Lillian Hellman News

Scroll down for a first look at Henry Wishcamper's revival of The Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman, running May 2 - June 7 at Chicago's Goodman Theatre.

Five plays by Steven Carl McCasland will be presented in repertory during a month-long celebration of the young playwright. Each play focuses on a different character from history, with a cast of 25 portraying such historical figures as Laurette Taylor, Rose Kennedy, Tennessee Williams, Agatha Christie, Joseph Goebbels, Gertrude Stein, Lillian Hellman and John F. Kennedy. Performances begin May 7, 2015. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in rehearsal below!

HISTORY MATTERS/BACK TO THE FUTURE, a coalition of theatre professionals, announced the winner of the 1st annual Judith Barlow Prize is Selina Fillinger, a student at Northwestern University, who wrote a one-act play inspired by Sophie Treadwell's play Machinal. Ms. Fillinger will receive $2,500, a trip to New York City and a staged reading of her play on Sunday, May 3rd at 3 pm at Helen Mills Theater, 139 West 26th Street, NYC. Award-winning actress Kathleen Chalfant will direct the reading which is free and open to the public.

Broadway legend Patti LuPone was not afraid to call out a rude audience member during her recent performance at New York's 54 Below.

Greed and familial betrayal is at the darkly comic heart of The Little Foxes by Tony Award-winning playwright Lillian Hellman-'an expertly constructed, grippingly paced plot machine that pits good against evil and lets evil win' (The New York Times). Artistic Associate Henry Wishcamper directs the classic 1939 play about wealth's corrupting power-one of Hellman's most notable works, which was adapted into a 1941 film starring Bette Davis-centering on the Hubbard family's ruthless pursuit in the South's post-bellum economic slump. The Little Foxes appears May 2 - June 7 in the Albert Theatre (opening night is Monday, May 11). Tickets ($25-$81; subject to change) are on sale now at GoodmanTheatre.org/LittleFoxes, by phone at 312.443.3800 or at the box office (170 North Dearborn). The Goodman Theatre Women's Board is the Major Production Sponsor, Ernst & Young LLP and Interactive Health are the Corporate Sponsor Partners and Towers Watson is the Opening Night Sponsor for The Little Foxes.

Following critically acclaimed workshop presentations, McCasland's plays will return to NYC in a month-long festival celebrating the young playwright. Together with The Clarion Theatre, they'll present six plays beginning on May 6th, 2015, with a company of actors performing in repertory. All of the plays focus on historical figures, including Laurette Taylor, Billie Holiday, Tennessee Williams, Gertrude Stein, Lillian Hellman and more.

The Lilly Awards Foundation has announced additional casting for the play in the Inaugural (3)Plays from The Kilroys' List: A Reading Series featuring new works by female playwrights Larissa FastHorse, Meg Miroshnik and Laura Schellhardt, with female directors Lear deBessonet, Leigh Silverman and Liesl Tommy.

Artistic Director Robert Falls announces the wide range of stories and voices that comprise Goodman Theatre's upcoming 2015/2016 Season-a 'Big-Bold-Brilliant' line-up beginning September 2015.

According to The New York Post, a fourth theater owner may be joining Broadway's Shuberts, Nederlanders and Jujamcyn theaters.

Following critically acclaimed workshop presentations, Steven Carl McCasland's plays will return to NYC in a month-long festival celebrating the young playwright. Together with The Clarion Theatre, they'll present six plays beginning on May 6th, 2015, with a company of actors performing in repertory. All of the plays focus on historical figures, including Laurette Taylor, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Rosemary Kennedy, Tennessee Williams, Gertrude Stein, Lillian Hellman and more. Scroll down for a sneak peek at the company!

Oakland, CA, February 27, 2015 – The Oakland East Bay Symphony and Music Director Michael Morgan conclude their 2014-2015 season with “all the best in the best of all possible worlds” in the form of Leonard Bernstein's masterful and droll take on Voltaire's biting, farcical satire, Candide, which will be given one performance only Friday, May 15, at 8 pm at the Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway in Oakland. The Symphony and Maestro Morgan will be joined in the concert performance by the Oakland Symphony Chorus and soloists. For tickets and information, visit www.oebs.org .

?Popular television star Reg E. Cathey will lead the reading of William Youmans', grandnephew of acclaimed composer and producer Vincent Youmans, Off-Broadway bound production of WHAT WOMEN DO (and men too). This new play, directed by Don Stephenson, is a battle-of-the-sexes farce set in New York City. The reading takes place today and Friday, February 26th and 27th, 2015.

?Popular television star Reg E. Cathey will lead the reading of William Youmans', grandnephew of acclaimed composer and producer Vincent Youmans, Off-Broadway bound production of WHAT WOMEN DO (and men too). This new play, directed by Don Stephenson, is a battle-of-the-sexes farce set in New York City. The reading takes place on Thursday and Friday, February 26th and 27th, 2015.

Tony-Winning performer Patti LuPone takes the stage for an evening of Broadway favorites at Mayo Performing Arts Center on Saturday, March 21, 2015 at 8 pm. Tickets are $49-89.

All right, guys, it's confession time: there was a time, when I was but a young lass, that I wanted desperately to be Keira Knightley. She was in Pirates of the Caribbean (which I may or may not be able to quote from beginning to end), she was ridiculously talented, she wasn't that much older than me, and she was British (which, for some strange reason, I always wanted to be when I was young). Then, in 2006, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her role of Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice, and that made her even more awesome. As I got older, I began to recognize how good she actually was in all of those movies - a thought which ran through my mind once again when I saw her performance in The Imitation Game, for which she received her second Oscar nomination.

A cast of five will lead the reading of William Youmans', grandnephew of acclaimed composer and producer Vincent Youmans, Off-Broadway bound production of WHAT WOMEN DO (and men too). This new play, directed by Don Stephenson, is a battle-of-the-sexes farce set in New York City. The reading takes place on Thursday and Friday, February 26th and 27th, 2015.

The Lilly Awards Foundation presents the Inaugural (3)Plays from The Kilroys' List: A Reading Series featuring new works by female playwrights Larissa FastHorse, Meg Miroshnik and Laura Schellhardt, with female directors Lear deBessonet, Leigh Silverman and Liesl Tommy on three consecutive Mondays, March 9th, 16th and 23rd at 7:00 p.m. at The Duke on 42nd Street (229 W 42nd Street). Admission is free but reservations are strongly recommended and can be obtained at http://www.thelillyawards.org or https://www.artful.ly/the-lilly-awards-foundation.

It all started simply enough when Dick Cavett invited author/critic Mary McCarthy on his PBS talk show on January 25, 1980. What resulted from a completely unplanned remark was one of the biggest literary feuds in history. McCarthy, when asked by Cavett to mention questionable authors at the time, is quoted as responding about the dishonesty of Lillian Hellman 'Every word she writes is a lie, including 'and' and 'the'. Hellman just happened to be watching the TV program and proceeded to sue McCarthy, Cavett and the network for over a million dollars.

Patti LuPone's appearances at 54 Below have already achieved the status of legend. Experiencing the great diva in the intimate atmosphere of 54 Below is not only a never-to-be-forgotten experience but is one you will want to repeat again and again.