Molly Smith News

Previews begin November 10th, but until then Manhattan Theatre Club offers these over-the-top designs to get playgoers in the mood.

'If life is a bowl of cherries, what am I doing in the pits?' Erma Bombeck, the award-winning humorist and syndicated columnist known for her wry and humorous take on family life, is the subject of the newest project from twin-sister journalists and playwrights Allison Engel and Margaret Engel -- the world-premiere drama ERMA BOMBECK: AT WIT'S END debuting at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. The Engels reunite with director David Esbjornson (Arena Stage's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner) following their collaboration on the smash hit Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins, which starred Kathleen Turner in its celebrated 2012 run at Arena Stage. ERMA BOMBECK: AT WIT'S END now through November 8, 2015 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle. Scroll down for photos from the opening night festivities!

Six-time Grammy Award winner BeBe Winans and Broadway's Motown the Musical director Charles Randolph-Wright will debut the world-premiere American musical Born for This: The BeBe Winans Story at Arena Stage in summer 2016 as part of a co-production with Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. Featuring new music by BeBe, the musical chronicles the early days of his career with sister CeCe Winans and their rise to fame through Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's Praise the Lord network television show.

With over 50 million copies sold worldwide, John Gray's 1992 NY Times Best-Seller, Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus is one of the most read self-help books in the world, helping men and women enrich their personal relationships. Celebrated playwright Eric Coble (Broadway's The Velocity of Autumn) has adapted Gray's principles into a hysterical and inspiring night of theatre called … Men are from Mars -- Woman are from Venus LIVE!  

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen and At-Large Councilmember Elissa Silverman, will work with more than 10 career resources non-profit agencies for the sixth D.C. Career Fair, Friday, October 30 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Mead Center (1101 Sixth St., SW/Waterfront Metro).

Arena Stage announces the 2015/16 programming for Actors Arena, a professional development and community-building forum for experienced D.C.-area actors.

Molly Smith directs her 30th production as Artistic Director of Arena Stage with a gritty and relevant take on the Tony Award-winning musical OLIVER!, blending the chaotic worlds of 19th-century Victorian London with 2015 London. Smith's new in-the-round staging infuses a modern edge to the classic musical about an innocent orphan thrown into the dark world of double-dealing thieves and conmen, highlighting the disparity between classes and dangerous life on London's streets today. Featuring a remarkable score including 'You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two,' 'Consider Yourself,' 'Where is Love?' and 'Food, Glorious Food,' OLIVER! runs October 30, 2015-January 3, 2016 in the Fichandler Stage at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Scroll down for a peek at the cast in costume below!

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater will present the American Voice Award to Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) on Thursday, November 12, 2015 as part of the opening night celebration for the Tony Award-winning musical OLIVER!.

Geva Theatre Center unveils its line-up for the Festival of New Theatre 2015 to be held in the Fielding Nextstage from October 21 - November 1. FONT 2015 is a vibrant and innovative mix of new works by some of the most exciting playwrights from across the country and around the corner and is part of Geva's ongoing commitment to developing and producing new work for the American theatre. 

Consider yourself invited to the theatrical event of the holiday season. Charles Dickens' unforgettable characters burst to life in the Tony Award-winning musical, Oliver! Artistic Director Molly Smith (Fiddler on the Roof) blends the chaotic worlds of Victorian London with 2015 London to infuse a modern edge to the classic story about an innocent orphan living amongst double-dealing thieves and conmen. Bursting with jubilant songs, including 'You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two,' 'Consider Yourself,' 'Where is Love?' and the scrumptious 'Food, Glorious Food,' Oliver! serves up a musical feast for the eyes and ears that will have every theater-lover calling out for 'More!'

Molly Smith directs her 30th production as Artistic Director of Arena Stage with a gritty and relevant take on the Tony Award-winning musical OLIVER!, blending the chaotic worlds of 19th-century Victorian London with 2015 London. Featuring a remarkable score including 'You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two,' 'Consider Yourself,' 'Where is Love?' and 'Food, Glorious Food,' OLIVER! runs October 30, 2015-January 3, 2016 in the Fichandler Stage at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the company in rehearsal below!

The world premiere of Karen Zacarias' DESTINY OF DESIRE runs now through October 18, 2015 at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. BroadwayWorld has photos from the opening night festivities below!

Artists Repertory Theatre names ambitious new play development program Table|Room|Stage (T|R|S). This wide-ranging program is led by Director of New Play Development & Dramaturgy Luan Schooler. Artists Rep welcomes playwright Yussef El Guindi to develop his play The Talented Ones as the first project of this notable program.

Fresh off its world-premiere run in Minneapolis, where Star Tribune declared "Akeelah and the Bee triumphs," Children's Theatre Company's new production about an 11-year-old spelling prodigy comes to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. The show is adapted for the stage by veteran playwright Cheryl L. West (Arena's Pullman Porter Blues, Jar the Floor), who partners with celebrated director Charles Randolph-Wright (director of Broadway's Motown and an inaugural resident playwright with Arena Stage, where he premiered his play Love in Afghanistan). Akeelah and the Bee runs November 13-December 27, 2015 in the Kreeger Theater.

The energy and passion emanating from playwright Karen Zacarías is evident immediately upon meeting, and bodes well for a conversation about a genre of storytelling known for its intensity. Zacarías' new play, DESTINY OF DESIRE, having its world premiere at Arena Stage this month, is inspired by, and crafted in the style of a telenovela, a Latin American style of televised series, and one of the first things I wanted Karen to do as we began our talk, was clarify just what was meant by the term “telenovela,” as a storytelling genre.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, in partnership with the U.S. Embassies in Zagreb, Croatia and Ljubljana, Slovenia, will send three Arena Stage Voices of Now artists to Zagreb, September 12-18, 2015. The U.S. Embassies will invite 25 college-age youth from vulnerable communities across the region for a seven-day workshop, culminating in an original play performed at the Tresnja Theater in Zagreb.

Paula Vogel's complex tale is full of laughter and grief.

Arena Stage Executive Producer Edgar Dobie together with Martha's Table President & CEO Patty Stonesifer announce Martha's Table Feeds The Mind-an innovative collaboration to bring the love of language and joy of reading to District families facing economic challenges through a cross-organization book drive. By engaging its patrons throughout the 2015/16 season, Arena Stage seeks to collect at least 2,400 books to build home libraries for about 200 children served through Martha's Table's Healthy Start program.

Celebrating more than 50 world premiere plays by women at Women's Voices Theater Festival.