Ethan Van Slyke News

Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith and Executive Producer Edgar Dobie announce the 2019/20 lineup for the company's 70th season. The season reflects Arena Stage's commitment to championing diverse voices. Arena is committed to leading the way in gender equity and racial diversity by reflecting those values both on and off the stage. This season over half of our playwrights and directors are represented as women and people of color. The 70th anniversary also celebrates Arena's vision to produce new work with three world premieres, including the seventh Power Play, a decade-long initiative focused on stories of politics and power from 1776 to present day. As part of Arena's mission to serve artists on a national, regional and local scale, three exciting collaborations will take place with the Dallas Theater Center, Oregon Shakespeare Festival and American Conservatory Theater. 

Certain shows are practically foolproof bets for audiences. A Midsummer Night's Dream, for example, is such an exquisitely crafted play on the page that a good time is all but guaranteed. Singin' in the Rain, the stage musical based on the 1952 film directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, is one of those guarantees. But NextStop Theatre Company's new production, their 2018-19 season closer, is not complacent to simply let the natural charms of this show lure in its audience. They've built a showcase for a dynamic ensemble of on and offstage talent, and the work put into every single moment is palpable and dazzlingly joyful.

BroadwayWorld has a full list of the Helen Hayes Awards winners updating LIVE below! Named for actor Helen Hayes - a Washington native and legendary First Lady of the American Theatre - the Helen Hayes Awards celebrates excellence in professional theatre throughout the Washington region and has become a hallmark recognized by theatre makers and theatre lovers far beyond Washington D.C.

Arena Stage announces full casting for Lillian Hellman's Watch on the Rhine, winner of the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play. Four-time Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner Marsha Mason, known for her performances in the films Cinderella Liberty, The Goodbye Girl, Chapter Two and Only When I Laugh, stars as Fanny Farrelly under esteemed director Jackie Maxwell, former artistic director of Canada's Shaw Festival. Set in Washington, D.C. on the brink of U.S. involvement in World War II, Hellman's suspenseful drama was hailed by the Chicago Tribune as "dramatically gripping and genuinely moving." Watch on the Rhine runs February 3-March 5, 2017 in the Fichandler Stage.

The 2017 Helen Hayes Award nominations were announced tonight. A line-up of leading theatre artists announced nominations in 47 categories of artistic excellence. Award recipients will be announced at the Helen Hayes Awards gala event to be held at the Lincoln Theatre on Monday, May 15 with an after-party hosted at Washington's legendary 9:30 Club.

Arena Stage presents Lillian Hellman's Watch on the Rhine, winner of the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play.

Arena Stage's upcoming production Watch on the Rhine hosted a meet & greet on the first day of rehearsal today, January 3. BroadwayWorld has a peek at the cast and creative team below! Watch on the Rhine by Lillian Hellman runs February 3-March 5, 2017 at Arena Stage. It is directed by Jackie Maxwell and stars four-time Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner Marsha Mason.

Arena Stage announces full casting for Lillian Hellman's Watch on the Rhine, winner of the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play.

Change takes many forms in CAROLINE, OR CHANGE: dramatic historical change, personal change, pocket change. The word itself is used frequently in Tony Kushner's Tony-nominated musical, which takes place in 1963 amidst the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement, and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Matt Conner directs Creative Cauldron's production, an apt choice given the piece's enduring thematic significance and a phenomenal turn by Iyona Blake as the unflappable Caroline Thibodeaux.

Creative Cauldron presents the award-winning musical Caroline, or Change, with book and lyrics by Tony Kushner (Pulitzer Prize, Angels in America), score by Jeanine Tesori (Tony Award, Fun Home), and directed by Creative Cauldron Artistic Associate Matt Conner. Caroline, or Change was nominated for six Tony Awards in 2004 and won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical in 2007. Tesori's Drama Desk Award-Winning score combines spiritual music with blues, Motown, classical and Jewish klezmer music. The production will run from May 5th through May 29th, 2016 at ArtSpace Falls Church. Press Night is May 7th, 2016 at 8 PM.

Molly Smith directs her 30th production as Artistic Director of Arena Stage with a gritty and relevant take on the Tony Award-winning musical OLIVER!, blending the chaotic worlds of 19th-century Victorian London with 2015 London. OLIVER! runs now through January 3, 2016 in the Fichandler Stage at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. BroadwayWorld has photos from the opening night festivities below!

Molly Smith directs her 30th production as Artistic Director of Arena Stage with a gritty and relevant take on the Tony Award-winning musical OLIVER!, blending the chaotic worlds of 19th-century Victorian London with 2015 London. Smith's new in-the-round staging infuses a modern edge to the classic musical about an innocent orphan thrown into the dark world of double-dealing thieves and conmen, highlighting the disparity between classes and dangerous life on London's streets today. Featuring a remarkable score including 'You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two,' 'Consider Yourself,' 'Where is Love?' and 'Food, Glorious Food,' OLIVER! runs tonight, October 30, 201, through January 3, 2016 in the Fichandler Stage at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Scroll down for a peek at the cast in costume below!

Molly Smith directs her 30th production as Artistic Director of Arena Stage with a gritty and relevant take on the Tony Award-winning musical OLIVER!, blending the chaotic worlds of 19th-century Victorian London with 2015 London. Smith's new in-the-round staging infuses a modern edge to the classic musical about an innocent orphan thrown into the dark world of double-dealing thieves and conmen, highlighting the disparity between classes and dangerous life on London's streets today. Featuring a remarkable score including 'You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two,' 'Consider Yourself,' 'Where is Love?' and 'Food, Glorious Food,' OLIVER! runs October 30, 2015-January 3, 2016 in the Fichandler Stage at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Scroll down for a peek at the cast in costume below!

Consider yourself invited to the theatrical event of the holiday season. Charles Dickens' unforgettable characters burst to life in the Tony Award-winning musical, Oliver! Artistic Director Molly Smith (Fiddler on the Roof) blends the chaotic worlds of Victorian London with 2015 London to infuse a modern edge to the classic story about an innocent orphan living amongst double-dealing thieves and conmen. Bursting with jubilant songs, including 'You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two,' 'Consider Yourself,' 'Where is Love?' and the scrumptious 'Food, Glorious Food,' Oliver! serves up a musical feast for the eyes and ears that will have every theater-lover calling out for 'More!'

Molly Smith directs her 30th production as Artistic Director of Arena Stage with a gritty and relevant take on the Tony Award-winning musical OLIVER!, blending the chaotic worlds of 19th-century Victorian London with 2015 London. Featuring a remarkable score including 'You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two,' 'Consider Yourself,' 'Where is Love?' and 'Food, Glorious Food,' OLIVER! runs October 30, 2015-January 3, 2016 in the Fichandler Stage at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the company in rehearsal below!

Molly Smith directs her 30th production as Artistic Director of Arena Stage with a gritty and relevant take on the Tony Award-winning musical Oliver!, blending the chaotic worlds of 19th-century Victorian London with 2015 London. Smith's new in-the-round staging infuses a modern edge to the classic musical about an innocent orphan thrown into the dark world of double-dealing thieves and conmen, highlighting the disparity between classes and dangerous life on London's streets today. Featuring a remarkable score including 'You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two,' 'Consider Yourself,' 'Where is Love?' and 'Food, Glorious Food,' Oliver! runs October 30, 2015-January 3, 2016 in the Fichandler Stage at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater.

A number of lifelong dreams will come true this Friday night as the Reston Players open the Tony-award winning Les Miserables.