Ensemble Studio Theatre News

Producers of the Tony Award-winning MATILDA THE MUSICAL announced today that Matt Harrington and Christopher Sieber will join the company as Mr. Wormwood and Miss Trunchbull, respectively.

IAMA Theatre Company has announced the Los Angeles premiere of The Recommendation, written by Jonathan Caren and directed by Laura Savia, at Theatre Asylum in Hollywood. There will be two lower-priced preview performances on Thursday, February 6 and Friday, February 7 at 8pm, and opening is set for Saturday, February 8 at 8pm. The Recommendation will play a limited engagement through March 9 only.

Shining East Productions presents The Sun Shines East, based on a true story written by Corinne Chateau* about an adoptive mother's struggle to break through deep personal barriers and international politics to bring home her daughter. Pat Golden directs a cast of 5 including Karen Christie-Ward*, Tara Gadomski*, Mary Francina Golden*, Bristol Pomeroy, and Amy Staats*. Fourteen performances will be held at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theatre, 10 West 64th Street, in New York City from tonight, January 31-February 16, 2014.

Yale Repertory Theatre presents THE FAIRYTALE LIVES OF RUSSIAN GIRLS by Meg Miroshnik, directed by Rachel Chavkin, tonight, January 31-February 22 at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street). Opening Night is Thursday, February 6.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre announces the world premiere of The House that will not Stand, a historical comedic drama commissioned from award-winning poet-playwright and Oakland native Marcus Gardley. Sensuous, witty, heartbreaking, and uplifting - The House that will not Stand unearths a story about free women of color in 1836 New Orleans, where black Creole women entered into common-law marriages with affluent white men. When her wealthy lover mysteriously dies, Beartrice Albans' foundation of security hangs precariously by a thread. She is left to fend for her three unwed daughters in a world where freedom must be carefully negotiated. Told in a rich and lyrical river of words, this new play was developed through The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep's Center for the Creation and Development of New Work. It's helmed by Patricia McGregor, whose many credits include the celebrated production of Spunk at California Shakespeare Theater. The House that will not Stand begins previews on Berkeley Rep's intimate Thrust Stage today, January 31, opens on Wednesday, February 5 and runs through Sunday, March 16, 2014.

The Huntington Theatre Company announces that the 2014 Breaking Ground festival of new plays will be held today, January 30 - February 2 at the Huntington's home for new work, the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA.

Ars Nova kicks off 2014 with Game Play, this year's incarnation of Ars Nova's annual Play Group production. An evening of original short plays and live music inspired by classic board game titles, Game Play features Peter Benson, Marcia DeBonis, Dashiell Eaves, Brandon Gill, Ben Graney, Susan Heyward, Jessica Love and Carmen Zilles. This production plays 10 performances, today, January 29 - February 8.

Actors' Equity Association ('AEA' or Equity) and its Eastern Region Equal Employment Opportunity Committee, together with First Corinthian Baptist Church and Executive Producer and Artistic Producer Project1Voice present 'FOUR LITTLE GIRLS: BIRMINGHAM 1963,' a one night only staged reading event to be held on Monday, February 3rd at 7:30pm at First Corinthian Baptist Church (1912 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd., between West 115th & 116th Streets, Harlem NYC). This Black History Month event is free and open to the public (doors open at 6:45pm; ticketing and entry will be handled on-site, day of show, on a first-come, first-served basis) and will be sign-language-interpreted for theatregoers who are deaf or hard of hearing. A panel discussion will take place immediately following the reading.

The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle has announced its 2013 nominations and special awards for excellence in Los Angeles, Orange County and Ventura County theatre. The 45th Annual Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards ceremony will take place on Monday, March 17, 2014 at The Colony Theatre, located at 555 N. Third Street in Burbank.

54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents Patrick Page in 'Good to be Bad' tonight, January 28th at 9:30 pm.

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE presents the world premiere of THESE PAPER BULLETS!, a modish ripoff of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, adapted by Rolin Jones, with songs by Billie Joe Armstrong, and directed by Jackson Gay, March 14-April 5 at the University Theatre (222 York Street). Opening Night is Thursday, March 20.

SCR announced that it will produce Five Mile Lake by Rachel Bonds on the Julianne Argyros Stage. The new work is an intimate look at life in a small town and is the final world premiere work for the company's 50th Season. The show runs April 13-May 4 and is an anchor production for the 17th annual Pacific Playwrights Festival. It will be directed by Daniella Topol. Tickets are available online: www.scr.org.

Swine Palace, in association with The Study Group, is pleased to announce casting for the world premiere of Leigh Fondakowski's SPILL in March 2014.

Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA has announced the West Coast premiere of The Ugly One, a comedy by Marius von Mayenburg (English translation by Maja Zade), directed by Gates McFadden. Starring Robert Joy, Tony Pasqualini, Eve Gordon, and Peter Larney, The Ugly One will play one preview performance on February 14 and is set to open Saturday, February 15 with performances at 5pm and 8pm. The limited engagement will run through March 24.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre presents the world premiere of The House that will not Stand, a humorous and gripping historical drama commissioned from award- winning poet-playwright and Oakland native Marcus Gardley. Sensuous, witty, heartbreaking, and uplifting - The House that will not Stand unearths a story about free women of color in 1836 New Orleans, where black Creole women entered into common-law marriages with affluent white men. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast below!

The company met the press yesterday and BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge was there to chat with the whole gang about the upcoming production. Check out what they had to say below!

PHOTOGRAPH 51 is a bio-drama based on the life of Rosalind Franklin, a British biophysicist and crystallographer. Many think she should have been a Noble prize-recipient, but her standoffish personality, perfectionism, and some seemingly unethical actions by others, as well as the possibility of gender discrimination against her, got in the way.

The Hornets' Nest series of script-in-hand readings with professional actors and directors returns with three plays investigating the most difficult and controversial questions of today. Following each reading, audience members will have the opportunity to engage in open discussion with key figures from the Rochester community. Since its inception in 2007, the Hornets' Nest series of readings has become nationally recognized and lauded as one of the most innovative theatrical initiatives in the country.