South Coast Repertory News

THE PARISIAN WOMAN by Beau Willimon, inspired by Henri Becque's La Parisienne and directed by Pam MacKinnon, runs now through May 5, 2013 on the Julianne Argyros Stage. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Annapurna, by award-winning playwright Sharr White, is a funny and surprising exploration of love and loss. Emma and Ulysses haven't laid eyes on each other in twenty years. Now she's back, lugging her matching suitcases into his squalid Colorado motor home for a final reckoning that neither of them saw coming. Annapurnabrings husband-and-wife stars Megan Mullally ('Will & Grace') and Nick Offerman ('Parks and Recreation') to the Odyssey Theatre under the guidance of director Bart DeLorenzo, winner of the 2012 TCG Alan Schneider Award.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University has announced that three-time Emmy Award-winning actor Bryan Cranston will 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 on September 13, 2013.

According to the Daily Mail, Honeysuckle Weeks, Charity Wakefield and Alec Newman will star in Melanie Marnich's These Shining Lives, set to kick off the first season at the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park. Loveday Ingram will direct the show from May 8, with designs by Tim Shortall. The show runs through June 9, 2013.

NEVA, written and directed by Guillermo Calderon, in an English translation by Andrea Thome, will be co-produced by the South Coast Repertory and La Jolla Playhouse in A DouglasPlus Workshop Presentation in the Kirk Douglas Theatre rehearsal room, Upstairs @ KDT. Performances begin June 11 and continue through June 16, 2013.

Chance Theater presents the second show of its 2013 season with the Orange County Premiere of THE LARAMIE PROJECT: TEN YEARS LATER by Moises Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris and Stephen Belber, playing in repertory with the award-winning masterwork, THE LARAMIE PROJECT, by Moises Kaufman and members of Tectonic Theater Project, both directed by Chance Theater's Artistic Director Oanh Nguyen. THE LARAMIE PROJECT will preview tonight, April 18 & Saturday, April 20 at 8pm and will open on Tuesday, April 23 at 8pm.

Three friends embark on a joyous journey of sisterhood, discovering their inner 'duende' through a flamenco class for middle-aged women. Heart Song, the newest comedy/drama from Stephen Sachs (Bakersfield Mist, Cyrano), opens at The Fountain Theatre on May 25 with Shirley Jo Finney (In the Red and Brown Water) directing and choreography by internationally renowned flamenco dancer Maria "Cha Cha" Bermudez.

Atlantic Theater Company has announced that Olivier and two time Tony Award winning playwright John Guare will make his Off Broadway acting debut in the world premiere production of his new play 3 KINDS OF EXILE, directed by Atlantic artistic director Neil Pepe, featuring Atlantic ensemble members Peter Maloney and David Pittu and guest artists Alison Cimmet, Jeffrey Kuhn, Jacquelyn Landgraf, Martin Moran, Kate Rigg, Omar Sangare and Timothy Splain.

Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Working Title Films Old Vic Productions and NETworks Presentations, LLC bring the multi-award-winning Billy Elliot the Musical to Segerstrom Center for the Arts from tonight, April 16 - 28, 2013.

South Coast Repertory's world premiere of Beau Willimon's The Parisian Woman opens tonight, April 14.

Broadway legend Barbara Cook returns to Segerstrom Center to celebrate her 85th birthday year with a performance in the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall tonight, April 13 at 8 p.m.

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment present an all-new revival of one of the greatest musicals of all time, SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS, book by Lawrence Kasha and David Landay, lyrics, music and new songs by Johnny Mercer, Gene De Paul, Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn, based on the MGM Film 'The Sobbin' Women' by Stephen Vincent Benet, originally directed for Broadway by Lawrence Kasha and originally produced on Broadway by Kaslan Productions, Inc., SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS will feature musical direction by Dennis Castellano, choreography by Patti Colombo and will be directed by Glenn Casale.

Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Working Title Films Old Vic Productions and NETworks Presentations, LLC bring the multi-award-winning Billy Elliot the Musical to Segerstrom Center for the Arts from April 16 - 28, 2013. Based on the international smash-hit film and featuring music by Elton John, book and lyrics by Lee Hall, choreography by Peter Darling and direction by Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot the Musical has earned critical acclaim around the world and was the winner of ten 2009 Tony Awards including Best Musical.

Full casting has been announced for the Orange County engagement of FLASHDANCE - THE MUSICAL, the stage adaptation of the 1983 hit film that defined a generation. Joining Jillian Mueller as Alex and Matthew Hydzik as Nick are Katie Webber as Tess, Kelly Felthous as Gloria, DeQuina Moore as Kiki, Jo Ann Cunningham as Hannah, David R. Gordon as Jimmy, Matthew Henerson as Harry and Christian Whelan in the role of C.C.

North Coast Repertory Theatre presents THE ODD COUPLE by Neil Simon, directed by Andrew Barnicle. The show will run in previews tonight, April 10 - 12, 2013 and continues April 13 - May 5, 2013.

Working Theater, the 28-year-old Off-Broadway company, in collaboration with Magnum Foundation, an organization dedicated to preserving the Magnum Photos legacy and supporting photography around social justice issues, have joined forces to present Ed Cardona, Jr.'s LA RUTA, a world premiere immigration-themed play that will be staged inside the trailer and cab of an actual 48' truck. An accompanying photographic installation about the immigrant experience will also be presented.

Liz Callaway (Miss Saigon, Baby), Kate Shindle (Legally Blonde, Cabaret), Betsy Wolfe (The Last Five Years, The Mystery of Edwin Drood), F. Michael Haynie (Wicked, Dogfight), Zachary Prince (On A Clear Day…) and Sam Heldt (Junie B. Jones) have joined the lineup of performers for musical theater writer Adam Gwon's upcoming concert at 54 Below tonight April 8, 2013 at 9:30pm. Heading up a five-piece band, Gwon will premiere brand-new songs and share fresh and funny tunes from his musicals Ordinary Days, Cloudlands, The Boy Detective Fails, and String.

In three short acts, Noah Haidle's play 'Smokefall' tells the story of three generations of a middle-American family that lives in Grand Rapids, Mich. Join South Coast Repertory for the world premiere of Smokefall, running now through April 28, 2013. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

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.

Segerstrom Center's Family Explorer Series opens with the Terrapin Puppet Theatre from Australia performing the moving and poetic play Boats today, April 6 and tomorrow, April 7, in Samueli Theater. Boats is the story about a man named Jof, as told by his friend Nic. These two life-long friends and mariners, who met through bizarre circumstances involving a chicken, a deserted island and a sombrero, escape their past and embrace the unknown future with a great sense of adventure.