South Coast Repertory News

Take the sordid life of one of England's best-known Romantic authors. Mix in some brazen audience interaction and a taste of classic clowning. Add a dash of opium and one of the best-known poems in the English language, and what do you get? Sublimity, the extraordinary creation of writer/co-director and performer David Bridel.

Michael Mendelson plays the lead role of Felix Artifex in Artists Rep's production of MISTAKES WERE MADE. Artistic Director Damaso Rodriguez directs Mendelson and guides the show to opening as the production's Associate Director. Preview performances begin tonight, September 24 and the play will open on September 28.

The national tour of Roundabout Theatre Company's ANYTHING GOES, the new Broadway revival of Cole Porter's timeless classic musical theatre masterpiece, will make its Orange County premiere tonight, September 24 - 29 at Segerstrom Center for the Arts as part of the Curtain Call Series.

Tonight at South Coast Repertory's landmark 50th Season Gala Ball, Orange County arts supporter Paul Folino announced the re-naming of SCR's Folino Theatre Center to honor the company's founders. Its new name will be the David Emmes and Martin Benson Theatre Center.

Yale Repertory Theatre has announced that Rene Augesen will play Blanche DuBois and Joe Manganiello will play Stanley Kowalski in its first-ever production of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, the Pulitzer Prize winning masterpiece by Tennessee Williams. Directed by Mark Rucker, the production, which will open Yale Rep's 2013-14 season, will play tonight, September 20-October 12, at the University Theatre (222 York Street).

Aurora Theatre Company continues its 22nd season with the Bay Area Premiere of Samuel D. Hunter's edgy and earnest A BRIGHT NEW BOISE. Aurora Artistic Director Tom Ross helms this comedy about faith, family, forgiveness, and second chances, featuring Robert Parsons, Patrick Russell, Gwen Loeb, Megan Trout, and Daniel Petzold. A BRIGHT NEW BOISE playsNovember 8 through December 8 at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. For tickets ($32-60) and information the public can call (510) 843-4822 or visit auroratheatre.org.

Ten theatre-making workshops that start this month will bring together South Coast Repertory (SCR) teaching artists with Santa Ana residents to continue crafting a community-inspired play, whose development started earlier this year with storytelling events, as part of the ongoing Dialogue/Dialogos project.

Producing Artistic Director Michael Menendian and Co-Artistic Director JoAnn Montemurro announce Raven Theatre's 2013/2014 season which includes The Trip to Bountiful by Horton Foote, Vieux Carre by Tennessee Williams, Good Boys and True by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and The Playboy of the Western World by John M. Synge.

Miller's classic drama opens South Coast Repertory's milestone 50th season, with actor Charlie Robinson as Willy Loman and a dramatically diverse cast. The show runs on the Segerstrom Stage Aug. 30-Sept. 29. Tickets are available online:www.scr.org. BroadwayWorld has a first look below!

To kickstart its 50th Season, Orange County's Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory is presenting a newly-envisioned local revival of the classic 1949 Pulitzer Prize-winning play DEATH OF A SALESMAN, featuring an outstanding performance by veteran stage and screen actor Charlie Robinson in the title role. Performances continue on the Segerstrom Stage through September 29.

The Old Globe today announced the complete cast and creative team for the World Premiere comedy The Few by award-winning playwright Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale). Directed by Davis McCallum, The Few will run Sept. 28 - Oct. 27, 2013 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run Sept. 28 - Oct. 2. Opening night is Thursday, Oct. 3 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.

The play will have one performance, Tuesday, October 8, 2013, at 8:00pm, at the Douglas Morrisson Theatre, 22311 N. Third St. in Hayward, CA. Tickets are $10 (open seating), and are available through the Box Office at (510) 881-6777 or online at www.dmtonline.org.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University welcomes three-time Emmy Award-winning actor Bryan Cranston to play the lead role of Lyndon Baines Johnson in Robert Schenkkan's new play All The Way opening the A.R.T.'s 2013-14 Season at the Loeb Drama Center. The production, directed by Bill Rauch, will begin performances tonight, September 13, 2013.

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 from October 10 to 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.

About Face Theatre is pleased to announce its 2013-14 programming, showcasing premiere productions and developmental works that explore gender and sexual identity. AFT's mainstage kicks-off this winter with the return of the hit holiday musical WE THREE LIZAS, featuring a new book and expanded score. In the spring, AFT presents the Chicago premiere of Aditi Brennan Kapil's stand-up comedy play, BRAHMAN/I, exploring gender, culture, mythology and puberty all through the lens of a hijra, an Indian intersex person. Next summer, About Face Youth Theatre investigates the intersection of immigration and queer identity in the world premiere of CHECKING BOXES. AFT's 2013-14 offerings will also feature the OUT FRONT Series, a year-round line-up of workshops and readings of new and developmental works by LGBTQA playwrights, as well as a month-long PRIDE CABARET Music Series in June 2014. For additional information on About Face Theatre's 2013-14 programming, please visit www.aboutfacetheatre.com.

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 Oct. 6-27.

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.

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 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.

Musical macabre and mayhem will take to stage at Segerstrom Hall as founding father of modern horror rock music, Alice Cooper, makes his Segerstrom Center debut on Tuesday, November 26 at 7:30 p.m. as part of his Raise the Dead tour.