Arena Stage News

Virginia Repertory Theatre announces the opening of The Color Purple at the Sara Belle and Neil November Theatre, 114 West Broad Street on Friday, June 20, 2014 with a Preview on Thursday, June 19. The show runs through August 3, 2014. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker, this joyful musical and epic story follows the life and personal awakening of Celie, a downtrodden young African American woman. With a book by Marsha Norman and music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray, the uplifting score features jazz, ragtime, gospel, African music and blues. The Broadway production earned eleven Tony nominations.

Upcoming Equity Auditions from Sunday, June 1, 2014.

Shakespeare is in Hollywood? Well, he certainly is in Augusta at the Barn Theatre June 10 - 22!

A lot of exciting theatre is happening this summer in the DC area. Here are some things to check out!

Shakespeare is in Hollywood? Well, he certainly is in Augusta at the Barn Theatre June 10 - 22!

Tony Award winning playwright Enda Walsh will be represented once again at Rogue Machine Theatre when PENELOPE opens on June 14th at 8pm.

New Repertory Theatre announces an encore presentation of Deborah Margolin's IMAGINING MADOFF, May 28 through June 3, 2014 at the Boston University Theatre Lane-Comley Studio 210. Nominated for two 2014 Elliot Norton Awards (Outstanding Production; Outstanding Actor, Jeremiah Kissel), IMAGINING MADOFF is co-presented with Boston Center for American Performance (BCAP) and is directed by Elaine Vaan Hogue.

Cleveland Play House enthusiastically welcomes dance legend Maurice Hines to Cleveland in the toe-tapping extravaganza, Maurice Hines is Tappin' Thru Life. Co-produced with Alliance Theatre and Arena Stage, CPH audiences will be dazzled by this infectious production, which brings the history of American tap to life. Directed by Tony-nominee Jeff Calhoun (Newsies) and featuring contemporary tap icons The Manzari Brothers and music from the all-female big band The Diva Orchestra, Tappin' Thru Life will dance its way onto PlayhouseSquare's Allen Theatre stage for an extended run from today, May 30 - June 29. Special gratitude is given to CPH's generous sponsor, Zinner & Co.

Queens Theatre (QT) is celebrating its 25th Anniverary with a Gala on June 2, 2014 at 6:00 pm at Queens Theatre (14 United Nations Avenue South, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens, NY 11368). The gala will honor Euripides Pelekanos who is the co-founder and CEO of Queens favorite burger spot, Bareburger.

California Shakespeare Theater continues its 2014 season with Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, directed by Aaron Posner. The Comedy of Errors plays at the Bruns Amphitheater from June 25 through July 20.

United States Navy veteran and Washington, D.C. native Paul Hurley joins the company of the new theatrical dance piece Healing Wars, a world-premiere production from choreographer Liz Lerman that explores the aftermath of war.

New Repertory Theatre proudly announces an encore presentation of Deborah Margolin's Imagining Madoff, today, May 28 through June 1, 2014 at the Boston University Theatre Lane-Comley Studio 210.

Kathy Evans, Founding Executive Director, announced the nine musicals and twenty-six writers selected for the 2014 Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, its fourth year of providing working retreats for musical theatre writers. For nine consecutive weeks beginning June 29th, each writing team will have an individual weeklong residency in Rhinebeck, New York to write their musical. They are provided with a private home, transportation, food, and a stipend. All costs are fully funded by donors including The ASCAP Foundation, The Dramatists Guild Fund, and The Noel Coward Foundation. Writers participating this year include Broadway's Mindi Dickstein (Little Women), this year's Kleban Prize winner Nathan Tysen (Burnt Part Boys), and Peter Mills, past winner of the Kleban, Fred Ebb Award, and Richard Rodgers prize. The musicals' subjects cover 19th century nautical mysteries, 20th century fairy tales, a 1970's gay bar, and modern-day meth addicts. Every score is original and styles include 16th century Renaissance, big band, folk, rock, and electronic music.

The 1980 film Xanadu is known for being a notoriously bad movie. In 2007 it was adapted into a stage musical by Douglas Carter Beane, featuring songs from the film written by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar. This summer, Stages Repertory Theatre is presenting the candy-coated confection as their giddy summer musical. The end product couldn't be more fun, frivolous, and everything audiences would want from the campy, fun show.

Tony Award-winning comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike will feature Resident Actor Jeffrey Bean as Vanya, Sharon Lockwood returning to the Alley as Sonia, Alley Artist Josie de Guzman returning as Masha, and Resident Actor Jay Sullivan as Spike. Rounding out the cast and making their Alley debuts are Rachael Holmes as Cassandra and Sarah Nealis as Nina. Jonathan Moscone, Artistic Director of California Shakespeare Theater, helms the production and returns after having directed the Alley's 2011 production of Amadeus.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater has been selected by the United States Embassy in Lima, Peru to send two staff members from the theater's community engagement department to Lima June 15-22, 2014 to partner with Arena y Esteras, a local organization comprised of artists, educators and leaders committed to using art as a tool to contribute to human development and social transformation.

A curse lies upon the land of Thebes and its ill-fated rulers that reiterates generation upon generation. Casey Stangl directs the world premiere of The Curse of Oedipus, written by Kenneth Cavander and developed by The Antaeus Company. Opening weekend for the fully double-cast production runs June 19 -22 at the Antaeus Theater in NoHo, with previews beginning June 12.

Unbound Productions, Executive Director Jonathan Josephson, Artistic Director Paul Millet, and Producing Artistic Director Jeff G. Rack have announced details about their World Premiere staged reading of MYSTERY LIT, adapted by Josephson from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories (May 22, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. and May 24, 2014 at 2:00 p.m.) and the World Premiere production of Algernon Blackwood's THE DOLL, adapted by Rack and directed by Millet (July 11-26, 2014; Fridays-Sundays, 7:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m., and 9:00 p.m.).