Austin Pendleton News

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Greg Reiner, will present its sold-out Open Rehearsal Series with Monday Night ANTONY & CLEOPATRA, featuring a company of seasoned actors and directors as they explore the text over three consecutive Monday nights beginning April 16 with Stephanie Roth Haberle and Sam Tsoutsouvas, directed by Brian Kulick; followed by Laila Robbins as Cleopatra on April 23, directed by Craig Baldwin; and finally on April 30, Kim Cattrall as Cleopatra and Anthony Heald as Antony, directed by Brian Kulick. While all three evenings are sold-out, a waiting list will form each evening at 7 pm in the lobby.

In Thunder Rock, successful author and former Daily News reporter David Charleston becomes disturbed by the state of the world; he takes a job as a lighthouse keeper and the sole resident of Thunder Rock Island. When he notices a memorial plaque dedicated to a sailing ship of immigrants which fatally crashed on the island 90 years prior, he starts to imagine how ideal life was in their time. Soon, they begin appearing to him. At first he controls them, until they decide to teach him about the eternal struggles of life.

HERO Theatre will present a benefit staged reading of William Shakespeare's KING LEAR on Monday, May 21st at 7:30PM to be held at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre/Laura Pels Theatre, 111 West 46th Street. Academy Award-winner Olympia Dukakis will play the title role and director Austin Pendleton will direct a cast featuring special guest artists performing alongside HERO Theatre company members.

Retro Productions and The Bleecker Company, in association with The Arclight Theatre, present Milan Stitt's drama THE RUNNER STUMBLES, with an Off-Broadway run set to open Thursday, May 3 at The Arclight Theatre (152 West 71st Street). Peter Zinn, who helmed Retro Productions' revivals Michael Frayn's BENEFACTORS and Sally Nemeth's HOLY DAYS, directs.

The ReGroup first full season of productions will present a production of Robert Ardrey's THUNDER ROCK, followed by Claire & Paul Sifton's 1931-, and Dawn Powell's BIG NIGHT in November. Besides these productions, The ReGroup will publish the 2ndvolume in their series of Group Theatre plays and present a staged-reading of Nellise Child's WEEP FOR THE VIRGINS over the summer.

Theater For The New City have announced an encore engagement of The Hive's critically-acclaimed gender-bender production of William Shakespeare's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S (QUEER) DREAM, directed by Matthew A.J. Gregory. A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S (QUEER) DREAM will play a limited engagement at the Johnson Theatre-Theatre for the New City (155 First Avenue, btw. 9th/10th) from Wednesday, April 25 through Saturday, May 19. Opening Night is Friday, April 27 (8 p.m.).

OBAMA IN NAPLES, written by Italian Claudio Angelini, is scheduled to play its world premier at the June Havoc Theatre April 25 to May 6.

Frog and Peach Theatre's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' will play from April 26 to May 20, 2012 at the West End Theater, 263 West 86th St. The adaptation imitates life in a celebrity couple's entourage.

Mad Horse Theatre Company's Dark Night Series returns with Austin Pendleton's UNCLE BOB. The reclusive Bob is an angry old man who has never done anything meaningful in his life. He is a failed actor and writer, he has driven away his loving wife, and he is dying of AIDS.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS presents the 15th and grand finale edition of THE BROADWAY BEARS tonight, March 18, 2012 at 8 PM at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill on West 42nd Street. THE BROADWAY BEARS is an annual Broadway auction of teddy bears dressed in museum-quality outfits based on original costumes and created by acclaimed designers..

Classic Stage Company's upcoming production of Bertolt Brecht's GALILEO (translated by Charles Laughton) starring Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham closes on Sunday, March 18.

Mad Horse Theatre Company's Dark Night Series returns with Austin Pendleton's UNCLE BOB. The reclusive Bob is an angry old man who has never done anything meaningful in his life. He is a failed actor and writer, he has driven away his loving wife, and he is dying of AIDS.

United Solo, established as the world's largest solo theatre festival, has announced dates for its six-week run this fall. The Festival will be held between October 11 and November 18, 2012 at Theatre ROW on 42nd Street in the heart of New York's theatre district.

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick, has announced that Greg Reiner will join the acclaimed Off-Broadway theater as its new Executive Director beginning March 19. Reiner comes to CSC after an extremely successful tenure as Executive Director of Tectonic Theater Project, where, among many other achievements, he produced the world premiere of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later in 150 theaters on a single night, and oversaw the Tony nominated Broadway production of 33 Variations. Reiner succeeds Jessica R. Jenen, who departed CSC in the fall.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company continues its 2011/12 season with Time Stands Still by Donald Margulies, directed by ensemble member Austin Pendleton, playing January 19 - May 13, 2012 in Steppenwolf's Upstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St. Time Stands Still features ensemble members Francis Guinan and Sally Murphy with Randall Newsome andKristina Valada-Viars. See photos below.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS will present the 15th and grand finale edition of THE BROADWAY BEARS, the annual Broadway auction of teddy bears dressed in museum-quality outfits based on original costumes and created by acclaimed designers on March 18, 2012.

Writers' Theatre Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma announce the 2012/13 Season, which includes Shakespeare's Hamlet directed by Michael Halberstam with Scott Parkinson in the title role; the Midwest premiere of John W. Lowell's play The Letters, directed by Kimberly Senior; Sweet Charity, directed by Michael Halberstam with Musical Direction by Doug Peck and choreography by Jessica Redish; the Midwest premiere of David Greig's Yellow Moon directed by Stuart Carden; and David Ives' modern adaptation of Corneille's The Liar, directed by William Brown.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company Artistic Director Martha Lavey announced today the 2012/13 Subscription Season, including a Steppenwolf-commissioned world premiere and the work of fifteen ensemble members. The season begins in Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theatre with David Lindsay-Abaire's Good People, directed by ensemble member K. Todd Freeman. Up next, ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro directs The Motherf**ker with the Hat by Stephen Adly Guirgis. In the Upstairs Theatre, ensemble member Austin Pendleton directs The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter. In April 2013, ensemble member Tina Landau directs the Steppenwolf-commissioned world premiere of Head of Passes by ensemble member Tarell Alvin McCraney, their first collaboration since the widely-praised The Brother/Sister Plays (2010). The season concludes with Belleville by Amy Herzog, directed by Anne Kauffmann.

The Steppenwolf Theater Company of Chicago have announced their season for 2012-13, including GOOD PEOPLE, Pinter's THE BIRTHDAY PARTY, and BELLEVILLE.