Michael Cunningham News

In celebration of Pasadena Playhouse upcoming production of CROWNS, which opens on July 12, the Community Outreach Program invites the community to enjoy two candid and lively CONVERSATION WITH...events with acclaimed artist/author Synthia SAINT JAMES on June 14 and playwright/actress Regina Taylor on June 20.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) will restart its summer theatre, the Nutmeg Summer Series, by presenting the hit musical show Crowns June 11 - 21 in the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, Storrs. For tickets and information, call 860-486-4226 or visit www.crt.uconn.edu.

Group sales tickets (15 or more) and subscriptions including CROWNS go on sale Saturday, May 9 for the Pasadena Playhouse run of the acclaimed musical. In celebration of the on-sale, Pasadena Playhouse is hosting an afternoon of festivities. Prior to the sneak-peek presentation, there will be FREE live jazz hosted by The Instrumental Women Project, entertainment and food provided by Gelson's Supermarkets in the Courtyard.

The Ebony Repertory Theatre is proud to announce casting for the Los Angeles premiere of CROWNS, adapted by Regina Taylor from the book by Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry. Debuting as a co-production with Pasadena Playhouse, the show will star Emmy® nominee Paula Kelly, Suzzanne Douglas, Dawnn Lewis, Ann Weldon, Sharon Catherine Blanks, Angela Wildflower Polk and Clinton Derricks-Carroll, with direction by Ebony Repertory Theatre Artistic Director Israel Hicks.

Pasadena Playhouse announced today that LAUGHING MATTERS, a world premiere musical featuring a book and lyrics by Iris Rainer Dart (author of the international best-selling novel 'Beaches'), music by Mike Stoller (Smokey Joe's Café) and Artie Butler (Feelin' Alright by Joe Cocker), and directed by Leonard Foglia (Broadway's Thurgood starring Laurence Fishburne), will be the final production of the 2009 Season.

The Ebony Repertory Theatre is proud to announce casting for the Los Angeles premiere of CROWNS, adapted by Regina Taylor from the book by Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry. Debuting as a co-production with Pasadena Playhouse, the show will star Emmy® nominee Paula Kelly, Suzzanne Douglas, Dawnn Lewis, Ann Weldon, Sharon Catherine Blanks, Angela Wildflower Polk and Clinton Derricks-Carroll, with direction by Ebony Repertory Theatre Artistic Director Israel Hicks.

Crowns is back in town, and with direction and choreography by Kenneth Lee Roberson (Broadway's Avenue Q, Arena's Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill) and musical direction by Grammy nominee e'Marcus Harper, this soulful musical will be bigger than ever in the Lincoln Theatre. Arena favorites Marva Hicks (The Women of Brewster Place) and E. Faye Butler (Dinah Was, Ain't Misbehavin') are joined by NaTasha Yvette Williams (Broadway's The Color Purple), Mary Millben, Kara Tameika Watkins, Phillip Boykin and Zurin Villanueva. Howard University student Villanueva was discovered in Arena's January 'Finding Yolanda' one-day casting search, and this production marks her debut professional performance.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) will restart its summer theatre, the Nutmeg Summer Series, by presenting the hit musical show Crowns June 11 - 21 in the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, Storrs. Tickets go on sale March 30. For tickets and information, call 860-486-4226 or visit www.crt.uconn.edu.

Crowns is back in town, and with direction and choreography by Kenneth Lee Roberson (Broadway's Avenue Q, Arena's Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill) and musical direction by Grammy nominee e'Marcus Harper, this soulful musical will be bigger than ever in the Lincoln Theatre. Arena favorites Marva Hicks (The Women of Brewster Place) and E. Faye Butler (Dinah Was, Ain't Misbehavin') are joined by NaTasha Yvette Williams (Broadway's The Color Purple), Mary Millben, Kara Tameika Watkins, Phillip Boykin and Zurin Villanueva. Howard University student Villanueva was discovered in Arena's January 'Finding Yolanda' one-day casting search, and this production marks her debut professional performance.

Broadway's most talked about new musical and the biggest Tony Award-winner in years is coming to Cleveland. Spring Awakening, the 8-time Tony Award? winning Broadway musical, will open at PlayhouseSquare's PalaceTheatre and play for 16 performances, March 3-15. Spring Awakening is part of the KeyBank Broadway Series at PlayhouseSquare. Spring Awakening swept the 2007 Tony Awards? winning eight out of its eleven nominations, including Best Musical, Best Director (Michael Mayer), Best Book (Steven Sater), Best Choreography (Bill T. Jones), Best Orchestrations (Duncan Sheik), Best Lighting Design (Kevin Adams), Best Featured Actor (John Gallagher Jr.).

TWEED Theaterworks and God's Love We Deliver are excited to announce that Caroline Rhea, Robert La Fosse as Isadora Duncan, Frank DeCaro and Gina Vitro's Flopera! will be joining the already stellar line up at FOLLY: The Grand Street Follies 2009, being held at Abrons Arts Center on Friday February 27 and Saturday February 28.

TWEED TheaterWorks, in association with Robbi Kearns, will bring back the vaudeville Follies when such beloved artists as Rufus Wainwright, Lypsinka, Jackie Hoffman, Julie Halston, David Ilku, Brenda Bergman and Lady Bunny participate in 'FOLLY: The Grand Street Folles, 2009,' a fundraiser for God's Love We Deliver and TWEED Theaterworks on February 27 and 28, 2009 at 8pm at the Abrons Arts Center (466 Grand St.) in Manhattan. 'FOLLY: The Grand Street Follies, 2009', inspired by the follies of the 20's -- but billed as a 'Vaudeville for the New Depression' -- will be an 'old school' vaudeville show featuring live acts: comedy, intriguing skits, unusual musical numbers, spectacle extravaganzas and more than a few surprises.

TWEED Theaterworks and God's Love We Deliver are excited to announce that Caroline Rhea, Robert La Fosse as Isadora Duncan, Frank DeCaro and Gina Vitro's Flopera! will be joining the already stellar line up at FOLLY: The Grand Street Follies 2009, being held at Abrons Arts Center on Friday February 27 and Saturday February 28.

TWEED TheaterWorks, in association with Robbi Kearns, will bring back the vaudeville Follies when such beloved artists as Rufus Wainwright, Lypsinka, Jackie Hoffman, Julie Halston, David Ilku, Brenda Bergman and Lady Bunny participate in 'FOLLY: The Grand Street Folles, 2009,' a fundraiser for God's Love We Deliver and TWEED Theaterworks on February 27 and 28, 2009 at 8pm at the Abrons Arts Center (466 Grand St.) in Manhattan. 'FOLLY: The Grand Street Follies, 2009', inspired by the follies of the 20's -- but billed as a 'Vaudeville for the New Depression' -- will be an 'old school' vaudeville show featuring live acts: comedy, intriguing skits, unusual musical numbers, spectacle extravaganzas and more than a few surprises.

Broadway's most talked about new musical and the biggest Tony Award?-winner in years is coming to the Fabulous Fox Theatre in St. Louis. Spring Awakening, the 8-time Tony Award? winning Broadway musical, will play a two-week engagement from February 10-22, 2009. Curtain times for the U.S. Bank Broadway Series presentation are Tuesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 & 8 p.m.; Sunday, February 15 at 2 & 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, February 22 at 2 p.m. There is also a weekday matinee on Thursday, February 19 at 1 p.m.

Broadway's most talked about new musical and the biggest Tony Award-winner in years is coming to Cleveland. Spring Awakening, the 8-time Tony Award? winning Broadway musical, will open at PlayhouseSquare's PalaceTheatre and play for 16 performances, March 3-15. Spring Awakening is part of the KeyBank Broadway Series at PlayhouseSquare. Spring Awakening swept the 2007 Tony Awards? winning eight out of its eleven nominations, including Best Musical, Best Director (Michael Mayer), Best Book (Steven Sater), Best Choreography (Bill T. Jones), Best Orchestrations (Duncan Sheik), Best Lighting Design (Kevin Adams), Best Featured Actor (John Gallagher Jr.).

Broadway's most talked about new musical and the biggest Tony Award?-winner in years is coming to the Fabulous Fox Theatre in St. Louis. Spring Awakening, the 8-time Tony Award? winning Broadway musical, will play a two-week engagement from February 10-22, 2009. Curtain times for the U.S. Bank Broadway Series presentation are Tuesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 & 8 p.m.; Sunday, February 15 at 2 & 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, February 22 at 2 p.m. There is also a weekday matinee on Thursday, February 19 at 1 p.m.

Arena Stage will allow an audience to watch the first round of auditions to fill a role in the spring revival of 'Crowns'. The show will run March 27-April 26 at the Lincoln Theater. Arena is searching for an African American woman between the ages of 16-24 who can act, sing, and dance. No previous professional experience is required.

Arena Stage will allow an audience to watch the first round of auditions to fill a role in the spring revival of 'Crowns'. The show will run March 27-April 26 at the Lincoln Theater. Arena is searching for an African American woman between the ages of 16-24 who can act, sing, and dance. No previous professional experience is required.

In Regina Taylor's musical Crowns, Yolanda is a young woman who faces a change in her life and through it finds her true promise and identity. Arena Stage has decided to change the life of one lucky, local talent by opening auditions to the D.C. area for the role of Yolanda in the theater's upcoming production of Crowns. The Finding Yolanda Casting Search will be an all-day event on Saturday, January 3, 2009 from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Theatre (1215 U Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009).