Maggie Smith News

To acknowledge her outstanding contribution to classical theatre in America, Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) will present Tony-Award winning actress, singer and stage director Phylicia Rashad with the prestigious William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre (Will Award).

BroadwayWorld presents a comprehensive weekly roundup of regional stories around our Broadway World, which include videos, editor spotlights, regional reviews and more. This week, we feature ...

Downton Abbey: The Exhibition and Viking, the leader in river and small ship ocean cruising, have partnered to present fans of the award-winning global television phenomenon a chance to visit the Downton Abbey movie set in London. The contest begins August 9th, 2018 and ends Sept 4th, 2018.  Exhibition visitors can enter by posting a photo of themselves on Instagram or twitter, while at or outside Downton Abbey: The Exhibition in New York City, with the hashtag #DowntonVikingSweepstakes. Fans can also sign up via Facebook by replying to a special sweepstake post with their photo. The winning contestant will enjoy a prize trip to include two business class tickets to London, four star hotel accommodation for four nights and a behind-the-scenes visit to the film set this fall.

Nashville's iconic Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre is back and better than ever! After some six months - and 50 or more years since its debut - the newly renovated and gorgeously appointed Chaffin's Barn has reopened with a rousing production of Sister Act, the habit-forming musical that played to sold-out audiences last summer.

Jeremy Swift is well known to TV audiences as Septimus Spratt on Downton Abbey. On the big screen, he's appeared in Polanski's Oliver Twist and Altman's Gosford Park, and will shortly be seen in Mary Poppins Returns. He's currently playing Reverend Chasuble in The Importance of Being Earnest at the Vaudeville Theatre, which opens tonight.

According to Deadline, Focus Features has set production with Carnival Films to begin production on the Downton Abbey this summer. The original principal cast, including Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Hugh Bonneville and more, are set to reprise their upstairs/downstairs roles with Focus and Universal Pictures International distributing.

The bells, the bells! They're ringing out at the Donmar - ushering girls into class, and nuns into cloister. It's one of the creative ways in which director Polly Findlay reframes this beloved classic, although a new adaptation from David Harrower also rings the changes.

Following a £6million restoration project, Edinburgh's beautiful Grade A listed building Riddle's Court will be transformed into an Edinburgh Festival Fringe theatre venue for the first time since 2014, which will be managed and programmed by PQA VENUES.

Casting is announced today for Music Theatre Wichita's 47th Season, which includes including Sister Act, Guys and Dolls, Disney's Freaky Friday, Pippin, and Disney's The Little Mermaid.

Kathleen Turner is many things, but bashful isn't one of them.

Why did a teenage boy who literally worships horses commit the unspeakable act of blinding six of them? That is the mystery psychiatrist Martin Dysart must unravel in order to help his disturbed young patient in Peter Shaffer's Tony Award-winning Equus . The psychological thriller opens at Palm Beach Dramaworks on May 18 and continues through June 3, with specially priced previews on May 16 and 17.

The winners were today announced for theatrical charity Acting For Others' Golden Bucket Awards 2018. The ceremony took place at the Prince of Wales Theatre and was hosted by musical theatre star, Carl Mullaney. The awards celebrate the most supportive and successful fundraisers who have helped the charity raise in excess of £390,000 in the last twelve months.

Birmingham Stage Company today announces the return of their smash-hit adaptation of David Walliams's bestselling book, Gangsta Granny, to the West End. The Olivier Award and UK Theatre Award nominated production opens at the Harold Pinter Theatre for a limited two week run, opening on 16 August, with previews from 14 August, and running until 26 August. Tickets go on sale today via ATG pre-sale and general on-sale on 3 May.

Why did a teenage boy who literally worships horses commit the unspeakable act of blinding six of them? That is the mystery psychiatrist Martin Dysart must unravel in order to help his disturbed young patient in Peter Shaffer's Tony Award-winning Equus. The psychological thriller opens at Palm Beach Dramaworks on May 18 and continues through June 3, with specially priced previews on May 16 and 17.

Downton Abbey: The Exhibition is set to celebrate the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with an exclusive series of Royal Wedding themed events. Hosted at the exhibition through May 26th 2018, the unmissable events will offer both fans of the award-winning global television phenomenon, and anglophiles, a chance to celebrate the royal couple's nuptials in true British style.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, & More will reprise their famous Harry Potter roles for new mobile game Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery which will be released on April 25.

The Pierre New York, A Taj Hotel is teaming up with Downton Abbey: The Exhibition to offer fans of the award-winning global television phenomenon a VIP experience - including an appearance by Downton's own Dr. Clarkson, actor David Robb.

What happens to musicians when they are old and grey? Where do famous singers retire when their voices are an echo of what they once were? Ronald Harwood's Quartet follows the antics of four elderly former opera stars as they live out their days in a specialist musician's retirement home in an expansive country residence in Kent.

Porchlight Music Theatre and Artistic Director Michael Weber are proud to announce the final production in its 2017 - 2018 season of Chicago's hit musical revue series, New Faces Sing Broadway. New Faces Sing Broadway 1975, hosted by Donica Lynn with direction by Christopher Pazdernik and music direction by David Fiorello, is Tuesday, June 5 at The Skokie Theatre, 7924 Lincoln Ave., Skokie at 7:30 p.m. and Wednesday, June 6 at The Arts Club of Chicago, 201 E. Ontario Street, at 6:30 p.m. (The Arts Club presentation also includes a pre-show reception at 6:30 p.m. with performance at 7:30 p.m.). In tribute to the original New Faces series that ran on Broadway and on film from 1934 - 1968, Porchlight Music Theatre created the Chicago musical revue series, New Faces Sing Broadway as a showcase for the best emerging music talent now performing on Chicago stages. Each edition is a "time-machine" journey from the start to the finish of an entire musical season from the classic days of Broadway, peppered with photos and films of the era in an exciting multimedia presentation with a favorite Chicago theatre veteran like Donica Lynn hosting and introducing the next generation of music theatre artists while acting as your guide through a vintage year on the Great White Way. General admission tickets at Skokie Theatre are $22 and at The Arts Club of Chicago are $35 and are available at porchlightmusictheatre.org or at the Porchlight Music Theatre box office, 773.777.9884.

Porchlight Music Theatre made its debut at The Arts Club of Chicago, 201 E. Ontario Street, with its hit musical revue series, New Faces Sing Broadway 1959, hosted by Gene Weygandt, directed by Adrian Abel Azevedo with music direction by David Fiorello, Tuesday, February 27.