Lucille Lortel News

City Theatre closes its 39th season with the world premiere of Hope and Gravity, a new play by Michael Hollinger featuring dynamic, interconnected stories. Directed by Tracy Brigden, Hope and Gravity runs on City Theatre's Mainstage from May 3-25, 2014, with an Opening Night performance on Friday, May 9 at 8pm.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) announced today that single tickets are now on sale for Public Studio's two inaugural plays, THE URBAN RETREAT and MANAHATTA. The two plays will be presented as pared-down productions and run in repertory from Thursday, May 15 to Sunday, May 25 in The Public's Shiva Theater.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center announced today its two new musicals selected for development at the 36th National Music Theater Conference: The War Dept. and The White City.

April 10 - Tonight the Tony and Grammy Award-winning Best Musical ONCE, will play its 860th performance, surpassing the record held by Spring Awakening.

? Four premiere productions by Elinor Cook, Harry Melling, Dan LeFranc and Nick Payne.

Westport Country Playhouse will host a free-of-charge workshop for area educators, 'Immigration, Marginalization, and the Perception of Identity: A Professional Development Workshop Inspired by the Play, 'Intimate Apparel,' on Thursday, April 24, 3:30 to 7:30 p.m., in conjunction with the organization Facing History and Ourselves. 'Intimate Apparel,' written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, will be produced by the Playhouse in the fall.

Ignite Theatre presents '35 MM A Musical Exhibition' April 11 through May 4 at the Aurora Fox Theatre, 9900 East Colfax Avenue in Aurora. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays and Monday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m.; Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $27 Adult, $19 Student, $24 Group (6+). Call 720-362-2697 or online at www.ignitetheatre.com

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) has announced that its 2014/15 season will include the U.S. premiere of Scenes from a Marriage written by Ingmar Bergman, adapted by Emily Mann and directed by Ivo van Hove; the New York premiere of The Invisible Hand, written by Ayad Akhtar and directed by Ken Rus Schmoll; and the New York premiere of Forever, writtenand performed by Dael Orlandersmith and directed by Neel Keller. In the coming weeks NYTW will announce an additional production that will round out the season.

The 2014 award will be presented to Jane Greenwood, one of Broadway's preeminent costume designers.

Despite some fine contributions, Martha Clarke's mounting lacks sexual spark and rebellious edge.

ONCE, winner of eight Tony Awards including Best Musical and winner of the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, will play the Fabulous Fox Theatre for a limited engagement from today, April 8 - 20, 2014.

MCC THEATER has announced that indie film star Greta Gerwig will now lead the cast of 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 will be directed by Sam Gold, who recently directed the much-raved new musical Fun Home. It will premiere at The Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) beginning May 22, 2014 with an official opening on June 10, 2014.

The OBIE, Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk Award-winning Peccadillo Theater Company, in association with La Femme Theatre Productions, will present the New York City premiere of the original version of William Inge's A Loss of Roses beginning May 7th at Theatre at St. Clement's, 423 West 46th Street, NYC, and continuing through June 7th, 2014. The play opens officially on May 12th at 7 PM.

92Y presents an evening with the cast and creative team behind the best-reviewed show of the season, A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder. Robert L. Freedman (book/lyrics) and Steven Lutvak (music/lyrics) discuss the production's ten-year journey to Broadway, with performances from cast members Jefferson Mays, Bryce Pinkham, Lisa O'Hare, and Lauren Worsham on Sunday, May 11 at 8 pm. The original cast album is released today on Ghostlight Records.

New York Stage and Film and Vassar College, this summer celebrating the 30th year of their Powerhouse Theater collaboration, are pleased to announce the three new works that will be featured on the Mainstage during the 2014 Powerhouse Theater Season, running from June 20 to July 27 at Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, New York). Subscriptions go on sale May 7; full programming and ticket sale information will be announced at a later date.

WHITE PEOPLE by J.T. Rogers will be presented by Pegasus Theatre as a Churchmouse production at the Bath House Cultural Center May 8 - May 25, 2014. WHITE PEOPLE will be directed by Chad Cline and the cast includes Jack O'Donnell as Martin, Charissa Lee as Mara Lynn, and Jason Folks as Alan. Churchmouse Productions is the non-black and white arm of Pegasus Theatre. The plays selected for Churchmouse are generally riskier, edgier, contemporary fare and WHITE PEOPLE certainly meets those objectives.

Florida Studio Theatre announces its annual Richard and Betty Burdick New Play Reading Series, which will present three new plays by contemporary American playwrights. The series will take place in the Keating Theatre on Monday, April 28 at 7:00pm, Monday, May 5 at 7:00pm, and Saturday, May 10 at 2:00pm, and is part of FST's Sarasota Festival of New Plays. Tickets for the series are 3 plays for $25, or individual play readings for $10. Additionally, FRIENDS of FST can purchase a subscription for all 3 plays for $15. They may be purchased by calling the FST Box Office at (941) 366-9000 or by visiting www.floridastudiotheatre.org.

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Greg Reiner, will present its popular First Look Festival, a series of one-night only staged readings, this year focusing on the remarkable work of playwright Caryl Churchill, whose plays have provoked, captivated and astounded audiences since she burst onto the scene in the late 1960s.

Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd announces the cast and creative team for Alan Ayckbourn's science fiction comedy Communicating Doors. Eleven plays penned by Alan Ayckbourn have been produced by the Alley, including the American premiere of Henceforward, directed by Ayckbourn, in 1987 and House & Garden in 2002. Alan Ayckbourn has been inducted into the American Theatre's Hall of Fame, received the 2010 Critics' Circle Award for Services to the Arts, became the first British playwright to receive both Olivier and Tony Special Lifetime Achievement Awards and was knighted in 1997 for services to the theatre.