Lucille Lortel News

Chance Theater will present the third show of its 16th Anniversary Season -- the groundbreaking 21st century musical, In The Heights. Written by Pulitzer Finalists Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegria Hudes, with direction by Chance Artistic Director Oanh Nguyen, choreography by resident artist Kelly Todd and music direction by Robyn Wallace. In The Heights will preview from July 3 through 10, regular performances will begin July 11 and continue through August 3 at Chance Theater at Bette Aitken theater arts Center.

freeFall Theatre's upcoming production of THE BURNT PART BOYS takes you out of St. Pete, Florida and deep into West Virginia's coal mines, following the very human experience of fourteen-year-old Pete, his brother Jake and their friends. As these daring young people journey into the coal mine known as "the burnt part", the same mine that took their fathers' lives, audiences are challenged to experience and perceive the streaks of light and the depths of the darkness that lie in each of us.

Undercover Productions LLC will present the Off-Broadway Premiere of Ethel Sings, by Joan Beber at Theatre Row's Beckett Theatre (410 West 42nd Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues), with Opening Night set for Friday June 6th. This limited engagement will continue through July 13th.

Oscar-winning FROZEN songwriting team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez are in development on their next project -- a musical titled UP HERE, with ROCKY's Alex Timbers on board to direct. The production is scheduled to make its World Premiere at La Jolla Playhouse in California during the theater's 2015-16 season, though no exact dates have been set.

Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Michael Ritchie has set the 11th season at the CTG/Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City.

The original cast recording for the new Broadway production of musical drama VIOLET starring Sutton Foster is now available to order on iTunes.

Michael Urie, currently starring in the national tour of the 2014 Lucille Lortel Award winning comedy BUYER AND CELLAR, recently sat down with Chicago's own 9-year-old theater critic, Ada Grey. Check out their interview below!

The producers of HEATHERS: THE MUSICAL, the new musical stage adaptation of Daniel Waters' iconic 1989 dark comedy film, welcome Dave Thomas Brown as JD and Kristolyn Lloyd as Heather Duke to the "in-crowd" on Monday, June 9, 2014.

MCC Theater welcomes Greta Gerwig, joined by Max Baker, Jason Butler Harner, Lucy Owen, Cara Seymour, and Scott Shepherd, in the American premiere of Penelope Skinner's celebrated play The Village Bike, the final production of MCC's 2013-14 Main Stage season. The Village Bike is directed by Sam Gold, who recently directed the much-raved new musical Fun Home and this season's The Realistic Jones on Broadway. The Village Bike is currently in previews at The Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC), with an official opening on June 10, 2014. Below, BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action!

The longest running comedy in New York, now in its second smash year, has announced the addition of a Dallas engagement to the first national tour of Buyer & Cellar, the critically acclaimed, award winning play about a (fictional) Los Angeles actor who takes a job working in the (very real) basement shopping arcade of Barbra Streisand's Malibu estate.

Steven Rattazzi steps into the role of legendary comic book artist Jack Kirby in King Kirby, a play by the husband-and-wife team of NYIT-award winning playwright Crystal Skillman and New York Times bestselling comics writer Fred Van Lente at the Comic Book Theater Festival at The Brick this June.

The New Group opened the New York premiere of Annapurna by Sharr White, directed by Bart DeLorenzo and featuring Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman, on April 21. The limited Off-Broadway engagement will officially end its run on June 1.

Tony Award winning playwright Enda Walsh will be represented once again at Rogue Machine Theatre when PENELOPE opens on June 14th at 8pm.

Undercover Productions LLC will present the Off-Broadway Premiere of Ethel Sings, by Joan Beber beginning performances at Theatre Row's Beckett Theatre (410 West 42nd Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues) tonight, May 31st, with Opening Night set for Friday June 6th. This limited engagement will continue through July 13th.

Irish Repertory Theatre presents THE SPECTACULAR SONGS OF LERNER AND LOEWE, this season's Benefit Gala production, on Monday, June 9th at 7 PM at Broadway's Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street).

The Shakespeare Theatre Company will present a special engagement of Buyer & Cellar. Written by Jonathan Tolins, directed by Stephen Brackett and starring Michael Urie, Buyer & Cellar was heralded by The New York Times as "a seriously funny and remarkably sustained slice of absurdist whimsy." Washington, D.C. marks the second stop of the production's national tour, where it will play at Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW), from June 20-29, 2014.

freeFall Theatre's upcoming production of THE BURNT PART BOYS takes you out of St. Pete, Florida and deep into West Virginia's coal mines, following the very human experience of fourteen-year-old Pete, his brother Jake and their friends. As these daring young people journey into the coal mine known as "the burnt part", the same mine that took their fathers' lives, audiences are challenged to experience and perceive the streaks of light and the depths of the darkness that lie in each of us. By turns magical, inspiring, raucous, and playful it is a coming-of-age tale in the finest vein of the genre that people from all walks of life can relate to.

Mercury Theater Chicago, 3745 N. Southport Avenue, recently announced the extension of its home-grown version of the hilarious Broadway musical Avenue Q through July 27, 2014 due to popular demand. Check out a new set of production photos below!

The Marsh presents the World Premiere of the newest solo show by award-winning actor/playwright Dan Hoyle, EACH AND EVERY THING, a search for connection in the digital age.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) has announced two productions for its upcoming 36th season: the first New York production in 23 years of Terrence McNally's acclaimed play, LIPS TOGETHER, TEETH APART, directed by Peter DuBois, and the world premiere of Neil LaBute's dark comedy, THE WAY WE GET BY.