Jeffrey Richards News

Over consecutive days this week, the 26-member Broadway cast of HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, has been announced by Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The Public Theater. The cast will begin rehearsals this morning at the Union Square Theater. The final HAIR cast members to be confirmed are Sasha Allen (Dionne, White Boys Trio), Caissie Levy (Sheila), Megan Lawrence (Mother), Bryce Ryness (Woof) and Will Swenson (Berger).

Broadway's most talked about new musical and the biggest Tony Award-winner in years is coming to Cleveland. Spring Awakening, the 8-time Tony Award? winning Broadway musical, will open at PlayhouseSquare's PalaceTheatre and play for 16 performances, March 3-15. Spring Awakening is part of the KeyBank Broadway Series at PlayhouseSquare. Spring Awakening swept the 2007 Tony Awards? winning eight out of its eleven nominations, including Best Musical, Best Director (Michael Mayer), Best Book (Steven Sater), Best Choreography (Bill T. Jones), Best Orchestrations (Duncan Sheik), Best Lighting Design (Kevin Adams), Best Featured Actor (John Gallagher Jr.).

Over consecutive days this week, the 26-member Broadway cast of HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, will be announced by Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The Public Theater. The next HAIR cast members to be confirmed are Steel Burkhardt (Electric Blues Quartet, Tribe), Allison Case (Crissy), Andrew Kober (Margaret Mead, Dad, Tribe), Darius Nichols (Hud) and Kacie Sheik (Jeanie, Tribe), all of whom are reprising their roles from Central Park last summer.

Film and television star Will Ferrell's upcoming Broadway debut in his new one-man show 'You're Welcome America. A Final Night with George W Bush' will officially open on Thursday, February 5th, 2009. Previews began on January 20th. The show is directed by Adam McKay, Ferrell's longtime collaborator, and director of the comedy classics Anchorman, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and this summer's box office hit Step Brothers. Will Ferrell's upcoming new one-man show 'You're Welcome America A Final Night with George W Bush' tickets are now on-sale to the general public.

Over consecutive days this week, the 26-member Broadway cast of HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, will be announced by Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The Public Theater. The latest HAIR cast members to be confirmed are Jackie Burns (Black Boys Trio, Tribe), Kaitlin Kiyan (Black Boys Trio, Tribe), Nicole Lewis (White Boys Trio, Tribe), Megan Reinking (Black Boys Trio, Tribe) and Saycon Sengbloh (Abraham Lincoln, White Boys Trio, Tribe), all of whom are reprising their roles from Central Park last summer.

Desire Under the Elms at the Goodman Theater just opened last night, Monday January 26th, 2009, but the New York Times is reporting plans for a Broadway mounting are already being worked out. The Times' Arts Beat column has revealed that producer Jeffrey Richards announced today, Tuesday January 27th that he was hoping to transfer a major new production to New York - a revival of the Eugene O'Neill classic 'Desire Under the Elms' - despite the current grip of fearful economics of the Rialto. The show has been extended at the Goodman and will now play through March 1. Goodman Theatre Artistic Director Robert Falls and renowned actor Brian Dennehy bring their artistic partnership to new heights with Eugene O'Neill's haunting drama, Desire Under the Elms-marking their fifth collaboration on O'Neill's work over two decades. Falls' cast includes stage and screen stars Carla Gugino (Entourage, Spy Kids, Sin City) Pablo Schreiber (Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Awake and Sing!), Boris McGiver (The Wire) and Daniel Stewart Sherman (Broadway's Cyrano de Bergerac). The centerpiece production of Goodman Theatre's two-month 'A Global Exploration: Eugene O'Neill in the 21st Century,' Desire Under the Elms appears January 17 - March 1 in the Goodman's 856-seat Albert Ivar Theatre. Tickets are $25 - 82; a full Exploration calendar, including dates, times and ticket prices, appears at the end of the release. Allstate is the Corporate Sponsor Partner of Desire Under the Elms and The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation is the Sponsor Partner. UBS is the Lead Corporate Sponsor for 'A Global Exploration: Eugene O'Neill in the 21st Century' and The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is the Sponsor Partner. Motorola Foundation is the Corporate Sponsor Partner. American Airlines is the Exclusive Airline of Goodman Theatre.

Over consecutive days this week, the 26-member Broadway cast of HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, will be announced by Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The Public Theater. Today's announcement confirms HAIR cast members: Brandon Pearson (Tribe), Paris Remillard (Tribe), Maya Sharpe (Tribe), Theo Stockman (Hubert, Tribe) and Tommar Wilson (Tribe), all of whom were in the Tribe in Central Park last summer and most of whom are making their Broadway debuts with this production.

Over consecutive days this week (beginning today), the 26-member Broadway cast of HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, will be announced by Oskar Eustis, Artistic Directorof The Public Theater. The first HAIR cast members to be confirmed are Lauren Elder (Tribe), Allison Guinn (Tribe), Anthony Hollock (Tribe), John Moauro (Tribe) and Ato Blankson-Wood (Tribe), all of whom were in the Tribe in Central Park last summer and will be making their Broadway debuts.

The producers of Blithe Spirit are looking for a real-life psychic or medium to work closely with the cast of the upcoming Broadway show to guarantee that each performance is every bit as genuine as possible. Auditions were held on Thursday, January 22, 2009 at Sardi's (234 West 44th Street), across the street from The Shubert Theatre, where Blithe Spirit will be beginning performances on Thursday, February 26, 2009. The official opening of the show is on Sunday, March 15, 2009. The producers are seeking real-life mediums or actors who are also mediums to prepare a two-minute audition to conjure the spirit of Noel Coward or to display any psychic abilities. This psychic or medium chosen will receive full credit as the show's official consultant in the show's Playbill. Psychics and mediums came from all around the globe in the search for the best fit for Blithe Spirit. Among those who auditioned were a psychic sexologist, a psychic who has been featured in Time Out New York as one of the best in the city, a medium who has worked closely with the FBI to help solve murder cases, and many others that have experience conjuring deceased performers and politicians.

Broadway In Chicago is thrilled to announce the Chicago engagement of August: Osage County, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play that tells the bitingly funny and sensationally entertaining tale of the Weston family of Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Academy Award-winning actress Estelle Parsons will star as the family matriarch, Violet Weston. August: Osage County comes to Chicago's Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre for a limited two-week engagement February 2 - 14, 2010. Written by 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winner Tracy Letts (Superior Donuts, Man From Nebraska, Killer Joe, Bug), this grand and gripping new play tells the story of the Westons, a large extended clan that comes together at their rural Oklahoma homestead after the alcoholic patriarch disappears. Forced to confront unspoken truths and astonishing secrets, the family must also contend with matriarch Violet, a pill-popping, deeply unsettled woman at the center of the storm. Directed by 2008 Tony Award-winner Anna D. Shapiro, August: Osage County is a rare theatrical event: a large-scale work filled with 13 unforgettable characters, a powerful tragicomedy told with unflinching honesty and the unforgettable breakthrough of a major American playwright. August: Osage County premiered and was produced at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago in 2007. 'Steppenwolf is delighted that August: Osage County has a new life in Chicago,' comments Steppenwolf Artistic Director Martha Lavey. 'Steppenwolf audiences were the first to see this exciting play written by our ensemble member Tracy Letts, under the direction of fellow ensemble member Anna Shapiro, and we're thrilled that it will be playing in Chicago again after its successful runs on Broadway and at the National Theatre of London,' Lavey said.

OBERON THEATRE ENSEMBLE is pleased to announce their series AMERICAN RAPTURE, which includes Hello Out There by William Saroyan and world premiere plays by Alex Dinelaris (nominated Lucile Lortel/Drama Desks), directed by Alex Dinelaris. AMERICAN RAPTURE plays a three-week limited engagement at the Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row (410 W 42nd St). Performances begin Saturday, February 14th and continue through Sunday, March, 1st. An evening of short plays, some humorous, some tragic, explore the unique mixture of loneliness and hope, which make up the American Experience. Playwright/director Alex Dinelaris, who was nominated for a Lucille Lortel (Best Musical) and two Drama Desk Awards (Book & Lyrics) for his work on the off-Broadway hit, ZANNA DON?T!, weaves his way through modern relationships, religious hypocrisy, love, loss and the endless cycle of violence that threatens to swallow our society whole. The evening culminates with William Saroyan?s Hello Out There, the powerful tale of two outcasts who find love at the most unlikely of times, in the most unlikely of places. AMERICAN RAPTURE will be presented in conjunction with William Shakespeare?s Much Ado About Nothing, as part of Oberon Theatre Ensemble?s Winter Rep 09. The production features scenic design by Kathryn Veillette and lighting design by Jessica Hinkle. Jenna Lazar is the stage manager. Plays by WILLIAM SAROYAN & ALEX DINELARIS

August: Osage County, the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play that tells the bitingly funny and sensationally entertaining tale of the Weston family of Pawhuska, Oklahoma, starring Academy Award winner Estelle Parsons in the role of the family matriarch, Violet, will launch its national tour, in Denver, CO on July 24th, 2009. Following two weeks at Denver's Ellie Caukins Opera House (7/24-8/8), the show will play San Francisco's Curran Theatre from August 11 - September 6, 2009. Subsequent engagements will be announced shortly. Ms. Parsons is currently appearing in the show on Broadway where The New York Times recently raved, 'Estelle Parsons gives a superb performance...sends chills down your spine. It may prove to be a crowning moment in an illustrious career.' Ms. Parsons joined the company in June, 2008. Estelle Parsons first foray into the business began when she was hired by 'The Today Show,' first as a production assistant, then staff writer, which eventually led her to become the first female television network political news reporter. Estelle began acting and appeared in her first stage performance on Broadway in Happy Hunting. Since then, Estelle has gone on to either star in or direct over 25 productions. Most notably, she has been nominated for the Tony Award for her performances in The Seven Descents of Myrtle, And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little, Miss Margarida's Way and Mornings at Seven.

Broadway producers Jeffrey Richards announced in an official statement on Friday that, 'The producers of SPEED THE PLOW have officially filed a grievance with Actors' Equity re: Jeremy Piven's departure. A date for the arbitration is to be determined.' Piven countered with his own response stating, 'The claims made by the producers of Speed-the-Plow are absurd and outrageous. Mr. Piven's serious medical condition has been well documented by multiple physicians. He withdrew from the play due to medical necessity on the advice of his doctors, after he was hospitalized and warned by his physicians that enforced rest was necessary in order to avoid serious medical problems, including a heart attack.' There is now rumors on the street intimating that the grievance was actually filed a week earlier than first reported but was kept quiet as SPEED producers didn't want any more negative press for the hit show. Sources also reveal that Piven's exit from the Broadway drama has given Hollywood producers pause regarding the Emmy winning actor. That being said up until the SPEED-THE-PLOW scandal he was sought after by industry executives and was celebrated by his peers in relation to his work in television and film.

SPEED-THE-PLOW producer Jeffrey Richards is not taking Piven's 'fishy' pleas regarding his departure from the show sitting down. Richards announced in a statement that, 'The producers of SPEED THE PLOW have officially filed a grievance with Actors' Equity re: Jeremy Piven's departure. A date for the arbitration is to be determined.' Jeremy Piven defended his sudden and shocking exit from SPEED-THE-PLOW in an exclusive interview on 'Good Morning America' yesterday morning. Piven told GMA host Diane Sawyer was 'brought to my knees' by his condition and said that on doctor's orders he 'couldn't do it.' 'You talk about 'the show must go on,' this is in my DNA. To have the rap be on me that I walked out on this thing. ... This was the greatest moment of my life,' he revealed to Sawyer. To watch the entire video visit the official ABC GMA site by going here.

It was announced today that Marin Ireland, Steven Pasquale, Piper Perabo and Thomas Sadoski will comprise the four-person cast of this season's production of Neil LaBute's new play, reasons to be pretty, under the direction of Terry Kinney. Perabo and Sadoski appeared in this summer's smash Off Broadway world premiere for MCC Theater, with Ireland and Pasquale slated to join the cast for the Broadway production. Preview performances begin Friday, March 13, 2009 at the Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street) with an official opening night scheduled for Thursday, April 2, 2009. Tickets are on sale now through www.telecharge.com. reasons to be pretty confronts America's obsession with physical beauty headlong. In Neil LaBute's new play, Greg's (Sadoski) tight-knit social circle is thrown into turmoil when his off-handed remarks about a female co-worker's pretty face (and his girlfriend's lack thereof) get back to said girlfriend (Ireland). But that's just the beginning.

The producers of the upcoming Broadway production of Neil LaBute's reasons to be pretty held a casting call for real people with real bodies (all shapes and sizes) to be models who will be photographed for the play's advertising campaign (no professional models, please). The open audition was conducted by casting directors Bernard Telsey and Will Cantler on Thursday, January 8th at the casting offices of Telsey & Co. (311 West 43rd St., 10th Fl).

Broadway's most talked about new musical and the biggest Tony Award?-winner in years is coming to the Fabulous Fox Theatre in St. Louis. Spring Awakening, the 8-time Tony Award? winning Broadway musical, will play a two-week engagement from February 10-22, 2009. Curtain times for the U.S. Bank Broadway Series presentation are Tuesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 & 8 p.m.; Sunday, February 15 at 2 & 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, February 22 at 2 p.m. There is also a weekday matinee on Thursday, February 19 at 1 p.m.

Tickets went on sale this past Sunday for the Broadway production of 'reasons to be pretty' by Neil LaBute, directed by Terry Kinney. Online and phone transactions can be made via www.telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200. Preview performances begin Friday, March 13, at the Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street) with an official opening night scheduled for Thursday, April 2nd.

The New York Times presented a starry line up of guests for the Eighth Annual Arts & Leisure Weekend, Jan. 8 to 11. The Times's signature event is a four-day international celebration of the arts with a wide range of activities, from interviews between Times journalists and celebrated guests from the arts, film, music, media and politics, to special offers at cultural institutions around the world. All TimesTalk events are held at TheTimesCenter, 242 West 41st Street. BWW was there as the HAIR family met the press.

Will Ferrell revealed that people should 'expect the unexpected' from his upcoming one-man Broadway show and HBO special about President George W. Bush, 'You're Welcome America. A Final Night with George W. Bush' reports The New York Times.