Laurel Casillo News

As the sixth annual New Works Now new play festival commences, Northern Stage is thrilled to announce its third Off-Broadway production, Only Yesterday by Hollywood writer Bob Stevens, and bring another world premiere to the main stage, Venus Rising by local playwright Marisa Smith.

Whether you're 7 or 107, Philip Grecian's adaptation of the 1983 cult classic film, A Christmas Story, will likely tickle your funny bone and get you reminiscing about holidays past. You'll be greeted at your seat by evocative Christmas carols and a stage flanked with decked-out trees and shiny, wrapped gifts as Ralphie's quest to obtain a 'legendary official Red Ryder 200-shot Carbine Action Range Model Air Rifle with a compass and this thing which tells time built right into the stock' begins.

Over its many years of dominance on cable, A Christmas Storyhas swelled into a holiday film institution that transcends generations. Now, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis is bringing the stage adaptation of the much-loved movie back to its Mainstage, running November 28 - December 23.

Mutual Philanthropy, written by Karen Rizzo and directed by Evan Bergman, is now making its East Coast Premiere at New Jersey Repertory Company through November 19. This distinctive show depicts how socioeconomic circumstances can divide people living in the same community.

Broadwayworld.com had the pleasure of interviewing playwright Karen Rizzo about her career and her upcoming show at NJ Rep, 'Mutual Philanthropy.'

New Jersey Repertory Company presents the East Coast premiere of Karen's Rizzo's MUTUAL PHILANTHROPY, a comedy that blows the neighborhood watch whistle on the power plays and prejudices seething secretly beneath the California cool of a community transitioning from working class to billionaire bohemian.

See 'Mama's Boy' now at George Street Playhouse through November 6th. This intriguing family drama is written by Rob Urbinati, directed by David Saint and features an excellent cast.

Marguerite Oswald was domineering, obsessive and desperate in her need to be loved by her younger son, Lee Harvey. A chilling glimpse into the Oswald household before and after that fateful November morning in Dallas.  This New York metro area premiere was called "a gripping family drama that illuminates history by adding a touch of humanity' by The Press Herald.

George Street Playhouse today announced the cast of Rob Urbinati's Mama's Boy, which runs October 18 through November 6 at the New Brunswick theatre. Betsy Aidem (Broadway's All the Way, GSP's God of Carnage) stars as Marguerite Oswald, the headstrong mother of Lee Harvey Oswald, played by Michael Goldsmith (TV's Doctor Who, Gotham). 

Laurel Casillo made her Broadway debut in Act One in 2014. Since then she has starred in two Good Theater productions:  The Rainmaker as Lizzie in the fall of 2014, and as Marina Oswald in the world premiere of Mama's Boy this past fall in 2015.  

Mad Love, written by award-winning local playwright Marisa Smith, runs live on stage at the new Barrette Center for the Arts in White River Junction, VT January 27 through February 13, 2016.

Votes are cast; polls are closed; and results have been tabulated! This was our biggest year yet! After a record number of voters in more than 70 regions worldwide, BroadwayWorld is very excited to announce the 2015 Maine winners! Thanks to all who voted, and huge congratulations to all the winners!

Happy Holidays! It's the last week to vote for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Maine Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 18. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31!

Time is running out to vote for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Maine Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 18. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31!

Voting is fully underway for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Maine Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 11. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

Voting has opened for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Maine Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of November 27th. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

The theatrical scene continued to be lively in Maine this year, with the Portland-area theatres presenting a number of stunning world premieres and the musical theatre scene gloriously vibrant. These are my personal choices of the best in Maine, grouped by theatre company and show: Because their repertoires are so vastly different, and because both companies produced outstanding seasons, my vote for highest honors goes to both Maine State Music Theatre and the Good Theater.

Voting has opened for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Maine Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of November 27th. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

ACT ONE, Lincoln Center Theater's Tony Award-nominated production from last year, written and directed by James Lapine from the autobiography by Moss Hart, will air on PBS's LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER tonight, November 13, 2015 from 9 to 11:30 p.m. ET.

In mounting the world premiere of Rob Urbinati's new play, Mama's Boy, Good Theater's Artistic Director Brian P. Allen has given Maine a great gift - one of the company's finest productions - some two hours of searing psychological drama, tautly directed and brought to life by a stellar cast. Urbinati's (Death by Design, Hazelwood) two-act play explores the complex, emotionally wrought family dynamics of Lee Harvey Oswald, his mother Marguerite, his wife Marina, and his brother Robert in the time just prior to and just after the Kennedy assassination. Though the play is rooted in history and evokes indelible memories in the communal consciousness, it is less about the tragic events of 1963 and more about the personal relationships of four damaged individuals desperately seeking some connection and meaning. At the epicenter of this dysfunctional family is Marguerite Oswald, thrice married single parent to three estranged sons, a fierce and tender woman who is sees herself as victim and survivor, a woman whose own emotional demands continue to cripple her children. Returning from his defection to Russia, Lee Harvey brings with him his bewildered young wife Marina and their first child, and Urbinati examines Lee Harvey's troubled year before November 22, 1963 as he struggles to support himself and his family, find an ideology, and take hold of his manhood by freeing himself from his mother. The playwright effectively probes Lee Harvey Oswald's increasing instability, as well as his conflicts with Marina and Marguerite. Though the play offers no answers to the many riddles of the JFK assassination, it does challenge the audience to view the characters as human beings and to realize that the dreadful events at Dealey Plaza claimed the Oswald family among its victims, as well as the beloved President, his family, and a grieving nation.