Orson Welles News

Coming up next off-Broadway - Calderon's Life Is A Dream, directed by Matthew Rauch and starring Steven Boyer, Clifton Duncan, Zoe Kazan, Ismenia Mendes, Patrick Page, Jay O. Sanders, Thom Sesma, Nick Westrate, and more on Monday, February 2nd at SoHo Playhouse. Plus, it's your last chance to see Red Bull Theater's finale of its three-part series in collaboration with the Shakespeare Society: Shakespeare and the Jacobeans on Film. See John Ford's 'TIS PITY SHE'S A WHORE, a film by Roland Joffe, on Sunday, January 25th at the SVA Theatre.

Kids and their adult friends will love the WST for Kids' production of Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fair(l)y (stoopid) Tales. Based on the book by Jon Scieszka, this hour-long musical comedy brings fairytale stories to life at Walnut Street Theatre January 31st through February 8th, 2015.

'Star Trek' alumni will gather for a one-night only benefit performance of Orson Welles' iconic 1938 radio drama, WAR OF THE WORLDS at 8 PM tonight, January 17, 2015.

Jean-Claude Baker, owner of Chez Josephine, passed away earlier this morning at the age of 71. Chez Josephine is a French restaurant that is well-known amongst the Broadway community and was referred to as a 'Cocktail of human beings' by Baker.

Silver Spring Stage presents Orson's Shadow by Austin Pendleton, directed and produced by Seth Ghitelman, which draws back the curtain on a fascinating and witty portrayal of theater titans jockeying for control while rehearsing a new play. Orson's Shadow, the area community theater premiere, will perform weekends tonight, January 9 to January 31, 2015.

This American Blonde Actress and Mississippi Mud Productions announce the return of SHARON TATE IN HEAVEN to Los Angeles January 24-25 for two shows only at the famed Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute's Marilyn Monroe Theatre. It is a 'birthday' tour of Sharon Tate in Heaven in LA, coinciding with Sharon Tate's birthday (b. January 24, 1943). It includes new material inspired by the last LA tour. Written and performed by This American Blonde Actress, Jen Danby (THE BLONDE BOMBSHELL PROJECT: MARILYN MONROE, Nina in SEAGULL69, an adaptation by Mississippi Mud of Chekhov's SEAGULL set in LA in summer 1969), and developed by research into videos, virtual explorations, books, pictures, interviews, films, and trekking through LA, it's a celebration of love and a Valentine. SHARON TATE IN HEAVEN is a playful and tender one-woman odyssey set as an imagined TV interview in Heaven.

'Star Trek' alumni will gather for a one-night only benefit performance of Orson Welles' iconic 1938 radio drama, WAR OF THE WORLDS at 8 PM on January 17, 2015.

Silver Spring Stage presents Orson's Shadow by Austin Pendleton, directed and produced by Seth Ghitelman, which draws back the curtain on a fascinating and witty portrayal of theater titans jockeying for control while rehearsing a new play. Orson's Shadow, the area community theater premiere, will perform weekends January 9 to January 31, 2015.

Today in 1938, The Cradle Will Rock opened at the Windsor Theatre. Originally a part of the Federal Theatre Project, it was directed by Orson Welles, and produced by John Houseman. The show was recorded and released on seven 78-rpm discs in 1938, making it the first cast album recording. Following the impromptu opening and a brief run at the Venice Theatre (later renamed the New Century Theatre) in July 1937, the production reopened on January 3, 1938, at the Windsor Theatre under the auspices of the new Mercury Theatre Company. It played a total of 108 performances.

Deep Dish Theater will present a developmental workshop of Native, a new play written by Ian Finley, January 14-18. Directed by Serena Ebhardt, the workshop continues the company's 14th season at University Mall.

American Symphony Orchestra presents the play and the opera THE LONG CHRISTMAS DINNER at Alice Tully Hall tonight, December 19, 2014.

As my hand was turning to mincemeat while writing personal notes in Christmas card after Christmas card, I persevered, knowing that at the end of my travails there would be a reward: A much anticipated performance of Theatre Memphis' annual 'gift' to Memphis, Charles Dickens' venerable A CHRISTMAS CAROL. I must admit: I have not attended every performance of that classic since its inception. I have, however, infrequently stopped to hang my wreath at its door; and I've seen some fine 'Ebeneezers' over the years (I recall a former teaching colleague, Tom Ford, offering a tight, clipped interpretation and, of course, one of the best and most frequent of the actors donning those tattered gloves, Memphis acting favorite Barry Fuller). As I wrote card after card, I began to think about all the other interpretations of A CHRISTMAS CAROL that I have encountered through the years - Seymour Hicks; Reginald Owen (in the role MGM intended for an ailing Lionel Barrymore, who had become famous for his radio performance and who would have, no doubt, been superior; a not-all-that-bad consolation prize was his equally tight-fisted 'Mr. Potter' in Frank Capra's IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE); Orson Welles (in a Mercury Theatre radio performance); Sir Ralph Richardson (a beautiful audio recording); Alastair Sim (in the early 1950's British film and offering my favorite interpretation of the role; Danny Peary, in his fascinating ALTERNATE OSCARS, selects him as Best Actor for that performance); and, certainly, George C. Scott, in what was considered to be the version to end all versions. (And does anyone recall Jim Backus' 'Mr. Magoo' in a delightful animated musical television special back in the 1960's?)

Emmy nominee, Jason Ritter ("Parenthood"), star of NBC's THE EVENT and FREDDY VS. JASON has joined the cast of a one-night only benefit performance of Orson Welles' iconic 1938 radio drama, WAR OF THE WORLDS at 8 PM on January 17, 2015.

Red Bull Theater today announced a new three-part collaboration with the Shakespeare Society exploring Shakespeare and the Jacobeans on Film. The series includes a Shakespeare Society major member event (open to the public) and two film screenings. All three events will be held at the SVA Theatre (333 West 23rd Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues) part of the School of Visual Arts. For more information and tickets, visit RedBullTheater.com

Socrates in the City presented a very special onstage interview with legendary TV personality, Dick Cavett, December 3rd at W83 Space in Manhattan. The interview, conducted by bestselling author and founder of Socrates in the City, Eric Metaxas, focused on Cavett's new book Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic Moments and Assorted Hijinks.

Actors Luke Wilson (Old School, The Royal Tenenbaums) and Imogen Poots (The Look of Love) are set to star in the new SHOWTIME one-hour comedy pilot ROADIES

American Symphony Orchestra presents the play and the opera THE LONG CHRISTMAS DINNER at Alice Tully Hall on December 19, 2014. This will be the first time that Thornton Wilder's one-act play and Paul Hindemith's one-act opera will be performed together in the United States.

Tonight (Wednesday) at 7 PM, Socrates in the City will present a very special onstage interview with legendary TV personality and star of Broadway's INTO THE WOODS and THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW, Dick Cavett, at W83, 150 West 83rd Street (between Columbus & Amsterdam Ave.) The interview, conducted by bestselling author and founder of Socrates in the City, Eric Metaxas, will focus on Cavett's new book BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: CONVERSATIONS, MAGIC MOMENTS AND ASSORTED HIJINKS.

At the end, the audience for this show is pulled not merely into the studio but into Bedford Falls, as the stage snow falls not only on the characters in the story set there but on the performers in the studio and on the audience as well. It is a perfectly magical double fourth-wall violation. Indeed, to state what must already be obvious, this whole show is perfectly magical.

On Wednesday, December 3rd at 7 PM, Socrates in the City will present a very special onstage interview with legendary television personality and New York Times columnist Dick Cavett at W83, 150 West 83rd Street (between Columbus & Amsterdam Ave.) The interview, conducted by bestselling author and founder of Socrates in the City, Eric Metaxas, will focus on Cavett's new book Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic Moments and Assorted Hijinks.