MCC Theater News

Signature Theatre is pleased to announce the casting of award winner Christine Lahti (Running on Empty, Swing Shift,Chicago Hope) in this fall's world-premiere drama Pride in the Falls of Autrey Mill, written by Paul Downs Colaizzo (Really Really). Lahti, whose acclaimed 30-year career in theatre, television and film places her in the highest echelon of American actresses, joins this fall's production under the direction of Shakespeare Theatre Company Artistic Director Michael Kahn, who returns to Signature for the first time in nearly twenty years. Casting for the remaining three roles will be announced shortly.

PICT Theatre's fifth production of the season is the Pittsburgh premiere of Martin McDonagh's hilarious whodunit A Skull in Connemara, one of a the Leenane trilogy of plays written by the contemporary Irish playwright. McDonagh's dark humor features the colloquial idioms of the west of Ireland, its rugged landscape, and its even more rugged people. McDonagh wrote one of PICT's most popular shows, The Lieutenant of Inishmore. His short film Six Shooter won an Academy Award in 2006, and he was nominated for an Oscar for best original screenplay for In Bruges, a feature-length film in which two hitmen hide in the Flemish city of Bruges after a problematic job.

Single tickets are available today for five world premiere plays that are a part of Manhattan Theatre Club's 2013-2014 season. On Broadway, at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street), tickets are available for THE SNOW GEESE (a co-production with MCC Theater) and OUTSIDE MULLINGAR via Telecharge at 212-239-6200, online by visiting www.Telecharge.com, or by visiting the Friedman Theatre Box Office (261 West 47th Street). A third production at the Friedman will be announced shortly. At MTC's Off-Broadway home at New York City Center - Stage I (131 West 55th Street), single tickets are available for THE COMMONS OF PENSACOLA, TALES FROM RED VIENNA, and WHEN WE WERE YOUNG AND UNAFRAID via the New York City Center Box Office (131 West 55th Street), CityTix (212-581-1212) and www.nycitycenter.org.

Perhaps the defining characteristic of Soho Rep, under the artistic direction of Sarah Benson, is the institution's commitment to artists creating surprisingly big theatrical events in its very small space on Walker Street. Soho Rep's 2013-14 season, announced today, provides ample evidence of that commitment, comprising two shows that are among the biggest the organization has ever produced: the New York premiere of David Adjmi's Marie Antoinette, directed by Rebecca Taichman and featuring Marin Ireland (Blasted); and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' An Octoroon, directed by Benson.

Screenwriter Lawrence D. Cohen outlines his process in adaptating Stephen King's celebrated horror tome CARRIE from novel to screenplay to full-fledged Broadway musical in a new book titled WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? CARRIE, FROM BOOK TO MOVIE TO MUSICAL.

Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, Artistic Producer; Barry Grove, Executive Producer) and MCC Theater (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey,William Cantler, Artistic Directors; Blake West, Executive Director) just announced full casting for the world premiere of THE SNOW GEESE, a new play by Sharr White, directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan.

Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, Artistic Producer; Barry Grove, Executive Producer) and MCC Theater (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, William Cantler, Artistic Directors; Blake West, Executive Director) will co-produce the world premiere of The Snow Geese, a new play by Sharr White, directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan, starring Tony and Emmy Award winner Mary-Louise Parker. BroadwayWorld brings you the just-released artwork below!

The Old Globe today announced the complete cast and creative team for The Last Goodbye, a new musical fusing Shakespeare'sRomeo and Juliet with the incendiary songs of the legendary singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley. Conceived and adapted by Michael Kimmel, the rock musical is directed by two-time Tony Award nominee Alex Timbers (Peter and the Starcatcher, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson). Choreography is by Emmy Award nominee Sonya Tayeh ('So You Think You Can Dance'), and orchestrations, music direction and arrangements are by Kris Kukul. The Last Goodbye will run on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, Sept. 20 - Nov. 3, 2013. Preview performances run Sept. 20 - Oct. 5. Opening night is Sunday, Oct. 6 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are currently available by subscription only. Single tickets go on sale Sunday, Aug. 18 at 12 noon. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.

The revised version of the cult musical 'Carrie', which was seen Off-Broadway in 2012, will receive its a new production at the The Generic Theater in downtown Norfolk, VA this fall.

MCC THEATER has announced the line-up for their upcoming PlayLabs reading series, featuring new plays by members of the company's Playwrights' Coalition. Traditionally held in the Spring, MCC'sPlayLab will now shift to the autumn months, launching this year on four consecutive Mondays throughout September (beginning September 9th) at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street). All readings are at 7pm. New York actors currently scheduled to appear in the readings include: Tony Award nomineeJeremy Shamos, Patch Darragh, Brett Donaldson, Maxwell Hamilton, Rachel Lee, Christopher McLinden, Deirdre O'Connell, and Shannon Sullivan. The series is offered free of charge, but reservations are recommended. For reservations and more info, please visit www.mcctheater.org.

Versatile stage and screen performer Maggie Gyllenhaal features singularly and also quite prominently in a striking new ad for MCC's upcoming season, showcasing her highly anticipated new dramatic stage role in THE VILLAGE BIKE next year.

Beth Morrison Projects (BMP) and HERE have announced programming for the second annual PROTOTYPE: Opera/Theatre/Now festival, running January 8-18, 2014.

MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, William Cantler, Artistic Directors; Blake West, Executive Director) have announced plans for its 2013 FreshPlay Festival, featuring plays written by members of the MCC Theater Youth Company, a free, after-school program of New York City high school students interested in exploring self-expression and developing their acting and dramatic writing skills. All performances of FreshPlay Festival will take place atTelsey + Company (311 W 43rd Street, 10th Floor) and are free and open to the public.

MCC THEATER today announced that James Badge Dale (World War Z, HBO's The Pacific), James Ransone (HBO's 'The Wire') will replace Jon Bernthal and Christopher Fitzgerald in the New York Premiere of John Pollono's celebrated Small Engine Repair. Keegan Allen ('Pretty Little Liars') has also joined the cast. Small Engine Repair is the comic thriller that premiered to rave reviews and sold-out audiences at L.A.'s Rogue Machine Theatre, where it won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award for Playwriting, among many other honors. The New York production of Small Engine Repair will be directed by longtime MCC collaborator Jo Bonney (MCC's The Break of Noon, Some Girl(s), Fat Pig) and begins at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) on October 30, 2013. An official opening night is set for November 18, 2013.

The National High School Musical Theater Awards (NHSMTA) is pleased to announce that 62 finalists selected from tens of thousands of students will compete for the coveted Jimmy Award for Best Performance by an Actor and Best Performance by an Actress, scholarships and other honors at an event on Broadway to be hosted by the Tony Award-nominated stars of Rodgers + Hammerstein's CINDERELLA, Laura Osnes (Cinderella) and Santino Fontana (the Prince). The fifth annual performance showcase featuring dynamic ensemble and solo performances exclusively from the musical theater cannon will take place on Monday, July 1, 2013 at 7:30pm at the Minskoff Theatre (200 W. 45th St).

The National High School Musical Theater Awards (NHSMTA) previously announced that 62 finalists selected from tens of thousands of students will compete for the coveted Jimmy Award for Best Performance by an Actor and Best Performance by an Actress, scholarships and other honors at an event on Broadway to be hosted by the Tony Award-nominated stars of Rodgers + Hammerstein's CINDERELLA, Laura Osnes (Cinderella) and Santino Fontana (the Prince). The fifth annual performance showcase featuring dynamic ensemble and solo performances exclusively from the musical theater cannon will take place tonight, July 1, 2013 at 7:30pm at the Minskoff Theatre (200 W. 45th St).

MCC Theater's world premiere of MCC Playwright-in-Residence Neil LaBute's new play, Reasons to Be Happy, also directed by LaBute, closes its extended run today, June 29, 2013. Performances began at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) on May 16, 2013. BroadwayWorld takes you through the show's run below!

According to Deadline.com, Maggie Gyllenhaal will star in Sundance Channel's THE HONOURABLE WOMAN, an eight-part miniseries for BBC Worldwide, written and directed by Hugo Blick.