Laurence Olivier News

A stellar cast has been assembled for an invitation-only reading of Rich Orloff's award-winning comedy, Advanced Chemistry, at the National Arts Club on Monday, January 14th.

Gay Soper will take over from Sheila Reid, playing Helena, for the latter part of the National Tour of Maurice's Jubilee. Gay will join previously announced Olivier Award winning cast members Nichola McAuliffe (Katie) and Julian Glover (Maurice) playing at Bromley Churchill Theatre (26-30 March), Cambridge Arts Theatre (2-6 April) Theatre Royal, Windsor (8-13 April) and Oxford Playhouse (15-20 April).

Gay Soper will take over from Sheila Reid, playing Helena, for the latter part of the National Tour of Maurice's Jubilee.

Today. Michael Riedel adds to the story noting that Tony-winning set designer Bob Crowley has been added to the team to create a completely new physical production for the run.

Belarus Free Theatre makes its way to the United States in January, despite several police raids last month at underground performance spaces in the capital of Minsk. The raids came on the eve of the company bringing its newest political piece, Minsk, 2011: A Reply to Kathy Acker, to Chicago Shakespeare Theater January 30-February 3, 2013. To foster dialogue and encourage participation, all tickets for this six-performance limited engagement are $20. The piece, which explores the sexual brutality and oppression by the totalitarian regime in Belarus, is one of many award-winning productions by the company, celebrated for creating art based upon the unjustly persecuted people of Belarus.

From 5 February 2013, joining the previously announced Gavin Lee who will play Jerry Travers in the West End hit musical Top Hat are Broadway actress Kristen Beth Williams as Dale Tremont, Olivier award nominee Alex Gaumond as Alberto Beddini and Clive Hayward as Horace Hardwick. Vivien Parry continues as Madge Hardwick and Stephen Boswell as Horace's valet Bates.

From 5 February 2013, joining the previously announced Gavin Lee who will play Jerry Travers in the West End hit musical Top Hat are Broadway actress Kristen Beth Williams as Dale Tremont, Olivier award nominee Alex Gaumond as Alberto Beddini and Clive Hayward as Horace Hardwick. Vivien Parry continues as Madge Hardwick and Stephen Boswell as Horace's valet Bates.

Festival Stage of Winston-Salem continues its third season of professional theatre with a production of Moises Kaufman's new drama 33 Variations, presented at Hanesbrands Theatre (209 N. Spruce Street, Winston-Salem) from Feb. 1 to Feb. 24.

According to the BBC, stage and screen star John Barrowman was recently injured during a performance of Jack and the Beanstalk at the SECC Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow. Barrowman fell off of a live horse during the show, and was not seriously hurt.

Perseverance Theatre Artistic Associates Shona Strauser and Bostin Christopher team up for the first time on Betrayal by Harold Pinter. Strauser plays Emma and Christopher directs in this first ever production of Pinter at Perseverance. The show plays from Jan. 11-Feb. 3, 2013 on the Perseverance Theatre Mainstage. Tickets are available now through Hearthside Books, at the JACC, online at perseverancetheatre.org or by calling 907-463-TIXS (8497). There are two Pay-As-You-Can Performances on Sunday, January 13 and Wednesday, January 17 at 7:30 p.m. and one Pay-As-You-Can Preview on Wednesday, January 9 at 7:30 p.m.

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Greg Reiner, today announced complete casting for the company's upcoming new production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Tony Award-winning musical PASSION, to be directed by John Doyle (director of the acclaimed Broadway revivals of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd and Company). Joining previously announced Melissa Errico (Clara), Judy Kuhn (Fosca) and Ryan Silverman (Giorgio) in the production are Stephen Bogardus (Colonel Ricci), Jeffry Denman (Lieutenant Barri), Jason Michael Evans (Private Augenti), Amy Justman (understudy), Ken Krugman (Lieutenant Torasso), Orville Mendoza (Sergeant Lombardi), Tom Nelis (Doctor Tambourri) and Will Reynolds (Major Rizzoli/Ludovic). PASSION is slated to begin performances on February 8, 2013 at CSC (136 East 13th Street), with an official press opening scheduled for Thursday, February 28, playing a limited engagement through Sunday, April 7. Tickets will go on sale to the public beginning at Noon on Thursday, January 3.

Arts Centre Melbourne is offering audiences the chance to ring in the New Year with Joey, everyone's favourite War Horse. A strictly limited number of tickets to War Horse and the Official War Horse Opening Night Party on New Year's Eve are now on sale, offering fans a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend the Australian premiere of the production. They will then then rub shoulders (or manes) with War Horse cast members, including the life-sized horse puppet Joey, and wine and dine with some of Australia's entertainment royalty at the exclusive after-party.

Shirley Valentine is a witty and insightful story of a middle-aged working class Liverpool housewife who is transformed by a surprise holiday in the Greek islands. A Laurence Olivier Award winner for Best New Comedy in 1988 and Tony Award nominee for Best Play, the one-woman play stars Footlight Award winner Heather Hawkins. Shirley Valentine runs from January 23 - February 16, 2013 at ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery in West Seattle.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.), presents Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie in February 2013, to be directed by Tony Award-winning director John Tiffany. Multiple Tony and Emmy Award winner Cherry Jones returns to the A.R.T. to play Amanda Wingfield, and will be joined by Zachary Quinto as Tom, Celia Keenan-Bolger as Laura, and Brian J. Smith as the Gentleman Caller. The Tony Award-winning design team includes set and costumes by Bob Crowley, lighting by Natasha Katz, and sound by Clive Goodwin. Artistic Director Diane Paulus introduces the show in the video below. Click to watch!

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced that it will present 15 films in their original 70mm glory, featuring a mix of beloved classics and rarely screened gems, all at the Walter Reade Theater - one of the last remaining cinemas in the country equipped to screen 70mm prints.

SISTER ACT in France has sold over 200,000 tickets since their opening night in September.

The Royal Shakespeare Company and The Dodgers today announced the casting of the principal roles and the ensemble in the eagerly anticipated Broadway-bound musical MATILDA THE MUSICAL. They are (alphabetically): Karen Aldridge (Mrs. Phelps), Gabriel Ebert (Mr. Wormwood), Lesli Margherita (Mrs. Wormwood), and Lauren Ward (Miss Honey).

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) joins the international celebration of the bicentennial of Charles Dickens' birth, Dickens 2012, with a World's Stage presentation of the Olivier Award-nominated production Dickens' Women, featuring actress Miriam Margolyes, tonight, December 18-22, 2012 in the theater Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare.