Lucille Lortel News

Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere of TALES FROM RED VIENNA, the new play by David Grimm, directed by Kate Whoriskey, opensTuesday, March 18 at MTC at New York City Center - Stage I (131 West 55th Street). This strictly limited engagement began previews on Wednesday, February 26. BroadwayWorld brings you a first look at the cast in action below!

On Monday, March 24, 2014, The Negro Ensemble Company, Inc. (Charles Weldon, Artistic Director; Karen Brown, Executive Director) and Signature Theatre (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director) will unite in a day-long celebration of the life and works of Tony Award-nominated playwright Leslie Lee. Lee passed away in New York City on January 20, 2014.

For DIRECTOR'S CHOICE, the fourth program of Pacific Northwest Ballet's 2013-2014 season, Artistic Director Peter Boal selects from his roster of acquisitions and increases them by one: The captivating mixed-bill program will feature a much-anticipated world premiere by Alejandro Cerrudo, resident choreographer of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. The program also reprises audience favorites TAKE FIVE...More or Less, Broadway-darling Susan Stroman's sunny slice of jazz-infused Dave Brubeck fun; and Susan Marshall's distinctive aerial duet, Kiss. Rounding out the lineup is Molissa Fenley's State of Darkness, a tour-de-force solo performance set to Stravinsky's riot-inducing The Rite of Spring. DIRECTOR'S CHOICE runs for seven performances only, today, March 14 through 23 at Seattle Center's Marion Oliver McCaw Hall.

Ford's Theatre Society 2013-2014 season continues with the quirky Tony-winning musical comedy 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,' directed by Peter Flynn, today, March 14 through May 17, 2014, at Ford's Theatre (511 Tenth Street NW, Washington, D.C.).

This weekend, March 14-16, 2014, LOCAL Theater Company presents the third annual LOCAL Lab-- a new play festival at the state-of-the-art eTown Hall (1535 Spruce Street in Boulder) featuring professionally-staged readings of three new works, discussions led by Jill Rafson (Literary Manager of the renowned Roundabout Theatre Company in New York City- bio below), fun parties, pre-show music by DJ Savior Breath, and a master class with Rafson.

Once, winner of eight Tony Awards including Best Musical and winner of the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, makes its Minneapolis premiere at Hennepin Theatre Trust's Orpheum Theatre, April 1-6, 2014. Tickets for Once are on sale now. Once is presented by Hennepin Theatre Trust as part of its Broadway Season. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit HennepinTheatreTrust.org or call 1.800.982.2787.

Today, Red Bull Theater announced the cast for their Staged Concert Reading of Happy End, the musical by Bertolt Brecht & Kurt Weill, translated by Michael Feingold: Nancy Anderson, J. Bernard Calloway, Carson Elrod, Steven Eng, Tom Hewitt, Matthew Maher, Karen Mason, Martin Moran, Alexandra Silber, Price Waldman, Kristine Zbornik, Chip Zien, and more to be announced. Happy End will be directed by Leigh Silverman with music direction by James Cunningham and will take place Monday March 17th at 7:30pm at the Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher Street, between Bleecker and Hudson Streets.

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director) and Barry Grove (Executive Producer) have announced three world premiere productions for Manhattan Theatre Club's upcoming 2014-2015 theatrical season.

York Little Theatre(YLT) will present the rock 'n' roll cult classic, Bat Boy: The Musical opening March 21. Based on the grocery store tabloid, Weekly World News, Bat Boy: The Musical is a B-movie themed musical comedy with an extraordinary score. The show is directed by Aaron Dalton with music direction by Nick Werner. Dalton was the director of the award winning CABARET that ran last March at YLT. CABARET won best musical in Central PA from BROADWAY WORLD.COM.

What happens when an elderly patient with dementia goes missing in a northern Idaho blizzard, leaving his wife and others behind to face the unknown? The story is Rest, a heartbreakingly funny and tender play commissioned by South Coast Repertory from Samuel D. Hunter. SCR Founding Artistic Director Martin Benson directs the world premiere of Rest, March 28-April 27, on the Segerstrom Stage. The show is a cornerstone production of SCR's Pacific Playwrights Festival. Tickets are available online: www.scr.org.

The gloves are off! One of the most highly anticipated new shows of the season, Gerard Alessandrini's FORBIDDEN BROADWAY COMES OUT SWINGING! begins previews Monday, March 17th at the newly refurbished Davenport Theatre (354 West 45th Street - between 8th and 9th Avenue). The show is set to open on Sunday, May 4th. This up-to-the-minute new edition will include Alessandrini's takes on Kinky Boots, Matilda, Rocky, Cabaret, The Bridges of Madison County, Aladdin, Pippin, the turntable-less Les Miz, Motown, The Sound of Music Live! and Bullets Over Broadway, among others. Check out photos of the cast in action below!

Atlantic Theater Company's highly anticipated revival of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's musical The Threepenny Opera, directed and choreographed by Martha Clarke, begins previews tonight, March 12, 2014.

Gerard Alessandrini's Forbidden Broadway returned to New York in February at the newly refurbished Davenport Theatre (354 W. 45th Street, Between 8th and 9th Avenues) with Forbidden Broadway: Alive and STILL Kicking. As BroadwayWorld previously reported, over the course of the spring, Alessandrini had planned on adding new material to reflect the season's openings. Now, the time as come to unveil the new edition, FORBIDDEN BROADWAY COMES OUT SWINGING! According to The New York Times, this version will begin performances March 17.

The Old Globe today announced it will present two Shakespeare-themed events. On Monday, April 28 at 7:00 p.m., Tony Award winner Roger Rees will return to the Globe for a one-night-only engagement of What You Will, his hysterical (and somewhat historical) 90-minute gallop through the world of Shakespeare. On Saturday, May 3 at 11:00 a.m., Old Globe Artistic Director Barry Edelstein will offer an encore of Thinking Shakespeare Live!, his 90-minute exploration of the language of Shakespeare. This fast-paced, funny, and altogether fascinating program based on Edelstein's book, Thinking Shakespeare: A How-To Guide for Student Actors, Directors, and Anyone Else Who Wants to Feel More Comfortable with the Bard, reveals a performer's approach to Shakespearean language so audiences may easily understand the poetry of the Bard.

A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN (MOON), by Pulitzer Prize winner and Nobel Laureate Eugene O'Neill, continues Rubicon Theatre Company's 16th Season helmed by Artistic Associate Jenny Sullivan with company member Joseph Fuqua in the role of James Tyrone. (The production marks the 23rd collaboration for Sullivan and Fuqua, who have worked together at Rubicon on productions including Hamlet, You Can't Take It With You and Old Wicked Songs.) Other cast members are Rebekah Tripp, Granville Van Dusen, Scott Roberts and Matthew Grondin.

Cast members from the Tony and Grammy Award-winning Best Musical Once will perform at 54 BELOW this Sunday, March 16 at 254 West 54th Street at 11:30pm. The multi-talented cast, including Paul Nolan, Joanna Christie, Adam Wesley Brown, David Patrick Kelly, Katrina Lenk, Brandon McGibbon, Anne L. Nathan, Andy Taylor, Erikka Walsh, Paul Whitty, J. Michael Zygo, Joanne Borts, Brandon Ellis, Elisabeth Evans, Jessie Fisher, Ben Hope, Don Noble, Ari McKay Wilford and more, celebrate St. Patty's a tad early with an evening of their favorite songs as they again bring their myriad of instruments and skills to the 54 Below stage. Cover charge is $20 ($3 extra at the door), with a $20 food and beverage minimum. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com or call (646) 468-7619.

The world premiere of 17 Orchard Point, a new play starring Tony Award-winner Michele Pawk, will begin performances on Friday, April 25 for a limited four-week Off-Broadway run at The Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues) through May 24. Written by Anton Dudley (Substitution, Getting Home) & Stephanie DiMaggio, and directed by Stella Powell-Jones, 17 Orchard Point will have its official opening night on Sunday, May 4 at 7pm. Tickets for 17 Orchard Point are $45 and can be arranged online at www.telecharge.com or 212.239.6200 or at the Theatre Row Box Office located at 410 West 42nd Street. For more information, please visit www.17OrchardPoint.com.

The world premiere production of the brand new musical comedy Bullets Over Broadway, written by Woody Allen and based on the screenplay by Allen and Douglas McGrath for the 1994 film, will begin preview performances tomorrow, March 11 and officially open Thursday, April 10, 2014 at The St. James Theatre (246 West 44th Street). The new musical will be directed and choreographed by five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman. Scroll down to learn more about the Bullets Over Broadway company, and watch interviews with the cast!

ONCE, winner of eight Tony Awards including Best Musical and winner of the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, will play the Benedum Center for a limited engagement from today, March 11 through Sunday, March 16, 2014. ONCE is part of the PNC Broadway Across America-Pittsburgh series, presented by The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Broadway Across America and Pittsburgh Symphony.