Goodman Theatre News

This just in! New York City Center's acclaimed Encores! Off-Center series, under the artistic direction of Jeanine Tesori, will return this summer for a second season of landmark Off-Broadway musicals. The season opens with Jonathan Larson's tick, tick… BOOM!, June 25 - 28, starring Lin-Manuel Miranda and Karen Olivo, directed by Oliver Butler, and continues with a one-night only performance of Randy Newman'sFaust: The Concert, with Randy Newman as the Devil, directed by Thomas Kail, on July 1. Pump Boys and Dinettes, withbook, music and lyrics by John Foley, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, John Schimmel and Jim Wann , directed by Lear deBessonet and choreographed by Danny Mefford, wraps up the season, running July 16 - 19. Chris Fenwick is the Encores! Off-Center music director.

Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd announces the cast and creative team for Alan Ayckbourn's science fiction comedy Communicating Doors. Eleven plays penned by Alan Ayckbourn have been produced by the Alley, including the American premiere of Henceforward, directed by Ayckbourn, in 1987 and House & Garden in 2002. Alan Ayckbourn has been inducted into the American Theatre's Hall of Fame, received the 2010 Critics' Circle Award for Services to the Arts, became the first British playwright to receive both Olivier and Tony Special Lifetime Achievement Awards and was knighted in 1997 for services to the theatre.

'In love as in politics, one partner must rule. One of them must be the hammer, the other the anvil.' Venus in Fur, Chicago native playwright David Ives' 'smart, sexy, sinister comedy' (Vogue), makes its premiere tonight, March 8, at Goodman Theatre, helmed by Joanie Schultz.

Previews begin tomorrow night, Saturday, March 8, for the return to Broadway of Tony Award-winner and two-time Academy Award-winner Denzel Washington, starring as Walter Lee Younger in Lorraine Hansberry's A RAISIN IN THE SUN. This new production begins previews nearly 55 years to the day that A RAISIN IN THE SUN had its Broadway premiere (March 11, 1959) at the same theatre, the Ethel Barrymore Theatre (243 West 47th Street). Scroll down to learn more about the cast!

Writers Theatre presents The Dance of Death by August Strindberg, in a new version by Conor McPherson and directed by Henry Wishcamper. The production runs April 1 - July 20, 2014 at 664 Vernon Avenue, Glencoe. The press openings are April 9 and 10, 2014 at 7:30pm.

Written in 1978, Deathtrap still holds the record for longest-running comedy thriller on Broadway. Sidney Bruhl is a playwright desperately in need of a hit. Just in time, a former student sends him the manuscript of his first play, a murder mystery called Deathtrap. Sidney smells a hit, but he's never been that fond of sharing credit. TIME Magazine said, 'If you care to assassinate yourself with laughter, try Deathtrap.'

The film, directed by Jon Favreau, is based on the Kipling classic, which follows an orphaned boy who was raised by wolves and other animals. The animals act as protectors for the boy from the evil tiger Shere Khan (Elba).

The August Wilson Monologue Competition, sponsored by The League of Chicago Theatres, Goodman Theatre, and the University of Illinois at Chicago, and organized in Chicago by Derrick Sanders, will hold the Chicago Finals on Monday, March 10, 2014 at 6:00pm at the Goodman Theatre, 170 North Dearborn St - the first theatre in the world to produce all ten plays in the Century Cycle, Wilson's decade-by-decade exploration of the 20th century African American experience.

Due to critical acclaim and popular demand, Playwrights Horizons has announced an extension of its New York premiere production of STAGE KISS, a new play by two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony Award nominee Sarah Ruhl (Dead Man's Cell Phone at PH; The Clean House, In the Next Room..., Eurydice), directed by Rebecca Taichman (Milk Like Sugar at PH; Marie Antoinette, Ms. Ruhl's Orlando, The Scene, Luck of the Irish).

Today, Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC), the nation's oldest AIDS service organization, announces the sensational news that its annual dinner gala will be hosted by the award-winning actress, singer and dancer, Chita Rivera, and held at Cipriani 42nd Street, on Wednesday, March 26, 2014. A revered Broadway legend, Ms. Rivera is not a stranger to GMHC. In 2004, she starred in GMHC's benefit concert, 'Showstoppers,' featuring 20 Broadway stars performing their signature numbers at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall.

Continuing its 26th Season, Lookingglass Theatre Company presents the World Premiere of In the Garden: A Darwinian Love Story, by Artistic Associate Sara Gmitter and directed by Jessica Thebus. In the Garden runs April 16 - June 15, 2014 at Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson. The Press Opening is Saturday, April 26, 2014 at 7:30 p.m..

Court Theatre continues its 2013-2014 season with the Chicago premiere of Water by the Spoonful written by Quiara Alegria Hudes, and directed by Henry Godinez. Water by the Spoonful will run tonight, March 6 - April 6, 2014 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Avenue. Press Opening is Saturday, March 15, 2014 at 8:00PM.

All the Way, the new play by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan, starring BREAKING BAD's Bryan Cranston, is currently in previews on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre. The production officially opens on Thursday, March 6, 2014 for a strictly limited engagement. The play is directed by Bill Rauch, Artistic Director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where All the Way began its theatrical life. Scroll down to learn more about the full cast of ALL THE WAY, plus watch interviews with the company below!

Broadway stars might boast the biggest fan-bases, but without their directors, the vehicle driving their talents could easily swerve off the tracks. Keeping the runaway train at bay are season's bold Broadway 'conductors'. Scroll down to learn more about this season's intrepid and imaginative leaders!

Steppenwolf Theatre Company Artistic Director Martha Lavey announced today the 2014/15 Subscription Season, including a series of premieres; one remaining title will be announced at a later date. The season begins in Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theatre with Conor McPherson's The Night Alive, directed by Henry Wishcamper. Up next, Joe Mantello directs the world premiere of Airline Highway by Lisa D'Amour. In the Upstairs Theatre, Robert O'Hara directs Marie Antoinette by David Adjmi. And in April 2015, ensemble member K. Todd Freeman directs The Herd by Rory Kinnear.

TheatreWorks, the nationally acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley, presents ONCE ON THIS ISLAND from the Tony Award-winning creators of Ragtime. A timeless legend filled with joy, heartache, and adventure, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, winner of the Oliver Award for Best New Musical, boasts a score pulsing with irresistible Caribbean beats by Tony Award-winner Stephen Flaherty, with book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. TheatreWorks Artistic Director Robert Kelley will direct this uplifting musical, which takes its story from a book by Rosa Guy, in turn inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's 'The Little Mermaid.' Choreographed by award-winning director, choreographer, and actor Gerry McIntyre, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND plays today, March 5-30, 2014 (press opening March 8) at TheatreWorks at the Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto.

Edward Seckerson - former presenter of BBC Radio 3's long-running musical theatre show Stage and Screen continues to host a series of in-depth encounters with the stars of musical theatre at London's Charing Cross Theatre.

Grammy, Oscar and Emmy award winning singer-songwriter Randy Newman has penned scores for films ranging from The Natural to Monsters Inc. This summer, Encores! Off-Center will present a rare opportunity to catch the man himself playing the devil in his darkly hilarious modern-day take on the Faust story. BroadwayWorld has confirmed that Newman's Faust is set to be featured in the 2014 Off-Center season for one night only on July 1. Additional casting has not yet been announced.

In celebration of their 30th Anniversary, Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, will present the legendary musical Les Miserables, previewing March 29, opening Tuesday, April 8 at 7:30 p.m. and running through June 8, 2014. Directed by multi-Jeff Award winner Rachel Rockwell (Ragtime, The Sound of Music, Sweeney Todd, and Oliver! at Drury Lane Theatre), the cast is led by Ivan Rutherford ('Jean Valjean' in over 2,000 performances of Les Miserables on Broadway, as well as in the 20th anniversary Broadway Revival and The National Tour of Les Miserables, and Titanic on Broadway); Jeff Award-winner Quentin Earl Darrington as 'Javert' (Ragtime on Broadway and at Drury Lane Theatre, Memphis: A New Musical on Broadway and The National Tours of The Lion King, The Color Purple, and Memphis: A New Musical); and Jennie Sophia as 'Fantine' (The National Tour of The Lincoln Center's South Pacific and Oliver! and The Sound of Music at Drury Lane Theatre).

On Monday, March 10, 2014, the League of Professional Theatre Women (LPTW), a not-for-profit organization committed to promoting visibility and increasing opportunities for women in the professional theatre, is pleased to recognize the talents of six outstanding women: Zoe Caldwell, Judith Dolan, Joanna Sherman, Sondra Gorney, Meiyin Wang and Katherine Kovner. The awards will be presented at the League's 2014 Awards Celebration & Big Mingle Reception to be held at 6:30 pm on Monday, March 10 at The Irene Diamond Stage (The Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street) featuring emcee Tamara Tunie.