Arena Stage News

'One of humanity's most primal stories is re-imagined with compassion and poetry' in the world premiere production of DC-based playwright Jacqueline E. Lawton's Blood-bound and Tongue-tied, an ambitious offering seen in workshop form during the Strand Theater Company's Friends & Neighbors Festival 2011.

Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd announces the cast and creative team for the Alley Theatre's production of the 2010 Best Play Tony Award Winner, Red.

San Francisco's African-American Shakespeare Company has announced that due to unforeseen circumstances the company's World Premiere of Nambi E. Kelley's, XTIGONE, directed by Darrel V. Jones, has been postponed, and removed from African-American Shakespeare Company's current season schedule. A RAISIN IN THE SUN, Lorraine Hansberry's timeless play about a 1950s-era Chicago family longing for a better life, will be the third and final production of the company's 2011-12 season.

The world premiere production of DC-based playwright Jacqueline E. Lawton's BLOOD-BOUND AND TONGUE-TIED, first seen in workshop form during the Strand Theater Company's Friends & Neighbors Festival 2011, will run March 23 to April 7. The show will be directed by Lindsay Gentry, stage managed by Christina Cordle, and feature Derek Cooper as Oedipus, Chris Knight as Laius, Morgan Mosley as Creon, Ann Turiano as Jenna, and Kelli Wright as Jocasta.

Philadelphia Theatre Company will present the second production and East Coast premiere of Barrymore Award-winning playwright Bruce Graham's newest play The Outgoing Tide, running March 23-April 22 at PTC's home at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre (Broad and Lombard Streets).

The Bay Area premiere of San Jose Rep's God of Carnage begins previews tonight. This winner of the 2009 Tony Award® for Best Play was written by Yasmina Reza and translated by Christopher Hampton. The production runs from March 22 to April 15, 2012, with Opening Night on Wednesday, March 28 at 7:30 pm.

Ah, Wilderness!, Eugene O'Neill's depiction of American family life at the turn of the 20th century, kicked off the two-month citywide Eugene O'Neill Festival at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. From a playwright better known for his darker stories comes the brilliant Ah, Wilderness!, O'Neill's singular comedy that represents a fantasy of what his own childhood might have been. Helen Hayes Award winner and former Arena Stage Associate Artistic Director Kyle Donnelly directed her 21st show at Arena Stage, which features an almost entirely local cast led by Rick Foucheux, Nancy Robinette and June Schreiner. Ah, Wilderness! runs March 9-April 8, 2012 in the Fichandler Stage. Check out the opening night photos below!

Lookingglass Theatre Company announces its 25th Anniversary Season, kicking off with the return of Metamorphoses written and directed by Ensemble Member Mary Zimmerman, coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the Broadway run. The season continues with the Chicago premiere of the Tony award-nominated Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, a 2010 Pulitzer Prize finalist, written by Rajiv Joseph and directed by Heidi Stillman. Ensemble Member Christine Mary Dunford will direct the world premiere of her adaptation of the bestselling novel Still Alice. In the final show of Lookingglass' 25th Season, David Schwimmer will direct the world premiere of Big Lake Big City by Keith Huff, the award-winning playwright of the Broadway cop drama A Steady Rain.

Theatre Bay Area and the research firm WolfBrown will present the findings contained in Counting New Beans: Intrinsic Impact and the Value of Art at Joe's Pub on Wednesday, March 21 from 9am-12pm.

Singer/actress Lindsay Heather Pearce--who as a finalist on THE GLEE PROJECT won a two-episode arc as the bubbly 'Harmony' on GLEE this season--can currently be seen filling the shoes of a different kind of teen: an angst-y, late-19th Century teenager in the L.A. intimate theater premiere of the Tony Award-winning musical SPRING AWAKENING, now playing at the Theatre of Arts Egyptian Arena Stage in Hollywood through April 22. This new production of the rock musical finds Pearce playing Wendla, the very role originated by GLEE's own breakout star Lea Michele. So what's her next challenge? Taking on BWW's 'Silly Query' of course!

Linda Lavin (Broadway Bound), Sebastian Arcelus (Elf), LaChanze (The Color Purple), Emily Skinner (Side Show), Shuler Hensley (Oklahoma!), Daniel Breaker (Passing Strange) and Sierra Boggess (Love Never Dies, The Little Mermaid) will be among the star players in the upcoming Broadway Hal Prince tribute, PRINCE OF BROADWAY, The New York Times reveals.

How lucky we are in the DC area. Rich with culture, the region has an especially vibrant theater scene. Arena Stage is a prominent part of that scene and this year they are treating us to something special - The Eugene O'Neill Festival. Arena is working with other area venues to present the festival for two months. They have kicked off the festival with O'Neill's comedy, Ah, Wilderness!

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 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.

The New Group presents the world premiere of An Early History of Fire, a new play by Tony Award-winning playwright David Rabe. Directed by Jo Bonney, this production features Deema Aitken, Gordon Clapp, Erin Darke, Jonny Orsini, Devin Ratray, Dennis Staroselsky, Theo Stockman and Claire van der Boom. Limited Off-Broadway engagement is slated April 5 - May 26 at The New Group at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street). Official Opening Night is set for Monday, April 30 at 7:00 PM.

As the final of three mainstage productions during the two-month Eugene O'Neill Festival spearheaded by Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, Long Day's Journey into Night rounds out this celebration of O'Neill's life and work. The English-born and Canadian-based director and former Stratford Festival Artistic Director Robin Phillips makes his Arena Stage debut to direct his fourth production of this Pulitzer Prize-winning play in a theatrical career spanning more than 50 years.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater will present Double Edge Theatre's The Grand Parade (of the Twentieth Century), which has been added to the previously announced 2012/13 season lineup.

The Broadway premiere of End of the Rainbow, a new play with music, begins previews tonight at the Belasco Theatre.Opening night is set for Monday, April 2. Michael Cumpsty, Tom Pelphrey and Jay Russell join two-time Oliver Award-winner Tracie Bennett in Peter Quilter's acclaimed play about the legendary Judy Garland, directed by the Tony® Award winning Terry Johnson.

Carolyn Griffin has announced that MetroStage will be presenting the premiere of a new musical, Josephine Tonight, with book and lyrics by Sherman Yellen, and music by Wally Harper, through Mar. 18, 2012.

Over the Moon Productions presents the L.A. intimate theatre premiere of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, SPRING AWAKENING, with music by Duncan Sheik, book and lyrics by Steven Sater, musical direction by Rachael Lawrence, choreography by Laura Harrison, directed by Kate Sullivan (Rent: Downtown L.A.) and starring Lindsay Heather Pearce (Harmony on 'Glee,' 'The Glee Project) and Janel Parrish (Mona Vanderwaal on the ABC Family series 'Pretty Little Liars').

Over the Moon Productions presents the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, SPRING AWAKENING, with music by Duncan Sheik, book and lyrics by Steven Sater, musical direction by Rachael Lawrence, choreography by Laura Harrison, directed by Kate Sullivan (Rent: Downtown L.A.) and starring Lindsay Heather Pearce (Harmony on "Glee," "The Glee Project) and Janel Parrish (Mona Vanderwaal on the ABC Family series "Pretty Little Liars").