Philip Seymour Hoffman News

On Monday, June 29, Goodman Theatre Outgoing Board Chairman Shawn M. Donnelley and Artistic Director Robert Falls were honored with stars bearing their names as part of the Goodman's 'Walkway of Stars.' The stars were presented in appreciation and gratitude for their achievements and service to the theater, and commemorated Donnelley's leadership gift of $1 million to Goodman Theatre's endowment. A ribbon cutting and unveiling of the two stars followed brief remarks by Executive Director Roche Schulfer during an afternoon ceremony on the theater's black granite entryway beneath the 73-foot Goodman marquee at 170 North Dearborn Street. Present were members of the Goodman's Board of Trustees as well as friends of the theater, including: Chairman-Elect Patricia Cox; Goodman Resident Artistic Associate Henry Godinez; Academy Award-nominated playwright José Rivera; Goodman Trustees Sherry Barrat of Northern Trust, Ruth Ann Gillis of Exelon Corporation, Vikki Hood of Kirkland & Ellis; Goodman Scenemakers Council members Shannon Kinsella and Cheryl McPhilimy; Premiere Society Donors Robert Kohl and Clark Pellett; and classics scholar Dr. Christopher Kelly, Donnelley's husband.

Nederlander Alliances, LLC and Pittsburgh CLO, co-producers and founding partners of The National High School Musical Theater Awards, presented the first annual Jimmy Awards in a ceremony held last night at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, New York University. The Jimmy Award is named in honor of legendary Broadway theater owner and producer James M. Nederlander. The award features an illustration of James M. Nederlander drawn by world renowned artist Al Hirschfeld.

TheatreWorks New Milford will present the powerful, Tony Award- and Pulitzer Award-winning drama, DOUBT: A PARABLE, by John Patrick Shanley. The production opens July 10 for a four-week run.

Pittsburgh CLO and Nederlander Alliances, LLC. will present The , celebrating excellence in high school musical theater programs nationally, at Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, NYU (566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South) on Monday, June 29 at 7:30 p.m.

Today Goodman Theatre announced a change in its upcoming 2009/2010 season lineup. Artistic Director Robert Falls has canceled the previously scheduled Joan D'Arc, directed by Aida Karic, and in its place selected Stoop Stories, an explosive solo piece by Dael Orlandersmith. A Chicago premiere, Stoop Stories will run September 11 - October 11 in the Goodman's 400-seat flexible Owen Bruner Theatre.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) announced today that the 2009 Summer Gala will honor entertainment executive and longtime board member Susan Lyne and acclaimed director Mike Nichols for their outstanding commitment to the institution. The Gala will take place on Thursday, June 25 at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park on the opening night of TWELFTH NIGHT, the first production of the 2009 Shakespeare in the Park summer season.

South Ark Stage and kef productions will present the World Premiere of Lyric is Waiting by Michael Puzzo, directed by Adam Fitzgerald. This production will begin Thursday, July 30; Opening on Sunday, August 2 and will run through August 22, 2009 and take place at The Irish Repertory Theatre.

For the fifth consecutive summer, Goodman Theatre welcomes young people from the Chicagoland area as participants in its General Theater Studies program (GTS), a free, six week intensive introduction to the theater arts.

Goodman Theatre's Board of Trustees proudly announces Patricia Cox as the new Chairman-Elect. Cox, whose involvement with the Goodman spans two decades, is currently its Vice Chairman. A founding member of Chicago's legendary St. Nicholas Theatre Company (with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet and actors William H. Macy and Stephen Schachter), Cox was among the city's first performing arts marketing, development and management leaders to emerge under the late, great Lyric Opera impresario Danny Newman. She has since worked with and consulted for a wide range of not-for-profit arts organizations in Chicago and across the country. Cox will assume chairmanship in the fall, as current Chairman Shawn M. Donnelley concludes her two-year tenure.

'Hooray for Joey Slotnick!' Director Henry Wishcamper has tapped Chicago native Joey Slotnick for the lead role of the African explorer 'Captain Jeffrey T. Spaulding'-the heightened vaudevillian persona created by Groucho Marx for the 1929 stage and screen original-in Goodman Theatre's season opening musical Animal Crackers, written by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, with music and lyrics by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby.

GOD OF CARNAGE will mark its 100th performance on Broadway at the Jacobs Theatre tonight, Wednesday, June 17.

The Alchemy Theatre, in association with LAByrinth Theater Company, presents 'Sweet Storm' by Scott Hudson, who was awarded the Daryl Roth 2009 Creative Spirit Award, Off Broadway at The Kirk Theatre (Theatre Row), 410 West 42nd Street, NYC. Padraic Lillis will direct the new play that features Jamie Dunn and Eric T. Miller.

The Alchemy Theatre, in association with LAByrinth Theater Company, presents 'Sweet Storm' by Scott Hudson, who was awarded the Daryl Roth 2009 Creative Spirit Award, Off Broadway at The Kirk Theatre (Theatre Row), 410 West 42nd Street, NYC.

The Alchemy Theatre, in association with LAByrinth Theater, presents 'Sweet Storm' by Scott Hudson, Off Broadway at The Kirk Theatre (Theatre Row), 410 West 42nd Street, NYC. Padraic Lillis will direct the new play that features Jamie Dunn and Eric T. Miller. Previews begin on June 11 and the opening will be Wednesday, June 17 at 7 pm. The Scenic & Costume Designer is Lea Umberger; the Lighting Designer is Sarah Sidman and the Sound Designer is Elizabeth Rhodes.

Vassar & New York Stage and Film's Powerhouse Theater announces the cast for the first of three Mainstage productions of the 25th anniversary season: Ninety, by Joanna Murray-Smith, directed by Maria Mileaf, beginning performances June 30 and running through July 12, and new additions to the star-filled line-up for the 25th anniversary gala benefit, 'Silver Celebration under the Stars,' June 27.

LAByrinth Theater Company (John Ortiz, Artistic Director; Philip Seymour Hoffman, Co-Artistic Director; John Gould Rubin, Co-Artistic & Executive Director) will present a one-night-only Benefit event featuring short plays and a dance party on June 16, 2009 at St. Paul's Hall (Columbus Avenue at 59th Street). All proceeds will benefit LAByrinth Theater Company.

Closing Aurora Theatre Company's 17th season is the Bay Area Premiere of Bob Glaudini's (A View from 151st Street) Off-Broadway hit JACK GOES BOATING. Bay Area theater veteran Joy Carlin (Hysteria, Bosoms and Neglect, The Price) helms this quirky romantic comedy, featuring Amanda Duarte, Gabriel Marin, Beth Wilmurt, and Danny Wolohan. JACK GOES BOATING plays at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley June 12 through July 19

The Alchemy Theatre, in association with LAByrinth Theater, presents 'Sweet Storm' by Scott Hudson, Off Broadway at The Kirk Theatre (Theatre Row), 410 West 42nd Street, NYC. Padraic Lillis will direct the new play that features Jamie Dunn and Eric T. Miller. Previews begin on June 11 and the opening will be Wednesday, June 17 at 7 pm. The Scenic & Costume Designer is Lea Umberger; the Lighting Designer is Sarah Sidman and the Sound Designer is Elizabeth Rhodes.

Goodman Theatre is the proud recipient of an unprecedented $275,000 gift from the Shubert Foundation, marking the largest annual general operating support grant in the theater's 84-year history. The grant, which represents a $35,000 increase for the Goodman over last season, is part of a record $17.6 million funding that the Shubert Foundation announced for not-for-profit companies in 2009.

BroadwayWorld Congratulates Marcia Gay Harden, 2009 Tony Award Winner, 'Best Leading Actress in a Play'