Shalita Grant News

A friendly reminder! The Public Theater will begin previews for the second Free Shakespeare in the Park production of the season, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, on Tuesday, July 11. Directed by Obie Award winner and The Public's Founder of Public Works and Resident Director Lear deBessonet, and choreography by Chase Brock, the show will run through Sunday, August 13 and officially open on Monday, July 31.

The Public Theater's Free Shakespeare in the Park production of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, directed by Lear deBessonet, begins performances on Tuesday, July 11 and runs through Sunday, August 13, with an official press opening on Monday, July 31. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in rehearsal below!

The Public Theater announced additional casting today for the 2017 Free Shakespeare in the Park season, beginning Tuesday, May 23 at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, continuing a 55-year tradition of free theater in Central Park.

The Public Theater announced initial casting today for the 2017 Free Shakespeare in the Park season, beginning Tuesday, May 23 at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, continuing a 55-year tradition of free theater in Central Park.

Fresh off of his Broadway return leading the feel-good musical HOLIDAY INN at Roundabout's Studio 54, Tony-nominee Bryce Pinkham describes his next role as 'wildly quirky,' 'an iron fist in a velvet glove,' and possessing 'a certain verbal flair.' Beginning this Sunday, January 22nd, Pinkham joins PBS's Civil War medical drama, MERCY STREET, as Major Clayton McBurney III, the new head of the hospital at Mansion House.

The 2013 Tony Award winner for Best Play, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike comes to Sierra Repertory Theatre's East Sonora Theatre May 20 - June 12. SRT favorite Becky Saunders (Church Basement Ladies, Honky Tonk Angels) directs the show, with SRT company actor Ty Smith as Vanya.

With the sixth and final season of beloved British import DOWNTON ABBEY quickly coming to an end, PBS is hoping to hold onto the fans of the early 20th Century soap with new historical drama MERCY STREET. The Civil War hospital series debuted Sunday night after the third installment of DOWNTON's nine-episode season, but beyond their proximity on the network's schedule, the two period dramas have little in common; but that's not a bad thing for either show. Where DOWNTON is mostly a light-hearted look at a wealthy English family and the people who serve them, which only occasionally delves into significantly dramatic fare, MERCY STREET is a bone-chillingly authentic look at one of the most traumatic times in American history that has only momentary flits of humor.

The 1860s are a familiar period for Donna Murphy. In addition to winning Tonys for playing Fosca in the original Broadway production of PASSION and Anna in the 1996 revival of THE KING AND I, the actress played Mary Todd Lincoln in the television movie, THE DAY LINCOLN WAS SHOT. All three projects were set between 1862 and 1867. And, while she jokes that the 1998 film was the last time that she had worn a corset, when she read the pilot episode of PBS's Civil War medical drama MERCY STREET, premiering tonight at 10:00pm ET, she knew that she wanted to be involved.

Can't remember what happened in May's season finales? No worries! There's no need to scour the Internet or rack your brain – all the info you need is right here! So sit back, relax and take a trip down memory lane, as well as get a glimpse of what the future holds this coming season on CBS.

As BroadwayWorld reported yeaterday, Tony Award-nominated director Nicholas Martin passed away on April 30th at the age of seventy-five. Most recently, Martin directed the critically acclaimedChristopher Durang play, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, which opened on Broadway last March. For this production, Martin was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Director and an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Director. Martin also directed the Off-Broadway production of the play in 2012. BroadwayWorld remembers the legendary director below.

Center Theatre Group has a big hit in Christopher Durang's Tony Award-winning comedy 'Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,' currently in performances at the CTG/Mark Taper Forum. With strong ticket sales and critical acclaim, CTG has extended the run by a week, now closing on March 16, 2014. Below, director David Hyde Pierce and playwright Christopher Durang discuss the process of bringing the hit comedy VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE to the stage and to the Mark Taper Forum!

Yesterday's shots come from CTG/Mark Taper Form's VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE with Christine Ebersole, David Hull, Kristine Nielsen and more; Broadway's IF/THEN; Max von Essen, currently taking part in York's TENDERLOIN, and others!

Center Theatre Group has a big hit in Christopher Durang's Tony Award-winning comedy "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike," currently in performances at the CTG/Mark Taper Forum. With strong ticket sales and critical acclaim, CTG has extended the run by a week, now closing on March 16, 2014.

The four-time Emmy winner David Hyde Pierce stopped by to talk with Tavis Smiley about his latest projects, including directing the L.A. production of the Tony-winning VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE, as well as the possibility of acting in the show in London. Pierce told Smiley: 'And in the fall the plan is to take Vanya to London, the original production, and I'll go back to acting in it.' Watch the full interview below!

After a stellar off-Broadway run in 2012, and a Tony-award winning Broadway production in 2013, the Los Angeles premiere of Christopher Durang's "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike", opened Sunday night at the Mark Taper Forum, and it was well worth the wait to see.

Christopher Durang loves to take a somewhat placid environment and turn it upside down, inside out. What doesn't happen matters just has much if not more than what does and the characters let out their feelings at the slightest provocation. Sound like it's right out of Anton Chekhov? When Sonia gives coffee to her brother Vanya and he seems displeased with it, she takes the cup away from him in anger and throws it against the wall. It's not the coffee comment that has upset her, it's the way she feels inside, at the overall way her brother neglects her, takes her kindness for granted. She's sad and is not afraid to tell him so. Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike, now onstage at the Mark Taper Forum and last year's Tony winner for Best Play, is one hilarious ride from moment to moment with wonderfully surprising twists and an eclectic mix of characters that would make any world dysfunctional. Dysfunctional is the new normal, and that's what makes Durang's work shine. Akin to drama queens, misery forms their best company. It's as if everyone were totally smashed...they say and do what they feel; they're so brutally honest, you can't stop laughing.

The Actors Fund is holding a Special 'Producer's Picks' Fundraising Evening at tonight's, February 11th performance of Christopher Durang's award-winning comedy, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. In addition to enjoying the show, guests will receive an autographed program and enjoy an exclusive post-performance dessert and wine reception with director, David Hyde Pierce, and cast members.