Second Stage News

'Humor Abuse,' the hilarious and heartfelt story of growing up in a circus, created by Lorenzo Pisoni and Erica Schmidt, directed by Schmidt and featuring a tour de force performance by Pisoni, will be presented at the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum, September 17 through November 3, 2013. The opening is set for September 21.

OBERON, the American Repertory Theater's second stage and club theater venue, continues its mission to bring exciting and original programming. A destination for theater and nightlife on the fringe of Harvard Square, OBERON is the home of the A.R.T.'s hit productions of Pirates of Penzance, The Lily's Revenge, Futurity, The Donkey Show, Cabaret, and Prometheus Bound and Ryan Landry's Rocky Horror Show, OBERON is also a thriving incubator for local and visiting talent.

"Humor Abuse," the hilarious and heartfelt story of growing up in a circus, created by Lorenzo Pisoni and Erica Schmidt, directed by Schmidt and featuring a tour de force performance by Pisoni, will be presented at the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum, September 17 through November 3, 2013. The opening is set for September 21. Get a first look at Pisoni onstage below!

To conclude its 45th season, Berkeley Repertory Theatre welcomes back a pair of acclaimed collaborators: Sarah Ruhl and Les Waters, the creators of Eurydice, Three Sisters, and In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), return to Berkeley Rep with another tale of love and longing in Dear Elizabeth.

Director Gary Smith puts Theatre of the Seventh Sister back on stage with a production of Sarah Ruhl's charming absurdist take on the Orpheus myth.

Burning Coal Theatre Company has announced that Jonathan Fitts, a recent graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, will conduct its 2013 Summer Theatre Conservatory for Teens in July. Jonathan will then take over as Director of Education at Burning Coal Theatre Company. A photo of Jon is attached and his bio is below.

Berkeley's acclaimed Aurora Theatre Company is proud to announce a call for submissions for its ninth season of the Global Age Project (GAP) festival of new works. The company will choose four new plays to be presented as staged readings with professional directors and actors during the GAP festival in February and March of 2014; the festival will coincide with the company's fully-staged Bay Area Premiere of Johnna Adams's incendiary new play GIDION'S KNOT, directed by Jon Tracy (The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity). Each of the four prizewinners will receive a $1,000 award and their work will be considered for further development and production during Aurora Theatre Company's regular season; out of town artists will receive travel and accommodation expenses. The submission period opens June 3; deadline for play submission is July 31, 2013. Finalists will be announced in early December 2013.

Kathy Evans, Founder and Executive Director, announced the nine musicals and eighteen writers selected for the third summer of the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat. For nine consecutive weeks beginning June 23rd, each writing team will have an individual weeklong residency in Rhinebeck, New York to write their musical. All costs are fully funded by donors including The ASCAP Foundation, The Dramatists Guild Fund, and The Noel Coward Foundation. Writers include Tony-winners and nominees Duncan Sheik (Spring Awakening), and Heidi Rodewald and Stew (Passing Strange), and multi-award winners Adam Gwon, Laura Harrington, Joe Iconis, Kait Kerrigan, and Brian Lowdermilk.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) has announced that the new musical comedy, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, with book and direction by James Lapine and music and lyrics by William Finn, will kick off the theatre's 35th anniversary season this fall. James Lapine and William Finn return to Second Stage Theatre where they most recently collaborated on The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Previews for LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE begin October 15, 2013 with an official opening in mid- November. Casting, full creative team, and opening night date will be announced at a later date.

Pasek and Paul - along with Lindsay Mendez, Derek Klena and other original cast members - will also appear at an in-store performance and CD signing at Barnes & Noble on the Upper East Side (150 East 86th Street, between Lexington and Third Avenues) tonight, May 23 at 7:00 PM. Call (212) 369-2180 for details.

According to the New York Times, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, which premiered at La Jolla Playhouse in 2011 and has long been buzzed about for a New York Transfer, will open at Second Stage Theatre in October 2013. Composed by William Finn and written by James Lapine, the show currently has no plans for a Broadway run after playing at Second Stage but a transfer is a 'possibility, given the talents involved.' Previews are set to begin on October 15.

Down Home and Saria Idana have announced that Homeless in Homeland will have its UK/International premiere at Brighton Fringe, in Brighton, UK with 3 shows May 27th, 28th, and 29th, 2013.

Bay Street Theatre begins the 2013 Mainstage Season with Lend Me a Tenor (May 28 - June 23). This hilarious Ken Ludwig comedy, under the direction of Don Stephenson, includes Judy Blazer, Scott Cote, Betsy DiLellio, Donna English, Nancy Johnston, Noah Plomgren, Steve Rosen and Roland Rusinek as its hilarious cast.

Actor/sword fighters Jacqueline Ann Holloway and Robert Westley will be joining NYCB dancers Jared Angle and Megan LeCrone and members of the Sebastians Chamber Orchestra for On Point: From Duel to Pas de Deux, to be presented by Salon/Sanctuary Concerts. An exploration of the shared origins of sword fighting and ballet, On Point will be presented on Monday June 3rd at The Liederkranz Club at 7:00PM. Musical selections will include Heinrich Ignaz von Biber (1644 - 1704)Battaglia a 10 in D Major; Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (1620 - 1680) Balletto for Strings and Continuo in G 'Die Fechtschule' and GF Handel (1685 - 1759), Sonata in B-flat, Op. 2, No. 3, HWV 388.

Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership of Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and Managing Director Tristan Wilson, presents the world premiere production of Muckrakers, a new play by Zayd Dohrn, directed by Giovanna Sardelli (BSC's The North Pool and Lord of the Flies). Muckrakers begins previews Thursday, June 13, opens Wednesday, June 19 and will run through Saturday, July 6 at the St. Germain Stage, at the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center, 36 Linden Street, Pittsfield.

Second Stage Theatre's Spring Gala celebration honored The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, which has been an ongoing supporter of New York City arts and Second Stage Theatre for many years, as well as playwright and filmmaker Paul Weitz, whose plays Privilege, Show People, Trust, and Lonely, I'm Nothave all premiered with the off-Broadway company. The evening will also celebrate the first ten years of Second Stage Uptown and its curator, Christopher Burney, which has become an incubator for many theatre artists in the past decade. The gala was held last night, May 20, 2013 at Best Buy Theatre, 1515 Broadway at 44th street.

The production was real, raw, and unflinching. Artistic Director Kuchar says he chooses shows that will inspire kids and cause them to think. This show certainly does that and can also impact the audience. Kudos to this wonderful program.

Second Stage Theatre's Spring Gala celebration will honor The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, which has been an ongoing supporter of New York City arts and Second Stage Theatre for many years, as well as playwright and filmmaker Paul Weitz, whose plays Privilege, Show People, Trust, and Lonely, I'm Nothave all premiered with the off-Broadway company. The evening will also celebrate the first ten years of Second Stage Uptown and its curator, Christopher Burney, which has become an incubator for many theatre artists in the past decade. The gala will be held tonight, May 20, 2013 at Best Buy Theatre, 1515 Broadway at 44th street. The evening begins with cocktails at 6:00pm; dinner and the performance begin at 7:00pm.

After a sold-out premiere in November 2012 at Dixon Place, Figaro! (90210) returns for a limited run between June 11 and 16, 2013. Morningside Opera will present the show in concert performances at The NSD Theater (151 Bank Street, west of Hudson) in the West Village. Meet the cast in the photos below!

In May, it was announced that Ghostlight Records will preserve the hit Second Stage Theatre production of The Last Five Years, created and directed by Jason Robert Brown. Second Stage Theatre has extended this production starring Adam Kantor and Betsy Wolfe three times. The Last Five Years is performed at Second Stage's Tony Kiser Theatre (305 West 43rd street) through today, May 18, 2013. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you a flashback of the musical's run off-Broadway!