H. Clark News

When an already unstable cast of actors begins to suffer the slings and arrows of falling in love (as well as falling down stairs) the possibility of a successful performance plummets, but the likelihood of audience delight skyrockets. That's what audiences can expect when Nashville Repertory Theatre opens the second show of its 2016-17 season: Michael Frayn's Noises Off.

Created and performed by Amy Snowden, Casting Confessions from La to LA is an outrageous and comical insight into her formative years in a small town in Louisiana, her move to Hollywood to become a sitcom actress but getting chewed up and spit-out in Hollywood, and her unique secret ways of finally making money to survive and rise in the OC. Amy's wild ride is full of hilarious and terrifying stories of nightmare roommates, nowhere jobs, massage parlor encounters, public transportation, and see-through underwear!

This autumn, as the second work in Douglas Rintoul's inaugural season, The Queen's Theatre Hornchurch presents the first major revival of Bob Larbey's award-winning and heart-warming comedy, A Month of Sundays.

The Oakland Symphony and Music Director Michael Morgan open the 2016-2017 season with the return of charismatic baritone Hadleigh Adams singing Mahler's Ruckert Lieder and the debut of the award-winning Delphi Trio-violinist Liana Berube, cellist Michelle Kwon and pianist Jeffrey LaDeur-- performing Paul Juon's  Episodes Concertantes Friday, October 14, at 8 pm at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland.

After a national search, Virginia Stage Company is excited to announce the appointment of Tom Quaintance to the position of Producing Artistic Director. Quaintance will work with the Virginia Stage board and staff over the next few months and begin in full on December 1, 2016. Previously, Quaintance served as the Artistic Director of Cape Fear Regional Theatre, an Associate Artist with PlayMakers Repertory Company and Open Fist Theatre Company, and was the Founder and Artistic Director of FreightTrain Shakespeare in Los Angeles.

Boston Playwrights' Theatre (BPT) today announces the new plays that will comprise its 35th season. The line-up includes Memorial by Livian Yeh, Faithless by Andrew Joseph Clarke, The Atheist by Ronan Noone, The Honey Trap by Leo McGann, Franklin by Samantha Noble and Every Piece of Me by Mary Conroy.

This autumn, as the second work in Douglas Rintoul's inaugural season, The Queen's Theatre Hornchurch presents the first major revival of Bob Larbey's award-winning and heart-warming comedy, A Month of Sundays.

Bellevue Little Theatre will open the 48th season with Meredith Willson's classic musical  'The Music Man' on Today Sept. 16. This production will run for three week-ends, closing on Sunday Oct. 2. Showtimes are 7:30 PM Today and Saturday evenings and 2 PM on Sundays.  

This autumn, as the second work in Douglas Rintoul's inaugural season, The Queen's Theatre Hornchurch presents the first major revival of Bob Larbey's award-winning and heart-warming comedy, A Month of Sundays.

Gala Celebration rehearsals are in full swing here at Transcendence! We are gearing up for our end of season celebration and fundraiser. Transcendence Artist Casey Hebbel gives blog readers a sneak peek at how it's all going!!

The Oakland Symphony and Music Director Michael Morgan open the 2016-2017 season with the return of charismatic baritone Hadleigh Adams singing Mahler's Ruckert Lieder and the debut of the Delphi Trio performing Paul Juon's  Episodes Concertantes Friday, October 14, at 8 pm at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland. The program opens with Clark Suprynowicz's Red States, Blue States (2008) in recognition of the elections this November, and concludes with Elgar's In the South. 

Bellevue Little Theatre will open the 48th season with Meredith Willson's classic musical  'The Music Man' on Friday Sept. 16. This production will run for three week-ends, closing on Sunday Oct. 2. Showtimes are 7:30 PM Friday and Saturday evenings and 2 PM on Sundays.  

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces an open call for submissions for the 2017 Playwrights' Arena, a year-long program which invites a small group of up to five local theater makers to convene once per month with Arena Stage artistic staff to investigate their artistic process to develop their dramaturgical practice while creating new work.

On Friday, August 26 at 8:30 p.m., there will be an American Sign Language Interpretation of 'Dracula' produced by the award-winning Equity professional East Lynne Theater Company. Since the early 1990s, ELTC has offered regularly scheduled ASL performances, as well as ASL performances upon request. The theatrical ASL interpreters are Gina Lanza, who has performed many times for ELTC, and Amy Anderson, who teaches ASL at Ocean City High School. The process involves them seeing the production at least once, plus going over the script several times to figure out who will interpret which roles, and in many cases, developing signs unique to the production for unusual names and words. The ASL interpreters do not distract audience members who do not require this service.  

'We are excited to have the audience open its eyes to some sunshine. [Artistic Director] Curt Dale Clark and I were just saying this morning that this has been an intense season so far, and Fiddler on the Roof and Evita cannot let in much sun. But we stream that light in Mamma Mia, and we hope it will provide a chance to breathe in the joy of the Greek Isles. If we do it right, we will all feel an uplift.' Director/choreographer Mark Martino is waxing eloquent about his latest project and one which constitutes his Maine State Music Theatre debut: a new production of the 2001 Broadway smash it musical Mamma Mia, based on the songs of ABBA. Martino has what he calls 'a very short history' with the show, having mounted a production for the first time in June of this year at the Theatre Aspen. 'The two will be staged very differently,' he explains. 'Aspen is a 200-seat thrust stage, and here they have a 600-seat proscenium theatre. The Pickard Theater gives me an opportunity to expand the show. Our cast at MSMT is about one third larger than in Colorado - some twenty-seven actors - which is even a bit larger than the twenty-four in the original Broadway production. The production values are going to be large and lavish, and the cast has a huge amount of energy, so for me it is an opportunity to revisit the show and make different pictures and entirely different choreography.'

For those who didn't have the opportunity to meet the cast and crew of East Lynne Theater Company's "Dracula" at the after-show party at Pier House Restaurant on July 27, another chance is to be had on Friday, August 5 at an after-show Q&A. 

The Old Laundry Theatre, Bowness-on-Windermere, in the heart of the Lake District, announces its exciting and diverse Autumn season including GRIFF RHYS JONES' first solo comedy tour with his brand new show Jones And Smith. ALAN AYCKBOURN directs the first major revival of his classic comedy Henceforward. And, as part of Beatrix Potter's 150th anniversary year, The Old Laundry Theatre presents a new adaptation of Eric Pringle's insightful play Meeting Bea.

For those who didn't have the opportunity to meet the cast and crew of East Lynne Theater Company's "Dracula" at the after-show party at Pier House Restaurant on July 27, another chance is to be had on Friday, August 5 at an after-show Q&A. 

Cook County State's Attorney candidate Kim Foxx, Executive Director of the Cook County Justice Advisory Council Lanetta Haynes Turner, Chicago Sun-Times theatre critic Hedy Weiss, Juvenile Justice Initiative Executive Director Elizabeth Clarke and Mothers Against Wrongful Convictions CEO Veronica Williams will lead a series of post-show discussions following performances of the award-winning Direct from Death Row The Scottsboro Boys in its encore engagement at Raven Theatre this summer. In announcing the lineup today, Raven Theatre Company Producing Artistic Director Michael Menendian said 'we are so honored to welcome these guests who can share with our audiences their expert perspectives on contemporary justice issues, along with Hedy Weiss, who was a champion of the play and its importance when we first produced it last fall. While this play concerns a landmark civil rights case from the 1930s, recent events are leading us all to ask how we can complete the journey to a more just society. Ms. Foxx, Ms. Turner, Ms. Clarke and Ms. Williams, who are all on the front lines of this issue, are certain to provide insights on where we stand and where we have yet to go in order to achieve full justice for all.'

BWW speaks to Trick of the Light Theatre about their 2016 Edinburgh Fringe production The Bookbinder.