RD Productions News

Voting is now underway for Chicago! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Artistic Director Molly Smith tackles a unique, in-the-round staging of Bertolt Brecht's powerhouse anti-war play Mother Courage and Her Children at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Iconic stage and screen actress and Academy Award nominee Kathleen Turner returns to Arena Stage following her sold-out run of Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins to make her professional singing debut as the tough-as-nails matriarch Mother Courage-a single mother determined to keep her family alive and her business afloat during war. Using the David Hare translation, the show fuses politics and satire to paint an unforgettable and provocative portrait of war, incorporating more than 10 pieces of original music composed in a rollicking, gypsy-punk style and performed by cast members doubling as musicians. Mother Courage and Her Children runs January 31-March 9, 2014 in the Fichandler Stage.

Playwrights Theatre is currently accepting submissions for the 31st Annual New Jersey Young Playwrights Contest and Festival. Plays are accepted in the following divisions: Elementary (grades 4-6), Junior High (grades 7-9), High School (grades 10-12). Interested young playwrights must submit their plays online at www.njypf.org. High School plays must be received no later than 11:59pm on January 13, 2013. Elementary and Junior High School entries must be received no later than 11:59pm on January 14, 2013.

Voting is now underway for Chicago! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Voting is now underway for Chicago! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Voting is now underway for Chicago! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Voting is now underway for Chicago! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

'There's no cure like travel, to help you unravel the worries of living today.' The cast and crew of the National Tour of Anything Goes recently bid bon voyage to the road as they returned home from their 13 month voyage across North America. Traveling through 22 states, 28 cities and 2 countries, the company helped audience members unravel aboard the S.S. American with plenty of madcap antics and hijinks on the high seas.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater ushers in the 2013/14 Kogod Cradle Series with workshop performances of the local ensemble-driven company dog & pony dc's newest show Toast, a participatory theatrical performance that asks the question: how is devising a play like developing new technology? dog & pony dc returns to Arena Stage following the successful 2012 workshop of their critically acclaimed A Killing Game. The following week, the series continues with a special new cabaret presentation directed by Signature Theatre's Associate Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner entitled The Power of Two, which reunites Arena Stage favorites Nicholas Rodriguez and Eleasha Gamble, who were last seen performing together as Curley and Laurey in Arena Stage's hit production Oklahoma!. Toast runs December 5-8, 2013 and The Power of Two runs December 11-15, 2013 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle.

Jaybird Productions is thrilled to announce the opening and run of a rare event in Toronto community theatre: The All-Female Taming of the Shrew. The show features sixteen talented actresses (many playing multiple roles) in an innovative venue in Toronto's increasingly vibrant east end.

BroadwayWorld.com is proud once again to announce the nominations for the BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards, Chicago's only comprehensive, fan-voted theater award now in its 4th fabulous year. And the Bohemian Theatre Ensemble leads the way, with a whopping 15 nominations overall, including 10 for its summer production of 'Kiss of the Spider Woman.' Chicago Shakespeare Theater is next overall, with 12 nods, spread out over an impressive 7 different productions, including 'Othello: The Remix,' 'Henry VII,' 'The School for Lies' and its Shakespeare in the Parks production of 'The Comedy of Errors,' nominated as Best Theatrical Event.

Jaybird Productions has announced the opening and run of a rare event in Toronto community theatre: The All-Female Taming of the Shrew. The show features sixteen talented actresses (many playing multiple roles) in an innovative venue in Toronto's increasingly vibrant east end.

The Breeders' Cup announced today that more horse power has been added to the excitement and enjoyment of the 30th Breeders' Cup World Championships, with the creation of a star-studded concert in collaboration with Hip Card Productions on Saturday, November 2 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. Songs in the Saddle: The Infield Music Fest will be an all-day celebration that features a talented line-up of notable R&B, bluegrass and indie rock musicians. Scheduled to appear are Kristin Chenoweth, Toni Braxton, Babyface, Macy Gray, Joan Osborne, Dame and Jenny O.

Seasoned thespians Lynn Sherman ('The Lynn Sherman Show,' 'Rent'), Robie Zialcita ('Peter Pan,' 'Sweeney Todd') and Joel Trinidad ('Defending the Caveman,' 'The Graduate') lead the cast of theater company Trumpets' new original musical, 'The Bluebird of Happiness,' based on Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck's 1908 play 'The Blue Bird.'

With the official opening of Eric Coble's dangerous new play The Velocity of Autumn tonight, September 18 at 8:00 p.m. at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, the occasion marks Artistic Director Molly Smith's 25th project to direct for Arena Stage and is the first of three projects she will direct in the 2013/14 season, including Kathleen Turner in Mother Courage and Her Children and the world premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Lawrence Wright's Camp David.Building on 15 years with the company, Smith is steadfast in her focus on American plays and artists.

The Creative Arts Awards portion of the 65th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards took place on September 15 in Los Angeles, and the June 2013 broadcast of the 67th Annual Tony Awards was honored with four Primetime Emmy Awards.

The Tony Awards telecast took home four Emmys including Outstanding Special Class Program, Outstanding Musical Direction and Outstanding Musics and Lyrics for 'If I Had Time' with lyrics by Adam Schlesinger and music by David Javerbaum.

The Velocity of Autumn, a new two-character play from Cleveland-based playwright Eric Coble, opens at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater under the direction of Artistic Director Molly Smith and by special arrangement with HOP Theatricals, LLC.

According to an inside source, Stephen Brian Patterson has taken over as 'Captain Walker' in TOMMY at the Stratford Festival. Jeremy Kushnier left the role on August 4. Patterson joins Robert Markus and Paul Nolan in Des McAnuff's new Stratford Festival rock musical, The Who's Tommy, at the Avon Theatre in Ontario through October 19.