Arena Stage News

Following a critically acclaimed Eastern European tour, Built for Collapse returns to New York with its award-winning, physically charged production. Witness the fall of the American Empire in this "extraordinary tale of victory, hypocrisy and ignorance" (NYTheatre.com). NUCLEAR LOVE AFFAIR runs tonight, September 20 through Saturday, October 6 at HERE. The official press night is scheduled for Monday, September 24.

Olney Theatre Center, the award-winning, year-round arts and entertainment destination, announces the opening of the area premiere of Over the Tavern by Tom Dudzick. Over the Tavern will grace Olney Theatre Center's Mainstage from September 26 to October 21, 2012.

Cougar the Musical welcomes Mary Mossberg to the cast who will take over the role of Lily beginning September 19, 2012.

The Baggy Pants Theater and Fuse Theatre Ensemble present Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Hansom Cab Killer for two nights only-Friday, Sept 28 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, Sept 29 at 7:30 pm-at the Arena Stage at Theater! Theater!, located at 3430 SE Belmont, Portland, Oregon.

According to ArtInfo, Rupert Holmes' stage adaptation of John Grisham's novel A Time to Kill is headed to Broadway with lead producer Daryl Roth. Casting is currently underway, and the production hopes to take the stage in spring or summer of 2013.

Lookingglass Theatre Company will open its 25th Anniversary Season with Metamorphoses, based on the Myths of Ovid, written and directed by Lookingglass Ensemble Member Mary Zimmerman. The show will play tonight, September 19 - September 28, 2012. The return of Lookingglass' seminal production, coinciding with the 10th Anniversary of the Broadway run, will open at Lookingglass in the fall of 2012 and will then move to Washington D.C.'s Arena Stage.

ZACH Theatre, known as the city's "leading professional theatre" (New York Times) and "liveliest and most polished professional theatre" (Austin American-Statesman) opens its new state-of-the-art Topfer Theatre this month, joining the realm of the nation's most widely recognized regional theatres.

Film, television and Broadway Actor Richard Thomas, star of the current Manhattan Theatre Club production of Ibsen's "An Enemy of the People," has been named Honorary Chair of the National Corporate Theatre Fund (NCTF) as it moves forward with its national theatre education initiative "Impact Creativity."

Playwright Clarence Coo will be presented with the Yale Drama Series Award this Tuesday, September 18 at Lincoln Center Theater's Claire Tow Theater.

The New Group will present the first production in its 2012-2013 season, the world premiere of The Good Mother, a new play by Francine Volpe. Directed by Scott Elliott, this production features Darren Goldstein, Gretchen Mol, Alfredo Narciso, Eric Nelsen and Bill Sage. Previews begin October 29 in advance of an Official Opening Night on Thursday, November 15 at 7:00pm. A limited Off-Broadway engagement is slated through December 22 at The New Group @ Theatre Row (The Acorn Theatre / 410 West 42nd Street / Acorn Theatre).

Queens Theatre, in association with Eva Price of Maximum Entertainment, presents the New York City premiere of ELLA, the new Ella Fitzgerald musical, from September 27 to October 7, 2012.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Artistic Director Carey Perloff announced that The Normal Heart, Larry Kramer's landmark play focusing on the early days of the AIDS crisis in New York City in the 1980s, will open the 2012-13 season this fall, playing today, Sep 13-Oct 7.

On the eve of his assassination, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., cools down in a lonely Memphis hotel room after delivering the speech of a lifetime - when an unexpected visit from a feisty, young hotel maid pushes King into a confrontation with his doubts, fears and haunting premonitions. A soul-stirring hit in London and on Broadway, The Mountaintop's humorous, magical storytelling fuses theatricality with spirituality to reach a summit that will leave audiences breathless. The Mountaintop is written by playwright Katori Hall and will be directed by Rep Artistic Associate May Adrales, who returns to The Rep after directing last season's critically-acclaimed production of Yellowman. The Mountaintop runs in The Rep's Stiemke Studio from September 26 - November 4, and opens Friday, September 28.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces the full company for My Fair Lady, directed by Artistic Director Molly Smith.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey will launch the Fall portion of its 50th Anniversary Season with the critically acclaimed stage adaptation of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist by British playwright, author, and director, Neil Bartlett. The production begins tonight, September 12, with several discounted Preview performances, and continues through Oct. 7 at The Shakespeare Theatre's Main Stage - the intimate F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre.

Bristol Riverside Theatre opens its 2012-2013 mainstage season with Oleanna by Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet onSeptember 25-October 14, 2012. Directed by BRT's Artistic Director Keith Baker, the play features actors Blair Baker and David Barlow.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Patrick Willingham) announced today that FUN HOME, a new musical with music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by Lisa Kron, will open the 2012-2013 season of the Public Lab, a program designed to connect audiences and artists in the process of creating new theater. Directed by Sam Gold, FUN HOME is based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel and will run Wednesday, October 17 through Sunday, November 4 in The Public's Shiva Theater. Member tickets are $12 and are on sale now. Single tickets, priced at $15, go on sale Tuesday, September 18.

The Off Broadway Alliance, the organization of Off Broadway producers, theaters, general managers, press agents and marketing firms, will hold another in its series of seminars focused on the culture, business and history of Off Broadway today, September 9th.