Marsha Norman News

PlayhouseSquare is proud to announce that THE COLOR PURPLE, The Musical about Love, will play in the Palace Theatre, March 25 & 26 for three performances only.

A preview presentation of a new musical by Sheldon Harnick (co-creator of Fiddler on the Roof) opens the 30th Annual William Inge Theatre Festival on April 13, 2011. The Inge Festival-the Official State Theatre Festival or Kansas-runs April 13-16 in Independence, Kansas. Tickets go on sale online on March 1.

Lakewood Theatre Company will be having open auditions on SATURDAY, FEB. 26 and SUNDAY, FEB. 27, 2011 for the musical, The Secret Garden.

The Open Fist Theatre Company and The Aquila Morong Studio are thrilled to announce their co-production, PROOF, written by David Auburn and directed by John Hindman.

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has announced 10 Finalists for its prestigious playwriting award, now celebrating it's thirty-third year. The Houston-based Prize received the 2010 Theatre Communications Group's National Funder Award. The annual honor goes to a company, foundation or other entity for 'leadership and sustained national support of theater in America.'

Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA's world premiere production of Mlle. God by Oscar-nominated writer Nicholas Kazan inaugurates the new Atwater Village Theatre and an adventurous joint season with Circle X Theatre Co.

Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA's world premiere production of Mlle. God by Oscar-nominated writer Nicholas Kazan inaugurates the new Atwater Village Theatre and an adventurous joint season with Circle X Theatre Co.

MCC Theater (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) will celebrate the company's 25th anniversary by honoring a host of MCC artists past and present at Miscast 2011. This highly anticipated annual gala will take place on Monday, March 14, 2011 at The Hammerstein Ballroom (311 West 34th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues). Andy Cohen (Host of Bravo TV's 'Watch What Happens Live') will host the evening. David Duchovny (star of the recent MCC Theater hit, The Break of Noon), Téa Leoni, Hugh Dancy (star of yet another recent MCC hit, The Pride) and Claire Danes are this year's honorary chairs. Funds raised from Miscast help MCC Theater produce some of the most talked-about new work Off Broadway and support their Youth Company and in-school partnerships that serve New York City public high school students, as well as their literary development work with emerging playwrights.

Manhattan Theatre Club will present its annual Winter Benefit, an evening of cocktails and dinner followed by a special one-night-only cabaret-style show featuring some of the biggest stars of musical theatre on Monday, January 24, 2011 at The Plaza (58th Street & Fifth Avenue).

Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA's world premiere production of Mlle. God by Oscar-nominated writer Nicholas Kazan inaugurates the new Atwater Village Theatre and an adventurous joint season with Circle X Theatre Co.

Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA's world premiere production of Mlle. God by Oscar-nominated writer Nicholas Kazan inaugurates the new Atwater Village Theatre and an adventurous joint season with Circle X Theatre Co.

Broadway composer Jason Robert Brown is set to tour Australia in February/March 2011. Performances will take place in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth. Australian star Rachael Beck will join Brown throughout the length of the tour.

Jason Robert Brown has announced on his official website that he is at work on adapting his musicals 13 and The Last Five Years for the big screen, in addition to working on several new musical projects and an album.

Chance Theater made its Christmas list and checked it twice, so get ready for something naughty and something nice when the Chance presents a pair of productions beginning November 19 and running through December 26, 2010.

TheatreWorks, the nationally-acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley, has announced the line-up for its 2010-2011 season. Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley and Managing Director Phil Santora announced a 41st season that will include three world premieres (bringing the company's total to 56); three regional premieres including the newest play by the author of AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, Broadway's quirky hit musical about writers writing a quirky hit musical and a spell-binding mystery about a Japanese-American veteran charged with murder; and two Broadway favorites. The company will once again lead off with an extensive New Works Festival.

MCC Theater (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) today announced that their world premiere production of The Break of Noon, by Neil LaBute, has been extended through December 22, 2010 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC). The production features actors Tracee Chimo, David Duchovny, John Earl Jelks and Amanda Peet, under the direction of Jo Bonney. An official opening night is set for this Monday, November 22, 2010. The Break of Noon is a co-production with the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles (Gil Cates, Producing Director; Randall Arney, Artistic Director; Ken Novice, Managing Director).

New plays by celebrated playwrights and longtime Florida Stage collaborators Carter W. Lewis and the legendary Israel Horovitz along with the award-winning Deborah Zoe Laufer and rising-star South Florida playwrights, Christopher Demos Brown and Andrew Rosendorf will all be featured at Florida Stage's fifth annual 1st Stage New Works Festival. It is now a three-day weekend festival, which includes staged readings of seven new American plays, kicking off with a reception on Thursday, February 3, 2011. 1st Stage workshop readings will be presented on Friday, Saturday and Sunday February 4, 5 and 6, along with a keynote address. Previous keynote speakers include John Guare, Israel Horovitz and Pulitzer Prize-winner Marsha Norman. 1st Stage Festival passes are available as well as individual tickets for individual events.

In Orange County, several local theaters big and small are presenting a plethora of yuletide-themed shows designed to put you in an even more festive mood-certainly a welcome break from all the parties and all that shopping you'll surely be busy with, of course. There are also many non-Holiday related presentations debuting or playing this month that will make great holiday gifts for the theater lovers in your midst. Whether you're looking for traditional fare or something a bit more quirky and off the beaten path, you will likely find something that will suit your tastes.

The Un-Common Theatre Company is pleased to announce audition dates for their two spring 2011 shows: "The Enchantment of the Beauty and the Beast" and "The Secret Garden".

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater continues its 16th season with the world premiere of The Hallway Trilogy, three full length plays set fifty years apart (1953, 2003, 2053) by Adam Rapp.