Ahmanson Theatre News

Tony Award nominee J. Robert Spencer will play his final performance in the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical Next to Normal on Sunday, May 16 at 7:30p.m. A replacement for Mr. Spencer will be announced shortly.

Tony Award nominee J. Robert Spencer will play his final performance in the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical Next to Normal on Sunday, May 16 at 7:30p.m. A replacement for Mr. Spencer will be announced shortly.

Celebration Theatre is thrilled to present the West Coast Premiere of a brand new musical, THE WOMEN OF BREWSTER PLACE - The Musical, with music, book and lyrics by Tim Acito (Zanna, Don't), choreography by Ameenah Kaplan (Altar Boyz, Frosty the Snow Manilow), musical direction by Greg Nabours (A New Brain), directed by Michael Matthews (Haram Iran, Beautiful Thing) and produced for Celebration Theatre by David Tarlow.

'Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo,' which had its world premiere at the Center Theatre Group/Kirk Douglas Theatre in 2009 and was named a 2010 Pulitzer Prize finalist earlier this month, opens at the CTG/Mark Taper Forum at the Los Angeles Music Center on Sunday, April 25. Previews are underway and performances continue through May 30, 2010.

Goblins, ghouls and ghosts of the 1980s haunt SCR's latest world premiere, Doctor Cerberus, which makes its debut April 11 - May 2 on the Julianne Argyros Stage.

To enhance Orange County theater-going when the national tour of the smash hit musical DREAMGIRLS visits April 21 - May 2, the Center has scheduled two post-performance talkbacks with cast members on April 22 and 29. During the talkbacks, which will follow the performances in Segerstrom Hall, audience members can speak to the cast and ask questions. The talkbacks are free, but tickets to the April 22 and 29 performances of DREAMGIRLS are required.

Bob Boyett and NETworks Presentations announce casting for the national tour of the Lincoln Center Theater production of Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein's prize-winning musical 'South Pacific,' directed by Bartlett Sher, opening June 2 at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre and playing through July 17, 2010. Previews begin May 27.

Bob Boyett and NETworks Presentations announce casting for the national tour of the Lincoln Center Theater production of Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein's prize-winning musical 'South Pacific,' directed by Bartlett Sher, opening June 2 at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre and playing through July 17, 2010. Previews begin May 27.

It was announced today that Rajiv Joseph's darkly comic 'Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo' has been named as a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Other finalists include 'The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity' by Kristoffer Diaz, and 'In the Next Room or the vibrator play' by Sarah Ruhl.

Kenny Rogers: The First 50 Years will be performed at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods on Saturday, April 10 will feature Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, Lionel Richie, Alison Kraus, Wynonna, The Oak Ridge Boys, and other artists will be announced at a later date.

Sheffield Theatres Productions presents True West, the show is directed by Paul Miller and designed by Hayden Griffin. The show will be held at Crucible Theatre at Tudor Square, Sheffield. It will run Thursday 13 May - Saturday 5 June 2010.

Big band sound transforms the Lincoln Theatre into a Duke Ellington jazz club as Arena Stage presents Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies, choreographed by and starring Maurice Hines (Broadway's Sophisticated Ladies and Uptown... It's Hot!) with direction by Charles Randolph-Wright (Arena's Guys and Dolls and Blue).

Celebration Theatre presents the West Coast Premiere of HARAM IRAN, based on the real life trial and execution of Iranian teenagers, Ayaz Marhouni and Mahmoud Asgari, convicted of being gay in Mashad, Iran in 2005. HARAM IRAN, originally scheduled to conclude April 4th, will now continue through April 11th. The production began previews on Wednesday, March 3rd and opened on Friday, March 5th. The show plays the Celebration Theatre, 7051B Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood.

Rehearsals begin today, Monday, April 5 for the World Premiere production of PARADISE FOUND, a new musical under the combined direction of Theater legend and 21-time Tony Award winner Harold Prince (the original productions of Cabaret, Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, The Phantom of the Opera, Company, Follies, Evita) and 5-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman (Crazy For You, Show Boat, The Producers, Contact). This is their first collaboration since the landmark, Tony Award-winning revival of Show Boat. Following the New York rehearsal period, the production will open at London's acclaimed Menier Chocolate Factory with performances running May 19 through June 26.

Celebration Theatre will close out its run of the West Coast Premiere of HARAM IRAN, based on the real life trial and execution of Iranian teenagers, Ayaz Marhouni and Mahmoud Asgari, convicted of being gay in Mashad, Iran in 2005, on April 4th.

Center Theatre Group will end its run of Dreamgirls, Music by Henry Krieger, Lyrics and Book by Tom Eyen, Directed and Choreographed by Robert Longbottom, and Co-Choreography by Shane Sparks on April 4, 2010.

The Producers of Broadway's most acclaimed new musical, Next to Normal, announced today that a National Tour will launch in Los Angeles in November 2010. Performances at the Center Theatre GroupAhmanson Theatre will begin November 23 and run through January 2. Winner of three Tony Awards - Best Score, Best Actress in a Musical, and Best Orchestrations - Next to Normal features music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, and direction by Michael Greif.

An American architect gets a mysterious assignment from a Middle Eastern dignitary in the latest play from Howard Korder, which will run through March 28 on the Julianne Argyros Stage.

Kirk Douglas Theatre presents the world premiere of Lisa Kron's The Wake co-produced with Berkeley Repertory Theatre and directed by Leigh Silverman. Previews begin March 21. The Wake opens March 28 and is set to run through April 18, 2010.

Virtuosic writer-performer David Cale will bring his latest work to the Center Theatre Group/Kirk Douglas Theatre this spring when his 'Palomino' replaces the previously announced 'Tynan' as the third production of the Douglas' 2009-2010 season, it was announced today by CTG Artistic Director Michael Ritchie.