Classic Stage Company News

The Irish Repertory Theatre continues the eighth season of its Reading Series with Ray Sipherd's play Mathew Brady Presents on Friday, October 25 at 3 p.m. at the Irish Repertory Theatre's W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre (132 W. 22nd Street). Mathew Brady Presents will be directed by Kevin McGuire. The reading is free and open to the public. An RSVP to the Irish Repertory Theatre Box Office at (212) 727-2737 is suggested.

Long Wharf Theatre, in association with Hartford Stage, presents The Underpants by Steve Martin, adapted from the play by Carl Sternheim, directed by Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein. The play will take place now through November 10, 2013 at The Claire Tow Stage in the C. Newton Schenck III Theatre before moving to Hartford Stage January 9 through February 9, 2014. The Long Wharf Theatre press opening is Wednesday, October 23 at 7:30 pm. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast onstage below!

Obie- Award winning and Tony nominated director Austin Pendleton directs Tennessee Williams' Cat on A Hot Tin Roof in a new Indie theatre production with the Mississippi Mud. This is the play that Ben Brantley described as Williams' 'most impassioned and articulate statement on human isolation, the wrenching problems of communication between people and the ways in which death defines life.' It is brought to life in a new intimate bold raw space production that unfolds in 'real time' and places center stage the lush language of this modern classic fable.

Let's see what the critics had to say...

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive DirectorGreg Reiner, presents Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, starring Elizabeth Olsen as Juliet and Julian Cihi as Romeo, directed by Tea Alagic, and opened last night, October 16. BroadwayWorld brings you photos from opening night below!

Elizabeth Olsen's Juliet makes a good argument that William Shakespeare's tragedy of teenage lust could have been submitted as a continuing arc for Lena Dunham's hit series, Girls.

Roundabout Theatre Company presents The Winslow Boy, starring Tony nominee Michael Cumpsty as 'Desmond Curry', Academy & Tony Award nominee Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as 'Grace Winslow', Alessandro Nivola as 'Sir Robert Morton' and Tony Award winner Roger Rees as 'Arthur Winslow'.

'An American Family Takes a Lover' by Amina Henry is a dark, dark comedy that peeks into the household comprised of an upscale American couple, Richard David and Lady Anne, and their 'other person,' a young Black woman named Justine who is their slave. The arrival of a handyman to fix a hole in the wall sets off a series of developments that tear this cockeyed family apart in an absurd parable that explores The Stockholm Syndrome through a sexual and racial lens. Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave., will present The Cell Theatre Company's production of the play November 7 to 17. It's a premiere run, directed by Kira Simring, Artistic Director of The Cell Theatre Company (founding Artistic Director Nancy Manocherian), where the piece was originally incubated.

Long Wharf Theatre, in association with Hartford Stage, presents The Underpants by Steve Martin, adapted from the play by Carl Sternheim, directed by Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein.

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Greg Reiner, presents Shakespeare'sRomeo & Juliet, starring Elizabeth Olsen as Juliet and Julian Cihi as Romeo, directed by Tea Alagic, and opening Wednesday, October 16. BroadwayWorld brings you a first look at the cast in action below!

UglyRhino Productions will present TinyRhino: Horror Movie Edition on Tuesday, October 29th at 8 p.m. Come celebrate Halloween with six spooky new plays by up and coming playwrights and directors that pay homage to the classic horror movie genre.

New York, NY, October 14, 2013 – New York Live Arts presents Big Dance Theater's (BDT) Ich, Kürbisgeist, October 31 – November 2, andNovember 5 – 9 at 7:30pm, and November 1, 2, 8 and 9 at 10:00pm, as part of its signature program, the Replay Series. An “impressively inscrutable” (The New York Times) work directed by Paul Lazar, co-directed and choreographed by Annie-B Parson and written by Sibyl Kempson, a playwright of works “authentic, appealing, and…thrill[ing]” (Village Voice), Ich Kürbisgeist returns to the stage just in time for Halloween.

Just last week, Cameron Mackintosh and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group announced the casting and initial tour schedule for their spectacular new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera launching a major North American Tour in Providence, R.I. at the Providence Performing Arts Center. With newly reinvented staging and stunning scenic design, this new version of PHANTOM, the most successful musical of all-time, will be performed by a cast and orchestra of 52, making this one of the largest productions on tour in North America. Meet the cast below!

The Vineyard Theatre has announced its world-premiere production of the musical THE LANDING -- with book and lyrics by Greg Pierce, music by John Kander and directed by Walter Bobbie -- will extend its previously-announced engagement by two weeks, now scheduled to play through November 24 at The Vineyard (108 E. 15 St.). THE LANDING began preview performances October 3 with opening night set for October 23.

Neil Gaiman's journey through "London Below" comes to life onstage this fall, featuring the next generation of performers and technical artists from Cornish College of the Arts. Robert Kauzlaric's adaptation of Neverwhere runs November 6 through 10 at the Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center.

Wedding bells for T.R. Knight! Last Friday, the former star of ABC's Grey's Anatomy said, "I do" to his longtime boyfriend, Patrick, according to US Weekly.

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Greg Reiner, will present its annual Monday Night Open Rehearsal Series, this year featuring Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. On three Monday evenings - October 21 & 28 and November 4 - different actors and directors will explore the text of Julius Caesar, giving theater-goers the opportunity to become part of the discovery process, and experience different acting approaches and directorial interpretations of one of Shakespeare's boldest tragedies. Here is the line-up for this year's Open Rehearsal series:

Julian Cihi spoke exclusively to BWW about making his Off-Broadway debut in Romeo & Juliet.

The Award-Winning Astoria Performing Arts Center (APAC) has announced the world premiere production of a (mostly) non-violent, romantic comedy by Sandy Rustin's (Rated P [For Parenthood]) THE COTTAGE directed by Adam Dannheisser (Rock of Ages, resident director/performer). THE COTTAGE will play a three week limited engagement at Good Shepard United Methodist Church, 30-44 Crescent St (@30th Rd), in Astoria, Queens. Performances begin Thursday, November 7 and continue through Saturday, November 23. Opening Night is Saturday, November 9 at 8 p.m.