Lucille Lortel News

MCC THEATER has announced complete casting for the New York premiere of Jennifer Haley's The Nether directed by Anne Kaufman. Ben Rosenfield, memorably of the final two seasons of "Boardwalk Empire," and rising talent Sophia Anne Caruso will take on the roles of Woodnut and Iris, respectively. As previously announced, The Nether will also star "Nurse Jackie" Emmy Award winner Merritt Wever, New York theater veteran Peter Friedman and Tony Award winner Frank Wood.

Amas Musical Theatre and The Amas Musical Theatre Lab will begin the New Year with staged readings for the New York premiere of A Taste of Chocolate, a new musical with book, music and lyrics by Timothy Ware, with additional lyrics and arrangements by Alvin Hough. Directed by Warren Adams, the readings will be held on Monday, January 26th at 2pm & 6pm and Tuesday, January 27th at 2pm at The National Opera Center of America: Audition Recital Hall (330 Seventh Avenue - between 28th & 29thStreets). For reservations, please email at boxoffice@amasmusical.org or call 212-563-2565.

Alysha Umphress, currently starring in the new Broadway revival of ON THE TOWN, and Tony Award-nominated composer and performer Jeff Blumenkrantz celebrate the release of their new album, 'I've Been Played: Alysha Umphress Swings Jeff Blumenkrantz.' The pair appeared in a release concert at Birdland last night.

Alysha Umphress, currently starring in the new Broadway revival of ON THE TOWN, and Tony Award-nominated composer and performer Jeff Blumenkrantz just celebrated their new album, I've Been Played: Alysha Umphress Swings Jeff Blumenkrantz with a concert at Birdland (315 W. 44th Street, New York, NY 10036). Check out photos from te special night below!

Producers Marissa Beringer and Sean Hudock of New York City-based production company The Wild Root Company announced today that new episodes of the company's brand new monthly audio series, featuring candid conversations with prominent theatre makers on making theatre, are now available for free streaming on the company's website ?www.WildRoot.org.

- Cygnet Theatre will continue its run of presenting Southern California premieres with Sons of the Prophet, the latest work by Stephen Karam (Speech and Debate). Premiering at New York's Roundabout Theatre in 2011, Karam was hailed as 'a major new voice in American Theater.' His brutally funny and explosive comedy was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize and has received multiple other awards including the 2012 Drama Critics Circle, Outer Critics Circle, Lucille Lortel and Hull-Warriner Awards for Best Play. The production runs January 15 - February 15 at Cygnet Theatre in Old Town. Opening Night for Media is Saturday, January 24, 8 pm.

THE ROAD THEATRE COMPANY and Taylor Gilbert, Founder/Artistic Director together with Sam Anderson, Artistic Director, have announced the second show of its 2014-2015 season, the Los Angeles Premiere of THE OTHER PLACE, written by Sharr White and directed by Andre Barron and starring Sam Anderson, Taylor Gilbert, Dirk Etchison and Danielle Stephens. THE OTHER PLACE will preview on Saturday, February 14 at 8pm; Sunday, February 15 at 2pm & Wednesday, February 18 at 8pm and will open on Friday, February 20 at 8pm and run through Saturday, April 11th at the Road Theatre Company's second home, the Road on Magnolia, located in The NoHo Senior Arts Colony, 10747 Magnolia Blvd. in North Hollywood.

Philadelphia Theatre Company's continues its 40th Anniversary season with the Tony Award-nominated play Mothers and Sons by Terrence McNally February 6-March 8. Directed by Wendy Goldberg, the cast features Hugh Kennedy, Emmy Award-winning actress Michael Learned, James Lloyd Reynolds, and Patrick Gibbons and Jacob D. Wilner in alternating performances.

The Best Musical Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning global sensation Once will play its final Broadway performance today, January 4, 2015. As of today, the musical will have played 1,167 performances and 22 previews.

Jamie Lloyd's production of Urinetown The Musical, which has been voted Best New Musical in the West End in the BroadwayWorld.com UK 2014 Awards, recently announced an early closing date for today, January 3, 2015 at the Apollo Theatre. The production was originally slated to run through January 10.

Long Wharf Theatre, led by Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein and Managing Director Joshua Borenstein, presents Forever, written and performed by Dael Orlandersmith, from January 2 through February 1, 2015 on Stage II. The press opening is Wednesday, January 7 at 7:30 pm.

The Best Musical Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning global sensation Once will play its final Broadway performance today, January 4, 2015. As of that date, the musical will have played 1,167 performances and 22 previews. Below, BroadwayWorld takes you back through the musical's start on Broadway!

?Now ready to unveil its newly remodeled space, the Moth Theatre Company is proud to announce its return with a new production of Proof by David Auburn, winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. Directed by John Markland, Proof will open on Thursday, January 15 and run through February 15 only.

Walnut Street Theatre's Independence Studio on 3 continues its season with David Mamet's comedy A Life in the Theatre. Philadelphia audiences will be the first to see this production before it becomes the fifth national tour of a Walnut Street Theatre production. A Life in the Theatre begins in Philadelphia with previews on January 13th, opens January 15th and runs through February 1st in the intimate Independence Studio on 3.

Arden Theatre Company continues its 27th season of great stories with Under the Skin, a world premiere by local playwright Michael Hollinger. Terrence J. Nolen directs. Under the Skin runs from January 15, 2015 - March 15, 2015, on the Arden's Arcadia Stage at 40 N. 2nd Street in Philadelphia. The development of Under the Skin was funded in part by the Independence Foundation New Theatre Works Initiative.

FORBIDDEN BROADWAY is coming to the Manatee Performing Arts Center! Here are the dates: FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: GREATEST HITS.

NextStop Theatre kicks off 2015 with a musical-comedy for the ages. Gutenberg! The Musical, the hilariously, knee slappingly funny musical-spoof about the dream of Bud and Doug and their next (cross your fingers) smash Broadway musical makes its way to the DMV! Bud and Doug's subject? Johann Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press, featuring all the drama, spectacle, and pizzazz that you would expect from hits like Les Miserables or The Lion King. The only catch is that they need someone to produce the show. So in the meantime, these two overly enthusiastic writers are ready to sing ALL the songs and play ALL the parts in this crass historical epic musical.

2015 is almost here, and that means that a slew of new shows are on their way to the Great White Way. Before the 2015 Awards season gets started, no less than nineteen new productions will take tike their first Broadway bows. Catch up on what's in store for the season ahead below!

The Old Globe today announced the full cast and creative team for Murder for Two, with book and music by Joe Kinosian and book and lyrics by Kellen Blair. Globe veteran Scott Schwartz (A Room with a View at the Globe, The Hunchback of Notre Dame at La Jolla Playhouse) returns to direct Blair and Kinosian's Off Broadway hit, a vaudevillian mystery musical with an energetic two-man cast. Murder for Two will run January 24 - March 1 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center.

More Between Heaven and Earth, Salon/Sanctuary's original site-specific music theater piece, directed and with a script by Erica Gould based on the letters of Thomas Jefferson and Maria Cosway, returns to Fraunces Tavern on January 18th. Fraunces Tavern, built in 1719, sets the stage for the production, which features music prepared from the original 18th century manuscripts, researched by Jessica Gould.