Joel Colodner News

Merrimack Repertory Theatre presents the world premiere of Steven Drukman's GOING TO SEE THE KID, an homage to an icon of "Red Sox Nation." Two Boston Globe reporters journey to Florida to interview an aging and ailing Ted Williams, but learn more about working as a team from each other. It's a feel good, family friendly story that taps into the holiday spirit.

This holiday season, Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT) presents the world premiere of the one-of-a-kind Christmas Red Sox play "Going to See the Kid." This latest offering from playwright Steven Drukman centers around two Boston Globe reporters on a journey to meet legendary ballplayer Ted Williams in 2001. With great humor and affection, "Going to See the Kid" takes a fresh look at a beloved Boston icon-and is filled with  holiday spirit to boot. MRT Director of New Play Development Alexander Greenfield directs.

'All the world's a stage'. These famous lines penned by William Shakespeare help tell the story of who Shakespeare himself was in Jonathan Bate's play Being Shakespeare, opening on October 7 at West End Studio Theater in Portsmouth, NH. Presented by Seven Stages Shakespeare Company (7SSC) and Artists' Collaborative Theatre Of New England, this production is the American premiere of the new play by the esteemed Shakespearean scholar Jonathan Bate.

'All the world's a stage'. These famous lines penned by William Shakespeare help tell the story of who Shakespeare himself was in Jonathan Bate's play Being Shakespeare, opening on October 7 at West End Studio Theater in Portsmouth, NH. Presented by Seven Stages Shakespeare Company (7SSC) and Artists' Collaborative Theatre Of New England, this production is the American premiere of the new play by the esteemed Shakespearean scholar Jonathan Bate.

New Repertory Theatre presents the Boston area premiere of the final component of Richard Nelson's four-play cycle. Weylin Symes, the producing artistic director of Stoneham Theatre, returns to the helm with the stellar six-member cast of Joel Colodner, Laura Latreille, Karen MacDonald, Paul Melendy, Bill Mootos, and Sarah Newhouse. The actors are the strength of the production, providing a master class on working as an ensemble. REGULAR SINGING is a feel good drama, but, at two hours, less would be more.

New Repertory Theatre closes its season with Mark St. Germain's FREUD'S LAST SESSION, an imagined meeting between Dr. Sigmund Freud and scholar/author C.S. Lewis. The pair skillfully debate the question of God's existence as England gears up for war with Nazi Germany. Jim Petosa deftly directs Joel Colodner and Shelley Bolman as the two academics in this cerebral play.

New Repertory Theatre announces FREUD'S LAST SESSION by Mark St. Germain, tonight, April 30, through May 22, 2016 in the Charles Mosesian Theater at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown, MA.

As the inaugural season of Merrimack Repertory Theatre's Patriot Program approaches its end, artistic director Sean Daniels has announced the addition of 14 new theatre artists to the company's network of collaborators. The new class of Patriots includes a mix of local and national artists who can now count MRT as one of their theatrical homes.

New Repertory Theatre announces FREUD'S LAST SESSION by Mark St. Germain, April 30-May 22, 2016 in the Charles Mosesian Theater at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown, MA.

Featuring seven productions, New Rep's 2016-2017 season includes Regular Singing, the fourth and final play in Richard Nelson's Apple Family series, presented in collaboration with Stoneham Theatre; Good, CP Taylor's historical, political drama; Fiddler on the Roof, a revival of the Tony award- winning musical, featuring Jeremiah Kissel as Tevye and directed by original Broadway cast member Austin Pendleton; Thurgood, a one-man play featuring Johnny Lee Davenport as Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall; Brecht on Brecht, a play with music based on the collective works of Bertolt Brecht; Golda's Balcony, a one-woman play featuring Bobbie Steinbach as Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir; and The Gift Horse, a sharp comedy by nationally-acclaimed local playwright Lydia R. Diamond in a Boston-area premiere.

The Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) today announced the nominees for the 20th Annual IRNE Awards, which honors the best of the previous year's actors, directors, choreographers, designers and companies across the full spectrum of large, mid-size and fringe theater companies.

Stoneham Theatre stages the third installment in Richard Nelson's four-play series with the director, design team, and cast intact from the earlier entries. They are a cohesive, well-oiled team, but while SORRY gets deeper into the personalities of the characters, it fails to deliver the political goods that we would expect from its setting on Election Day, 2012. Of course, no fiction could match the histrionics of the real life 2016 election-year campaign.

Stoneham Theatre continues the journey from last season's That Hopey Changey Thing and Sweet and Sad (which was performed at Gloucester Stage), to SORRY, the third of Richard Nelson's The Apple Family Plays, directed by Weylin Symes. Performances run from tonight, February 25, through March 13, 2016. Press Opening isSaturday, February 27, 2016 at 3:00pm.

Stoneham Theatre continues the journey from last season's That Hopey Changey Thing and Sweet and Sad (which was performed at Gloucester Stage), to SORRY, the third of Richard Nelson's The Apple Family Plays, directed by Weylin Symes. Performances run from February 25 - March 13, 2016. Press Opening isSaturday, February 27, 2016 at 3:00pm.

In a departure from traditional seasonal fare, two local theater companies are bringing us back to the simpler days of yesteryear, staging live radio productions of Christmas shows set in the 1940s. Stoneham Theatre offers the frothy, musical bagatelle CHRISTMAS ON THE AIR while Merrimack Repertory Theatre presents an adaptation of the holiday film classic, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY. Replete with evocative sound effects and on-air commercial messages, both plays invite audience participation for applause and a range of emotional reactions, to replicate a live studio broadcast.

Due to unprecedented demand, Merrimack Repertory Theatre has added a performance of 'It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play' to its schedule. The added performance will be on Sunday, December 20 at 7:00 pm. The production begins performances tonight. This is the

Following its hit productions of "The Lion," and "I and You," Merrimack Repertory Theatre prepares to mount "It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play." The charming adaptation by Joe Landry presents the story of the classic film as a 1940's radio drama. George Bailey's timeless tale of renewal comes to life with five actors gathered around microphones to voice more than 40 characters and create sound effects live onstage, with live "studio" audience response an integral part of the broadcast.

Gloucester Stage proudly presents a one-night only benefit performance of A.R. Gurney's funny and touching modern classic Love Letters starring Gloucester Stage favorites: Academy Award nominee and Gloucester resident  Lindsay Crouse, and star of 2015's Sweet and Sad Joel Colodner on November 1 at 267 East Main Street, Gloucester, MA.

Gloucester Stage opens its 36th season with the second play of Richard Nelson's four-part American epic collectively known as THE APPLE FAMILY PLAYS. Collaborating with Stoneham Theatre, each company will produce two of the plays between this year and next under the direction of Stoneham's Producing Artistic Director Weylin Symes, with the same design team and outstanding cast of six actors on board for the entire project.