Michael Mayer News

Deadline reports that Tony Award winning director Michael Mayer has signed on to helm the upcoming pilot HATFIELDS & MCCOYS for the NBC network. The project, created by John Glenn, is produced by Charlize Theron, Dawn Parouse Olmstead, Beau Flynn and ABC Studios.

According to SXSW's 2013 website, the documentary film BROADWAY IDIOT, which follows the musical AMERICAN IDIOT's journey to Broadway, will have its World Premiere at this year's film festival.

Theatre fans will once again have the opportunity to experience some of the most acclaimed shows offered on Broadway without leaving Atlanta. Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Atlanta is set to bring another season of the hottest musicals and first-rate Broadway performances to the historic Fox Theatre.

The Blank Theatre's Young Playwrights Festival is seeking submissions nationwide from playwrights 19 years of age and younger. The submission deadline is March 15, 2013. Winning plays will be presented by professional actors and directors in June, 2013 at the Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood, CA.

Full disclosure: I'm not fond of updating operas. Most of them simply don't work, because the directors appear to have a disdain for the art form or, at least, for the particular opera they're staging. They assume that trashing 'Un Ballo in Maschera,' 'Don Giovanni' or 'La Sonnambula' is the only way to get anyone under 50 into an opera house. On the other hand, Michael Mayer, the Broadway director best known for his work on the musical 'Spring Awakening,' seems to actually like opera and is making his splendid Metropolitan Opera debut with the bold and brassy new production of Verdi's RIGOLETTO, which opened on January 28.

Verdi's Shakespearean tragedy OTELLO starring Johan Botha in the title role and Renee Fleming as Otello's innocent wife, Desdemona, airs on GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET Sunday, February 24 at 12 noon on PBS (check local listings).

The Gexa Energy Broadway at the Hobby Center 2013-2014 season, announced today, brings some of Broadway's biggest hits to Houston.

Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer will make his Met debut with a new production of Verdi's Rigoletto, in a staging that moves the opera's tragic events from a decadent 16th-century Italian court to the glitzy, depraved setting of the Las Vegas strip circa 1960.

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 Broadway's brightest stars tonight, January 28, 2013 at The Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Fredrick P. Rose Hall (Broadway & 60th Street).

Today, January 28, the Arnold & Marie Schwartz Gallery Met will open George Condo'sJesters, presented in conjunction with the new Metropolitan Opera production of Rigoletto. Condo has created 9 original ink-on-paper drawings of jesters for the show, which will be on display through May 11. The Met's new production of Rigoletto, Verdi's opera about a court jester whose life unravels after his insults go too far, will premiere today, January 28.

On Monday, January 28, the Arnold & Marie Schwartz Gallery Met will open George Condo'sJesters, presented in conjunction with the new Metropolitan Opera production of Rigoletto. Condo has created 9 original ink-on-paper drawings of jesters for the show, which will be on display through May 11. The Met's new production of Rigoletto, Verdi's opera about a court jester whose life unravels after his insults go too far, will premiere January 28.

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) presents its annual 2013 Spring Gala "A Celebration of Your Favorites" emceed by Alan Cumming (Cabaret) on Monday, March 11th, 2013 at the Hammerstein Ballroom (311 West 34th Street, NYC). The evening will be a celebration of the company's artistic achievements under Artistic Director Todd Haimes' 30 years of leadership and the future ahead.

Broadway in Austin at Texas Performing Arts has announced an amazing 2013-2014 Season with four Austin premieres and two all-time favorites.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS' Jurnee Smollett has officially landed a three-episode arc on NBC's freshman drama DO NO HARM, BET has reported.

Angelinos looking for a unique and satisfying "family-friendly-experience" in American music, featuring some of the best talent in the Los Angeles musical theatre world, are in for a real treat! This revised production of YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN will open at Theatre Banshee, Burbank, tonight, January 18th thru February 10th, 2013.

The national tour of GREEN DAY'S AMERICAN IDIOT is coming to the Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh, PA from February 19-24, 2013.

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 Broadway's brightest stars on Monday, January 28, 2013 at The Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Fredrick P. Rose Hall (Broadway & 60th Street).

SPRING AWAKENING, the 8-time Tony Award winning Broadway musical, will be presented by award winning Foothill Music Theatre and Foothill Music Arts, with direction by Milissa Carey, musical direction by Mark Hanson and choreography by Amanda Folena, February 21 - March 10, 2013 at the Lohman Theatre, Foothill College, 12345 El Monte Road, Los Altos Hills. The public may purchase tickets ($10 - $28) either online at www.foothillmusicals.com or by calling (650) 949- 7360. NOTE: SPRING AWAKENING is a powerful coming of age story with mature themes: sexual situations, partial nudity, and strong language.