Arena Stage News

USA has released the latest promo for their hit show GRACELAND, starring Broadway star Aaron Tveit. Click below to check out a first look at 'Dog Catches Car.'

Take an intimate look at the 30-year friendship between poets Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell in DEAR ELIZABETH, September 23 - October 18, 2015. Milwaukee Chamber Theatre continues its 2015-2016 Season with a moving and innovative play by Sarah Ruhl, under the direction of Marie Kohler and starring real-life married couple Carrie Hitchcock and Norman Moses. DEAR ELIZABETH performs in the Broadway Theatre Center's Studio Theatre in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward.

The Douglas Morrisson Theatre (DMT) is excited to announce the first production in the 2015-2016 'Bare Bones' staged reading series: The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin by Steven Levenson, a riveting story about the price we pay for defaulting on our loved ones.

Following a national search, Trinity Repertory Company, the State Theater of Rhode Island, has named the highly accomplished Tom Parrish as Executive Director. Parrish takes over from Michael Gennaro who left in February to take a similar position at renowned Goodspeed Musicals. Parrish will begin his role full-time in Providence in late fall.

 Following a national search, Trinity Repertory Company, the State Theater of Rhode Island, has named the highly accomplished Tom Parrish as Executive Director. Parrish takes over from Michael Gennaro who left in February to take a similar position at renowned Goodspeed Musicals. Parrish will begin his role full-time in Providence in late fall.

Signature Theatre has announced the cast and creative team for the world premiere production of Cake Off, a new musical by Sheri Wilner (Kingdom City), Julia Jordan (Murder Ballad) and Adam Gwon (Signature's The Boy Detective Fails). Directed by Signature's Director of New Works Joe Calarco (Signature's Gypsy, Shakespeare's R&J) this hilarious new musical is a battle-of-the-sexes set at the 50th Annual Millberry Cake-Off competition. Cake Off runs September 29 - November 22 in the ARK Theatre.

BWW Interview: Melvin Abston Talks Television, Theatre, And THE LITTLE MERMAID

Sponsored in part by 4Culture, the 2015-16 season of Mirror Stage's popular FEED YOUR MIND staged reading series traces a path from Jamestown, Virginia in 1676 to Hampton, Virginia in 1945, with a detour through Hades and Ancient Greece, exploring questions of racial and gender equity.

'Artaud Artaud' is a 'cruel not-masterpiece in one act' written by Matthew Minnicino, directed by Jake Beckhard and perfomed by Artilliers performing company. The play is a comitragic carnival that centers around the godfather of the avant-garde theater, Antonin Artaud. It is a merciless parody of the sensibilities of Artaud's manifesto 'Theatre of Cruelty' and a sympathetic, semi-obsessive portrait of its greatest proponent and his somewhat dual nature. It is a faithful biopic written into a biting satire, yet is at its heart an homage to the messiness of creativity. 'Artaud Artaud' will have its world premiere September 1-15 presented by Theater for the New City's 2015 Dream Up Festival.

Updated this week! Check out upcoming Equity Auditions from Sunday, August 30, 2015 for both productions in your area and around the country including what/when/where and how to audition!

Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage's SWEAT, currently making its premiere at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, could be headed off-Broadway next year. 

The musical tells the story of a marine about to head to Vietnam for the war that saw an estimated 1.5 million casualties. Birdlace (Tiziano D'Affuso), and his fellow marines Boland (Harrison Smith) and Bernstein (David Landstrom) are on leave in San Francisco when they plan a party, like the soldiers before them, called 'The Dogfight.' All the soldiers put money in a pot and compete by bringing the ugliest girl and dancing with her at the party.

Molly Smith directs her 30th production as Artistic Director of Arena Stage with a gritty and relevant take on the Tony Award-winning musical Oliver!, blending the chaotic worlds of 19th-century Victorian London with 2015 London. Smith's new in-the-round staging infuses a modern edge to the classic musical about an innocent orphan thrown into the dark world of double-dealing thieves and conmen, highlighting the disparity between classes and dangerous life on London's streets today. Featuring a remarkable score including 'You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two,' 'Consider Yourself,' 'Where is Love?' and 'Food, Glorious Food,' Oliver! runs October 30, 2015-January 3, 2016 in the Fichandler Stage at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater in partnership with renowned dance company DC Casineros will host Desire a Dance, a FREE Latin American dance party and class on Sunday, September 13, 2015, following the 7:30 p.m. performance of the world-premiere telenovela-inspired comedy DESTINY OF DESIRE.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Artistic Director Carey Perloff released the following statement on the passing of A.C.T. Associate Artistic Director Mark Rucker:

R. BUCKMINSTER FULLER: THE HISTORY (AND MYSTERY) OF THE UNIVERSE will run October 1-25, 2015 at The Balzer Theater at Herren's (downtown Atlanta), starring Tom Key as R. Buckminster Fuller. Written by D.W. Jacobs with direction by David de Vries, the play is based on the life, work, and writings of R. Buckminster Fuller.

California Shakespeare Theater concludes its 2015 Main Stage season with King Lear, Shakespeare's most brilliant and profound tragedy, helmed by nationally-acclaimed director Amanda Dehnert, and featuring two-time Tony nominee and film star Anthony Heald (Silence of the Lambs, Broadway's The Elephant Man with Bradley Cooper) in the title role. King Lear plays at the BART-accessible Bruns Amphitheater from September 16 through October 11.

The Oshman Family JCC presents Aaron Davidman's groundbreaking and critically acclaimed solo show Wrestling Jerusalem. Set in America, Israel, and Palestine, the play follows one man's journey to understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Davidman's performance is a personal story that grapples with the complexities of identity, history, and social justice. Giving voice to over a dozen different characters, the play sheds light on one of the most entrenched conflicts of our time. Wrestling Jerusalem will be presented at 8pm Sunday, September 20, 2015 at the Oshman Family JCC- Schultz Cultural Arts Hall, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto. For tickets ($25-$30) and more information visit http://paloaltojcc.org/Events/wrestling-jerusalem or call (650) 223-8649.

Next up on the Main Stage, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey will present the New Jersey premiere of Bill Cain's Equivocation. When the Bard and his troupe of players receive a royal commission to dramatize the events surrounding the infamous Gunpowder Plot, the artist must confront the demons of his past, his present, and his obligations to the truth and artistic integrity. Equivocation was described in Variety as "one of the most bracingly intelligent, sizzlingly theatrical American plays in a decade."