Arena Stage News

Cleveland Play House has in its recent history included small cast musicals in its offerings. Those shows included TAPPIN' THROUGH LIFE (Maurice Hines), BREATH AND IMAGINATION (Roland Hayes), WOODY SEZ; LIFE AND MUSIC OF WOODY GUTHRIE (Woody Guthrie), THE DEVIL'S MUSIC: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF BESSIE SMITH (Bessie Smith), and ONE NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN (Janis Joplin). Each told a story about the person through their own words, their music, or from the mouths of those who knew them. Often they have been tied to Black History Month.

Fodor's Travel has just released their 2015 list of 'Best Regional Theatres in the US. Fodor's Annie Bruce writes:

Columbia Stages is proud to present FESTEN, a dark comedy by British playwright David Eldridge. Adapted from the 1998 Danish film of the same name, FESTEN depicts the story of a family ravaged by secrets, twisted accusations, and unbearable wounds.

Tonight before a crowd of 150 theatre makers and theatre lovers, theatreWashington announced the nominees for the 2015 Helen Hayes Awards. One of the country's most prestigious cultural honors, The Helen Hayes Awards recognizes and celebrates excellence in professional theatre throughout the Washington metropolitan area. Watch the full announcement below, and scroll down for the list of nominees!

England's most storied rivalry takes center stage at Folger Theatre in Friedrich Schiller's classic drama Mary Stuart from tonight, January 27- March 8, 2015.

The Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival 2015 season will feature a slate of top-notch directors, choreographers, musical directors and designers. The flagship theatre, the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, will house West Side Story, The Light in the Piazza (Regional Premiere), Saturday Night Fever (US Regional Premiere), Sweeney Todd, the all new The Calamari Sisters' Big Fat Italian Wedding, and the first ever holiday show at the Playhouse -- Forever Plaid: Plaid Tidings. The season also brings the hilarious comedy, Late Nite Catechism, downtown to Auburn Public Theater. And for the fourth consecutive year, the new-works series, The PiTCH, returns with new writing teams from all over the country presenting their new musicals in development. The PiTCH will run from June 11 - August 1.

The Pulitzer Prize winning drama Ruined by Lynn Nottage makes its Baltimore premiere at Everyman Theatre this winter. The epic play features a cast of 17, led by Everyman Resident Company Member Dawn Ursula, who was seen last season as Vera Stark in Nottage's comedic drama By the Way, Meet Vera Stark. The production is directed by internationally acclaimed director Tazewell Thompson and will run from February 4th through March 8th.

A co-production with McCarter Theatre Center, Ken Ludwig's Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery runs now through February 22, 2015 in the Kreeger Theater. The production just opened, and BroadwayWorld has photos from the festivities below!

By dispensing with British formality, Ken Ludwig has given us a play that is ingeniously funny and will keep you guessing until the curtain call.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University, under the leadership of Artistic Director Diane Paulus, presents "Fighting For Freedom: The Civil War and its Legacies" - with Timothy Patrick McCarthy in conversation with Suzan-Lori Parks, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Father Comes Home From The Wars (Parts 1, 2, & 3); Henry Louis Gates, Jr., AlphonseUniversity Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University; and Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University.

BURNING DESIRE, a modern parable written by Lou Diamond Phillips will be presented as a staged reading in New York City at St. Malachy's Church at The Actors Chapel, on Wednesday, January 28th at 8:00 p.m.

The Whipping Man by Matthew Lopez opens tonight, January 23, 2015 at George Street Playhouse. The production runs through February 15, 2015 Directed by Seret Scott, the cast features Ron Canada, Luke Forbes and Adam Gerber.

The play's afoot! Sherlock Holmes battles one of his greatest mysteries to date at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater in Ken Ludwig's Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, a world-premiere adaptation from Tony Award-winning playwright Ludwig (Broadway's Lend Me a Tenor). Adapted from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's beloved The Hound of the Baskervilles, this fast-paced comedic tale of murder, intrigue and a wild hound is directed by Amanda Dehnert (Arena Stage's The Fantasticks) as part of Arena Stage's 65th anniversary season. A co-production with McCarter Theatre Center, Ken Ludwig's Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery runs now through February 22, 2015 in the Kreeger Theater. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast onstage below!

Kansas City Repertory Theatre continues its 50th anniversary celebration with An Iliad, directed by Kansas City Repertory Theatre's Producing Director Jerry Genochio and starring the return of former Kansas City Repertory Theatre's Resident Director Kyle Hatley.

Women's Project Theater, under the leadership of newly-appointed Producing Artistic Director Lisa McNulty, is pleased to present the World Premiere of BRIGHT HALF LIFE - a new play by Pulitzer Prize finalist Tanya Barfield and directed by Tony Award nominee Leigh Silverman - in a five-week limited engagement at New York City Center Stage II (131 W. 55th Street) from Tuesday, February 17 to March 22, 2015. Opening night is set for Wednesday, February 25.

Columbia Stages is proud to present FESTEN, a dark comedy by British playwright David Eldridge. Adapted from the 1998 Danish film of the same name, FESTEN depicts the story of a family ravaged by secrets, twisted accusations, and unbearable wounds.

Producing Artistic Director Carolyn Griffin has announced that the award-winning musical by Thomas W. Jones II Bessie's Blues will be on stage at MetroStage beginning Jan. 22, 2015. Thomas W. Jones II will direct and choreograph, and William Knowles will music direct. A musical odyssey of African American people in the 20th century, it was ground-breaking in 1994 and is a perfect production for our stage as we celebrate our first 30 years.

Following a sold-out and critically acclaimed start to their 18th season, Theatre Exile returns to present the Philadelphia premiere of The Whale by Samuel D. Hunter from February 5 to March 1, 2015 at Theatre Exile's Studio X, 1340 S. 13th Street (13th and Reed Street)

Today, McClure and O'Malley speak exclusively with BWW about these well-intentioned characters who are thrust into the most extraordinary circumstances, yet still find a way to make true love prevail.

New York City-based production company The Wild Root Company announced today that it will launch an interactive workshop experience for ticketed audiences who attend the company's first look presentations of Rocco Natale's new play ROOM AT THE END OF THE HALL, part of Arena Stage's Kogod Cradle Series.