Dear Theater Lovers, If you are hearing the pitter-patter of little feet, that is the sound of the new season creeping up on us. Michael Paulson reports on several announcements, including the exciting news that Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis’s musical version of the film “The Warriors” has found a theater for next spring and that Lincoln Center Theater’s coming season will include a new staging of Aaron Sorkin’s “A Few Good Men” — in which military soldiers encounter the limits of obedience — and “The Sound of Music,” starring Betty Boop herself, Jasmine Amy Rogers. If you’re not hearing enough feet, it’s because, as Michael points out in a meticulously researched article, new musicals are facing a number of obstacles on their way to Broadway. Last season was strangely bereft of new musicals. This fall will be too. Where are they this year? In this piece, Michael carefully maps the rough ground that is defeating so many projects: Out-of-town hesitation, the lack of available theaters, and, of course, money are only some of the barriers he identifies. Or possibly you can hear some not-so-little feet: the stampede of high school talent that was in New York for this week’s 17th annual National High School Musical Theater Awards intensive, a.k.a. the Jimmy Awards. Sarah Bahr reported on the ceremony and the winners Jake James and Samia Posadas: “In the world that we live in right now, this is the only thing you can come to and you can be fully present the entire time,” James said in his acceptance speech. You can still stream the whole three-hour ceremony here, but only through tomorrow. (The host, Bowen Yang, explained his first encounter with the Jimmys: “I, like many of you, am obsessed with the Jimmy Awards. And, like some of you, I was introduced to them on Fire Island.”) Elisabeth Vincentelli and the photographer Dolly Faibyshev spent the day with these voices of tomorrow and created a wonderful visual essay of young performers preparing to take their first steps on a Broadway stage. If you are, say, feeling a little careworn and jaded, the sheer enthusiasm in these photos will restore you to a state of delight. Jesse Green found that state upstate at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare, where he wrote about the group’s elegant new wall-less theater that “the wind and rain can blow through.” Jesse details the many transformations of one slice of land outside Garrison, N.Y., and an astonishing gift that has allowed the artistic director, Davis McCallum, and H.V.S. to build a new theatrical campus — a cultural “pilgrimage site” that seems to melt into the surrounding landscape. Both the place and the piece are inspiring. And while we’re on the subject of getting away, Elisabeth and Laura Collins-Hughes have put together a list of shows and festivals from across the country, including the many summer Shakespeare offerings, often in magnificent outdoor surroundings or on huge stages. Around New York these days, the big news is actually what’s in the small spaces, so we put together a list of Off Broadway shows we don’t think you should miss — and noted that several of them are closing in the next few days. You might feel the lazy days of midsummer approaching, but they aren’t here quite yet! There’s still time to find yourself somewhere quiet, and mysterious, and dark. Thank you for reading us each week! Tell us if you’ve seen something great. Please reach out to us at theaterfeedback@nytimes.com with suggestions for articles or to offer your thoughts about our coverage. And urge your friends to subscribe to this newsletter. Yours, Helen Shaw Like this email?Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up here.
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