Sara Ryung Clement News

To close out its 55th season, Orange County's Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory is mounting David Henry Hwang's intriguing and mysterious play M. BUTTERFLY, using the playwright's much more layered and riveting 2017 Broadway revival as its source material. Marked assuredly by powerful, gripping performances, this admirable OC staging---directed with clarifying precision by Desdemona Chiang that continues through June 8 in Costa Mesa---keeps you at the edge of your seat, as it unpacks a story filled with wobbly uncertainties and vague declarations. A beautifully complex production that echoes sentiments of gender conformity/fluidity crossed with geopolitical issues that still resonate in today's ever-changing world, M. BUTTERFLY---particularly with this strong new update instituted by the original playwright himself---is definitely worth seeing.

Pasadena Playhouse, the State Theater of California, is pleased to announce that casting is complete for the Los Angeles premiere of Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's Good Boys starring Betsy Brandt (CBS' Life in Pieces, and AMC's Breaking Bad) as Elizabeth Hardy, and directed by Carolyn Cantor on the mainstage of Pasadena Playhouse. The production will play June 26 through Sunday July 21; the press opening is June 30 at 5:00pm.

Ma-Yi Theater Company is presenting the Off-Broadway world premiere of FRUITING BODIES by Asian-American playwright Sam Chanse, with Shelley Butler at the helm. The cast of FRUITING BODIES features Kimiye Corwin (Noises Off, Henry VI), Emma Kikue (God Said This, Up the Hill), Jeffrey Omura (House Rules, Hamlet) and Thom Sesma (Superhero, Sweeney Todd).

David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly, a tale of obsession, perception and the allure of fantasy, will conclude South Coast Repertory's 2018-19 season. Hwang's break-out hit-a Tony Award-winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist-is about more than steamy seduction and fantasy; inspired by a true account, it's a compelling story of espionage, East-West relations and betrayal. Desdemona Chiang, in her SCR debut, directs the show on the Segerstrom Stage, May 11-June 8. Tickets are available online at www.scr.org.

Ma-Yi Theater Company - which previously announced that Shelley Butler will direct the world-premiere play FRUITING BODIES by Asian-American playwright Sam Chanse - proudly announces KIMIYE CORWIN (Noises Off, Henry VI), EMMA KIKUE (God Said This, Up the Hill), JEFFREY OMURA (House Rules, Hamlet) and THOM SESMA (Superhero, Pacific Overtures) will star in the Off-Broadway production, which begins previews on April 23 prior to its official press opening on April 28 at Theatre Row (410 W. 42nd Street) in Manhattan.

Ma-Yi Theater Company - which previously announced that Shelley Butler will direct the world-premiere play FRUITING BODIES by Asian-American playwright Sam Chanse - proudly announces KIMIYE CORWIN (Noises Off, Henry VI), EMMA KIKUE (God Said This, Up the Hill), JEFFREY OMURA (House Rules, Hamlet) and THOM SESMA (Superhero, Sweeney Todd) will star in the Off-Broadway production, which begins previews on April 23 prior to its official press opening on April 28 at Theatre Row (410 W. 42nd Street) in Manhattan.

The Tony Award winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) will launch its 84th year and Bill Rauch's final season as artistic director with preview performances beginning on March 1. The 2019 season officially kicks off Friday night, March 8, in the Angus Bowmer Theatre with Shakespeare's As You Like It (director, Rosa Joshi). On Saturday afternoon, Cambodian Rock Band (director, Chay Yew) opens in the Thomas Theatre, and Hairspray The Broadway Musical (director, Christopher Liam Moore) opens that evening in the Angus Bowmer Theatre. On Sunday afternoon, the drama by Southern Oregon based playwright Octavio Solis, Mother Road (director, Bill Rauch), will see its world premiere in the Angus Bowmer Theatre.

Ma-Yi Theater Company - which had considerable success last fall with the world-premieres of SESAR and THE CHINESE LADY will debut a world-premiere play by the Asian-American playwright Sam Chanse entitled FRUITING BODIES, with performances taking place April 23 - May 19 at Theatre Row (410 W. 42nd Street); Shelley Butler will direct. Tickets go on sale today, Thursday, January 31, 2019.

The nominees for the 29th Annual LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards, celebrating theatrical excellence and achievement throughout Los Angeles, were announced this week.

For the Guthrie Theater's  final hurrah on the McGuire Proscenium Stage in 2019, the company presents a hilarious tribute to plates of sardines and humor in the farcical 'Noises Off.' English playwright' Michael Frayn's award winning 1982 play presents an alternative perspective to the theatrical process and everyone who participates in a production's success. Produced for the first time at the Guthrie, the farce features multiple doors, opening and closing, swinging axes, hurdling down steps and fanciful love triangles along with the iconic plate of sardines through this play within a play format.

BroadwayWorld has an inside look at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts's The Constant Wife as Marissa McGowan took over the BWW Instagram this past Saturday, and gave followers a behind the scenes look at a two show day! Enjoy a recap of her takeover below.

Go behind the scenes with Marissa McGowan of The Denver Center for the Performing Arts's The Constant Wife tomorrow, October 6th as she takes over the BroadwayWorld Instagram! McGowan will show followers what a two show day is like.' McGowan stars as 'Maria-Louise Durham' in the production.

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) is proud to announce full casting and creative team for the Theater Company's production of The Constant Wife by W. Somerset Maugham. Constance Middleton cheerfully plays her traditional role as the intelligent, charming housewife of a successful doctor. As her friends and family keep secrets close to their chest, she has nothing to hide - and everything to gain.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival will open the world premiere of Idris Goodwin's The Way the Mountain Moved, directed by May Adrales, on July 14 in the Thomas Theatre. Preview performances are July 10, 12 and 13, and the play runs through Oct. 28, 2018.

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) is proud to announce full casting and creative team for the Theater Company's World Premiere production of Human Error by Eric Pfeffinger.

What our schoolbooks lack in historical accuracy, art can sometimes pick up the slack by being a reliable, more enthusiastic source to fill in those gaps. This becomes abundantly clear immediately upon experiencing the haunting yet beautifully-dramatized world premiere play LITTLE BLACK SHADOWS, Kemp Powers' captivating new drama under the astute direction of May Adrales, that is now continuing its final set of performances at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa through April 29. Visually striking and richly layered, the play piques the audience's curiosity with its riveting storytelling while educating them on a side of American slavery that most probably didn't know too much about before.

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) is proud to announce full casting and creative team for the Theater Company's World Premiere production of Human Error by Eric Pfeffinger.

Playwright Kemp Powers knew he'd found something incredible in the personal recollections of former slaves documented by a federal writers project during the Great Depression. Discovering the different voices and views in those first-person histories inspired him to learn more and write Little Black Shadows, which has its world premiere at South Coast Repertory, April 8-29, on the Julianne Argyros Stage. Directed by May Adrales, the show is part of the Pacific Playwrights Festival. Tickets are available now at www.scr.org.  

The tragic events surrounding the rise of the Khmer Rouge regime in mid-70's Cambodia serves as the overarching backdrop that links the past and the (near) present in Lauren Yee's stunning new play CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND---which continues its World Premiere production at Orange County's Tony Award-winning regional theatre South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa through March 25, 2018. Commissioned by SCR as part of its CrossRoads Initiative, this powerful and searing new drama---sprinkled with welcome bits of comedy and, yes, rock concert music interludes---had its initial staged reading at last year's Pacific Playwright's Festival and is now an absorbing, full-fledged production under the admirable direction of Chay Yew.

Part comedy, part mystery and part rock concert, playwright Lauren Yee's Cambodian Rock Band explores an overlooked chapter of history-1970s Cambodia with its vibrant surf-rock music scene and then under the Khmer Rouge regime. The play features songs by the Long Beach-based band Dengue Fever. The world premiere of this South Coast Repertory commission is directed by Chay Yew on the Julianne Argyros Stage, March 4-25. Tickets are available at www.scr.org.