Regional Roundup: Top 10 Stories This Week Around the Broadway World - 8/14; GREY GARDENS, A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN and More!

This week, we go around our Broadway World to feature stories in Boston, Long Island, St. Louis and more. Check out our top 10 stories around our Broadway World below, which include A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN with Audra McDonald and Will Swenson in Boston, Bay Street's GREY GARDENS starring Betty Buckley and Rachel York, and The Muny's OKLAHOMA!, just to name a few.

East/Northeast

1. Boston, MA: Editor Jan Nargi reviews A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN starring Audra McDonald and Will Swenson at Williamstown Theatre Festival. She says, "There's no mistaking who's in charge in the Williamstown Theatre Festival's crackling production of A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN now running through August 23. As Eugene O'Neill's indomitable heroine Josie Hogan, six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald stomps, kicks, shoves and brandishes a big stick as she asserts her dominance over her father Phil (Glynn Turman), her landlord and wannabe love interest James Tyrone (Will Swenson), and anyone else who gets in her way." Read her full review here. Wanna know what other critics had to say? Read our Review Roundup here. We also have a first look at the production here.

2. Long Island, NY: Editor Melissa Giordano reviews Bay Street's GREY GARDENS starring Betty Buckley and Rachel York. She says, "Leading the stellar company filled with Broadway veterans is legendary Tony award winner Betty Buckley and Drama Desk award winner Rachel York portraying mother Edith Bouvier Beale and daughter Edie Beale. They complement each other so well even nailing the Long Island accent. Ms. York particularly emulated "Little" Edie well and Ms. Buckley performs her numbers exquisitely and is multifaceted as Edith. These incredible women give astounding performances." We also have a full Review Roundup here, and a first look at the production here.

Midwest

3. St. Louis, MO: Editor Chris Gibson reviews a "spectacular" OKLAHOMA! at The Muny. He says, "Ben Davis delivers a winning performance, and his soaring and pleasant voice is heard to great effect on "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'," "People Will Say We're in Love," and "Poor Jud is Dead." Christine Cornish Smith is equally delightful as Laurey, and she displays a particular quality that really suits material like "Many A Day" and "Out of My Dreams." Alexander Gemignani is very effective as Jud, with the character's girl and gun fondling tendencies notably enhanced by a dark demeanor that seems to shadow his every move." Read more here. Can't get enough? We have full production shots here, opening night pics part 1 here and part 2 here, backstage shots here, and a first look at highlights here!

4. West Virginia: Editor Johnna Leary says that "MURDER AT THE HOWARD JOHNSON'S Is a Killer Comedy at Washington County Playhouse." She goes on, "The comedy features Steve Steele as Paul, Jules Happy Rone as his wife, Arlene and Shawn R. Martin as Arlene's lover, Dr. Mitchell Lovell. Murder at the Howard Johnson's only features the three performers, and an outstanding relationship was necessary to portray the rapidly changing comedic situations." Read more here.

South

5. Charlotte, NC: Editor Perry Tannebaum reviews THE BOOK OF LIZ at the Charlotte Art League. He says, "A stern ascetic strain is readily apparent in the Sedarises' portrait of the Squeamish who live in the seclusion of Clusterhaven. Yet the script steers deftly around religion, aiming its satire primarily at the stodgy sexist patriarchs who rule the colony and their absorption with Clusterhaven's prime product: cheese balls, traditional or smoky." Read more here.

West

6. San Francisco, CA: Editor Linda Hodges reviews Woodminster's THE PRODUCERS. She says, " Calvin Smith is positively brilliant as the flamboyant Roger Debris who is tapped by Max to direct Springtime and ends up playing Hitler to his and our great delight. His assistant Carmen Ghia (the perfectly swishy Nick Nakashima) deserves a nod here too! Edward Hightower has the plummy role of Springtime's playwright Franz Liebkind who is also a crazed Führer fanatic who raises pigeons on a rooftop in the Village. (A cameo by the Swastika-wearing pigeons almost steals the scene!)" Read her full review here.

7. Portland, OR: Editor Krista Garver reviews OKLAHOMA! at Broadway Rose. She says, "The current production at Broadway Rose, directed by Sharon Maroney, is OKLAHOMA! at its best. It's everything you could possibly want from this musical (at least it's everything I wanted) -- a beautiful love story, great music and dancing, and also a deeply emotional tale of the conflicts and uncertainty experienced by people trying to sort out their future, both as individuals and as citizens of a divided territory that is soon to be a state." Read more here.

8. Los Angeles, CA: Editor Don Grigware says "Group rep Is On a WINNING STREAK." He goes on, "For full enjoyment of Lombardi, it helps to be a football fan; for THE WINNING STREAK, you need not care at all about baseball. Whereas Lombardi derives its spark from the spirit of the sport, STREAK's comes totally from the human spirit. Blessing's brilliance as a writer is in his ability to show human conflict full-out, and there is no finer example of a dysfunctional father/son relationship than this play." Read his full review here.

International

9. UK/West End: We have a first look at Lyndsey Turner's production of William Shakespeare's Hamlet with Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role. Performances at the Barbican Theatre commenced this week on 5 August with opening night on 25 August at 7pm with critics previews from Thursday 20 August. Check out the photos here.

National Tour Highlight:

10. Editor Audrey Liebross reviews a new tour of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. She says, "The new touring production of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, currently playing at the Segerstrom Center in Costa Mesa, is a must-see, well worth the trip from the Inland Empire and Coachella Valley. The music, costumes, and sets are hauntingly beautiful and most of the performances are superb." Read her full review here.

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