Robert Falls News

New York's OBIE Award-winning Epic Theatre Ensemble (Zak Berkman, Melissa Friedman, Ron Russell, Founding Executive Directors) today announced the cast and creative team for the New York premiere of Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play (In The Next Room… or the vibrator play) and directed by Mark Wing-Davey (The Singing Forest). The cast will include Brendan Averett, Polly Noonan, Daniel Pearce, Alex Podulke, Keith Reddin, Godfrey L. Simmons Jr., T. Ryder Smith, Felix Solis Jr., Kate Turnbull and Nicole Wiesner.

Liev Schreiber is this year's recipient of the Drama Desk Award for Best Actor in a Play.

The League of Professional Theatre Women (LPTW), a non-profit organization committed to promoting visibility and increasing opportunities for women in the professional theatre, is pleased to recognize the talents of two outstanding women: the Ruth Morley Design Award will be given to Tony Award-winning costume designer Susan Hilferty, and the LPTW Lucille Lortel Award and accompanying grant will be presented to director and actor Rebecca Patterson.

Previews will begin today at Virginia's Signature Theatre for the world premiere musical Sycamore Trees written by Ricky Ian Gordon, the award-winning composer of the opera The Grapes of Wrath and the musicals Dream True and My Life with Albertine. A starry Broadway cast portrays Gordon's own family story - complete with a tough Bronx-born father and former 'Borscht Belt' singer/comedian mother - in a tale of two generations' struggles and triumphs in the decades from World War II through the 1990s.

Signature Theatre, the current recipient of the Tony Award® for Regional Theatre, presents the world premiere musical Sycamore Trees by Ricky Ian Gordon, composer of the acclaimed opera The Grapes of Wrath and the OBIE Award-winning Orpheus and Euridice, as well as the musicals My Life with Albertine and Dream True.

Tonight, Goodman Theatre's Education and Community Engagement department presents a special panel discussion, Too Broken to Reform? How We Can Fix Public Education. Education experts Valerie Hannon and Dr. Tim Knowles, discuss the current state of Chicago school systems, while engaging the community in a call to action for education reform.

Dog & Pony Theatre Company, in association with Chicago DCA Theater, presents the world premiere of DEAD LETTER OFFICE. The production, conceived by Ben Viccellio, written by Philip Dawkins, and directed by Dieterich Gray, comes to Chicago DCA's Storefront Theater at 66 E. Randolph Street, from June 9 to July 18, 2010.

16th Street Theater presents the national hit that started in Chicago for a 4-week run May 6-29, 2010 with a press opening Thursday, May 6 at 7:30 PM at the Berwyn Cultural Center, 6420 16th Street in Berwyn.

Artistic Director Robert Falls announced today that the Chicago premiere of the Tony Award-winning God of Carnage, Yasmina Reza's 'savvy and deliciously caustic new comedy of urban ill-manners' (Chicago Tribune) and Broadway sensation, will take place at Goodman Theatre starting March 5, 2011.

Royal George, 1641 N. Halsted, raised the curtain at 7:30p.m. on Monday, May 3rd, 2010 in honor of Michael Cullen, owner of the Mercury Theater and Cullen's Bar and Grill, and a thirty five-year veteran producer and pioneer in the development of Chicagoland theater as it is known today. Recently suffering from a stroke, Mr. Cullen requires extensive therapy treatments. The evening, directed by Michael Weber, featured Chicago's Entertainer Ron Hawking, Gretchen Cryer (Writer and star of I'm Getting My Act Together) and cast members from Million Dollar Quartet. The evening also featured cast members appearing from some of the many dynamic productions that Michael Cullen produced including Steel Magnolias (Nancy Baird), A Couple of Blaguards (Howard Platt), Pump Boys And Dinettes (Malcolm Ruhl, John Foley, Shawn Stengel, Tom Mendel, Mary Launder, Rick Pickren, Tammy Mader, Liza Jaine, Tiffany Herlien, Shaun Whitely, Brian Burke and Maggie LaMee) & The Irish And How They Got That Way (Jane Baxter, Miller, Kent Lewis, David Girolmo, Justine Serino, and Susan Voelz.). Chicago Tribune Theater Critic Chris Jones made a special appearance that was the highlight of the evening. Thousands of dollars were raised for Mr. Cullen's rehabilitative care.

The Royal George Theatre, 1641 N. Halsted, raises the curtain at 7:30p.m. on Monday, May 3rd, 2010 in honor of Michael Cullen, owner of the Mercury Theater and Cullen's Bar and Grill, and a thirty five-year veteran producer and pioneer in the development of Chicagoland theater as it is known today. Recently suffering from a stroke, Mr. Cullen requires extensive therapy treatments.

The 17th Annual Merritt Award for Excellence in Design and Collaboration program, posthumously honoring and celebrating the work of lighting and set designer Michael Philippi (Desire Under the Elms, Death of a Salesman), 'an esteemed longtime collaborator and friend', will take place on Monday, May 3, at the Goodman Theatre.

Playwright Tracey Scott Wilson rips through the pages of history in The Good Negro, a 'powerfully moving' (The New York Times) and 'thunderous new play' (Variety) about the drive for racial equality-and the clash between private ethics and public good. Goodman Resident Director Chuck Smith, who helmed Wilson's 2005 play The Story at the Goodman, directs this Chicago premiere, featuring a cast of Broadway stars and local favorites. A design team led by Tony Award-nominated Set Designer Riccardo Hernandez brings the production to life using inspiration from the iconic imagery of photojournalist Charles Moore. The Good Negro runs May 1 - June 6, 2010 in the Goodman's Albert Theatre. Tickets start at $25. In conjunction with this Chicago premiere, WBEZ's Richard Steele interviews Wilson and Smith for an Artists Talk discussion about The Good Negro on Wednesday, May 5, 6 - 7pm at Goodman Theatre. The Edith-Marie Appleton Foundation is the Major Production Sponsor for The Good Negro; Allstate Insurance Company is the Major Corporate Sponsor; and Bank of America and Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP are the Corporate Sponsor Partners. The Joyce Foundation provides principal support of Artistic Development and Diversity Initiatives. American Airlines is the Exclusive Airline of Goodman Theatre.

Casting is complete for Goodman Theatre's Chicago-premiere production of Tracey Scott Wilson's The Good Negro, directed by Resident Director Chuck Smith. Wilson and Smith have tapped nine actors to bring this historical drama to the Albert stage, including Karen Aldridge (Goodman's The Cook; Proof); Teagle F. Bougere (Broadway's A Raisin in the Sun; The Tempest); Tory O. Davis (Goodman's Magnolia); John Hoogenakker (Goodman's Rock 'n' Roll; Chicago Shakespeare's Othello); Billy Eugene Jones (Broadway's Passing Strange; Radio Golf); Nambi Kelley (Goodman's Crumbs from the Table of Joy; Victory Gardens' The Lost Boys of Sudan); Demetrios Troy (Northlight's Awake and Sing; Chicago Shakespeare's Richard III); Dan Waller (Goodman's Ghostwritten; Talking Pictures) and Mick Weber (Goodman's Rock 'n' Roll; Chicago Theatre's Shear Madness). The production will run from May 1 - June 6, 2010.

On May 6th, CAP21 (Collaborative Arts Project 21) will transform its block box theater 'The Shop' into Europe during WWI, the backdrop for Fengar Gael's 'The Usher's Ball'. The play will have a month long run in May, as part of CAP21's Spring/Summer season.

New York's OBIE Award-winning Epic Theatre Ensemble (Zak Berkman, Melissa Friedman, Ron Russell, Founding Executive Directors) today announced the cast and creative team for the New York premiere of Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play (In The Next Room… or the vibrator play) and directed by Mark Wing-Davey (The Singing Forest). The cast will include Brendan Averett, Polly Noonan, Daniel Pearce, Alex Podulke, Keith Reddin, Godfrey L. Simmons Jr., T. Ryder Smith, Felix Solis Jr., Kate Turnbull and Nicole Wiesner.

Matt Cavenaugh joins Alec Baldwin and Daniel Davis in the New York Philharmonic Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat (A Soldier's Tale) Sunday, May 2, 2010 as part of The Russian Stravinsky: A Philharmonic Festival conducted by Valery Gergiev, which runs April 21 to May 8th at Avery Fisher Hall. Tickets for the concert are $29-$72. Pre-Concert Talks are $5. All tickets may be purchased online at nyphil.org or by calling (212) 875-5656.

The Royal George Theatre, 1641 N. Halsted, raises the curtain at 7:30p.m. on Monday, May 3rd, 2010 in honor of Michael Cullen, owner of the Mercury Theater and Cullen's Bar and Grill, and a thirty five-year veteran producer and pioneer in the development of Chicagoland theater as it is known today. Recently suffering from a stroke, Mr. Cullen requires extensive therapy treatments.

Royal George, 1641 N. Halsted, opens its doors at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 19th, 2010 in honor of Michael Cullen, owner of the Mercury Theater and Cullen's, and a thirty five-year veteran producer and pioneer in the development of Chicagoland theater as it is known today. Recently suffering from a stroke, Mr. Cullen requires extensive therapy treatments. The entertainment line-up is still to be announced for this event.

Was it natural disaster or man-made greed that led to the loss of 2,200 lives in 1889? Playwright Rebecca Gilman teams up with Tony Award-winning Director Robert Falls for the world premiere of A True History of the Johnstown Flood, an epic theatrical event set against the backdrop of the 1889 flood-a disaster more deadly than Hurricane Katrina. The production will end its run April 18th.