Andrew Jackson News

Bookwriter Hunter Bell and the cast of SILENCE! The Musical, the unauthorized parody of The Silence of the Lambs, are set to preside over the closing bell at NASDAQ MarketSite today, July 12th at 4 pm.

SILENCE! The Musical, the unauthorized parody of The Silence of the Lambs, began performances June 24th at Theatre 80, located at 80 St. Marks Place (between First & Second Ave.) The official opening is this Saturday night, July 9th and the limited engagement is set to run through August 13th.

THE CELL and THE HIVE THEATRE COMPANY are pleased to announce their gender-bender production of William Shakespeare?s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT?S DREAM, directed by Matthew A.J. Gregory.

SILENCE! The Musical, the unauthorized parody of The Silence of the Lambs, began performances June 24th at Theatre 80, located at 80 St. Marks Place (between First & Second Ave.) The official opening is this Saturday night, July 9th and the limited engagement is set to run through August 13th.

Saturday evening July 2nd, Joan Rivers was spotted in the audience at SILENCE! The Musical, the unauthorized parody of The Silence of the Lambs, at Theatre 80, located at 80 St. Marks Place (between First & Second Ave.) The legendary comedienne/actress was the first to leap to her feet at the end of the performance, leading the standing ovation. Joan chatted with the cast after the show and she even offered some tongue-in-cheek advice to leading lady Jenn Harris regarding her first scene. Jenn replied, 'You're an asshole!' The two actresses fell into each others arms dissolved in laughter.

ROCK THE AUDITION masterclasses and books are now available online.

The Public Theater has announced initial casting today for KING LEAR, directed by James Macdonald this fall. Michael McKean, John Douglas Thompson and Enid Graham will play Gloucester, Kent and Goneril, respectively, joining the previously announced Sam Waterston as King Lear. KING LEAR will run October 18 - November 20 in the Newman Theater. Member tickets are $40; Single tickets, priced at $75-$85, will go on sale in August.

Happy 4th of July! Take a trip down memory lane by visiting Part 1 of our 'Broadway Get's Patriotic' series in honor of our nation's independence. Remember when Benjamin Walker made his debut as a Broadway star belting out 'Populism Yeah Yeah!' from the emo rock musical BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON? How about when the JERSEY BOYS sang 'God Bless America' for Fleet Week this year? And, who could forget Barbra Streisand's performances of 'Before the Parade Passes By' from HELLO, DOLLY?

Kathy Evans, Founder and Executive Director of the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, announced the fourteen musical theatre writers who will participate for the inaugural summer in July and August. The Rhinebeck Writers Retreat provides a one-week residency for a musical theatre writing team to create and refine their musical in Rhinebeck, New York.

La Jolla Playhouse presents Peer Gynt, by Henrik Ibsen, adapted and directed by David Schweizer, running June 28 - July 24 (media night: Wednesday, July 6 at 7:30 pm) in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre. Tickets to Peer Gynt are available by calling the Box Office: (858) 550-1010 or online at LaJollaPlayhouse.org.

Broadway favorite Brent Barrett and Jenn Harris head the cast of SILENCE! The Musical, the unauthorized parody of The Silence of the Lambs, with music & lyrics by Jon and Al Kaplan, book by Hunter Bell, and direction and choreography by Christopher Gattelli.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Interim Executive Director, Joey Parnes) is proud to announce that acclaimed playwright Kristoffer Diaz will be the first recipient of The Gail Merrifield Papp Fellowship. The Fellowship, announced at The Public Theater's Gala on Monday night which honored Gail Merrifield Papp for her lifelong service and dedication to The Public Theater, was created to support a playwright every season.

Dallas Theater Center is pleased to announce it is commissioning two new works from playwright Kristoffer Diaz in collaboration with The Public Theater.

While critics and fans alike justifiably lament the paucity of female leads in Broadway musicals this season just past, you need look no further than the current tour of The Color Purple for a musical filled to overflowing with noteworthy women characters. The beautiful and moving reimagination of Alice Walker's extraordinary novel of faith, despair, horror, beauty, love and redemption, The Color Purple might best be described as a woman's story, but it is, in every possible way, a human story as universal and as affecting as any work of musical theater ever created.