Studio Theatre News

An extraordinary crocodile that can tap dance, perform household chores, and rescue cats from burning buildings will star in the musical Lyle the Crocodile at Imagination Stage. Directed by Kathryn Chase Bryer and adapted by humorist Kevin Kling, this production featuring music by Richard Gray is wonderfully warm and witty and will win the hearts of young people this holiday season. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

One day after it was announced that the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) may have a new boss in the shape and form of Robert McBride, Anele Rusi's play ISYSTEM lifted the lid on this important section of our police system when the play opened at the Artscape Arena.

Following two previous much-acclaimed seasons of American drama, the Ustinov presents The American Season 2014: three UK premieres, Dan LeFranc's The Big Meal, directed by Michael Boyd; Keith Huff's gritty two-hander, A Steady Rain, directed by David Grindley; and Lynn Nottage's multi award-winning Intimate Apparel, directed by Laurence Boswell. Casting will be announced in early 2014.

The Bark & The Tree is Vivian Nesbitt's one-woman play about connection and transformation. Directed by Lee Kitts, the play is set in Ireland, where Nesbitt travels to research her great-great grandmother, the poet Eva O'Doherty, known as 'Eva of the Nation.'

The Martha Graham Dance Company performed an intimate performance this week as part of the Company's “Graham Deconstructed” Series and Performa 13. The evening, entitled “Surreal Graham,” consisted of two pieces that exemplify the aura of surrealism, which sought to resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality through uncensored, unfiltered, and unconscious expression. Graham is perhaps the ultimate surrealist choreographer in that her work was ridden with shocking, sexual, and even violent undertones, themes that were popular amongst surrealist artists such as Salvador Dalí and René Magritte.

Milwaukee Chamber Theatre (MCT) presents the Milwaukee premiere of THINGS BEING WHAT THEY ARE by Wendy MacLeod, November 20 - December 15, 2013. Michael Cotey makes his MCT main stage directing debut with this "BROmantic" comedy featuring Dan Katula and Ryan Schabach. THINGS BEING WHAT THEY ARE performs in the Broadway Theatre Center's Studio Theatre in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward. Check out a first look below!

Island Music's popular Writers' Night songwriter series is returning to the King Center for the Performing Arts! Some of the best songwriters of Florida's Space Coast and beyond will be in concert to showcase their tunes and talents in the intimate setting of the Studio Theatre.

Walnut Street Theatre's 2013-2014 Independence Studio on 3 season opens with a bang as the 'first broad' of American Theatre takes the stage in Sophie Tucker: The Last of the Red Hot Mamas. Directed by Richard Hopkins, who is a co-creator of the show, the production opens tonight, November 21st and continues through December 29th in the Walnut's Independence Studio on 3. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the show below!

The Huntington Theatre Company announces the following special events in conjunction with its production of A.R. Gurney's The Cocktail Hour (now - December 15, 2013 at the Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre):

FST's production of Sophie Tucker: Last of the Red Hot Mamas opens this week at the Walnut Street Theatre. Sophie Tucker: Last of the Red Hot Mamas was developed under the direction of FST Artistic Director Richard Hopkins, with assistance from Kathy Halenda and Jack Fournier. As one of the most successful music revues created and developed at FST, Sophie Tucker has previously been shown to audiences at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Art Station, Centre Stage, New Repertory Theatre, Invisible Theatre, The Irish Classical Theatre and many more. The show now travels to delight audiences at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum will take the stage at the Shakespeare Theatre Company this holiday season. Making his STC mainstage directing debut, STC Associate Director Alan Paul heads up the hilarious and fun musical farce based on the classic plays of ancient Roman playwright Plautus. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum will play at Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW) from today, November 21, 2013-January 5, 2014.

A photo shoot in the summer of 1962. As screen icon Marilyn Monroe poses for her photographer she finds herself wondering what it might be like if she had it to do all over again. In Marilyn: Forever Blonde, the legendary actress reveals much of what we know - but even more about what we don't know - of the roller coaster ride she took from the orphanage to the silver screen. It is a fascinating and provocative journey.

Eat a Radish Productions has announced that two of downtown's most audacious playwrights and performers will unite for the off-off Broadway run of DARKLING and HIP, two dark comedies that explore the inside world of the outsider. DARKLING, written and performed by Kim Katzberg, is a far-out, bitingly funny journey through teen angst that will play alongside Nora Woolley's HIP, a heart-wrenching comedy about longing for fame while steeped in the discomfort of self-consciousness. Previews begin on Saturday, December 21st at IRT Theater, 154 Christopher St. DARKLING & HIP officially opens on Saturday, January 4th at 7PM. Raquel Cion directs.

Sheffield Theatres has announced the arrival of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, coming to the Studio Theatre from Wednesday 11 December to Saturday 4 January.

On Saturday, November 23 at 8pm, The Torrington Symphony Orchestra will present Dueling Divas in the Warner's Nancy Marine Studio Theatre.

The Warner Theatre will kick off its new jazz series Friday night , Nov 22 at 8pm with Gabriel Alegria Afro Peruvian Jazz Sextet in the Warner's Nancy Marine Studio Theatre.

The McAninch Arts Center (MAC), located at 425 Fawell Blvd. on the campus of College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, is pleased to announce its 2014 Grand Opening Season's Performance Series. The series is part of the MAC's 2014 Grand Opening season, marking the opening of the venue after a 14-month, $35 million renovation. The MAC's 2014 Grand Opening Season's Performance Series officially opens on Feb. 8 with a performance by Grammy Award-winner 'Keb Mo'. Additional programming for the MAC, including the MAC's new Patio Stage summer season and the MAC's 2014-15 season, the first complete season in the newly renovated venue, will be announced in spring 2014.

From tonight, 20 November to 1 December 2013, Bangarra Dance Theatre presents Dance Clan 3, a new production commissioned by Artistic Director Stephen Page. For the first time, Bangarra has assembled an all-women choreographic team with four of the company's senior female dancers each creating a new work. The resulting program of diverse styles and ideas will be presented as part of the inaugural festival, Corroboree Sydney.