Arena Stage News

Joining the cast of Mother Courage and Her Children are Arena Stage veterans Rick Foucheux (Ah, Wilderness!), Meg Gillentine (Cabaret, Damn Yankees) and Nehal Joshi (The Music Man, Oklahoma!). They join the previously announced Kathleen Turner, Nicholas Rodriguez and Erin Weaver. Under the direction of Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith, Mother Courage and Her Children runs January 31-March 9, 2014 in the Fichandler Stage.

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra opens the 2013.14 Pops season with Ella, Louis, and All That Jazz on October 11-13, 2013 at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. Guest conductor Jeff Tyzik leads the orchestra, featuring Byron Stripling, trumpet; Marva Hicks, vocalist; and Robert Breithaupt, drums. In tribute to Ella, Satchmo, and Fats Waller, the concerts include favorites such as S'Wonderful, It Don't Mean a Thing, What a Wonderful World, and selections from Gershwin's Porgy & Bess.

Park Square celebrates the recent Minnesota History Center exhibit honoring of the Civil War, and rides the popularity of the Steven Spielberg-Tony Kushner movie Lincoln with the Midwest Premiere of MARY T. & LIZZY K. by Tazewell Thompson from Oct 18 - Nov 10. The play, which had its world premiere in March at Arena Stage in Washington, DC, focuses on the unique business relationship and complex friendship between Mary Todd Lincoln (played by five-time Emmy Award nominee Linda Kelsey) and her free mixed-race seamstress Lizzy Keckly (played by Sha Cage in her Park Square debut, hot off her success in Clyborne Park at The Guthrie).

The Colony Theatre is thrilled to present the West Coast Premiere of BREATH AND IMAGINATION: The Story of Roland Hayes, a true story by Daniel Beaty, directed by Saundra McClain, with Musical Direction by Rahn Coleman. BREATH AND IMAGINATION will open tonight, September 14 at 8:00pm and continue through Sunday, October 13.

The Old Globe today announced the complete cast and creative team for the World Premiere comedy The Few by award-winning playwright Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale). Directed by Davis McCallum, The Few will run Sept. 28 - Oct. 27, 2013 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run Sept. 28 - Oct. 2. Opening night is Thursday, Oct. 3 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.

Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA has announced two performances only of The Last Look Back, a world premiere play by Stephen Serpas directed by Gates McFadden, and starring Brent Spiner, Sadie Alexandru, Tracey A. Leigh, and Ramon de Ocampo, on Friday, October 4 and Saturday, October 5 at 8pm. Proceeds will go to support EST/LA, the artistic home for new works from the best established and emerging playwrights in Los Angeles.

The world premiere of LOVE IN AFGHANISTAN began rehearsals at Arena Stage on Tuesday, September 10. Get a sneak peek at the cast in action below, along with Resident Playwright Charles Randolph-Wright and director Lucie Tiberghien!

Theatre of NOTE presents the world premiere of SHEET CAKE SLIDING, written by Stacia Saint Owens and directed by Nicholas Newell. SHEET CAKE SLIDING, in which a nuclear family goes BOOM!, will preview tonight, September 13 and Saturday, September 14, and will open on Friday, September 20 at 8pm and run through Saturday, October 19 at Theatre of NOTE, 1517 N Cahuenga Blvd (just north of Sunset) in Hollywood.

Dallas Theater Center launches its 2013-14 season with A Raisin in the Sun. Tre Garrett of Fort Worth's Jubilee Theatre will make his directorial debut at DTC with this Tony Award-winning play. A Raisin in the Sun begins with a Pay-What-You-Can performance tonight, September 13 and runs through Sunday, October 27 at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre in the AT&T Performing Arts Center.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University welcomes three-time Emmy Award-winning actor Bryan Cranston to play the lead role of Lyndon Baines Johnson in Robert Schenkkan's new play All The Way opening the A.R.T.'s 2013-14 Season at the Loeb Drama Center. The production, directed by Bill Rauch, will begin performances tonight, September 13, 2013.

About Face Theatre is pleased to announce its 2013-14 programming, showcasing premiere productions and developmental works that explore gender and sexual identity. AFT's mainstage kicks-off this winter with the return of the hit holiday musical WE THREE LIZAS, featuring a new book and expanded score. In the spring, AFT presents the Chicago premiere of Aditi Brennan Kapil's stand-up comedy play, BRAHMAN/I, exploring gender, culture, mythology and puberty all through the lens of a hijra, an Indian intersex person. Next summer, About Face Youth Theatre investigates the intersection of immigration and queer identity in the world premiere of CHECKING BOXES. AFT's 2013-14 offerings will also feature the OUT FRONT Series, a year-round line-up of workshops and readings of new and developmental works by LGBTQA playwrights, as well as a month-long PRIDE CABARET Music Series in June 2014. For additional information on About Face Theatre's 2013-14 programming, please visit www.aboutfacetheatre.com.

The Velocity of Autumn, a new two-character play from Cleveland-based playwright Eric Coble, is now running at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater under the direction of Artistic Director Molly Smith and by special arrangement with HOP Theatricals, LLC. Check out a first look at the production shots below!

Gee's Bend by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder and directed by Thomas W. Jones II, music directed by William Hubbard and William Knowles will be in performance at MetroStage tonight, Sept. 12-Nov. 3. Gee's Bend tells the true story of the Pettway family in Gee's Bend, Alabama, as they live through segregation, the Civil Rights Movement and become famous for their iconic quilts. All of this is told with a backdrop of soul-stirring music in the gospel tradition that the Gee's Bend women sang as they quilted.

Join us in celebrating National Geographic's 125th anniversary with the world premiere of the play BELL. Written by veteran journalist, author, and playwright-yes, playwright-Jim Lehrer, starring celebrated Washington actor Rick Foucheux, and directed by Jeremy Skidmore, this one-man play reveals the extraordinary life of Alexander Graham Bell. The production will open at National Geographic headquarters tonight, September 12, and will run through Saturday, September 21.

Court Theatre continues its 2013-2014 season with the revival of the OBIE Award-winning play An Iliad by Denis O'Hare and Lisa Peterson, directed by Artistic Director Charles Newell and starring Timothy Edward Kane. An Iliad will run November 13 - December 8, 2013 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Avenue.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces the full company for Charles Randolph-Wright's world premiere drama Love in Afghanistan. Randolph-Wright, a Resident Playwright through Arena Stage's American Voices New Play Institute and director of Motown the Musical currently on Broadway, joins forces with director Lucie Tiberghien (MCC Theater's Don't Go Gentle) to bring to life the tale of two fantastically different people discovering love in the most unlikely of places: war-torn Afghanistan. One, an emerging hip-hop artist, the other, a high-level Afghan interpreter, both fight to navigate the pitfalls of romance, religious differences and political unrest. Love in Afghanistan runs October 11-November 17, 2013 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces the full company for Charles Randolph-Wright's world premiere drama Love in Afghanistan. Randolph-Wright, a Resident Playwright through Arena Stage's American Voices New Play Institute and director of Motown the Musical currently on Broadway, joins forces with director Lucie Tiberghien (MCC Theater's Don't Go Gentle) to bring to life the tale of two fantastically different people discovering love in the most unlikely of places: war-torn Afghanistan. One, an emerging hip-hop artist, the other, a high-level Afghan interpreter, both fight to navigate the pitfalls of romance, religious differences and political unrest. Love in Afghanistan runs October 11-November 17, 2013 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle.

Today, Camp Broadway has announced its roster of guest artists visiting its three-day musical theater dance intensive geared towards dancers ages 14-18, occurring over the Columbus Day weekend, October 12-14, 2013.

Shelby Company presents the New York premiere of award-winning playwright Jonathan A. Goldberg's critically acclaimed play SOUSEPAW: A BASEBALL STORY directed by Courtney Ulrich, with preview performances beginning October 9th prior to an official press opening on October 11th at 17 Frost Space (17 Frost Street, Williamsburg) Brooklyn.

Tectonic Theater Project launches THE TALLEST TREE IN THE FOREST world premiere production co-produced by Kansas City Rep and La Jolla. The world premiere opened on September 6th at KC Rep, and will open on October 13 in La Jolla Playhouse. The run will continue in early 2014 at Washington DC's Arena Stage and the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.