Arizona Theatre Company News

Milwaukee Repertory Theater presents the World Premiere production of Five Presidents. Broadway and television veterans Mark Jacoby, Martin L'Herault, Steve Sheridan, Jeff Steitzer, and Brit Whittle, along with Rep Associate Artist Reese Madigan, make up the cast of Five Presidents from Emmy Award-winning writer Rick Cleveland (The West Wing, House of Cards, Mad Men, and Six Feet Under). Directed by Milwaukee Rep Artistic Director Mark Clements, the production opens tonight, March 13, 2015 and runs through April 5, 2015.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre proudly welcomes MacArthur "Genius" Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney for the West Coast premiere of Head of Passes, a poignant and poetic story about the journey of family and faith, trial and tribulation. In a dilapidated house near the ever-shifting mouth of the Mississippi, Shelah's family gathers on a stormy night for her birthday -- bringing ghosts and secrets of the past with them. As her roof buckles under the weight of the rain, Shelah's convictions begin to wash away, leaving her to excavate the truths buried below. Directed by Tina Landau, the riveting Head of Passes comes to the Bay Area straight from its critically lauded world premiere in Chicago. Head of Passes is a co-production with the Public Theater in New York. It begins previews on Berkeley Rep's intimate Thrust Stage on Friday, April 10, opens on Friday, April 17, and runs through Sunday, May 24, 2015. Press night for Head of Passes will be held on Friday, April 17, 2015.

InterAct Theatre Company continues its 2014/2015 season of world premieres with Uncanny Valley by Thomas Gibbons. The second of four National New Play Network rolling world premieres, Uncanny Valley is directed by InterAct's Producing Artistic Director Seth Rozin and features local actors Sally Mercer and Frank X (last seen in Permanent Collection). The show runs April 3-April 26 at The Adrienne, 2030 Sansom Street. Opening Night is Wednesday, April 8 at 7:00 pm. Tickets cost between $22-38 and are available online at www.interacttheatre.org/season/uncanny-valley/, at the box office, or by phone at 215-568-8079.

Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare's poetic masterpiece of jealousy, prejudice and betrayal, takes on a bold new theatricality under the ambitious and creative hand of award-winning director Kirsten Brandt and scenic, lighting and projection designer David Lee Cuthbert from March 26 through April 12 at the Herberger Theater Center, 222 E. Monroe.

Milwaukee Repertory Theater announced final casting for the upcoming World Premiere production of Five Presidents. Broadway and television veterans Mark Jacoby, Martin L'Herault, Steve Sheridan, Jeff Steitzer, and Brit Whittle, along with Rep Associate Artist Reese Madigan, make up the cast of Five Presidents from Emmy Award-winning writer Rick Cleveland (The West Wing, House of Cards, Mad Men, and Six Feet Under).

A boy meets a girl, they fall in love, and perhaps they would have lived happily ever after had it not been for the terrible feud between their families. After 48 seasons, the Arizona Theatre Company brings William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet to the stage of the Temple of Music and Art with award-winning director Kirsten Brandt at the helm.

Academy Award winner Helen Mirren will return to Broadway this spring as Elizabeth II in Peter Morgan's The Audience, directed by two-time Tony Award winner Stephen Daldry. Opening Night is tonight, March 8, 2015; the limited engagement runs through June 28, 2015 at Broadway's Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. Scroll down to learn more about the company!

Ten Chimneys Foundation has announced Tony Award winner Phylicia Rashad will serve as the Master Teacher for the 2015 Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program, a national program to serve the future of American theatre.

The Old Globe is delighted to welcome one of the true geniuses of the American theatre, Tony Award winner Mary Zimmerman, who makes her long-awaited San Diego directing debut with an enchanting theatrical spectacle with live music and sumptuous visuals, The White Snake, continuing the Globe's 80th Anniversary festivities as part of the Balboa Park Centennial Celebration. The Southern California Premiere of The White Snake, written and directed by Zimmerman, will run March 21 through April 26 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run March 21 through 25. Opening night is Thursday, March 26 at 8:00 p.m.

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com or call (646) 476-3551.

The Pasadena Playhouse (Artistic Director Sheldon Epps and Executive Director Elizabeth Doran) announces the cast of George Bernard Shaw's PYGMALION, the fifth production of its 2014-2015 Season. PYGMALION, which began rehearsals today, will perform March 17 - April 12, 2015 with the official press night on Sunday, March 22, 2015.

Berkeley Rep is proud to welcome back the beloved team of Dominique Serrand and Steven Epp for a provocative and powerful revival of Moliere's dark comedy about religious hypocrisy.

Arizona Theatre Company's 2015-16 season brings the return of master entertainer Hershey Felder, a mind-bending new comedy from the producer of HBO's Real Time With Bill Maher, the provocative 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play, an August Wilson masterpiece, John Steinbeck's classic American tale Of Mice and Men and a new musical from Stephen Schwartz of Wicked and Godspell fame.

San Francisco Playhouse continues its twelfth season with the regional premiere of Aaron Posner's Stupid f**king Bird-irreverently based on Anton Chekov's The Seagull-directed by Susi Damilano.

Milwaukee Repertory Theater announced final casting for the upcoming World Premiere production of Five Presidents. Broadway and television veterans Mark Jacoby, Martin L'Herault, Steve Sheridan, Jeff Steitzer, and Brit Whittle, along with Rep Associate Artist Reese Madigan, make up the cast of Five Presidents from Emmy Award-winning writer Rick Cleveland (The West Wing, House of Cards, Mad Men, and Six Feet Under).

The first play of ACT's 50th Anniversary Season will be packed with talent. Broadway alums and Seattle favorites Laura Griffith and Brandon O'Neill will play Maggie the Cat and Brick, one of the most iconic couples in the theatrical canon. John Aylward, a Seattle treasure who went on to make a name for himself in Hollywood with recurring roles on ER, The West Wing, and Mad Men, will play the family patriarch Big Daddy. Rounding out the cast of leading roles will be elite Seattle acting veteran Marianne Owen as Big Mama. Kurt Beattie, in his final year as Artistic Director will direct this powerhouse cast.

The Geffen Playhouse announces the cast for its West Coast premiere production of Conor McPherson's The Night Alive, helmed by Geffen Playhouse Artistic Director Randall Arney. This production will feature Paul Vincent O'Connor (August: Osage County at the National Theatre, London), Fiona O'Shaughnessy (Utopia), Dan Donohue (The Lion King on Broadway), Denis Arndt (Basic Instinct), and Peter O'Meara (Band of Brothers).

In Rick Cleveland's ingenious Five Presidents, directed by Mark Clements and on stage at the Herberger Theatre, the 38th to the 42nd occupants of the Oval Office come to pay their respects to #37, Richard Milhous Nixon. It's a delicious concept and an undeniable hit, brought to life by the splendid performances of Jeff Steitzer as Gerald Ford, Martin L'Herault as Jimmy Carter, Steve Sheridan as Ronald Reagan, Mark Jacoby as George H. W. Bush, and Brit Whittle as the incumbent Bill Clinton.

Amas Musical Theatre and The Amas Musical Theatre Lab will present staged readings for the New York premiere of I Am, I Will, I Do, a new musical with book, music and lyrics by Dan Manjovi. Directed by Christopher Scott with Musical Direction by Steven Gross, the readings will be held tonight, February 9th at 6pm and tomorrow, February 10th at 3pm & 7pm at Shetler Studios - Penthouse (244 West 54th Street - between Broadway & 8th Avenue).

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, has announced the recipients for the latest round of Global Connections. Supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, this grant program encourages reciprocity and cultural exchange through ON the ROAD grants to foster new relationships with international colleagues and IN the LAB grants to further pre-existing international collaborations. Now in its fourth year, this round of the Global Connections program awarded a total of $33,045 to seven projects through ON the ROAD and a total of $30,000 to three projects through IN the LAB, with over $400,000 awarded to date.