Oscar Wilde News

Williamstown Theatre Festival celebrates the 2012 season's extraordinary artists and audiences as the Festival's 58th season draws to close.

As previously announced, the complete 2012 Williamstown Theatre Festival season closes this weekend, August 19, 2012. This season included Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, a Preview Production of the new musical Far From Heaven, and a new translation of Ivan Turgenev's A Month in the Country on the Main Stage, with Lucy Boyle's The Blue Deep, Neil Simon's Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Bernard Pomerance's The Elephant Man, and Katori Hall's WHADDABLOODCLOT!!! on the Nikos Stage. The season also included a special workshop production of David Byrne's Here Lies Love, which played at nearby MASS MoCA. In the video below, the whole WTF team bids farewell to the 2012 season with a special lip dub featuring over 200 participants. Click below to check it out!

At BroadwayWorld we pride ourselves in showcasing theater content from all corners of the globe. Our regional contributors do an amazing job each day of bringing you the latest theater news in their cities and countries and to acknowledge this, we launched a new weekly column called 'Around BWW: Regional Highlights of the Week'. Read on for our most-read features, interviews, breaking news and more for the week of August 13!

The White Plains Performing Arts Center (WPPAC), a 410-seat professional regional theatre located on the third level of City Center in downtown White Plains; has announced it's 10th Anniversary season consisting of three MAINSTAGE Equity productions and two SPOTLIGHT PRODUCTIONS with all performances held at the White Plains venue.

Classic Theatre presents The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, directed by Allan S. Ross in San Antonio, Texas, now through August 26, 2012.

Bad Habit Productions opens its sixth season, themed "Sex and Politics," with Moises Kaufman's play about the fall from grace of Oscar Wilde, and the social and political ramifications that echo more than a century later.

Mary Moody Northen Theatre, the award-winning producing arm of the St. Edward's University theatre training program, announces its 2012-2013 season.

Yee-haw! It's time to start two-steppin' and boot-scootin' in the aisles, as Signature Theatre kicks off its 2012/13 season with the Tony Award-winning musical comedy The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, beginning performances tonight, August 14.

The Met's popular Summer HD Festival returns for its fourth year on August 25, with ten free outdoor screenings of acclaimed performances from the Met's award-winning Live in HD series. The festival, which more than 40,000 people attended last year, kicks off with a screening of the Met's recent world premiere hit The Enchanted Island, a Baroque pastiche which stars David Daniels, Joyce DiDonato, and Placido Domingo.

PinPuppets Productions will kick off the 16th annual New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC) with THE IMPORTANCE OF DOING ART -- the first of 46 shows to premiere on the opening day of FringeNYC.

Williamstown Theatre Festival Artistic Director Jenny Gersten announced today the opening of the World Premiere of WHADDABLOODCLOT!!! by Olivier Award-winning playwright Katori Hall, beginning performances tonight, August 9, 2012. WHADDABLOODCLOT!!! is the final show to open in Williamstown Theatre Festival's 2012 season.

WaterTower Theatre Producing Artistic Director Terry Martin today announced casting details for The Mystery of Irma Vep which will open the 2012-2013 season. The show stars WaterTower Theatre veterans Regan Adair and Bryan T. Donovan.

Mildred's Umbrella Theater Company and Obsidian Art Space present Museum of Dysfunction V: A SHOWCASE OF SHORTS written by new writers from all over the world and directed and produced by the talented members of Mildred's Umbrella Theater Company and friends. Mildred's Umbrella has chosen the best of the best from more than 200 submissions this year.

Sonnet Repertory Theatre celebrates a decade of producing classic theatre for the modern planet with a world-premiere adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Michael Raver, directed by Quin Gordon. The Picture of Dorian Gray will begin performances tonight, August 9, with an official opening slated for Friday, August 10, at The Studio Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center.

On August 2, 2012, US Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) introduced a Statement for the Congressional Record honoring the life and accomplishments of Gore Vidal. The statement Congressman Cohen made is seen below.

Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd announces the cast and creative team for the Alley Theatre's production of November. November features Alley Theatre Resident Actors Jeffrey Bean as President Charles Smith, James Belcher as The Representative of the National Association of Turkey and Turkey Products, Elizabeth Bunch as Clarice Bernstein, David Rainey as Dwight Grackle, and Todd Waite as Archer Brown. November, by David Mamet and directed by Sanford Robbins, begins performances Friday, August 24, opens officially Wednesday, August 29, and runs through Sunday, September 23 on the Neuhaus Stage.

SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER unjustly substitutes overacting for laughs, and to poor effect. While there are some strong performances that are worth seeing, this production will probably not be remembered as one of The City Theatre's strongest.