Miriam Hopkins

Leapin' Lizards! Moorestown Theater Company's 150th production is the show that started it all for them - ANNIE!

In conjunction with its current production of Tartuffe, Huntington Theatre Company will host several special events and post-show conversations. Admission to onsite post-show events is free with a ticket to Tartuffe, available at huntingtontheatre.org/tartuffe, by phone at 617 266 0800, or in person at the Huntington Avenue Theatre (264 Huntington Avenue) and Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA (527 Tremont Street) box offices. Tickets start at $25. Performances run through December 10, 2017 at the Avenue of the Arts / Huntington Avenue Theatre.

NOËL COWARD, a one week festival devoted to the English playwright, actor, singer, composer, lyricist, director, screenwriter, and wit, will run at Film Forum from today, May 13 through Thursday, May 19.

NOËL COWARD, a one week festival devoted to the English playwright, actor, singer, composer, lyricist, director, screenwriter, and wit, will run at Film Forum from Friday, May 13 through Thursday, May 19.

While watching the Next Stage production of Gina Gionfriddo's RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN at Theatre Memphis, I was reminded of John Van Druten's screenplay for the 1943 Warner Brothers film OLD ACQUAINTANCE. It was one of those 'women pictures' which provided thespic opportunities for the likes of actresses like Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins, who, in fact, were the lead players in this particular film. In their youth, the two women had been friends, but as their paths parted in life, the Davis character, brittle and alone, became a critically acclaimed (if financially challenged) author, while the Hopkins character, finally penning a bestseller (trash that it is, it rakes in the 'big bucks'), jealously desires what Davis has. I couldn't help thinking, if Gionfriddo's RAPTURE had fallen into the hands of a director like Vincent Sherman, I could see Davis as the 'Catherine Croll' character, who, despite national recognition and an evidently fulfilling career, begins to have doubts about her life choices. (If you've ever seen the famous car scene in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's ALL ABOUT EVE, also starring Davis, you'll hear the character of stage actress 'Margo Channing' lament what a woman gives up when she devotes herself entirely to a career: I wonder if this very scene influenced Ms. Gionfriddo in her characterizations.) The other character, 'Gwen,' would obviously have been given over to Hopkins, who would have shone as the once promising woman who jettisoned her own burgeoning promise to marry 'Don Harper,' who once had been Catherine's intended (George Brent, anyone?).

THE HEIRESS, Ruth and Augustus Goetz's 1947 adaptation of Henry James' WASHINGTON SQUARE and currently occupying the Lohrey Stage at Theatre Memphis, has had a long and steady run on stages throughout the world - and why not? Tightly corseted, polite to a fault, and observing proprieties, this intelligently written script captures the essence of the James source material without the convoluted, complex sentences that, alas, repel many readers. As tautly drawn as the material on one of the samplers for which its heroine is noted, when one of the characters punctuates the prevailing politeness with a barbed or telling line of dialogue, it's as if a sharp and jagged blade suddenly ripped through the fabric of the needlework itself. All this play needs for a successful run is a handsome set, period costumes - and four or five gifted players.

Classic Broadway to Hollywood adaptation THE CHILDREN'S HOUR is now available for the first time on Blu-ray.

Most of ESP's recent outings have been stories written directly for the stage. For our January 2014 reading (the last to be held at our beloved NSCC before we move to ACT), we turn to a master playwright's take on (apparently) undramatic material - John Van Druten's adaptation of Christopher Isherwood's Berlin Stories, I Am a Camera.

The romantic comedy Parfumerie, adapted by E.P. Dowdall from the Hungarian play Illatszertar by Miklos Laszlo, will have a rare revival as the first theater production of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts (Lou Moore, Executive Director), for a limited, 29 performance engagement November 26 to December 22. The production, directed by Mark Brokaw, who is currently represented on Broadway with Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, centers on a romance that unfolds through love letters, a perfect homage to the historic Beverly Hills Post Office. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

The romantic comedy Parfumerie, adapted by E.P. Dowdall from the Hungarian playIllatszertar by Miklos Laszlo, will have a rare revival as the first theater production of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts (Lou Moore, Executive Director), for a limited, 29 performance engagement November 26 to December 22. The production, directed by Mark Brokaw, who is currently represented on Broadway with Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, centers on a romance that unfolds through love letters, a perfect homage to the historic Beverly Hills Post Office.

Howard Hawks, the quintessential Hollywood director known for his mastery of many genres, will be the subject of a complete retrospective at Museum of the Moving Image from today, September 7 through November 10, 2013. The Museum will present 39 features. All of the films will be shown in 35mm-many in stunning restorations-except for Red Line 7000, which will be shown in 16mm.

Howard Hawks, the quintessential Hollywood director known for his mastery of many genres, will be the subject of a complete retrospective at Museum of the Moving Image from September 7 through November 10, 2013. The Museum will present 39 features. All of the films will be shown in 35mm-many in stunning restorations-except for Red Line 7000, which will be shown in 16mm.

The Emory Cinematheque, a weekly series of free 35mm screenings, presents 'American Comedy Classics,'beginning Wednesday August 28 with Billy Wilder's 'Some Like it Hot' (1959). The screenings take place each Wednesday (plus one Sunday evening) in White Hall 205. A screening of Buster Keaton's films will take place on Sunday, September 29 at 7:30. A special screening of Paul Schrader's 'Mishima' (1985) will be held on Wednesday September 25 as part of famed composer Philip Glass's visit to Emory.

There are some lovely moments to be found in Birds in Church, the latest production from Nashville's Rhubarb Theatre-a refashioning of the company's first production almost ten years ago, both of which feature vignettes selected from among playwright and former priest Joe Pintauro's Metropolitan Operas. There are lovely moments, to be certain, along with some that are almost riotously funny, genuinely moving and clearly provocative.

Siobhan O'Neill will present a staged reading of Trouble in Paradise on Monday January 24th at 3pm.

Siobhan O'Neill will present a staged reading of Trouble in Paradise on Monday January 24th at 3pm.

Baz Bamigboye reports in the UK Daily Mail today that Lisa Dillon will lead a production of Noel Coward's Design for Living at the Old Vic in September. In this season launch production, she will be joined onstage by Tom Burke and Andrew Scott. Anthony Page will direct the production, which is being produced by Kate Pakenham.

Roundabout Theatre Company has announced the full company joining Margaret Colin as 'Katharine Markham' and Tony Award-winner Harriet Harris as 'Mildred Watson Drake' in a new Broadway production of John Van Druten's comedy Old Acquaintance, directed by Michael Wilson at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway

The New York Times reports that the Roundabout Theatre Company will present a revival of John Van Druten's 1940 play Old Acquaintance.

Cynthia Nixon will host a benefit performance of the Off-Broadway hit Trouble in Paradise July 20th