Waitress is “hajimeyo” (or, “opening up”) again—this time in Japan. Check out footage from the first Japanese-language production, which opened March 9 at Tokyo’s Nissay Theatre, above.

The National Asian American Theatre Company has commissioned five Asian-American female playwrights—Jaclyn Backhaus, Samantha Chanse, Mia Chung, Naomi Iizuka, and Anna Moench—to write monologues for characters no younger than 60 years old. Each monologue will be at least 30 minutes long, and all five will be performed together as a piece entitled Out of Time.

The arts and culture industries remain largely at a standstill in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, affecting millions of workers in an already delicate ecosystem. The Broadway Community Project, from industry veterans Greg Schaffert, Tiffani Gavin, Situation Interactive, and Playbill, was developed to shed light on the myriad fields and roles that go into making the curtain rise.

With the ever-changing nature of Broadway, the memory of seeing a show can become a collector’s item in its own right, just as much as a cherished Playbill.

The original Broadway production of In The Heights opened at the Richard Rodgers Theatre March 9, 2008, after beginning performances February 14. In the Heights would go on to be nominated for 13 Tony Awards, winning four, including Best Musical. The production closed January 9, 2011, after 1,185 performances.

Dress Circle Publishing releases of The Untold Stories of Broadway, Volume 4, the latest in a series by acclaimed historian and producer Jennifer Ashley Tepper, March 9. In celebration of the release, Playbill is presenting exclusive videos of stars featured in the book reading each other’s theatrical tales. Check out Telly Leung and Paul Gemignani above.

Dress Circle Publishing releases of The Untold Stories of Broadway, Volume 4, the latest in a series by acclaimed historian and producer Jennifer Ashley Tepper on Tuesday, March 9. In celebration of the release, Playbill is presenting exclusive videos of stars featured in the book reading each other’s theatrical tales. Check out Anita Gillette and Don Scardino above.

The multi-volume series tells the stories of all of the theaters on Broadway. The newest edition includes the beloved houses the Imperial, Jacobs, Studio 54, Minskoff, Friedman, and Golden Theatres, as well as the five Broadway theaters that were destroyed in 1982, changing the course of New York City history.

The Untold Stories of Broadway, Volume 4, which includes over 30 new interviews, features hundreds of theatre professionals discussing everything that makes Broadway essential. A portion of the book’s proceeds will benefit The Broadway Advocacy Coalition.

To order The Untold Stories of Broadway, Volume 4, visit DressCirclePublishing.com.

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In honor of International Women’s Day, we asked our social media followers to share with us the women in theatre who inspire them. Their answers included performers, directors, lighting designers, and more.

Flip through the 54 women our readers nominated below:

Celebrating Women’s History Month with 60 Inspiring Women

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Cody Renard Richard claims there is no such thing as a superstar stage manager. It’s a nice notion, but it doesn’t exist. It’s antithetical to the function of the role, he insists. But it is a humble little lie, one that is easily disproved by his presence on location in Harlem for a feature photo shoot on an unusually warm day for the middle of December. Dressed impeccably in a sleek black jumpsuit, cornrows, and shimmering silver shoes that could have just walked directly from an Instagram ad and onto his feet, he looks like a CW show’s interpretation of a theatre technician, which is to say: cool to the point of unfair.

Tony Award winner Lea Salonga celebrates her birthday February 22.