Arena Stage News

BroadwayWorld has learned John Ellison Conlee, Tony nominee for THE FULL MONTY, has had to depart Encores! Off-Center's upcoming production of Andrew Lippa's THE WILD PARTY due to a scheduling conflict. Ryan Andes, who last starred on TV in PETER PAN LIVE! and in Broadway's BIG FISH, steps in.

Peninsula Players Theatre, America's Oldest Professional Resident Summer Theater and Door County's theatrical icon, continues its 80th season tonight, July 8, through July 26 when it presents the classic suspense-filled thriller, 'Dial M for Murder' by Frederick Knott. 'Dial M for Murder' was first staged on Broadway in 1952 and Knott adapted the script for Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 classic film.

THE FOREIGNER is the last play in the 'Alley Theatre @ UH' season. Alley Resident Company member Jeffrey Bean returns to one of his signature roles as Charlie Baker. The show opens tonight, July 8, 2015.

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) in association with Bosc Publishing Company, Inc. presents The Calico Buffalo a new musical fable with book, music and lyrics by EJ Stapleton, and music and lyrics by Grammy Award-winning composer Peter Stopschinski. Craig J. George directs a cast of ten, including Jennifer Apple, Rachel Coloff*, Rhys Gilyeat*, Zachary Infante*, Stephen Mark, Anthea Neri*, Rachel Rhodes-Devey*, Brooke Shapiro*, Kevin Sims*, and Max Wilcox*. The Calico Buffalo is being staged at PTC Performance Space, 555 West 42nd Street (bet. 10th & 11th Avenues) in NYC for five performances from tonight, July 8 through Thursday, July 16, 2015. *Appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association.

Women's Voices Theater Festival organizers today announced that First Lady of the United States of America Michelle Obama will serve as Honorary Chair of the Women's Voices Theater Festival, which unites more than 50 professional theater companies in the nation's capital region, September through October 2015. She joins a prestigious group of theater artists and advocates on the Honorary Committee supporting the Festival's mission to celebrate the work of women in theater. Additionally, eight ancillary events sponsored by The Washington Post have been announced during the Festival, to be hosted by the seven originating theaters-Arena Stage, Ford's Theatre, Round House Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Signature Theatre, Studio Theatre and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company-along with Festival participant Theater J.

Peninsula Players Theatre, America's Oldest Professional Resident Summer Theater and Door County's theatrical icon, continues its 80th season July 8 through 26 when it presents the classic suspense-filled thriller, 'Dial M for Murder' by Frederick Knott. 'Dial M for Murder' was first staged on Broadway in 1952 and Knott adapted the script for Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 classic film.

The Foreigner is the last play in the 'Alley Theatre @ UH' season, starring Alley Resident Company member Jeffrey Bean in one of his signature roles as Charlie Baker.

Playwright Wendy Graf (No Word In Guyanese for Me) explores the journey of an 'all American girl' (Annika Marks and Jeanne Syquia, alternating) as she develops from innocent youth to radicalized extremist. Anita Khanzadian directs the world premiere of All American Girl for InterACT Theatre Company, opening tonight, July 3 at the Lounge Theatre in Hollywood.

The team of Benj Pasek & Justin Paul was literally “on the move” when I had the chance to chat with them about Dear Evan Hansen, their latest project, for which DC is fortunate enough to be the host for the world premiere, thanks to Arena Stage's dedication to nurturing new work. Benj and Justin were, in fact, driving to DC to begin the final stages of preparation for the July 10 first preview of the show. As it turns out, this was their very first visit to Arena Stage, and they were excited, and more than ready to be there. But first, we talked.

Main Street Theater presents a staged reading of a new musical adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, adapted by Jon Jory and with an original score by Peter Ekstrom.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater will soon present Ben Platt (Pitch Perfect, The Book of Mormon) in the original world-premiere musical debuting this summer. The production, by Tony Award-nominated composing duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dogfight; A Christmas Story, The Musical) and Outer Critics Circle Award-winning playwright Steven Levenson(Masters of Sex), is directed by Tony Award nominee Michael Greif (If/Then, Next to Normal, Rent) and will run July 10-August 23, 2015 in the Kreeger Theater. Below, go inside the rehearsal room with Platt and Laura Dreyfuss as they sing 'Only Us.'

Main Street Theater presents a staged reading of a new musical adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, adapted by Jon Jory and with an original score by Peter Ekstrom. There are two performances: Saturday, July 18 at 7:30pm and Sunday, July 19 at 3pm at Chelsea Market, 4617 Montrose Blvd., Houston, TX 77006. All tickets are $10; seating is general admission. Tickets are on sale in person at the Main Street Theater Box Office, 2540 Times Blvd., via phone at 713.524.6706, or online at MainStreetTheater.com.

The Old Globe's presentation of Kiss Me, Kate, the classic musical comedy featuring a book by Sam and Bella Spewack and an iconic score by Cole Porter, begins tonight, July 1, on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center.

The Kennedy Center, in association with the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, the National New Play Network (NNPN)-the country's alliance of non-profit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays-and with Stanford University's National Center for New Plays, will host more than 50 playwrights, directors, and dramaturgs from July 25 to August 2, 2015 as part of the 10th annual weeklong MFA Playwrights' Workshop featuring new works by MFA students from Columbia University, Northwestern University, Fordham University, Yale School of Drama, the Juilliard School, New York University-Tisch School of the Arts, University of California-San Diego, and the Juilliard School.

Two performances of Anna Deavere Smith's Notes from the Field: Doing Time in Education have been rescheduled: The Tuesday, July 21, 8pm performance has been rescheduled to Sunday, July 26 at 7pm. The Wednesday, July 22, 7pm performance has been rescheduled to Sunday, August 2, 7pm.

The Old Globe presents William Shakespeare's delightful and romantic Twelfth Night, directed by Rebecca Taichman, whose production of the time-traveling Time and the Conways fascinated audiences last April, as part of the 2015 Summer Shakespeare Festival. The Old Globe engagement runs through July 26, 2015, with opening night tonight, June 27 at 8:00 p.m., in the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre.

Broadway's 40 theatres aren't the only places to catch performances from your favorite stars! Well after Broadway orchestras begin their overtures, ensemble members take their dance breaks, and performers belt out their eleven o'clock numbers, the party continues at various cabaret venues throughout New York City. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you some cabaret highlights for this week as picked by our theatre editors, including: Steve Washington at the Metropolitan Room; Songbird in Concert by Lauren Pritchard & Michael Kimmel, Love Don't Need a Reason: A Benefit for Callen-Lorde; Ryan Scott Oliver and Lindsay Mendez's Actor Therapy; and 54 Sings 1776.

BroadwayWorld can confirm that President Jimmy Carter will soon bow on The Great White Way.

The complete cast and creative team have been announced for The Old Globe's presentation of Kiss Me, Kate, the classic musical comedy featuring a book by Sam and Bella Spewack and an iconic score by Cole Porter.