Ensemble Studio Theatre News

After a sold-out run in September, The Sister Rosettas are back with five more performances. A revival of the rock/pop-punk/cabaret music of world touring MING DYNASTY, last seen on City Stages in 2009 alongside Diana Ross, Ben Harper, and Al Green, now brings new front woman Diana Oh and bassist/songwriter Philippe Arman to the stage. The story of how this new collaboration was formed fuses old songs and new and is led by veterans Eric Miranda, Kole Smith and Matt Harrington.

Year of the Rooster by a 25-year-old Youngblood playwright Eric Dufault, directed by John Giampietro and featuring Denny Dale Bess, Delphi Harrington, Thomas Lyons, Bobby Moreno, and Megan Tusing playing characters both human and/or animal, will return to the Ensemble Studio Theatre, 549 West 52nd Street, Thursday, January 9, for a four-week run through February 2, Artistic Director William Carden announced.

Horse Trade Theater Group will present Less Than Rent Theatre's World Premiere of HOW LTR STOLE CHRISTMAS, a late-night smorgasbord of short plays, musical guests, and variety acts from all over the city curated by the LTR staff. The show will run Tuesdays, today, December 3rd, 10th, & 17th at The Kraine Theater (85 E 4th St. between 2nd Ave and Bowery) at 9pm.

Holiday cheer will abound at Cleveland Play House (CPH) with an all-new production of the beloved holiday classic, A Christmas Story running from tonight, Nov. 29th - Dec. 22nd in the Allen Theatre at PlayhouseSquare.

Finks by Joe Gilford, the award-nominated play about the blacklist travails of his parents, Jack Gilford and Madeline Gilford, that received much acclaim last season at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, will debut as both a public radio and streaming podcast hosted by onetime blacklisted actor Lee Grant and in print from Dramatists Play Service Thursday, December 12, at 6:00pm at The Drama Bookshop, 250 West 40th Street.

The Huntington Theatre Company announces the following special events in conjunction with its production of A.R. Gurney's The Cocktail Hour (now - December 15, 2013 at the Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre):

Manhattan Theatre Club presents the American premiere of Taking Care of Baby by Dennis Kelly and directed by Erica Schmidt. Joining previously announced cast members Reed Birney (Blasted, Our Leading Lady), Kristen Bush (Kin, The Common Pursuit), Tony nominee Amelia Campbell (A Streetcar Named Desire, Our Country's Good) and Margaret Colin (The Columnist, 'Gossip Girl'), are Francois Battiste (Magic/ Bird), Michael Crane (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson off-Broadway), Ethan Phillips (Golden Age) and Zach Shaffer ('Smash').

The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust honors playwrights Annie Baker and Rajiv Joseph at the Sixth Annual Steinberg Playwright 'Mimi' Awards tonight, Monday, November 18, 2013 at the Lincoln Center Theater in New York. The 'Mimi' Awards are presented biennially to honor the accomplishments of some of the most gifted up-and-coming American Playwrights and to recognize the promise they hold for the future of American theater.

Holiday cheer will abound at Cleveland Play House (CPH) with an all-new production of the beloved holiday classic, A Christmas Story running from Nov. 29th - Dec. 22nd in the Allen Theatre at PlayhouseSquare. In honor of the 30th anniversary of the unforgettable film, CPH enthusiastically breathes new life into this classic story about Ralphie and his ultimate Christmas wish. Having delighted audiences for 30 years on both the big and small screens, this incredible production is brought to vivid life on stage for Northeast Ohio audiences. Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased by calling (216) 241-6000 or online at www.clevelandplayhouse.com. CPH is pleased to have University Hospitals as the Presenting Sponsor of A Christmas Story, along with Benesch, Nordson and FirstMerit as Supporting Sponsors.

The Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA Programs proudly presents Will Eno's deeply moving and poetic comedy, Middletown, directed by Heidi Handelsman (Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Programs '14). A meditation on birth and death, Middletown examines the mystery of existence through the everyday lives and relationships of ordinary people. Performances run December 6 through December 15 in the Pell Chafee Performance Center, 87 Empire Street, Providence. General admission $12, and $6 for students and seniors. Tickets are on-sale now at the Trinity Rep box office, by phone (401) 351-4242, and online at www.trinityrep.com.

Court Theatre continues its 2013-2014 season with the revival of the OBIE Award-winning play An Iliad by Denis O'Hare and Lisa Peterson, directed by Artistic Director Charles Newell and starring Timothy Edward Kane. An Iliad will run tonight, November 13 - December 8, 2013 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Avenue.

MCC THEATER today announced that Steven Boyer, previously announced to reprise his celebrated, Obie Award-winning performance in MCC's upcoming Off-Broadway premiere of Robert Askins' Hand to God, will be joined in that production by Tony Award nominee Marc Kudisch as well asGeneva Carr, Michael Oberholtzer, and Sarah Stiles. Hand to God, which first appeared in New York to great acclaim at the Ensemble Studio Theatre (EST) in 2011, will be directed once again by Moritz von Stuelpnagel and begins at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) on February 20, 2014. An official opening night is set for March 10, 2014.

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein are delighted to announce the 38th Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville, running February 26-April 6, 2014. This year's Festival program will feature (in order of opening):

After a sold-out run in September, The Sister Rosettas are back with five more performances. A revival of the rock/pop-punk/cabaret music of world touring MING DYNASTY, last seen on City Stages in 2009 alongside Diana Ross, Ben Harper, and Al Green, now brings new front woman Diana Oh and bassist/songwriter Philippe Arman to the stage. The story of how this new collaboration was formed fuses old songs and new and is led by veterans Eric Miranda, Kole Smith and Matt Harrington.

Ego Actus and Scandinavian American Theater Company (SATC) will present the US Premiere of NORWAY PLAYS: DRAMA BEYOND IBSEN. The evening features two 50-minute one act plays by contemporary Norwegian playwrights, both of whom have won the prestigious Ibsen Award: THE RETURNING by Fredrik Brattberg (directed by Henning Hegland) and MORE by Maria Tryti Vennerod (directed by Joan Kane). Previews of this limited Off-Broadway engagement begin November 9 at Theater For The New City with opening is slated for November 13.

On Her Shoulders will present a staged reading of The Years Between by Daphne Du Maurier, directed by Mary McGinley and edited by Susan Jonas. The Play in Context, a special component contextualizing the script in its historical time and place, will be delivered by Dr. Jonas at the top of the evening. Doors open at 6:30pm for a 6:45pm curtain; tickets are free to the public. The performance is at the New School, Wollman Hall, 65 West 11th Street. R.S.V.P to OnHerShouldersReservations@gmail.com

Native Voices at the Autry continues its vital role as the country's only equity theatre company dedicated exclusively to developing the work of Native American Playwrights with its third annual Short Play Festival, featuring staged readings of six engaging short plays on the theme 'Legal Briefs: Lawmakers & Activists' written by veteran playwrights today, November 10, 1:30 p.m., at the Wells Fargo Theater at the Autry National Center in Los Angeles.

The Old Globe presents The Old Globe/University of San Diego Graduate Theatre Program presentation of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, running tonight, Nov. 9 - Nov. 17 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Opening night is tonight, Nov. 9 at 8:00 p.m.

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Greg Reiner, in association with Staci Levine, will present Tony Award winner Mandy Patinkin and acclaimed actor/performance artist Taylor Mac in THE LAST TWO PEOPLE ON EARTH: AN APOCALYPTIC VAUDEVILLE, a workshop presentation with direction and choreography by Tony Award winner Susan Stroman, and music direction by Paul Ford, for a strictly limited engagement from Saturday, December 14 thru Tuesday, December 31. Performances of THE LAST TWO PEOPLE ON EARTH: AN APOCALYPTIC VAUDEVILLE will be presented at the Abrons Arts Center (466 Grand Street, NYC).

In celebration of its fourth season, Sanguine Theatre Company will produce EXIT 27, a new work by award-winning playwright, Aleks Merilo and directed by Mark Karafin. Based on a true story, EXIT 27 combines the themes of rejection, survival, and redemption in exploration of the human experience. As the overwhelming winner of Sanguine's highly competitive playwriting competition, EXIT 27 brings a stirring perspective of raw human nature in its NYC premiere.