Joe Mantello News

Justin Bartha, Jesse Eisenberg, and Katie Kreisler will headline the upcoming reading of Eisenberg's new play THE AMBASSADORS this Sunday, February 21st, at the Rattlestick Theatre. The play will be featured as part of the Evening Reading Series.

Aaron Louis (Producing Director, 3LD Art & Technology Center) in association with New Georges and The Essentials, will present the world premiere of THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL, written by Marielle Heller, adapted from the hit graphic novel of the same name by Phoebe Gloeckner, and directed by Sarah Cameron Sunde and Rachel Eckerling in a multi-media production. Performances will begin on Sunday, March 15 at 8:00 p.m. at 3LD Art & Technology Center, 80 Greenwich Street (just south of Rector Street). The official opening night will be Sunday, March 28 at 8:00 p.m. (Performances will run through Monday, April 12.)

Under the direction of Joe Mantello (Glengarry GLen Ross, Take Me Out), THE PRIDE features Hugh Dancy (Adam, Journey's End), Adam James (Last Chance Harvey), Andrea Riseborough (Happy Go Lucky) and Ben Whishaw (Bright Star, Brideshead Revisited). Ms. Riseborough and Mr. Whishaw are making their New York stage debuts.

MCC Theater (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) today announced that their all new production of Alexi Kaye Campbell's The Pride, directed by Joe Mantello (Glengarry Glen Ross, Take Me Out), will extend for an additional week.

Under the direction of Joe Mantello (Glengarry GLen Ross, Take Me Out), THE PRIDE features Hugh Dancy (Adam, Journey's End), Adam James (Last Chance Harvey), Andrea Riseborough (Happy Go Lucky) and Ben Whishaw (Bright Star, Brideshead Revisited). Ms. Riseborough and Mr. Whishaw are making their New York stage debuts.

Performances began last week at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) and continue through March 20, 2010. The show officially opened on Tuesday, February 16 at 7:00 p.m. and BroadwayWorld.com was there!

A day-of-performance lottery for a limited number of orchestra seats will be held daily for WICKED, which will be performing from Wednesday, February 17 through Sunday, March 7 at The Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center, in downtown Dayton.

The national tour of WICKED is set to play at Dayton's Victoria Theatre beginning February 17th and will run through March 7th. For tickets and more information, please visit Ticketmaster.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater continues its 15th anniversary season with the world premiere of Blind, by Craig Wright (The Pavilion, Lady). Directed by Lucie Tiberghein (The Pavilion, Geometry of Fire), performances begin Wednesday, February 17th, 2010. Opening night is Thursday, February 25th at 7pm. The show is scheduled to run through Sunday, March 21st, 2010.

While the Northern East Coast of the U.S. was hammered with blizzard-like conditions last week, Broadway vet Kevin Kern was busy with the launch of THE MUSIC OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER, the concert revue he co-stars in, which compiles many of the prolific composer's musical hits that are in turn interpreted by six talented, well-known performers of the Broadway stage. Luckily, he and the extraordinary cast will get the chance to thaw out a little bit when the show pays a visit to the Orange County Performing Arts Center for a limited, one-week engagement on February 16 through 21. Kern-whose theater credits include Broadway's Wicked, The Wedding Singer, and Les Miserables, as well as the pre-Broadway runs of 9 to 5: The Musical and Next to Normal-recently took some time in between performances to talk with BroadwayWorld/Costa Mesa to discuss the concert, as well as his early work in the original casts of Altar Boyz and 9 to 5 (in the latter, he divulges his early star-struck shyness towards a certain Ms. Parton). He also breaks the exclusive news (to us first!) about his upcoming involvement in a hit Broadway musical that's about to cross the pond over to London!

Tickets are currently available for all American Express customers for Roundabout's upcoming production of LIPS TOGETHER, TEETH APART. The presale began February 15th for all cardholders and will last through February 20th.

Roundabout Theatre Company will welcome back Tony Award® winner Brian Bedford in Oscar Wilde's comic play The Importance of Being Earnest.

Alley Theatre's world premiere of the new musical Wonderland will close on Sunday, February 14.

The New York Times profiles Hollywood producer Robert Evans today, who is the subject of an upcoming Broadway play penned by television writer Jon Robin Baitz, as BroadwayWorld previously reported. The story will surround Evans real life events. In the Times article, Evans discusses how he suffered a stroke and was originally paralyzed on his right side and unable to speak. After much work, Evans has been able to return to his role of successful Hollywood producer.

A day-of-performance lottery for a limited number of orchestra seats will be held daily for WICKED, which will be performing from Wednesday, February 17 through Sunday, March 7 at The Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center, in downtown Dayton.

Eden Espinosa, who has performed the role of Elphaba to critical acclaim on Broadway, San Francisco, and in Los Angeles, will return to San Francisco to star in the open-ended engagement of WICKED now playing at the Orpheum Theatre. Since it's opening in the Bay Area a year ago, WICKED has been seen by close to a million people. And the show continues to be a cultural phenomenon having just shattered its own record to become the highest grossing show in Broadway history.

Writer Jon Robin Baitz is currently in the works of authoring a new play about Hollywood film producer Robert Evans. Evans worked on such films as Rosemary's Baby, Love Story, The Godfather and Chinatown and was also well known for his much-publicized seven marriages. The play is expected to open during the 2010-2011 Broadway season.

The national tour of WICKED is set to play at Dayton's Victoria Theatre beginning February 17th and will run through March 7th. For tickets and more information, please visit Ticketmaster.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater will conclude its 15th Anniversary season with the world premiere of The Aliens, by Annie Baker (Circle Mirror Transformation, Body Awareness). Directed by Sam Gold (Circle Mirror Transformation, Rag and Bone), performances begin Wednesday, April 14th, 2010. Opening night is Thursday, April 22nd at 7pm. The show is scheduled to run through Sunday, May 23rd, 2010.

Whatsonstage.com is reporting that the award-winning off-Broadway Musical, A Man of o Importance created by the writers of Ragtime, will get West End treatment when The Union Theatre's celebrated fringe production transfers to the Arts Theatre next month. The production will run in a limited engagement from 9 February (preview) to 27 February 2010.