Classic Stage Company News

North Carolina Theatre, the region's premiere nonprofit professional regional theatre producing Broadway musical revivals, is ready to electrify audiences this February with the world's favorite musical, Grease! Leading the cast is Broadway star John Arthur Greene who hails from Raleigh stepping into the role of teenage heartthrob, Danny Zuko.  John Arthur joins Broadway couple Hunter Foster and Jennifer Cody, who will direct and choreograph the perennial favorite at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh, February 9-14, 2016. 

59E59 Theaters welcomes Al Dente Productions in association with Little Barn Productions with HOW ALFO LEARNED TO LOVE, written by Vincent Amelio and directed by Daisy Walker. HOW ALFO LEARNED TO LOVE begins performances tonight, December 16 for a limited engagement through Sunday, January 3. Press opening is Sunday, December 20 at 3:15 PM.

The Old Globe today announced the complete cast and creative team for the West Coast premiere of THE METROMANIACS by supremely clever playwright David Ives (All in the Timing, Time Flies). This uproarious new 'translaptation' of a classic French farce, Alexis Piron's La Metromanie, will be directed by one of America's most renowned stage directors, Michael Kahn, presented in association with Shakespeare Theatre Company.

Oakland, CA, December 10, 2015—Music Director Michael Morgan and the Oakland Symphony continue their annual exploration of world orchestral music traditions this season with Notes from Vietnam, Friday, February 12, 2016, at 8 pm at the Paramount Theatre. Featured will be Emmy Award-winning composer performer Vân-Ánh Võ, who will give the world premiere of her Lullaby for a Country, performing on the ?àn tranh (Vietnamese zither), ?àn B?u (monochord), and vocals. In addition, TV and Broadway star and filmmaker Michael Urie (Ugly Betty, Modern Family) will narrate Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. Completing the program will be Dvo?ák's Carnival Overture. The Symphony's Notes from . . . series has become a popular mainstay of the Bay Area music scene and annually explores symphonic music both new and traditional from cultures that may be less well known to audiences. Past Notes from . . . programs have focused on music from Mexico, Persia, the Philippines, China and the Middle East, among others. Free lobby entertainment, no-host drinks and pre-concert talk begin at 7 pm. And the concert is sponsored in part by California Waste Solutions. Tickets are priced $20-$75 and may be purchased at www.OaklandSymphony.org.

Frances Black Projects in association with CAP21 proudly presents Commedia dell'Artichoke, a new comedy about love, dreams, pizza and trying to make it in New York. This production, a contemporary take on commedia dell'arte - the classic Italian style of theatre with masked actors performing a blend of scripted and improvised comedic scenarios - plays January 15 - February 6 at the Gene Frankel Theatre (24 Bond Street, between Bowery and Lafayette).

Retro Productions celebrates its eleventh season with Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Glee/Big Love) drama, Good Boys and True which had its World Premiere at The Steppenwolf Theatre in 2007. The production is directed by DeLisa White who won a New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Director for Vincent Marano's Lights Narrow. Good Boys and True, is Retro Productions 18th full length play. Their last production, The Butter and Egg Man played to sold-out houses and received rave reviews. Heather E. Cunningham (NYIT Award Winner for Outstanding Actress/An Appeal To The Woman Of The House) is the Producing Artistic Director, Sara Slagle serves as an Associate Producer.

Daniel Fish, the innovative director of theater, opera, and film, collaborates with designer Jim Findlay to create WHO LEFT THIS FORK HERE, a new interdisciplinary work inspired by the psychological and emotional themes of aging and mortality in Anton Chekhov's The Three Sisters. WHO LEFT THIS FORK HERE is set for four performances only, tonight, December 9, through Saturday, December 12, at 7:30pm at Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC)'s Howard Gilman Performance Space, 450 West 37th Street.

Classic Stage Company's production of Bertolt Brecht's MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN, starring Tony Award winner Tonya Pinkins, begins performances tonight, December 9 for a limited engagement through January 24. MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN will be directed by Brian Kulick and will feature original music by Tony Award winner Duncan Sheik. The official press opening is Thursday, January 7.

Encores! Artistic Director Jack Viertel today announced the creative teams for New York City Center's 2016 Encores! season. J. Bernard Calloway, Chuck Cooper, Marva Hicks, Carly Hughes, LaChanze, Norm Lewis, Forrest McClendon, and J.D. Webster will star in Vernon Duke and John Latouche's jazz?filled fable Cabin in the Sky, running for seven performances at City Center from February 10-14. The 1940 musical will be directed by Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago?Hudson with choreography by Camille A. Brown.

Updated this week! Check out upcoming Equity Auditions from Sunday, December 6, 2015 for both productions in your area and around the country including what/when/where and how to audition!

Kelley Curran and Thomas Jay Ryan have been selected to receive the 2015 Joe A. Callaway Award presented by the Actors Equity Foundation.

The critically acclaimed off-Broadway hit THE ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS OF LEONARD PELKEY, written by and starring James Lecesne, the writer of the Academy Award-winning film Trevor, will have a limited 23 performance engagement at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, Wednesday, January 13 to Sunday, January 31, 2016 (press opening Thursday January 14).

Happy Birthday, Mandy Patinkin! Mandy Patinkin won the Tony Award for his Broadway debut in Evita and was again nominated for Sunday in the Park with George and The Wild Party. He also appeared on Broadway in Trelawny of the 'Wells,' The Shadow Box, The Secret Garden, Falsettos, and his solo concerts Dress Casual, Celebrating Sondheim, and Mamaloshen. Other theatre credits include The Split, Savages, Enemy of the People, and most recently The Tempest at Classic Stage Company. Mandy continues to tour his concerts Dress Casual, Celebrating Sondheim, Mamaloshen, and An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin.

Concrete Temple Theatre proudly presents the New York premiere of The Bellagio Fountain Has Been Known to Make Me Cry, written by Renee Philippi, co-directed by Eric Nightengale and Renee Philippi, designed by Carlo Adinolfi, with original music composed by Joseph C. Phillips Jr. Check out photos from the show below!

Yale Repertory Theatre presents the world premiere of PEERLESS by Jiehae Park, directed by Margot Bordelon, November 27-December 19 at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street). Opening Night is Thursday, December 3. The cast of PEERLESS includes Teresa Avia Lim, Christopher Livingston, Caroline Neff, JD Taylor, and Tiffany Villarin.

Labyrinth Theater Company has announced the line-up for the 17th Annual Barn Series, the award-winning company's free play reading series.

Updated this week! Check out upcoming Equity Auditions from Sunday, November 15, 2015 for both productions in your area and around the country including what/when/where and how to audition!

Hartford Stage presents the sold-out world premiere of REAR WINDOW, adapted for the stage by Keith Reddin, and directed by Hartford Stage Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak, closing tonight, November 15. Led by screen star Kevin Bacon, the show opened on October 30.

The Old Globe presents the Old Globe/University of San Diego Graduate Theatre Program's production of William Shakespeare's AS YOU LIKE IT, running tonight, November 14 - November 22 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center.