Lucille Lortel News

Producer Kevin McCollum announced today that the new American play, Hand to God, will open on Broadway on April 7, 2015 at the Booth Theatre (222 West 45th Street), marking the Broadway debut of playwright Robert Askins.

Off-Broadway's award-winning Irish Repertory Theatre has announced the cast for this season's annual holiday offering. Tony Award winner Alice Ripley will lead the cast of the New York premiere of A CHRISTMAS MEMORY, a musical based on the classic Truman Capote short story.

'Mad Men' star Vincent Kartheiser and Broadway's Larry Pine (CASA VALENTINA) play Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler, respectively, in BILLY & RAY, Mike Bencivenga's new play -- directed by the legendary director/writer/producer Garry Marshall -- being given its NY premiere this fall at the Vineyard Theatre (108 E. 15 St.), with an official opening tonight, October 20, 2014.

ONCE, winner of eight Tony Awards including Best Musical and winner of the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, will play at the Saenger Theatre for a limited engagement beginning March 17 - 22. Presented by the New Orleans Theatre Association, ONCE is a part of the East Jefferson General Hospital Broadway in New Orleans 2014 - 2015 season.

SoLuna Studio will produce the musical CARRIE: THE MUSICAL as a part their professional mainstage season, with performances running today, October 17th - November 2nd.

Award-winning comedian, author, and filmmaker Mike Birbiglia returns to the stage with more painfully awkward stories in a show about jokes, and how they can get you in trouble. Join Birbiglia as he he gets arrested in New Jersey, screamed at by a famous director, heckled by Statler and Waldorf, and attacked by zombie rodents.

New Jersey Repertory Company, located at 179 Broadway in Long Branch, will present the World Premiere of Angels and Ministers of Grace by Elaine Smith on October 23 through November 23, 2014. A poignant and compelling story of a close-knit, yet eccentric family's struggle to overcome life's ups and downs, Angels and Ministers of Grace captures the struggles that confront families today throughout the heartland and urban centers of America, and reveals the forces that threaten to destroy the American dream.

Happy Birthday Susan Stroman! Winner of the Tony award for both direction and choreography of the original Broadway production of The Producers, Stroman's Broadway work includes The Scottsboro Boys, Contact, Crazy for You, Show Boat, Oklahoma!, Young Frankenstein, The Frogs, The Music Man, Thou Shalt Not, Steel Pier, Big, Picnic. A five-time Tony Award winner, Stroman's work has been honored with Olivier, Drama Desk, Outer Critics, Lucille Lortel, George Abbott and Astaire awards.

Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman's Pulitzer Prize-winning play YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU opened on September 28, 2014, at the Longacre Theatre (220 West 48th Street). The production is directed by six-time Tony Award-nominee and Drama Desk Award winner Scott Ellis (The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Twelve Angry Men, 1776). Scroll down to learn more about the full cast and watch interviews with the company below!

Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC) will present its first indoor production as Theatre Company in Residence at Babson College, Samuel Beckett's classic Happy Days featuring Brooke Adams* (Lend Me A Tenor, CSC's The Last Will) and Tony Shalhoub* (Act One, Monk) November 18 - 23 at the Carling-Sorenson Theater at Babson College.

This week's featured composer is Brad Alexander, whose children's musical Lilly's Big Day opens at The Kaye Playhouse on October 18th! Brad adapted the popular children's story by Kevin Henkes with director Kevin Del Aguila as part of Theatreworks USA's musical revue Fly Guy & Other Stories. Theatreworks USA is America's largest and most prolific professional not-for-profit theatre for young and family audiences, with an unparalleled roster of distinguished alumni. For tickets to Lilly's Big Day, and other shows in Fly Guy and Other Stories, visit http://www.theatreworksusa.org/show_detail.cfm?show=1585

Primary Stages has announced that their annual Gala will take place Monday, November 3, 2014 at 583 Park Avenue. The event will celebrate the company's 30th anniversary and honor Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies and award-winning producer, Julian Schlossberg.

Atlantic Theater Company presents the first production of its 2014-2015 season - the world premiere new musical FOUND, directed by Lee Overtree, featuring a book by Tony Award nominee Hunter Bell ([title of show]) and Lee Overtree and original music and lyrics by Eli Bolin.

Chicago's Eclipse Theatre Company, the Midwest's only theatre company to focus on a single playwright each season, will feature the works of award-winning American playwright Terrence McNally for their 2015 Season. Eclipse will explore the range of McNally's output with three full productions, plus readings and public events about the playwright.

Blessed Unrest proudly presents the World Premiere of LYING, adapted by Matt Opatrny from the metaphorical memoir by Lauren Slater, directed and choreographed by Jessica Burr. LYING runs from October 9 - November 3, 2014 in a limited engagement at The Interart Theatre, located at 500 West 52 Street (at the corner of 10th Avenue) in New York City. Previews begin October 9 for an October 11 opening.

REDCAT, CalArts Downtown Center for Contemporary Arts, is pleased to present the return of the provocative and inventive New York theater ensemble Elevator Repair Service (ERS), with 5 PERFORMANCES ONLY, November 6-9, 2014, of Arguendo, a verbatim staging of the 1991 Supreme Court case Barnes v. Glen Theatre, where a group of exotic dancers used the First Amendment to challenge a ban on public nudity.

The Old Globe invites your participation and coverage as it begins presenting shows through an exciting new producing platform, Globe for All. This free-of-charge tour of a professional production of Shakespeare will allow the theatre to serve more communities throughout San Diego by collaborating with a diverse range of local organizations. Old Globe Artistic Director Barry Edelstein directs the first production, Shakespeare's fascinating romance All's Well That Ends Well. He has cast local professional actors, including recent graduates of the Old Globe/University of San Diego Graduate Theatre Program. The first Globe for All free Shakespeare tour will begin October 28 and will culminate in three low-cost performances on November 7 to 9 in the Globe's Hattox Hall, part of the Karen and Donald Cohn Education Center in the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center.

Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC) will present its first indoor production as ?Theatre Company in Residence at Babson College, Samuel Beckett's classic Happy Days featuring Brooke Adams* (Lend Me A Tenor, CSC's The Last Will) and Tony Shalhoub* (Act One, Monk) November 18 - 23 at the Carling-Sorenson Theater at Babson College.

Round House Theatre continues its 2014/15 season with the area premiere of Fetch Clay, Make Man by Will Power. Directed by Derrick Sanders ('The Raisin Cycle' at CenterStage), Fetch Clay, Make Man is based on the true story of the improbable friendship that formed between Muhammad Ali and Stepin Fetchit. A co-production with Marin Theatre Company, Fetch Clay, Make Man runs at Round House Theatre from today, October 10 thru November 2, 2014. Opening night is Monday, October 13, 2014.