James Earl Jones News

Ford's Theatre Society 2013-2014 season continues with the quirky Tony-winning musical comedy 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,' directed by Peter Flynn, March 14 through May 17, 2014, at Ford's Theatre (511 Tenth Street NW, Washington, D.C.). The production features a local Washington cast of Helen Hayes Award nominees as six awkward adolescents and their proctors, all working through a daunting and hilarious championship quest.

Bucks County Playhouse (BCP) has announced the launch of a 2014 winter concert series. Making her debut at the Bucks County Playhouse is Tony and Emmy Award-winning Leslie Uggams, whose career has spanned Broadway, Hollywood and concert stages around the world. In AN EVENING WITH Leslie Uggams directed by Michael Bush, Leslie will perform a variety of her classic, signature songs all in one evening audiences won't forget. One performance only: tonight, February 22nd at 8pm.

Broadway legend, Barbara Cook, will be honored with The Julie Harris Award for Artistic Achievement at The Actors Fund's 18th Annual Tony Awards Viewing Party on June 8th, 2014.

The Smith Center announced today that single tickets for The National Tour of THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS, winner of the 2012 Tony Award for Best Musical Revival, will go on sale today, Feb. 21 at 10 a.m.

Today we are turning our attention to the increasingly ubiquitous presence of performers in their golden years reaching lofty new career heights and ingratiating themselves with new audiences all the while - most notably, Elaine Stritch, Christopher Plummer, Bruce Dern, June Squibb, Judi Dench, Angela Lansbury, Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones.

Based on DuBose Heyward's novel 'Porgy' and the play of the same name, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward, the Broadway revival of The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess is a stunning and stirring new staging with a magnificent 23-piece orchestra, including such legendary songs as 'Summertime,' 'It Ain't Necessarily So,' and 'I Got Plenty of Nothing.'

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame music legend Lloyd Price, who is developing a Broadway bio show, was honored with the Pioneer of the Arts Awards at the Riant Theatre's Strawberry One-Act Festival 25th Season Launch Party on February 9 at the Bronx Museum of the Arts.

The national tour of Green Day's AMERICAN IDIOT, the explosive Broadway hit, makes its Washington premiere tonight, February 18, and continues through the 23rd at National Theatre as part of the Broadway at the National subscription series.

Tickets for The National Tour of THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS, winner of the 2012 Tony Award for Best Musical Revival, are now on sale. Part of the BROADWAY PHILADELPHIA season, presented by the KimMel Center for the Performing Arts and The Shubert Organization, THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS arrives at the Academy of Music for a limited engagement beginning today, Feb. 18 - 23. The official press opening is tonight, Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m.

The Smith Center announced today that single tickets for The National Tour of THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS, winner of the 2012 Tony Award for Best Musical Revival, will go on sale Feb. 21 at 10 a.m.

Bucks County Playhouse (BCP) has announced the launch of a 2014 winter concert series, kicking off with the World Premiere of JUSTIN GUARINI LOVESICK, a new show from Justin Guarini and directed by Gordon Greenberg.

The Public Theater announced the line-up today for the 2014 free Shakespeare in the Park season, continuing a 52-year tradition of free theater in Central Park. Since 1962, over five million people have enjoyed more than 150 free productions of Shakespeare and other classical works and musicals at the Delacorte Theater. Conceived by founder Joe Papp as a way to make great theater accessible to all, The Public's free Shakespeare in the Park continues to be the bedrock of the Company's mission to increase access and engage the community. This summer, free Shakespeare in the Park will feature a comedy and a tragedy with Jack O'Brien directing MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING and Daniel Sullivan directing KING LEAR.

When Robert Duvall was inducted into the Actor's Hall Of Fame last Sunday, February 9th, 2014, he announced that he would be donating the $10,000 grant that accompanies that honor to his acting alma mater, The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City. Executive Director, Pamela Moller Kareman released a statement saying - 'We are thrilled that Mr. Duvall thinks so highly of the school. We're still going strong after 85 years and Mr. Duvall's generosity will help train the next generation of remarkable actors.'

Ebony Repertory Theatre (ERT - Founder/Producer Wren T. Brown) will present Phillip Hayes Dean's (Drama Desk-winner for The Sty of the Blind Pig) powerful and moving play PAUL ROBESON. Dean will also stage the ERT production, which will mark his Los Angeles directorial debut. Two-time Emmy Award-winner Keith David (Fox's new series Enlisted) will star in this one-man play accompanied by pianist/musical director Byron J. Smith (working with numerous artists including Wynton Marsalis, Barbra Streisand, Bebe Winnans). Performances will run March 12 - 30, 2014 with an official press opening on March 14 at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center (4718 West Washington Boulevard) in Los Angeles.

North Carolina Theatre (NCT), the region's premier producer of professional Broadway musicals, in association with Broadway Series South, is excited to announce that casting has begun for their February 2014 production of LES MISERABLES directed by Dave Clemmons which will play at Raleigh Memorial Auditorium in the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts. This will be the theatre's first time producing this timeless classic.

The Village Voice, the nation's first and largest alternative weekly newspaper, announced today that esteemed critic and longtime judge of the awards, Michael Feingold, will serve as Obie Chairman for the 59th Annual Village Voice OBIE Awards, to be presented Monday, May 19, at Webster Hall.

Stephen C. Byrd and Alia Jones-Harvey, Broadway's leading African American producers, will be honored with Pioneer of the Arts Awards at the Riant Theatre's Strawberry One-Act Festival 25th Season Launch Party on Sunday, February 9, a free, fun cultural day of the arts for adults and youngsters from 12noon to 9pm at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, 1040 Grand Concourse, between 165th & 166th Street in the Bronx.

Stephen C. Byrd and Alia Jones-Harvey, Broadway's leading African American producers, will be honored with Pioneer of the Arts Awards at the Riant Theatre's Strawberry One-Act Festival 25th Season Launch Party on Sunday, February 9, a free, fun cultural day of the arts for adults and youngsters from 12noon to 9:00pm at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, 1040 Grand Concourse, between 165th & 166th Street in the Bronx.