Lucille Lortel News

Described as a 'supremely enjoyable monologist,' by The New York Times, Mike Birbiglia will bring his 'Thank God For Jokes' routine to the Fox Theater stage on Saturday, March 1 for one show at 8 p.m.

The School of Arts and Enterprise-Department of Theatre presents the inaugural show of their 2013-14 season, the award winning The Laramie Project, by Moises Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris and Stephen Belber. The Laramie Project is directed by Phil Miller, The School of Arts & Enterprise New Director of Theatre. The Laramie Project features an 11-member cast comprised of some of the brightest young actors in the San Gabriel Valley.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University and the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research (formerly known as the Du Bois Institute), in conjunction with Hilton Als of The New Yorker, will present a staged reading of Alice Childress's Wedding Band: A Love-Hate Story in Black and White, co-directed by Hilton Als and A.R.T. Artistic Associate Shira Milikowsky. It takes place at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge, starting at 7:30pm, and will be followed by a post-reading discussion.

Manhattan Theatre Club presents the American premiere of Taking Care of Baby by Dennis Kelly and directed by Erica Schmidt. Joining previously announced cast members Reed Birney (Blasted, Our Leading Lady), Kristen Bush (Kin, The Common Pursuit), Tony nominee Amelia Campbell (A Streetcar Named Desire, Our Country's Good) and Margaret Colin (The Columnist, 'Gossip Girl'), are Francois Battiste (Magic/ Bird), Michael Crane (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson off-Broadway), Ethan Phillips (Golden Age) and Zach Shaffer ('Smash').

Page 73 Productions - the Off-Broadway company dedicated to producing and developing works by early-career playwrights - will present a reading of their 2013 Interstate 73 member David Jenkins' play PINEWOOD on Monday, November 18 at 4 pm at MTC Creative Center (311 West 43rd St, 8th Floor). Davis McCallum (GODSPELL, GOD OF CARNAGE) will direct.

Happy Birthday Daphne Rubin-Vega! Rubin Vega is a two-time Tony and Drama Desk nominee and recipient of the Theater World, Obie, Blockbuster awards and was recently nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her role in Jack Goes Boating. She is perhaps best known for the roles she originated, including Mimi (RENT) and Conchita (Anna in the Tropics), both Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway shows for which she was nominated for the Tony award. She also originated the role of Rahmi (Gum), Sofia (Nilo Cruz' Two Sisters and a Piano), Canary Mary (Suzan-Lori Parks' f**king A, Lucille Lortel nomination) and Lucy (Jack Goes Boating) at the Public Theater, as well as starred in the Broadway revivals of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Magenta) and Les Mis, ('Fantine') and most recently, The New Group's Blood From a Stone ('Yvette') opposite Ethan Hawke.'

Tune in to see Arthur Darvill and Anne L. Nathan, from the Tony and Grammy Award-winning Best musical ONCE, talk about the success of the show on PBS's 'Out of Ireland' today, November 17 at 11:30am (the segment will repeat on Monday, November 18 at 11:30pm). 'Out of Ireland' airs on PBS stations across the country and in the New York area on WLIW-TV Channel 21.

Theater Resources Unlimited welcomes funny ladies Nancy Opel, Nancy Ringham, Mary Testa and Kristine Zbornik to the 2013 TRU Love Benefit: Honoring Friendship, Remembering Friends today, November 17, 2013 at 12 noon.

Tune in to see Arthur Darvill and Anne L. Nathan, from the Tony and Grammy Award-winning Best musical ONCE, talk about the success of the show on PBS's "Out of Ireland" this Sunday, November 17 at 11:30am (the segment will repeat on Monday, November 18 at 11:30pm). "Out of Ireland" airs on PBS stations across the country and in the New York area on WLIW-TV Channel 21.

54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents Ilene, Randy, and Todd Graff, and Nikka Graff Lanzarone in "The Graff Family Holiday Special," on Saturday, December 14th at 11 P.M., and in a sold out show on Monday, December 16, 2013 at 7 P.M. This talented family will perform a host of holiday favorites and tunes from their various forays on the Great White Way in the tradition of the Andy Williams Christmas specials that mesmerized them as children. Expect tight, four-part harmonies, color coordinated hats and mufflers, indoor sleigh rides, audience participation, mistletoe, and plenty of high belting.

Theater Resources Unlimited welcomes funny ladies Nancy Opel, Nancy Ringham, Mary Testa and Kristine Zbornik to the 2013 TRU Love Benefit: Honoring Friendship, Remembering Friends on Sunday, November 17, 2013 at 12 noon.

Page 73 Productions, now in its 16th year premiering the next generation of American playwrights - who have included Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara Alegria Hudes, Drama Desk Award winner Sam Hunter, New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award recipient Dan LeFranc, and more - will present the New York premiere of George Brant's gripping new play GROUNDED, directed by two-time Obie Award-winning director Ken Rus Schmoll (TELEPHONE, A MAP OF VIRTUE) and starring Hannah Cabell (3C, A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS opposite Frank Langella) with preview performances beginning Off-Broadway on January 8 prior to an official press opening of January 16 at Walkerspace (46 Walker Street) in Manhattan. GROUNDED has a runtime of 70 minutes, with no intermission.

Following critically acclaimed, smash-hit runs at The Hartford Stage and San Diego's Old Globe Theatre, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder stars Tony Award Winner Jefferson Mays and Bryce Pinkham, and features Lisa O'Hare, Lauren Worsham, Jane Carr, Pamela Bob, Joanna Glushak,Eddie Korbich, Jeff Kready, Mark Ledbetter, Jennifer Smith, Price Waldman, and Catherine Walker. A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder officially opens on Sunday, November 17. Scroll down to learn more about the cast!

Blessed Unrest presents a new adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, adapted by Matt Opatrny, and directed and choreographed by Jessica Burr. A Christmas Carol runs from December 5 - 22, 2013 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 December 5 for a December 7 opening.

MCC THEATER today announced that Steven Boyer, previously announced to reprise his celebrated, Obie Award-winning performance in MCC's upcoming Off-Broadway premiere of Robert Askins' Hand to God, will be joined in that production by Tony Award nominee Marc Kudisch as well asGeneva Carr, Michael Oberholtzer, and Sarah Stiles. Hand to God, which first appeared in New York to great acclaim at the Ensemble Studio Theatre (EST) in 2011, will be directed once again by Moritz von Stuelpnagel and begins at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) on February 20, 2014. An official opening night is set for March 10, 2014.

A rare and intimate glimpse into the dynamic process of creating and launching new plays, Playwright: From Page to Stage follows two outstanding young playwrights through the writing, development, staging, rehearsal, and public performance of their plays.

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein are delighted to announce the 38th Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville, running February 26-April 6, 2014. This year's Festival program will feature (in order of opening):

Broward Center for the Performing Arts and Matthew Lombardo will present four-time Tony Award-nominee Tovah Feldshuh who will recreate her award-winning performance as Golda Meir in the 10th Anniversary Production of Golda's Balcony. Tickets go on sale November 22 for the acclaimed William Gibson play, which will be part of the WinterStage Season at the Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from January 22 through January 26, 2014.

The Drama League (Executive Director Gabriel Shanks; Artistic Director Roger T. Danforth) presents the 30th Annual DirectorFest, a festival of one-act plays staged by the Fall Directing Fellows, Elizabeth Carlson, Alexandru Mihail, Danny Sharron and Nicole A. Watson, for a limited 5-performance engagement, December 12 - 15, 2013 at The Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex (312 West 36th Street, between 8th & 9th Avenues).

The Donmar Warehouse is preparing to transfer both of its critically acclaimed Conor McPherson productions, The Night Alive and The Weir, within the next two months. The Night Alive will make its American premiere at The Atlantic Theater off-Broadway on the 30 November 2013, with The Weir opening at Wyndham's Theatre in the West End on the 16 January 2014.