Edward Albee News

Pulitzer Prize-winning play CLYBOURNE PARK, by Bruce Norris, directed by Pam McKinnon, opened on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre last night, April 19. BroadwayWorld was on hand for the starry theater arrivals and brings you photo coverage below!

There's not much to do on the Irish island of Inishmaan. To pass the time, some folks stare at cows, talk to stones or await the daily dose of gossip at the general store. When a Hollywood film crew begins shooting a movie nearby, the Inishmaan islanders finally have a diversion from their everyday lives. For resident "Cripple" Billy Claven, however, a role in the film offers an opportunity to escape Inishmaan and rise above his disability.

FREUD'S LAST SESSION by Mark St. Germain, now in its second successful year in New York, and currently running at the Mercury Theater (3745 N. Southport, Chicago) will host a birthday celebration in honor of the anniversary of Sigmund Freud's 156th birthday on Sunday, May 6. Following both performances that day, audiences will have the opportunity to meet and greet with the cast members and snack on cupcakes. One lucky audience member will be selected to receive a "Freudian Slip" by Cosabella, courtesy of Chicago's G Boutique.

Signature Theatre today announced full casting for the world premiere of Kenneth Lonergan's new play MEDIEVAL PLAY, which Lonergan will also direct.

On Monday night, April 16, 2012, The Point Foundation honored Edward Albee and Focus Features at their fifth annual New York Gala. BroadwayWorld.com was on hand at Pier Sixty to capture the event honoring current and future champions of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community.

One Direction step aside, there's a new kind of boy band on the circuit! The all male string quartet Well-Strung features classical musicians who sing putting their own spin on the music of Mozart, Vivaldi, Rihanna, Adele, and more. Directed by Donna Drake and starring Edmund Bagnell; first violin, Christopher Marchant: second violin, Daniel Shevlin; cello and Trevor Wadleigh; viola, the show debuts at Joe's Pub on Tuesday, May 1st at 7:30PM. Well-Strung was workshopped this past winter at Ars Nova and the group will be playing The Art House in Provincetown this July and August.

Clarence Coo has been chosen by playwright John Guare as the winner of the 2012 Yale Drama Series for his play Beautiful Province. Selected from over 1100 plays submitted from 24 countries, Beautiful Province, as the winner of this year's Yale Drama Series Award, will be published by Yale University Press. On Tuesday, September 18 Mr. Coo will be honored at a reception at Lincoln Center Theater where he will receive the David C. Horn prize of $10,000 which will be immediately followed by a staged reading of Beautiful Province. Runner-ups for the 2012 Yale Drama Series were Saviana Stanescu, for her playUseless, and Jesse Weaver, for his play We Shall Catch Larks.

After premiering in a sold out, critically acclaimed run in Los Angeles, I AM A TREE, written and performed by Dulcy Rogers and directed by Allan Miller, arrives in NY, produced by United Pies, Inc, in association with The Elephant Theatre (Los Angeles).

Cherry Lane Theatre's award-winning MENTOR PROJECT will continue its 13th season with a production of EVOLUTION, written and performed by Patricia Buckley, directed Michele Chivu and mentored Jean-Claude van Itallie with performances scheduled March 13 through March 24 at Cherry Lane Studio Theatre (38 Commerce Street in Manhattan), where the 2012 MENTOR PROJECT is in residence through April 14.

Signature Theatre today announced that they have added 16 performances to the run of the US premiere of TITLE AND DEED, a new play by Will Eno and directed byJudy Hegarty Lovett. The production, starring Conor Lovett, will run May 8 - June 17, 2012.

Last year, BroadwayWorld.com, the largest theater website on the Internet, launched a comprehensive Student Database listing college and university performing arts programs across the country. This free service makes it easier for prospective students by showcasing programs searchable by schools, location, degrees and concentrations.

Padua Playwrights have announced the world premiere of the latest comic meditation from poet-playwright Murray Mednick. Directed by Mednick and Guy Zimmerman, The Fool and The Red Queen opens on May 19 at the Lounge Theatre in Hollywood, where it will continue to run through June 24 as part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival.

Capital Stage announces a change to its 2011-12 schedule. How I Learned to Drive, originally scheduled for a July/August run will open at the midtown theatre on May 19. The Sacramento premiere of Christopher Shinn's Dying City will move to the summer production dates, July 18 - August 12, 2012. 'We're changing the performance schedule of the these two productions to accommodate a scheduling conflict with one of our key artists,' explains Producing Director, Jonathan Williams.

According to an audition listing, Walter Bobbie is set to direct Vineyard Theatre's Developmental Lab Production of THE LANDING (previously titled 'Andra') -- a collection of three related one-act musicals written by the celebrated composer John Kander and his new collaborator, Greg Pierce - THE LANDING will be presented May 15-June 3 at The Vineyard (108 E. 15 St.).

FREUD'S LAST SESSION will feature a post-show talkback series in May with Chicago academics, atheists and psychologists to discuss Love, Sex, the Meaning of Life and the Existence of God at the Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport in Chicago. A current sold-out sensation Off-Broadway and winner of the 2011 Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best Play, the Midwest Premiere of FREUD'S LAST SESSION has received rave reviews and a Jeff Recommendation.

A.R. Gurney, a Buffalo native and nationally produced playwright, will be honored in Buffalo on Saturday, May 5 th , by Road Less Traveled Productions (RLTP) at its 2012 Spring Gala. Mr. Gurney is RLTP's 2012 American Theatre Master and author of the upcoming production, Ancestral Voices , the third and final selection of RLTP's three-year cycle of Gurney's work.

The Tony Award®-winning Hartford Stage, under the leadership of Darko Tresnjak, Artistic Director, and Michael Stotts, Managing Director, today announced that David Henderson has been appointed Director of Marketing, Sales and Communications, beginning April 9, 2012.

Legendary film director Peter Bogdanovich attended FREUD'S LAST SESSION at New World Stages this past Saturday, April 7th to see George Morfogen and Jim Stanek, who recently joined the production as Sigmund Freud and C. S. Lewis respectively. FREUD'S LAST SESSION is the winner of the 2011 Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best Play and additional productions are already set to open into 2013 in major markets across the nation and around the world. Check out the photo of Bogdanovich below!

The American National Theatre will present, in association with InViolet Repertory Theater and Urban Stages, a staged reading of Erin Mallon's Branched, and Robert Emmet Lunney's For Nina, in association with The Directors Company and Two River Theater Company on Monday, April 30 at Theater Row's Clurman Theater (410 West 42nd Street). This day of readings follows The ANT's first presentation Nobody Suspects a Butterfly, by Christine Henry. Branched will be performed at 4:00PM, and For Nina at 7:00PM. Admission is FREE to the public.