Generate Music by Prism Quartet

Courtesy of Aleba & Co

The fearless all-sax ensemble PRISM Quartet (Timothy McAllister, Zachary Shemon, Matthew Levy, and Taimur Sullivan) announces its most thought-provoking and personal album to date: GENERATE MUSIC.

GENERATE MUSIC is a new body of work exploring the ties between Black and Jewish Americans. The complex and sometimes fraught history of Black-Jewish relations in America includes episodes of mistrust, conflict, and separatism—but also fellowship and alliance against racism, anti-Semitism, and injustice. The new single “Requiem for AJ” is dedicated to a friend of Wesley's who died young in an automobile accident. The song tells the story of the Mississippi Three—two young Jewish men and one Black man murdered by Klansmen during Freedom Summer, 1964. But it's more than a historical account; it's a call to action.

H) Run Extension

In  New York

17) 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

New World Stages (340 W. 50th St.)

Now closing 10/11

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit spellingbeenyc.com 

18) Disruption

Does anyone know what would make them truly happy?

Tech entrepreneur Nick thinks he has the answer. After tremendous Silicon Valley success and a big exit, Nick presents his three best friends with his next big idea: an algorithm that is more complex than the human brain and promises to guide them through big life decisions better and more effectively than they can guide themselves. In an era where every aspect of human life has been documented with data and disrupted by technology, do computers know us better than we know ourselves? And even if they do, should we listen? Andrew Stein’s sharp, unnerving thriller is a timely and insightful exploration of our tech obsessed world.

The Romolus Linney Courtyard Theatre at the Pershing Square Signature Center (480 W. 42nd St.)

Now closing 10/4

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit  DisruptionPlay.com

I) What Else Is Happening

In  New Jersey

Courtesy of Prana PR

19) Calling all vocalists: Apply for the 2026 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition

Applications are open now! Deadline to apply is  Friday, September 8 at 5PM EST

The divine Sarah Vaughan — Newark’s greatest musical gift to the world — got her start as the winner of a talent contest. NJPAC honors her legacy every year with the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition.

The winner will receive a $5,000 cash prize and a one-of-a-kind platform for embarking on a career in the music business.

Applications are submitted virtually, but the final round of the competition is a public performance before an audience of jazz enthusiasts and a panel of judges during the TD James Moody Jazz Festival. Singers are evaluated and rated for vocal quality, musicality, technique, performance, individuality, artistic interpretation and ability to swing. 

All interested candidates are encouraged to submit their application on their website.

XXX

In New York

Courtesy of Polk and Co.

20) LUPITA NYONG’O

Hosts

Summer’s Hottest Party

THE BUENA VISTA DANCE-ALONG

 

WILDLY POPULAR DANCE-ALONG PERFORMANCE RETURNS

FRIDAY, AUGUST 14

 

At the Tony and Grammy Award-winning Broadway Hit

BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB

Due to popular demand following two roof-raising, sold-out “dance along” performances, the Tony and Grammy-winning Broadway hit musical BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB will host a special summer “dance along” performance on Friday, August 14^th, hosted by Academy Award Winner and friend of Buena Vista, Lupita Nyong’o.

 

Click HERE for a special video from John Leguizamo and Lupita Nyong’o.

 

This crowd-pleasing special event invites audience members to dance along with the show from their seats. When the music moves them, all audience members are free to give in to the rhythm—swaying their hips, shaking their shoulders, or just enjoying the energy of this shared celebration. The production kindly asks the audience to dance responsibly and to take their seats between songs so everyone can enjoy the show.

Tickets for this special Dance-Along performance, as well as all regularly scheduled performances, are available at buenavistasocialclub.com

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Photo by Marcus Middleton

21) HERE Arts Center Hosting 

Happy Hours @ HERE This August 

This August, HERE Arts Center (Co-Directors Jesse Cameron Alick, Annalisa Dias, and Lanxing Fu) will host a series of happy hour events featuring a slate of special performances and discounted drinks at the bar.

On Tuesday, August 11th from 5-7pm, Happy Hours @ HERE will feature trivia! With an eclectic mix of categories across arts and culture, this is an opportunity for the slightly more esoterically minded to thrive (no sports categories). Come with a team, or join one and make your new best friends! Admission is open and free, and drinks will be discounted. 

The final Happy Hour in the series will take place on Friday, August 21st, from 3-5pm. Join Chef Ira of chop//serve, a developing food and hospitality project offering intentional, personable, and unique dining experiences across the greater New York metro area. HERE’s 8/21 Happy Hour will also feature jewelry and garment vendor Nastypatty, creating statement pieces for statement people.  

The Happy Hours @ HERE series will culminate in HERE’s Season Kick-Off party on Saturday, September 19th from 3-6pm celebrating the launch of HERE’s 33rd season. 2026-27 artists and HERE community members will gather to toast the year ahead and preview what's coming with complimentary food and drink and special pop-up performances. 

HERE's lobby will be open during regular business hours all summer offering free wifi and serving as a living room for the neighborhood's funkiest, most offbeat, most genuinely avant-garde community. 

XXX

Courtesy of Emily Owens PR

22) Hit the Lights! Company to present 

'Light Nights!’ 

Community Engagement Events as part of ISLA World Premiere at WP Theater

Hit the Lights! Company will present Light Nights!, a series of community engagement events following select performances of their World Premiere of ISLA at WP Theater (2162 Broadway, New York, NY 10024), August 8-29. 

Hit The Block: Queens Community Night 

Following the 7pm performance on August 12th 

Calling all Queens residents! We're celebrating the borough that makes ISLA and Hit The Lights! Company possible. This night is presented in partnership with the Queens Artist Connection, uplifting the artistic ecosystem of our beautiful and diverse borough and strengthening connections among the artists who call it home. We'd love to feel that hometown support with an audience full of our Queens family — followed by a night out. After the performance, we'll all head around the corner to the Amsterdam Ale House to celebrate with our neighbors.

Toda La Familia!

Following the 2pm performance on August 16th

This is an afternoon to gather toda la familia — abuelas, tías, primos, and little ones alike — for a story so many of us carry in our own history. ISLA is a story about the things we keep and the things we leave behind — brought to life through an all-original songbook, live Latin jazz, and a cast of handmade shadow puppets. This show has something for the entire family, and we can't wait to welcome our Latine community to share in a day of sisterhood, memory, and music.

Artist Talkback: Shadow Puppetry Illuminated

Following the 7pm performance on August 17th

To all our puppetry enthusiasts! Go behind the curtain to explore the exquisite craft behind ISLA's extended cast of handmade shadow puppets — from silhouette design to the technical choreography that brings a dreamlike menagerie to life on stage. Join us for a talkback moderated by Julia Schemmer, founder of Puppetry on Broadway, with special guests Amanda Card and the Drama Desk-nominated production of  Bill's 44th. This is a wonderful opportunity for puppetry enthusiasts, artists, educators, and community members to gather and talk about our craft.

ISLA, the latest full-length work from acclaimed theater company Hit the Lights! is a uniquely original family history led by founding company member Samantha Blain. In her Caribbean coming-of-age story, Blain’s American lineage is born when three young women learn that sometimes the real world can be stronger than magic. Based on the true saga of one family exodus to Miami via the 1960's Freedom Flights, ISLA is a visually sumptuous, musically driven play that evokes the rustic spirit of pre-Castro Cuba’s kitchens, fields, dance halls and public squares. Blain, in the role of her aunt, must ally with her sisters to chart a path to an uncertain and newly imagined future.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.hitthelights.org. 

XXX

In Pennsylvania

23) Philadelphia Area Upcoming Pride Events

33rd Annual Pride Picnic
Saturday, August 15, 2026
1:00pm to 6:00pm
By NWPA Pride Alliance
At Rotary Pavilion, Presque Isle Park, Erie PA
No charge

Close out the NWPA Pride summer events with the 33rd Annual Pride Picnic. Gather with the community at Presque Isle State Park for a relaxed afternoon of family-friendly fun. This long-standing tradition is a potluck-style event, so attendees are encouraged to bring a dish to share alongside the provided food and drinks. The afternoon includes raffle baskets and the traditional annual community portrait. There is no admission fee, and all are welcome to come celebrate and connect.

Lehigh Valley Pride
Sunday, August 30, 2026
1:00pm to 7:00pm
By Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center
At The ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem, PA 18015
Tickets required $5.00

Sunday, August 30 from 1:00pm to 7:00pm Lehigh Valley Pride will be celebrating Rain or Shine. LGBTQIA+ community members and allies, including more than 150 vendors, artists, community organizations, and sponsors. The event at the SteelStacks will include accessibility features such as ASL interpreters, ADA restrooms, large-print Pride guides, alcohol-fr ee experiences, indoor air conditioned spaces, accessible seating for those with disabilities, indoor sensory-friendly area, spirituality space and reserved parking near the festival entrances.

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And that's the scoop. Tune in tomorrow for More Theater Monday.

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