Oscar Wilde News

Katie Thompson, star of last season's GIANT, and Bill Connington, star of the upcoming indy feature film ZOMBIE, will join forces for the first time in a glittering evening in the white and gold-gilded ballroom of a private Eastside club, that will serve as the backdrop to the reading of PRIVATE LIVES by theatrical legend Noel Coward. They will be joined by rising cabaret star Jennifer Sheehan, and Broadway's Brian Charles Rooney today, February 12th. The evening is produced by Razors Edge Productions.

Academy Award winner Estelle Parsons returns to the stage in The Velocity of Autumn, an explosive new play by playwright Eric Coble. Tony Award winner Stephen Spinella co-stars in this wickedly funny and poignant story about a 79-year-old artist in a showdown with her family over where she'll spend her remaining years.

Katie Thompson, star of last season's GIANT, and Bill Connington, star of the upcoming indy feature film ZOMBIE, will join forces for the first time in a glittering evening in the white and gold-gilded ballroom of a private Eastside club, that will serve as the backdrop to the reading of PRIVATE LIVES by theatrical legend Noel Coward. They will be joined by rising cabaret star Jennifer Sheehan, and Broadway's Brian Charles Rooney on today, February 12th. The evening is produced by Razors Edge Productions.

Michael Pennington, two-time Olivier Award nominee, an artist of international stature and one of England's greatest classical actors, will play the title role in William Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear directed by Arin Arbus. For the second production in Theatre for a New Audience's inaugural season at its first permanent home, the new Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place in Brooklyn, Mr. Pennington leads a company of 22 actors. King Lear begins previews March 14 for an opening March 27 and a run through May 4.

Pioneer Theatre Company presents the charming Shakespearean comedy Much Ado About Nothing, February 21 through March 8, 2014.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company, recipient of the 2012 Regional Theatre Tony Award, announces a second extension of its current production The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde. The production is directed by Keith Baxter and now plays through March 16, 2014, at the Lansburgh Theatre (450 7th Street NW).

Tonight, February 7 at 5:30pm at The Players, Elements Theatre Company of Orleans, MA will present an original work, Labyrinth: A Legacy of Language, exploring Shakespeare's influence on playwrights through the past four and a half centuries, from Sheridan to Ibsen to Stoppard. The production will be a springboard for a 7:00pm discussion in the ARTS IN CONVERSATION panel series hosted by Elements Theatre Company, on How Shakespeare Humanizes Our Culture: The Transforming Power of His Work. Panelists include:

Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd announces the cast and creative team for the world premiere of a new comedy by Theresa Rebeck, Fool. In Rebeck's new comedy, two kings get together and place a wager on their fools - a jester competition, and the funniest one gets to keep his head. Two evil minions have a lot to say about this, but not as much as the kitchen wench. And what's the queen been up to all night? A dramatical comical farcical tragical play about power, love and laughter, set in a medieval kitchen. Adult Language, Adult Situations, Beheadings.

The Meeting* hosted by Justin Sayre, the acclaimed comedy/variety show, will continue its three-month engagement at JOE'S PUB at The Public Theater on Sunday, February 16 at 9:30 PM with a celebration of stage and screen star Bernadette Peters. After a highly-successful run at 54 Below, the show has returned to its downtown roots for an exciting Winter/spring season. The Meeting* has been called 'delicious and delightfully droll' by The New York Post, and 'hilarious and sardonic' by The Village Voice. A recent story for Slate.com called the evening 'so deliciously icy that it left me shivering with fear and delight.' The February show will feature special guests Karen Mason, Hunter Ryan Herdlicka, Carole J. Bufford, Gabrielle Stravelli, Connor Donahue and Carlo Maria. Tracy Stark serves as Musical Director.

The Wallis has announced that Tony nominee Judy Kuhn (She Loves Me, Chess and Les Miserables) and Tony winner and five-time Emmy nominee John Glover (Love! Valour! Compassion!, 'Smallville') will star in Love, Noel: The Letters and Songs of Noel Coward, devised and written by Coward authority Barry Day, and directed by Jeanie Hackett, who over saw The Antaeus Theatre production of Noel Coward's Tonight at 8:30 and the three-year development of the Antaeus production of Coward's Peace in Our Time. The musical direction and piano accompaniment is by David O. Due to popular demand, additional performances have been added and Love, Noel will now be performed February 14 through 23 in the Lovelace Studio Theater.

The Douglas Morrisson Theatre continues its 2013-2014 season with a world premiere adaptation of Oscar Wilde's 'An Ideal Husband.' Directed by the Douglas Morrisson Theatre's Artistic Director Susan E. Evans, Bay Area playwright Scott Munson's sparkling new adaptation of the 118 year old play in a modern setting features an ensemble of local performers: Myers Clark as Roosevelt, Teddy Spencer as Thomas Goring, Daria Hepps as Laura Chiltern, Craig Souza as Robert Chiltern, Cynthia Lagodzinski as Rosalind Cheveley, Brooke Silva as Tammy Chiltern, Kendall Tieck as Governor Goring, Celia Maurice as Mrs. Markby, Alicia von Kugelgen as Mrs. Marchmont, Beebe Reisman as Mrs. Basildon and Tina Rutsch as Ambassador Nanjac.

The full cast is announced for the UK premiere of Jon Robin Baitz's acclaimed play, Other Desert Cities, opening at The Old Vic on Monday 24 March with previews from Thursday 13 March. Directed by Lindsay Posner, the new production will star Sinead Cusack, Peter Egan, Clare Higgins, Daniel Lapaine and Martha Plimpton.

The Journeyman Theatre Company kicks off their 2014 season on Tuesday February 12 with The Importance of Being Earnest, a Trivial Comedy for Serious People, by Oscar Wilde. The play first appeared in 1895 at the St. James's Theatre in London. The popular play introduces the audience to Jack and Algernon, both eligible bachelors, who adopt fictitious personalities in an attempt to escape obligations placed on them by Victorian society.

On Friday, February 7 at 5:30pm at The Players, Elements Theatre Company of Orleans, MA will present an original work, Labyrinth: A Legacy of Language, exploring Shakespeare's influence on playwrights through the past four and a half centuries, from Sheridan to Ibsen to Stoppard. The production will be a springboard for a 7:00pm discussion in the ARTS IN CONVERSATION panel series hosted by Elements Theatre Company, on How Shakespeare Humanizes Our Culture: The Transforming Power of His Work. Panelists include:

Red Bull Theater presents the Off Broadway revival of Loot by Joe Orton. Red Bull Artistic Director Jesse Bergerdirects a company that includes Rebecca Brooksher (Fay), Eric Martin Brown (Meadows), Jarlath Conroy (McLeavy),Ryan Garbayo (Dennis), Rocco Sisto (Truscott), and Nick Westrate (Hal). Loot has scenic design by Narelle Sissons, costume design by Sara Jean Tosetti, lighting design by Scott Zielinski, and sound design by Brad Berridge. Joan Rivers just visited the show and you can check out photos from backstage below!

Master of Absurd Comedy Christopher Durang blends the characters and themes from Anton Chekhov's dramas in the hilarious Tony Award-winner Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike running March 21 - April 20 at Philadelphia Theatre Company's Suzanne Roberts Theatre (Broad and Lombard Streets). Directed by James J. Christy, the ensemble features Grace Gonglewski, Deirdre Madigan, Kianne Muschett , Clare O'Malley, Alex Shaw, and Kraig Swartz.

Seeing plays such as 'The Importance of Being Earnest' by Oscar Wilde reminds modern theater audiences that they can experience excellent drama even when the play is full of silly words and sillier characters. In fact, many plays, both past and present, use humor in order to communicate a possibly greater, deeper meaning than the dramas of lovelorn romantics and war-torn monarchs can graze.

The Meeting* hosted by Justin Sayre, the acclaimed comedy/variety show, will continue its three-month engagement at JOE'S PUB at The Public Theater on Sunday, February 16 at 9:30 PM with a celebration of stage and screen star Bernadette Peters. After a highly-successful run at 54 Below, the show has returned to its downtown roots for an exciting Winter/spring season. The February show will feature special guests to be announced.

Celebrating its 13th season, the Ensemble of the Romantic Century (ERC) presents Tchaikovsky: None But the Lonely Heart at The Fishman Space in the new BAM Fisher. A fully staged theatrical concert blending striking music, powerful language and biography, Tchaikovsky: None But the Lonely Heart delves into the unconventional 16-year long relationship between one of the great composers of the 19th century and his patroness, Madame von Meck. Written by Eve Wolf and directed by Donald T. Sanders, this evening-length production seamlessly interweaves a dramatic script performed by actor Simon Fortin (Tchaikovsky) and actress Ariel Bock (Madame von Meck) of Shakespeare & Company with live chamber and vocal music performed by violinist Rachel Lee Priday, cellist Adrian Daurov, pianist Eve Wolf and tenor Blake Friedman. Featuring some of Tchaikovsky's epic pieces including Piano Trio in A Minor, Tchaikovsky: None But the Lonely Heart represents some of the composer's balletic works through dance both choreographed and performed by American Ballet Theatre dancer Daniel Mantei.