Arena Stage News

?Today, The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep's Center for the Creation and Development of New Work announces that it has selected 14 projects for its fourth Summer Residency Lab featuring works from more than 20 talented artists.

When Sarah Ruhl was a student at Brown University, she embarked on a journey that would culminate in her sprawling epic, Passion Play, which was first performed at Arena Stage in 2005. Her three act tome tells the story of a group of actors performing the story of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Each act is set in a different time frame, yet what happens off-stage, which vaguely mirrors the actions on stage, is the heart of the story.

Virginia's Signature Theatre presents the world premiere production of SOON, a new musical by Nick Blaemire (Glory Days, A Little More Alive). The show began performances at the ARK Theatre on March 10, and BroadwayWorld has photos from the opening night festivities below!

Olivier Award-winning playwright Katori Hall returns to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater with the world premiere of her most personal project to date-the fierce comedy-drama The Blood Quilt. Hall is an inaugural resident playwright of Arena Stage's American Voices New Play Institute, and The Blood Quilt is one of three plays from Hall receiving world premieres around the country this season. Hall reunites with director and Howard University alumna Kamilah Forbes (artistic director of the Hip-Hop Theater Festival) following their Broadway collaboration on The Mountaintop. The Blood Quilt runs April 24-June 7, 2015 in the Kreeger Theater. Check out a first look at the meet and greet below!

John Strand's new political drama The Originalist, based on Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, will receive eight additional performances during its world-premiere run at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. The play, which stars four-time Helen Hayes Award winner and acclaimed D.C. actor Edward Gero as the Justice and is under the direction of Artistic Director Molly Smith, now runs through May 3, 2015.

SEATTLE, WA - Pacific Northwest Ballet's Swan Lake, choreographed by Founding Artistic Director Kent Stowell, returns to the McCaw Hall stage as the fifth offering of PNB's 2014-15 season. This beloved story ballet, revered by audiences and dancers alike, is classical ballet at its very best. Sumptuous scenery, costumes, and lighting, and an achingly beautiful Tchaikovsky score, set the stage for the ethereal corps de ballet and the ultimate challenge for ballerinas all over the world—the dual role of Odette, trapped in the body of a white swan until the oath of her true love sets her free; and Odile, the “Black Swan” temptress. With an added performance on opening weekend, Swan Lake runs for nine performances only, from April 10 through 19 at Seattle Center's Marion Oliver McCaw Hall. Tickets start at $30. For more information, contact the PNB Box Office at 206.441.2424, in person at 301 Mercer Street, or online at PNB.org.

Atlanta's nationally acclaimed Alliance Theatre and Jennings Hertz Artistic Director Susan V. Booth are pleased to announce the 2015/16 Season for the Alliance Stage, Hertz Stage, Theatre for Youth and Families, and Theatre for the Very Young series. The 47th season includes five world premieres, a musical by BeBe Winans and Charles Randolph-Wright, a Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, a literary classic featuring an all-Atlanta cast, and exceptional productions for youth and families.

Producer Eva Price has announced that Benjamin Scheuer, writer and performer of the gripping, highly acclaimed autobiographical solo show The Lion, has been awarded the 2015 ASCAP Foundation Jamie deRoy & friends Songwriting Award. He will receive a grant of $1,250, which will be presented on Wednesday, December 9, 2015 at The Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Casting has been announced for The Hub Theatre's Spring production of THE TYPOGRAPHER'S DREAM, by Obie-Award winning playwright Adam Bock. Three professionals, a typographer (KATIE NIGSCH), geographer (JENNA SOKOLOWSKI), and stenographer (DANIEL COREY) strive to explain their work in this humorous examination of art and occupation, boundaries, and self truth.

It's likely of little surprise to anyone that follows the workings of the highest court in our nation that any legal battle situation involving conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and an opponent is ripe for theatricalization. Arena Stage's resident playwright John Strand has done just that with his world premiere play, THE ORIGINALIST. However, the play he wrote is not the one we all might expect.

Long Wharf Theatre's inaugural Contemporary American Voices Festival, a weekend of new play readings, will take place on Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19, 2015.

The Old Globe is delighted to welcome one of the true geniuses of the American theatre, Tony Award winner Mary Zimmerman, who makes her long-awaited San Diego directing debut with an enchanting theatrical spectacle with live music and sumptuous visuals, The White Snake, continuing the Globe's 80th Anniversary festivities as part of the Balboa Park Centennial Celebration. The Southern California Premiere of The White Snake, written and directed by Zimmerman, will run tonight, March 21 through April 26 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center.

UrbanArias: DC's contemporary opera company presents the world premiere of BLUE VIOLA by composer Peter Hilliard and librettist Matt Boresi.

Award-winning, multi-talented performers, Felicia Fields, Chic Street Man and Sugaray Rayford, heat up The Rep's Stackner Cabaret in Low Down Dirty Blues. Audiences will forget about the cold weather when they come see these powerhouse entertainers belt out the blues. Directed by Randal Myler, the production begins performances in The Rep's Stackner Cabaret tonight, March 20, 2015 and runs through May 24, 2015. Opening night is Sunday, March 22, 2015.

Four-time Helen Hayes Award winner Edward Gero (Red) returns to Arena Stage as one of America's most brilliant and polarizing figures: Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. When a bright, liberal, Harvard Law School graduate embarks on a nerve-wracking clerkship with Justice Scalia, she discovers him to be both an infuriating sparring partner and an unexpected mentor. How will their relationship affect one of the most incendiary cases ever to reach the nation's highest court? From Charles MacArthur Award winner John Strand (Lovers and Executioners) comes this daring new work about passionate people risking heart and soul to defend their version of the truth. This production will be performed in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle in an exciting new three-quarter thrust configuration. Check out a first look at the production below!

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater presents the Washington, D.C. premiere of Christopher Durang's Tony Award-winning comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike runs April 3-May 3, 2015 in the Fichandler Stage. Click below to watch a fun promo for the show!

Four-time Helen Hayes Award winner and acclaimed D.C. actor Edward Gero stars as one of America's most brilliant and polarizing figures-Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia-in the world-premiere political drama The Originalist, by Charles MacArthur Award winner and Arena Stage resident playwright John Strand. The Originalist runs now through April 26, 2015. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater and Women's Project Theater present the world premiere of The Undeniable Sound of Right Now, written by Laura Eason (S e x with Strangers,'House of Cards') and directed by Kirsten Kelly (Slipping), beginning tonight, March 19 at 7pm at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 224 Waverly Place, west of Seventh Avenue South. Opening night is set for Thursday, April 2 at 7pm. The production is set to run through Saturday, May 2.

The first Broadway revival of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Wendy Wasserstein play The Heidi Chronicles officially opens tonight, March 19, 2015, at the Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th Street). Scroll down to learn more about the cast and watch interviews with the company!

In the coming months, Broadway will welcome a fresh crop of productions- many of which will mark the Broadway debuts for a slew of talented actors. Whether they are fresh faces or established stars, these Broadway babies will soon take their very first bows on some of the grandest stages in the world.