Ben Brantley News

Mint Theater today announced that Temporal Powers will extend through October 2nd at the Mint's home in the heart of the theater district, 311 West 43rd Street.

Join Elevator Repair Service on Saturday, September 10 for the New York premiere of 'The Select (The Sun Also Rises),' a staging of Hemingway's classic novel, 'The Sun Also Rises.' The evening begins with the performance at New York Theatre Workshop at 7:30 PM, and is followed by a party featuring open bar and dim sum at the Koi Lounge at Chinatown Brasserie at 10:30 PM.

Dates have been announced for Chicago's return engagement of the Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award-winning hit musical JERSEY BOYS, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.

Abrons Arts Center and Barbara Busackino have set the opening night for the highly anticipated NYC return of Arias with a Twist for Sunday, September 18 at Abrons Arts Center (466 Grand Street).

The new, off-Broadway production of RENT opened Thursday, August 11 at New World Stages. The resurrection of the cult classic, written by Jonathan Larson, is being directed by Michael Greif, who directed the show's original off-Broadway and Broadway productions. The creative team includes choreographer Larry Keigwin, music supervisor Tim Weil, set designer Mark Wendland, costume designer Angela Wendt, lighting designer Kevin Adams, sound designer Brian Ronan, and projection designer by Peter Nigrini.

TRACES, the acclaimed show by the Montreal-based troupe 7 Fingers, is currently playing New York's Union Square Theatre (100 East 17th Street). TRACES began previews Friday, July 29 with an official opening Monday night, August 8.

Billy Elliot the Musical today announced a new performance schedule. Beginning September 5, the show will now play Tuesday at 7pm, Thursday - Sunday at 7:30pm, Wednesday, Saturday & Sunday at 2pm; dark Mondays.

Theatre for a New Audience's 32nd season features boldly diverse plays by William Shakespeare, Samuel Beckett, John Ford and a joyful klezmer musical adapted by Robert Brustein from the stories of Nobel-winning Isaac Bashevis Singer.

Buffalo Theatre Ensemble (BTE) will kick off their 25th Anniversary Season with Conor McPherson's 'Shining City' directed by BTE Ensemble member Brian Burke at the McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage, located at 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn, Ill. Sept. 23 - Oct. 9. A preview will be held Thursday is Sept. 22 at 8 p.m. Press opening is Friday, Sept. 23 at 8 p.m. For more information visit www.AtTheMac.org.

On her debut CD, ‘The Dimming of the Day,' acclaimed singer/actress Anastasia Barzee reimagines an eclectic range of Broadway, pop and jazz-infused songs, and showcases a diverse array of her favorite contemporary artists including Paul Simon, Rufus Wainwright, Randy Newman, Kate Bush, Andrew Lloyd Webber and many more.

On July 18, the Next To Normal tour pulled into Toronto, where it will play through July 30. Alice Ripley, who received the 2009 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Next to Normal, reprises her acclaimed performance in the musical's 36-week multi-city North American tour. Below, we bring you photo coverage of Next To Normal onstage in Toronto!

Due to unforeseen changes in the tour schedule, the producers of Billy Elliot the Musical have decided to postpone their fall tour including an engagement at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center October 5-16.

Cymbeline is back! Two sold-out weeks last January for Fiasco Theater's production of Cymbeline wasn't nearly long enough to satisfy the demands of a theatre-going public hungry for, as Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote, 'the comedy, poignancy and unlikely magic of Cymbeline.'

According to the Hollywood Reporter, stage veterans America Ferrera and Julia Stiles have joined the cast of 'It's a Disaster.' The movie will feature a screenplay by Todd Berger, who will also direct. As described by THR, the film is a 'comedy about four couples who meet for Sunday brunch only to discover they are stuck in a house together as the world may be about to end.'

Abrons Arts Center and Barbara Busackino have announced that the critical and popular hit Arias with a Twist will return for a limited encore engagement Wednesday, September 14 - Saturday, October 15. This bigger-than-life cabinet of curiosities was created by seductive songstress Joey Arias, who stars, and Basil Twist, who directs and designs.

Manhattan Theatre Club has just announced that due to popular demand, the new Broadway production of Terrence McNally's Tony Award-winning MASTER CLASS, directed by Stephen Wadsworth has been extended a second time. The limited engagement has now been extended by two additional weeks with tickets now on sale through Sunday, September 4 at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street).

The Finborough Theatre Announces two upcoming productions for August, 2011, Blue Surge and Portraits.

Manhattan Theatre Club's new Broadway production of Terrence McNally's MASTER CLASS, directed by Stephen Wadsworth, opened tonight on Broadway. Check below to see what the critics had to say!