Olympia Dukakis News

Kacey Ainsworth (Annelle), Isla Blair (M'Lynn), Cheryl Campbell (Ouiser), Cherie Lunghi (Clairee), Sadie Pickering (Shelby) and Denise Welch (Truvy) comprise the cast for the National Tour of Steel Magnolias, written by Robert Harling and directed by David Gilmore. Steel Magnolias is being produced by David Ian Productions.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company continues its 2011-2012 Season with the return of Ethan McSweeny (The Merchant of Venice, The Persians, Ion, Major Barbara) directing Shakespeare's romantic comedy Much Ado About Nothing.

On Monday, November 14, Sonnet Repertory Theatre hosted its Tenth Annual Benefit and Cabaret. The event brought together a diverse and talented group of performers and composers at Joe's Pub to honor award-winning director and teacher, Gerald Freedman. Celebrating Freedman's career, this evening featured some of Broadway's greatest talents and legends, including Brian d'Arcy James, Jennifer Ferrin, Penny Fuller, Hal Holbrook, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Jeremy Jordan, Kevin Kline, Patti LuPone, Terrence Mann, John Mauceri, Estelle Parsons, Austin Pendleton, Bryce Pinkham,Wesley Taylor, Alfred Uhry, Price Waldman, and Emily Young, and including special video tributes by Olympia Dukakis and Chita Rivera. BroadwayWorld was on hand for the concert and brings you full photo coverage below!

We'll have photo coverage up shortly, but couldn't resist bringing you a quick preview 'Freeze Frame' from Sonnet Repertory Theatre's Tenth Annual Benefit and Cabaret on Monday, November 14 of Patti LuPone and Kevin Kline.

Sonnet Repertory Theatre will present their Tenth Annual Benefit and Cabaret on Monday, November 14, bringing together a diverse and talented group of performers and composers at Joe's Pub to honor award-winning director and teacher, Gerald Freedman.

With the title Vigil what should one expect? And its graphic with Olympia Dukakis framed by the parameters of a coffin? Death, most assuredly. But will it be funny? Vigil... Waiting For Godot comes to mind. Well, if it weren't for its two actors cavorting and acting silly, that play's tediousness might turn its audience to stone. As it turns out, Vigil's first act goes on and on as well... with Grace (Olympia Dukakis) saying nothing and Kemp (Marco Barricelli) waiting super impatiently for her to die. He's her nephew and hasn't seen her for thirty years. He's come back to care for her unwillingly at her request, and he's left his job with no money and is very unhappy. Once he starts talking about himself, we learn that he has always been unhappy... since childhood. He considers life stupid and pointless. What doesn't appear negative to him? As he looks from Grace's loft apartment window, he sees a crippled man with a wooden leg and makes fun of his zest for living, as he hops along. Sad fellow, this Kemp. As in most black comedies, there's a normal situation which somehow turns abnormal and very, very sour. If it's already sour, than more so. Events, usually queer, occur, as if out of the blue, that provoke tremendous over-the-top laughs. Being a black comedy, Vigil is no exception. It's dark humor is infectious, but as playwright Panych questions how long Kemp will last, he puts his audience at the mercy of this whole scenario as well, and that does create some painstaking anxiety. Will she die? Or more agonizingly when will she say something? Vigil is not an easy pill to digest.

Closing the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum 2011 season is the wickedly funny 'Vigil,' a dark comedy written and directed by Morris Panych and featuring Marco Barricelli and Academy Award-winner Olympia Dukakis, through December 18. Check out photos from opening night below!

HERO Theatre presents a benefit reading of 'Another Part of the House' on Monday November 7, 2011, 7:30PM at the New Ohio Theatre, 154 Christopher Street, New York City, the second in the company's reading series.

After debuting on Broadway in an all-time classic, the musical star has done three world premieres.

Sonnet Repertory Theatre will present their Tenth Annual Benefit and Cabaret on Monday, November 14, bringing together a diverse and talented group of performers and composers at Joe's Pub to honor award-winning director and teacher, Gerald Freedman.

Ethan Hawke, Drew Barrymore, Cher, Ralph Meeker, and Betty Hutton topline a roster of unusual cinema pairings

Kacey Ainsworth (Annelle), Isla Blair (M'Lynn), Cheryl Campbell (Ouiser), Cherie Lunghi (Clairee), Sadie Pickering (Shelby) and Denise Welch (Truvy) comprise the cast for the National Tour of Steel Magnolias, written by Robert Harling and directed by David Gilmore.

HERO Theatre presents a benefit reading of 'Another Part of the House' on Monday November 7, 2011, 7:30PM at the New Ohio Theatre, 154 Christopher Street, New York City, the second in the company's reading series.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company continues its 2011-2012 Season with the return of Ethan McSweeny (The Merchant of Venice, The Persians, Ion, Major Barbara) directing Shakespeare's romantic comedy Much Ado About Nothing.

Ethan Hawke, Drew Barrymore, Cher, Ralph Meeker, and Betty Hutton topline a roster of unusual cinema pairings

The fifth annual New York City Greek Film Festival debuts with a screening of My Sweet Canary and a live concert at the Center for Jewish History on Sunday, October 16. Over a period of twelve evenings, nine films will be shown at venues around New York City, including the Rubin Museum, the Museum of Moving Image, Auditorium on Broadway, the SVA Theater in Chelsea, and the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts.