Arena Stage News

Word for Word presents '36 Stories by Sam Shepard' arranged for the stage and directed by Amy Kossow opening with a press night on Saturday May 24 8pm, running through June 22 (previews May 21-23) at Z Space's second venue, Z Below, at 470 Florida Street. Last year the Magic Theatre spearheaded a multi-theater celebration of Shepard's 70th birthday when they opened their season with Shepard's Pulitzer Prize-winning 'Buried Child.' Other companies participating in the celebration have been Crowded Fire, American Conservatory Theater in collaboration with Intersection for the Arts/Campo Santo and Word for Word.

Catholic, Fundamentalist, gay, straight, Mormon, Jew, alcoholism, sex, love and mixed marriage are the tangle of dynamics for a pair of married couples in Renee Calarco's comedy of faith, the 2013 Charles MacArthur nominated The Religion Thing, directed by Douglas Hall. The Religion Thing, produced by the award-winning Project Y Theatre Company, will have its New York premiere when it begins previews Wednesday, June 18, at 8:00pm for an opening Tuesday, July 1, at 8:00pm at The Cell Theatre, 338 West 23rd Street. The Religion Thing runs through August 1.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater's Artistic Director David Van Asselt and Managing Director Brian Long have announced that following strong reviews, the New York premiere of The Few, written by Samuel D. Hunter (Backstage's 2014 Future Broadway Power List) and directed by Davis McCallum, will extend two weeks through Saturday, June 21 at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 224 Waverly Place.

Tonight, May 17, 2014 join Raue Center For Thee Arts for An Evening with Groucho Marx at 8:00pm. Award-winning actor/director/playwright Frank Ferrante recreates his PBS, New York and London acclaimed portrayal of legendary comedian Groucho Marx in this fast paced 90 minutes of hilarity.

Voices of Now Festival showcases original devised work by youth ensembles from around DC, Virginia and Maryland. Their work represents more than 100 young artists from the DC area and abroad and is an extension of Arena's community engagement program.

SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE-THE SONGS OF LEIBER AND STOLLER opened on Thursday, May 8 at Arena Stage and runs through June 8, 2014 in the Fichandler Stage. Scroll down to watch highlights from the show!

Virginia's Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre closes out its 2013/2014 season with the world premiere musical Cloak and Dagger, directed by Signature Theatre's Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer (Broadway's Follies, Million Dollar Quartet). From Helen Hayes Award Winner Ed Dixon (Signature's Sunset Boulevard) comes this screwball musical comedy send-up of the 1950s film noir.

RON RIFKIN, whose performance as Isaac Geldhart in the original production of The Substance of Fire earned him critical accolades as well as the Obie, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Drama-Logue awards, will step into the role for five performances only, May 20 - 23, at Second Stage Theatre. The production's current star, JOHN NOBLE, is unable to perform those performances due to an unforeseen conflict with the filming schedule for his Fox series, Sleepy Hollow. Mr. Noble is scheduled to return for the final weekend of performances, May 24 and 25.

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF) opens the nomination process for The Zelda Fichandler Award on May 14, 2014. This award presents an unrestricted grant of $5000 to an outstanding director or choreographer making an exceptional contribution to the national arts landscape through theatre work in a region. In 2014, the award will honor achievement in the Eastern region, comprised of Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, Washington D.C., West Virginia.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater will host the Voices of Now Festival, a four-day event featuring original works of theater written and performed by nine different youth ensembles from the internationally renowned Community Engagement program. The festival will bring together more than 100 artists, ages 11-24, from D.C., Maryland and Virginia who have been working with professional theater artists from Arena Stage for the past year to devise original one-act plays. The 2014 ensembles will come together today, May 14-17, 2014 to perform and discuss their work in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle at the Mead Center.

A pioneer in the world of contemporary dance, MacArthur "Genius Grant" recipient Liz Lerman's new theatrical dance piece Healing Wars examines healing in wartime, the nature of damage that continues when battles are over and the question of how individuals and societies absorb the pain and impact of war. The production features a company of performers in multiple roles, including Marjani Forte, George Hirsch, Tamara Hurwitz Pullman, Ted Johnson, Alli Ross, Samantha Speis, Keith A. Thompson, renowned stage and film actor Bill Pullman and a combat veteran to be announced at a later date. The limited engagement, world-premiere production of Healing Wars runs June 6 - June 29 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater.

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 May 30 - June 29. Special gratitude is given to CPH's generous sponsor, Zinner & Co.

New Repertory Theatre proudly announces an encore presentation of Deborah Margolin's Imagining Madoff, May 28 through June 1, 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. Tickets are $36 and may be purchased by calling the New Rep box office at 617-923-8487 or online at newrep.org. Student, senior, and group discounts are available.

It offers a fun time and one can't ask for much more than that.

The show is a celebration of the life of Maurice Hines, his brother Gregory, and their parents who Maurice fondly remembers throughout the show. Adding to emotional content, moveable screens that divide the orchestra from the performing area were often used to display photographs of the Hines family in their early days. And throughout the show, Hines, now a young 70 years old, expresses sheer joy in entertaining his audience, singing and dancing with a passion from deep within his soul. You can't help but be pulled into the magic!

On May 17, 2014 join Raue Center For Thee Arts for An Evening with Groucho Marx at 8:00pm. Award-winning actor/director/playwright Frank Ferrante recreates his PBS, New York and London acclaimed portrayal of legendary comedian Groucho Marx in this fast paced 90 minutes of hilarity.

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.).

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University, under the leadership of Diane Paulus, Artistic Director and William Russo, Managing Director; presents the last production of its 2013/14 Season, THE TEMPEST, adapted and directed by Aaron Posner and Teller from the play by William Shakespeare, with magic by Teller, music by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, and movement by Matt Kent of Pilobolus.

The Daily Mail writes that Kathleen Turner is set to return to London in Stephen Sachs' BAKERSFIELD MIST at the Duchess Theatre, beginning tonight, May 10, 2014. Joining Turner onstage will be Ian McDiarmid.