Spike Lee News

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director Molly Smith and Executive Producer Edgar Dobie, announces the full cast and creative team for Dear Evan Hansen.

The NYU Tisch School of the Arts annual gala honoring Michael C. Hall, Steven Lutvak and Robert L. Freedman, with a special tribute to Mel Silverman, will be held tonight, May 4, at the Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall.

The Downtown Urban Theater Festival (Reg E. Gaines, Artistic Director) will present its 13th annual season in New York City from May 13th - 30th, 2015.

Midtown Direct Rep (MDR), the ensemble-based theater company based in South Orange/Maplewood, NJ, announces A CONVERSATION WITH BILLY PORTER, on Monday, June 15, 2015 at 7:30 PM at the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) in a one-night-only benefit appearance hosted by NY1's Budd Mishkin.

The Long Wait, a critically acclaimed short film by award-winning filmmakers Wolfgang Bodison (A Few Good Men, ER, CSI: NY/Miami, NCIS) and Elizabeth Yoder (starring as Grace), received the coveted Platinum Remi Award at the 48th annual WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival!

?The Downtown Urban Theater Festival announces that acclaimed playwright/director/actor Danny Hoch will receive the 2015 DUTF Playwright Masters Award at this year's Opening Night event, which will take place on Tuesday, May 12th at 8:00 p.m. at 40/40 Club (6 West 25th Street, NYC). 

The Chicago stage premiere of Academy Award winning director Taylor Hackford's LOUIS & KEELY 'LIVE' AT THE SAHARA has been extended by popular demand through Sunday, May 17 at the Royal George Theatre, 1641 North Halsted Street. Hackford, best known for his films An Officer and a Gentleman, Against All Odds, The Devil's Advocate,.

The hilarious one-woman tour de force HYPOCRITES & STRIPPERS will be part of Downtown Urban Theater Festival at HERE Arts Center (145 6th Ave, New York, NY 10013) on May 21 at 8:30 PM--one night only.

The new musical comedy Something Rotten!, directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon, Aladdin), with music and lyrics by Grammy Award winner Wayne Kirkpatrick and Golden Globe Award nominee Karey Kirkpatrick and a book by Karey Kirkpatrick and best-selling author John O'Farrell, officially opens on Broadway tonight, April 22, 2015 at the St. James Theatre (246 West 44th Street). Scroll down to learn more about the company and watch interviews with the cast!

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) will stage a three-day festival June 2-4 exploring renewal in Detroit and New Orleans through performance and cultural exchange. The festival, entitled 'A Musical Tale of Two Cities: Motown Meets The Big Easy,' will examine how these two cities have used their legacy of unique musical and artistic culture to heal and renew themselves after economic and natural disaster.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust announces the Pittsburgh premiere of Raisin' Cane: A Harlem Renaissance Odyssey, starring Jasmine Guy and The Avery Sharpe Trio, which will be performed tonight, April 16, 2015, at 7:30 p.m., at the Byham Theater, 101 Sixth Street, Pittsburgh's Cultural District. This event is part of the Cohen & Grigsby Trust Presents series, presented by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. The creative concept for this production was inspired by the classic 1923 Jean Toomer novel 'Cane' and works by the musicians, composers, poets and actors of the Harlem Renaissance. The Arizona Daily Star said, 'Cane is a sweet salute to Harlem's glory days' and the Dayton Daily News wrote the performance was 'Lively, informative, motivating and entertaining...'

San Francisco, CA, April 9, 2015 – Opera Parallèle has announced its 2015--2016 season, which will feature its first collaboration with SFJAZZ, a new production of Peter Maxwell Davies' riveting and mysterious The Lighthouse, and the world premiere of a new children's opera by Chris Pratorius. Opera Parallèle and SFJAZZ will present their first collaboration: a new, fully staged production of Champion: An Opera in Jazz by Terence Blanchard, SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director, with eight performances to be given February 19-28, 2016 at SFJAZZ Center. Based on the life of African-American boxing champion Emile Griffith (1938-2013), the production marks both Opera Parallèle's first foray into an operatic jazz idiom and SFJAZZ's first opera. The complete schedule of performances will be announced and tickets go on sale to the general public mid-July, 2015. For more information, visit www.operaparallele.org and www.sfjazz.org. Peter Maxwell Davies' three-character opera, The Lighthouse, based on the mysterious and unsolved disappearance of three people off the Scottish coast in 1900 will be given a new production April 29-May 1, 2016 at Z Space in San Francisco. The season will open with the world premiere of a new children's opera by Chris Pratorius entitled Amazing Grace, featuring San Francisco fourth graders and soloists, November 12-14, 2015, at a venue to be announced. For more information about the Opera Parallèle season, visit www.operaparallele.org .

Omaha Performing Arts presents Grammy®-winning trumpeter Terence Blanchard in the Kiewit Hall at the Holland Performing Arts Center Thursday, May 7, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $15, and are available at TicketOmaha.com, 402.345.0606 or at the Ticket Omaha Office inside the Holland Center, 1200 Douglas St. Blanchard is part of the 2014/15 Jazz Series.

The NYU Tisch School of the Arts annual gala honoring Michael C. Hall, Steven Lutvak and Robert L. Freedman, with a special tribute to Mel Silverman, will be held on Monday, May 4, at the Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall.

Masterworks Theater Company is proud to announce the cast for the first show of their season: The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams. Directed by Christopher Scott, The Glass Menagerie will feature Saundra Santiago ("The Sopranos"), Richard Prioleau (HBO's "A Normal Heart") as Tom, Olivia Washington (Lee Daniels' The Butler), as Laura, and Doug Harris (The Found Dog Ribbon Dance) as Jim. The play will begin May 8 and Open on Thursday, May 14 running through May 30 at the 47th Street Theatre (304 West 47th Street).

Continuing in a tradition of storytelling and music, Hershey Felder announces the star cast for the Chicago stage premiere of Academy Award winning director Taylor Hackford's LOUIS AND KEELY, 'LIVE' AT THE SAHARA.

The Public Theater announced complete casting today for the Public Lab production of TOAST, written by Lemon Andersen. Directed by Elise Thoron, TOAST begins previews on Tuesday, April 21 and runs through Sunday, May 10, with an official press opening on Tuesday, May 5.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust announces the Pittsburgh premiere of Raisin' Cane: A Harlem Renaissance Odyssey, starring Jasmine Guy and The Avery Sharpe Trio, which will be performed on Thursday, April 16, 2015, at 7:30 p.m., at the Byham Theater, 101 Sixth Street, Pittsburgh's Cultural District. This event is part of the Cohen & Grigsby Trust Presents series, presented by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. The creative concept for this production was inspired by the classic 1923 Jean Toomer novel 'Cane' and works by the musicians, composers, poets and actors of the Harlem Renaissance. The Arizona Daily Star said, 'Cane is a sweet salute to Harlem's glory days' and the Dayton Daily News wrote the performance was 'Lively, informative, motivating and entertaining...'

Tony nominee Daniel Breaker returns to Joe's Pub tonight, March 23rd with an electrifying mix of songs from standards to blues to funk.

The unique performing arts intensive will take place at the Dallas Convention Center (600 South Griffin Street, Dallas, TX) tonight, March 10 - Saturday, March 14, 2015. The five-day intensive will culminate in a unique Broadway-style concert event featuring performances by Dallas' brightest rising stars on Friday, March 13, 2015 at 8 p.m.