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August 13, 2025 
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Dear Theater Fans,
“It’s very liberating to take off that psychological corset,” said Elizabeth McGovern, who is portraying the sultry film star Ava Gardner after 16 years of embodying the prim Countess of Grantham in “Downton Abbey.” McGovern talked to Elisabeth Vincentelli about changing gears for her new play, “Ava: The Secret Conversations” (at New York City Center through Sept. 14), which she also adapted from a British journalist’s “decidedly nontraditional book” about his power struggles with his controlling subject.
At the Delacorte Theater, the stars are in abundance — and not just the ones audiences can see in the sky above Central Park. Lupita Nyong’o, Sandra Oh, Peter Dinklage, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and others are performing in “Twelfth Night” at the newly reopened theater. Alexis Soloski spent some time with Nyong’o and her younger brother, Junior, as they prepared to play the show’s shipwrecked twins, Viola and Sebastian. Onstage together, they are resuming their childhood adventures. “He really enjoyed make-believe as much as I did,” Lupita Nyong’o said.
In a visually stunning piece, Michael Paulson and the photographer Sara Krulwich take us on a tour of the $85 million upgrade of the Delacorte, which received “all sorts of modifications and modernizations,” including a barrier to keep raccoons from burrowing under the seats. And Sarah Bahr surveyed the fan mail landscape in New York theater, where declarations of admiration come in all forms: papier-mâché “Little Shop of Horrors” fly traps, friendship bracelets and, for Joey Fatone, the former ‘N Sync singer who had a run in “& Juliet,” a customized track suit.
Michael also reported that “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)” will open at the Longacre Theater in November. The show had its own journey — across England with a stop in Boston before coming to New York — and has racked up glowing reviews along the way. Here’s a video of the show’s two stars, Christiani Pitts and Sam Tutty, singing one of the production numbers, “American Express.”
Please reach out to me at theaterfeedback@nytimes.com with suggestions for stories or to offer your thoughts about our coverage. And urge your friends to subscribe to this newsletter.
Have a wonderful week,
Nicole Herrington
Theater Editor
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SALLIE BINGHAM, 1937-2025 |
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