South Coast Repertory News

Disney's Beauty and the Beast, the award-winning worldwide smash hit Broadway musical, is coming to Orange County at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Produced by NETworks Presentations, this elaborate theatrical production will come to life on stage at Segerstrom Hall from January 14 - 19, 2014.

With seven premieres on its stages this year, Artists Rep's 2013/14 season reinforces the theatre's longstanding commitment to producing new plays in Portland. With the U.S. premiere of Foxfinder starting October 29, Artists Rep aims to give this play national recognition and offer West Coast audiences the first look at this up-and-coming playwright.

Wildly clever and a bit naughty, brimming with wordplay and swordplay, David Ives' English-language adaptation of Pierre Corneille's The Liar is next up at Antaeus. Casey Stangl directs the Los Angeles premiere of this delightfully ingenious and irreverent update of a classic French romp at the Antaeus Theater in NoHo. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Marin Theatre Company continues its 2013-14 Season with the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of I and You by San Francisco-based playwright Lauren Gunderson. Running for a limited time now through November 3, this highly anticipated new play written by a 'rising national talent' (Creative Loafing) will be directed by Sarah Rasmussen, the resident director for Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Black Swan Lab, and feature local actor Jessica Lynn Carroll and New York actor Devion McArthur. Opening night is Tuesday, October 15. Based in Mill Valley, MTC is a 47-year old professional nonprofit theater that is a destination for exhilarating performances, inspired new American plays and powerful theatrical experiences. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Winner of the Kevin Kline Award for Outstanding New Play, Deanna Jent's FALLING makes its West Coast debut with one of the most awarded young theatre companies in Los Angeles, Rogue Machine. Winning upwards of 50 awards (including Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, LA Weekly, Ovation, Garland, and BEST PRODUCTION two years in a row), the company was lauded as 'Best Theatre Company of 2012' by the LA Weekly. Falling will open tonight, October 12, 2013, with a reception to follow, and is set to play 8pm Fridays and Saturdays, 3pm Sundays through December 1, 2013 at 5041 Pico Blvd., LA, Calif.

The Laguna Playhouse Executive and Artistic Directors, Karen Wood and Ann E. Wareham are delighted to present a new look at a hilarious classic, fresh off a critically-acclaimed run at the Pasadena Playhouse. Prepare to be intoxicated by FALLEN ANGELS, written by Noel Coward and directed by Art Manke. 'This is a deliriously giddy look at a rarely produced play by the one-and-only master of the sophisticated comedy, Noel Coward,' offers Wood. 'We are thrilled to present this brilliant and wickedly fun production to our subscribers and audiences and we know they will leave our theatre as charmed by this production as we are!' adds Wareham. FALLEN ANGELS will open tonight, October 12 at 7:30pm and run through Sunday, November 3, 2013 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

Queens Theatre (QT) presents the L.A. Theatre Works production of THE GRADUATE, based on the 1963 'age of youth' novel and the classic 1967 Oscar-winning film, adapted for the stage by Terry Johnson. The play is directed by Brian Kite, and features a dynamite cast of stars of film and TV: Diane Adair (South Coast Repertory Theatre) as Mrs. Braddock, Matthew Arkin (Bdwy: Losing Louie, The Sunshine Boys; TV: 'Rescue Me', '100 Centre Street', 'All My Children') as Mr. Robinson, Heidi Dippold (TV: 'The Sopranos', 'All My Children') as Mrs. Robinson, Jill Renner (Pacific Resident Theatre) as Elaine Robinson, Darren Richardson (Nat' Tour: Pride and Prejudice TV: 'Lost', 'Fastlane') as Hotel Clerk/Priest/Psychiatrist, Brian Tichnell (TV: 'Happy Endings') as Benjamin Braddock and Tom Virtue (TV: 'The Building, The Bonnie Hunt Show') as Mr. Braddock.

A new exhibition traces the history of South Coast Repertory, Orange County's Tony Award-winning theatre. The display is on view Oct. 12-20 at South Coast Plaza, during the mall's regular business hours. The display, in the Jewel Court rotunda (by Macy's), includes cut-out characters in costumes from past productions and large color panels that tell the story of SCR through photos and text.

Winner of the Kevin Kline Award for Outstanding New Play, Deanna Jent's FALLING makes its West Coast debut with one of the most awarded young theatre companies in Los Angeles, Rogue Machine. Winning upwards of 50 awards (including Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, LA Weekly, Ovation, Garland, and BEST PRODUCTION two years in a row), the company was lauded as "Best Theatre Company of 2012" by the LA Weekly. Falling will open on October 12, 2013, with a reception to follow.

Acclaimed playwright and screenwriter Noah Haidle explores the passage of time and the fleeting pleasures of life through three generations of one family in Smokefall, his newest work, set in Grand Rapids, Michigan. ?Directed by Obie Award-winner Anne Kauffman in her Goodman debut, Smokefall is a world-premiere co-production with South Coast Repertory, running now through November 3 in the Owen Theatre (opening night is Monday, October 14). BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below.

WAM Theatre announces its Northeast regional premiere of "Emilie: La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight", written by Lauren Gunderson and directed by Kristen van Ginhoven. The production, which will run from Nov. 7 through 24 with preview performances on Nov. 7 and 8, will be held at the St. Germain Stage in the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center, 36 Linden St., Pittsfield. Tickets are $15 for previews; all other performances are $10 to $30. For tickets and more information, see www.WAMTheatre.com or call (800) 838-3006.

A new work by Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph looks at how the miraculous recovery of an abducted child impacts not only the family, but the victim. The play, MR. WOLF, is featured in a staged reading at South Coast Repertory on Monday, Oct. 21, at 7:30 p.m. This SCR commission is part of the theatre company's NewSCRipts reading series.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) has selected Academy Award nominee Elizabeth McGovern as the 2013 recipient of The William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre (Will Award). KPMG, LLP will be awarded the Sidney Harman Award for Philanthropy in the Arts. McGovern & KPMG, LLP will be honored at the Harman Center for the Arts Annual Gala, hosted by STC at Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW), tonight, October 6, 2013.

Carla Ching's new play is a theatrical crime caper that's fast, funny, dark and dangerous. Fast Company is the first of the four world premieres on the Julianne Argyros stage during South Coast Repertory's 50th season. The show runs today, Oct. 6-27.

Victoria Burnett, one of Segerstrom Center for the Arts' teaching artists on its Arts Teach roster, will be a featured performer at the 41st National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN. The event will be held today, October 4 - 6 at the International Storytelling Center, the prime destination for storytellers around the world who treasure and practice the age-old art of using storytelling to teach, inspire and preserve cultural and historical lore.

The South Coast Repertory released their calendar from October of 2013 to January of 2014, including A CHRISTMAS CAROL and LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA.

Set in Grand Rapids, Michigan, acclaimed playwright and screenwriterNoah Haidle explores the passage of time and the fleeting pleasures of life through three generations of one family in Smokefall, his newest work. The Michigan native playwright, who describes Smokefall as "an incredibly personal play that has been with me for a long time," most recently wrote the 2012 film Stand Up Guys (starring Alan Arkin, Christopher Walken and Al Pacino) and previously authored Mr. Marmalade,Vigils (at the Goodman in 2006) and Persephone for the stage. Directed by Obie Award-winner Anne Kauffman in her Goodman debut, Smokefall is a world-premiere co-production with South Coast Repertory, running October 5 - November 3 in the Owen Theatre (opening night is Monday, October 14). Tickets ($10-$40; subject to change) are on sale now at GoodmanTheatre.org/Smokefall, by phone at 312.443.3800or at the box office (170 North Dearborn). Bank of America is the 2013/2014 Owen Season Sponsor. Time Warner Foundation and The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation are the Major Supporters of New Play Development; and The Glasser and Rosenthal Family and the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust are Supporters of New Work Development. The Joyce Foundation is the Principal Supporter of Artistic Development and Diversity Initiatives.

Two thrilling musical forces will share the stage on November 12 to launch Segerstrom Center's 2013 - 2014 Chamber Music Series as pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin joins the acclaimed Pacifica Quartet - Simin Ganatra, violin; Sibbi Bernhardsson, violin; Masumi Per Rostad, viola; Brandon Vamos, cello - for a spectacular program featuring Dmitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 7 in F minor, Op. 108 and Antonin Dvorak's Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81. The evening also includes Leo Ornstein's innovative Piano Quintet, Op. 92.