Fred Sullivan, Jr. News

2016 was a year for imagination and innovation on Rhode Island stages. Here's a look back on some of the productions that stole the spotlight in the Ocean State this season.

American Buffalo by Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet (Glengary Glen Ross) opens at The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (The Gamm) on November 17. Tyler Dobrowsky (The Rant, Morality Play) directs the play that put Mamet on the map as a major American playwright. Gamm Artistic Director Tony Estrella, Gamm Resident Director Fred Sullivan, Jr. and Gamm regular Marc Dante Mancini play three small time criminals working together to pull off a 'big time' heist and grab their share of the American Dream.

APPROPRIATE is a show that manages to be both genuinely funny, but also somewhat hard to watch.  At its core, it's about family, legacy and secrets, but it manages to become something much larger and more complicated and messy than that.  Author Branden Jacobs-Jenkins manages to punctuate moments of extreme discomfort with the perfect injection of levity to avoid this turning into something that is exclusively difficult to watch, and excellent performances from Trinity resident actors Phyllis Kay, Fred Sullivan Jr. and Angela Brazil keep the dark narrative compelling even when it's squirmingly uncomfortable.

The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (The Gamm) announces 6 additional performances of Arcadia, extended by popular demand through October 23. Tom Stoppard'sundisputed masterpiece, directed by Fred Sullivan, Jr., has been playing to full houses and critical praise since it opened in previews two weeks ago.

ARCADIA by Tom Stoppard, directed by Fred Sullivan, Jr., will play The Gamm this fall, running Sept. 15-Oct. 16, 2016.

ARCADIA by Tom Stoppard, directed by Fred Sullivan, Jr., will play The Gamm this fall, running Sept. 15-Oct. 16, 2016.

The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (The Gamm) closes Season 31 with The Winter's Tale, William Shakespeare's bittersweet story about jealousy, revenge and loss...and the redeeming power of love. One of the bard's final and seldom-staged plays, The Winter's Talefeatures prophecies, romance, drama, comedy, theatrical magic and one of the most astonishing endings in English literature. Fred Sullivan, Jr. (Macbeth,Hamlet) will play the wily con man Autolycus and direct Gamm Artistic Director Tony Estrella as the powerful King Leontes who falls into a jealous fit and loses everything that is important to him including his wife, Hermione (Karen Carpenter), and his best friend, King Polixenes (Jesse Hinson).

Trinity Repertory Company's Fred Sullivan, Jr., who is enjoying rave reviews in Trinity Rep's current production of A Flea in Her Ear, and Ocean State Theatre Company's Managing Producer, Joel Kipper, who recently made his directing debut with OSTC's The Last Five Years, will be starring opposite one another in OSTC's upcoming summer production of Richard Dresser's comedy Rounding Third.

The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (The Gamm) continues its 30th anniversary season with American playwright John Guare's dark comedy The House of Blue Leaves. This multi-award-winning piece of comic chaos by the author of Six Degrees of Separation is the story of a family so obsessed with fame and the American Dream that its members are incapable of connecting with each other. Fred Sullivan, Jr. directs a crazy cast of characters including a zoo-keeper who aspires to be a songwriter (Tom Gleadow) and his wife who won't leave the house (Jeanine Kane) in a production that is by turns laughable, thought-provoking and deeply moving.

The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (The Gamm) continues its 30th anniversary season with American playwright John Guare's dark comedy The House of Blue Leaves. This multi-award-winning piece of comic chaos by the author of Six Degrees of Separation is the story of a family so obsessed with fame and the American Dream that its members are incapable of connecting with each other. Fred Sullivan, Jr. directs a crazy cast of characters including a zoo-keeper who aspires to be a songwriter (Tom Gleadow) and his wife who won't leave the house (Jeanine Kane) in a production that is by turns laughable, thought-provoking and deeply moving.

Trinity Rep announces its annual presentation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, as adapted by Adrian Hall and Richard Cumming, directed by Taibi Magar, and featuring resident acting company member Fred Sullivan, Jr. as Scrooge. Now playing through December 31. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast onstage below!

Trinity Rep announces its annual presentation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, as adapted by Adrian Hall and Richard Cumming, directed by Taibi Magar, and featuring resident acting company member Fred Sullivan, Jr. as Scrooge. Performances run tonight, November 8 through December 31.

Trinity Rep announces its annual presentation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, as adapted by Adrian Hall and Richard Cumming, directed by Taibi Magar, and featuring resident acting company member Fred Sullivan, Jr. as Scrooge. Performances run November 8 through December 31. Tickets are on sale now and by phone at (401) 351-4242, online at www.trinityrep.com, or in person at the theater's box office at 201 Washington St. Adult ticket prices for A Christmas Carol start at $31. Children's tickets (age 2-14) start at $26. For information on group discounts for parties of 20 or more contact Group Sales at (401) 351-4242. A Christmas Carol is presented by Cardi's Furniture with supporting sponsor Amica Insurance.

The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (The Gamm) has announced four additional performances of Macbeth extended through April 19 by popular demand. William Shakespeare's classic tale about the lust for power, guilt and destiny, directed by Fred Sullivan, Jr., has been playing to full houses nightly and critical praise since it opened on March 6.

William Shakespeare's MACBETH, directed by Fred Sullivan, Jr., will run March 10-April 13 at The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre, 172 Exchange St., Pawtucket, RI. Tickets: $28 (previews), $38, $48 depending on day/time. Discounts for seniors, students and groups of 10 or more are available at 401-723-4266 or gammtheatre.org.

Trinity Repertory Company's Fred Sullivan, Jr., who recently won rave reviews for his portrayal as Scrooge in Trinity Rep's holiday production of A Christmas Carol, will be starring as Max Prince in Ocean State Theatre Company's upcoming production of Neil Simon's Laughter on the 23rd Floor. This semi-autobiographical comedy focuses on the hilarities that take place in the writer's room of a weekly comedy-variety show circa 1953, and the show's star, a Sid Caesar-like, Max Prince.

Trinity Repertory Company, the State Theater of Rhode Island is proud to announce that three new company members have been added to their resident acting company roster - Mia Ellis, Rebecca Gibel and Charlie Thurston. All three performers are Brown/Trinity Rep MFA acting program graduates and no strangers to the Trinity Rep stage, having appeared in multiple productions over the past several seasons. The three join Trinity Rep's current resident acting company members: Stephen Berenson, Angela Brazil, Timothy Crowe, Mauro Hantman, Janice Duclos, Brian McEleney, Phyllis Kay, Anne Scurria, Barbara Meek, Fred Sullivan, Jr., Stephen Thorne, Rachael Warren, and Joe Wilson, Jr.

From the author of Absurd Person Singular comes the theatrical event of the season: a pair of interlocking comedies that take place simultaneously, with one cast performing both shows in two different theaters at the same time. Directed by resident company member Brian McEleney, the shows open in previews on May 16 and then run simultaneously through June 30 in both the Chace and Dowling Theaters. Tickets are on sale now at the Trinity Rep box office, 201 Washington St.; by phone at(401) 351-4242; and online at www.trinityrep.com. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the production shots below.

Dallas Theater Center will conclude its four-year Shakespeare cycle with one of the playwright's greatest tragedies King Lear, a co-production with Trinity Repertory Company and directed by DTC artistic director Kevin Moriarty. King Lear opens for previews tonight, January 18 and runs through Sunday, February 18.