Michael Grandage News

The Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year Competition (SSSSPOTY), now in its seventh year, was created to give musical theatre students a platform to showcase their work before graduation.

Dervla Kirwan will star as 'Valerie' in Donmar Warehouse's revival of Conor McPherson's The Weir, which begins rehearsals on March 11, directed by Josie Rourke. Kirwan is joined by Brian Cox, Peter McDonald, Risteard Cooper and Ardal O'Hanlon. The show will open on April 18, 2013.

Owen Teale, Samantha Bond, Oliver Cotton, Sian Thomas and Annabel Scholey have joined previously announced star Zoe Wanamaker in a new production of Peter Nichols' Passion Play, Peter Nichols' celebrated black comedy about love and infidelity, according to the Daily Mail.

Described by The Times as 'hypnotizing, captivating, electrifying', actress, singer and writer Nina Kristofferson brings her one-woman show 'The Billie Holiday Story' to the Charing Cross Theatre on 1 April 2013 for a strictly limited eight-week run. This London engagement follows a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Festival in 2011, and a tour of the UK in 2012, which attracted critical and public acclaim.

MATILDA THE MUSICAL, produced by The Royal Shakespeare Company and The Dodgers, will begin previews tonight, March 4 and open on April 11, 2013 at Broadway's Shubert Theatre (225 West 44th Street). Meet the company of the new musical with videos of them from past productions and roles below!

J.L. 'Lynn' Singleton, President of the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC), has announced PPAC's 36th Anniversary Broadway season and welcome Taco/The White Family Foundation as the returning Broadway Series title sponsor. From the creators of South Park and winner of nine Tony Awards, THE BOOK OF MORMON will play a limited two-week engagement April 28 - May 11, 2014.

The theatre programme for the Manchester International Festival 2013 has been announced. MIF13 commissions include: The Machine, The Old Woman, Macbeth, The Masque of Anarchy and The Rite of Spring.

Red Bull Theater today announced that Derek Smith would join the cast for the American Premiere of a new adaptation of August Strindberg's The Dance of Death by Mike Poulton (Tony Award Nominee for Best Play for Fortune's Fool), directed by Joseph Hardy (Tony Award winner for Best Director for Child's Play).

The Pantages Theatre today reveals its lineup for the 2013-2014 SEASON, a seven-show package. Back by popular demand, THE BOOK OF MORMON which played a record-breaking 12-week run in the fall of 2012 will return for a limited engagement beginning January 21, 2014.

During the ceremony Central's current President Michael Grandage made the presentation and citation in the School's Embassy Theatre.

The first national tour of 'Once,' the Tony Award-winning musical based on the movie of the same name about an Irish street musican and his Czech angel, is headed to Chicago. 'Once' will play the Oriental Theatre (24 W. Randolph St.) for three weeks, beginning Oct. 9.

Peek behind the scenes of Peter and Alice - John Logan's new play which continues the Michael Grandage Company Season at the Noel Coward Theatre. Joining Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw are Olly Alexander, Ruby Bentall,Stefano Braschi, Nicholas Farrell and Derek Riddell. The production follows the critically acclaimed Privates on Parade, and opens on 25 March, with previews from 9 March, and runs until 1 June 2013.

Houston's Theatre fans always anticipate season announcements with bated breath like children awaiting Birthday presents or clamoring to see what Santa Claus has placed under their trees. Theater Under the Stars (TUTS) has a fantastic gift for fans of musical theatre to unwrap today. Their 2013-2014 season is an enthralling and exciting season with a little something for everyone, including Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, We Will Rock You, Wizard of Oz, Evita, Elf and The Little Mermaid.

Red Bull Theater will present the American Premiere of a new adaptation of August Strindberg's The Dance of Death by Mike Poulton (Tony Award Nominee for Best Play for Fortune's Fool), directed by Joseph Hardy (Tony Award winner for Best Director for Child's Play), for a strictly limited engagement beginning April 10th and continuing through May 4th only, at the Lucille Lortel Theater (121 Christopher Street, between Bleecker and Hudson Streets). Opening Night is set for Thursday April 18th.

Red, a drama Josh Logan, will open at the State Theatre in downtown Eustis on February 21 and run through February 24. Called "a visceral exercise in art appreciation" by the New York Times, Red tells the story of artist Mark Rothko, and his commission in 1958 to paint a series of murals for the Four Seasons restaurant in New York. The play explores the heart of a controversial artist and the compromises that must sometimes be made between art and the need to survive. This production features long-time friends and collaborators Terrence Shank and Joel Warren.

Lyric Opera of Chicago and its general director, Anthony Freud, announced the lineup for Lyric's 2013-14 season today. Joseph Calleja, Joyce DiDonato, Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Ana Maria Martinez, Matthew Polenzani, and Patricia Racette are among those headlining the new season's offerings. These comprise 67 performances of eight different operas, beginning October 5, 2013 and concluding March 23, 2014: new productions of Parsifal, La traviata, The Barber of Seville, and Rusalka (Lyric premiere); a revival of Otello; and new-to-Chicago stagings of Madama Butterfly, Die Fledermaus, and La clemenza di Tito. Lyric's music director, Sir Andrew Davis, will lead three operas, and guest conductors Marco Armiliato, Bertrand de Billy and Michele Mariotti will make their house debuts. Additionally, Lyric will present a new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music in the spring of 2014, continuing the company's American Musical Theater Initiative, and Davis will conduct a special Subscriber Appreciation Concert in March featuring Lyric's creative consultant - the star soprano Renee Fleming - with tenor Jonas Kaufmann.

Lyric Opera of Chicago and its general director, Anthony Freud, announced the lineup for Lyric's 2013-14 season today. Joseph Calleja, Joyce DiDonato, Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Ana Maria Martinez, Matthew Polenzani, and Patricia Racette are among those headlining the new season's offerings. These comprise 67 performances of eight different operas, beginning October 5, 2013 and concluding March 23, 2014: new productions of Parsifal, La traviata, The Barber of Seville, and Rusalka (Lyric premiere); a revival of Otello; and new-to-Chicago stagings of Madama Butterfly, Die Fledermaus, and La clemenza di Tito. Lyric's music director, Sir Andrew Davis, will lead three operas, and guest conductors Marco Armiliato, Bertrand de Billy and Michele Mariotti will make their house debuts. Additionally, Lyric will present a new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music in the spring of 2014, continuing the company's American Musical Theater Initiative, and Davis will conduct a special Subscriber Appreciation Concert in March featuring Lyric's creative consultant - the star soprano Renee Fleming - with tenor Jonas Kaufmann.

The Society of London Theatre's 2012 Box Office figures, published today, show that despite unique factors affecting theatregoing in 2012, its members' combined Box Office showed both ticket revenue and attendance figures slightly up compared to 2011.

Following a sell-out run at Chichester Festival Theatre, Private Lives will transfer to the Gielgud theatre this summer with Toby Stephens and Anna Chancellor reprising their starring roles in Noël Coward's classic screwball comedy.