Studio Theatre News

Lifeline Theatre Artistic Director Dorothy Milne announces the 17th Annual Fillet of Solo Festival, running January 3-19, 2014. Celebrating the breadth of Chicago's enduring storytelling and live lit scene, Lifeline brings 10 solo performers and 13 storytelling collectives together for a three-week, multi-venue selection of powerful personal stories. The festival will feature the work of:

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 School of Arts and Enterprise-Department of Theatre presents the inaugural show of their 2013-14 season, the award winning The Laramie Project, by Moises Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris and Stephen Belber. The Laramie Project is directed by Phil Miller, The School of Arts & Enterprise New Director of Theatre. The Laramie Project features an 11-member cast comprised of some of the brightest young actors in the San Gabriel Valley.

Manhattan Theatre Club presents the American premiere of Taking Care of Baby by Dennis Kelly and directed by Erica Schmidt. Joining previously announced cast members Reed Birney (Blasted, Our Leading Lady), Kristen Bush (Kin, The Common Pursuit), Tony nominee Amelia Campbell (A Streetcar Named Desire, Our Country's Good) and Margaret Colin (The Columnist, 'Gossip Girl'), are Francois Battiste (Magic/ Bird), Michael Crane (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson off-Broadway), Ethan Phillips (Golden Age) and Zach Shaffer ('Smash').

For the sixth year, Pontine Theatre presents a host of New Vaudeville performers at its WEST-FEST: New Vaudeville Festival. Performances are 2pm, 26-30 December at Pontine's West End Studio Theatre located at 959 Islington Street in Portsmouth. WEST-FEST is modeled on Portland, Maine's, Phyzgig Festival which was founded in in 1997. It's a family-oriented festival that chases away the blues with performances featuring magic, mirth, and mayhem.

12 - 15 December, Pontine Theatre premieres A New England Christmas at Pontine's West End Studio Theatre. The program, underwritten by Chris Dwyer & Michael Huxtable. Co-Artistic Directors, Marguerite Mathews and Greg Gathers unveil original adaptations of two heart-warming Christmas stories set in New England: Captain Eli's Best Ear by Frank Stockton, a yarn about two salty, old sea captains who decide to keep Christmas together; and The Romance of a Christmas Card by Kate Douglas Wiggin, a story about far-flung families reunited by the lure of a Christmas with the "folks back home." These charming 19th century holiday stories-not to mention punch and cookies-are sure to evoke the holiday spirit! The soundtrack includes traditional melodies, many of them played and recorded by Strafford, NH's Jeffrey Zohler.

January 2-5, Pontine Theatre kicks off its Cafe-Lyceum Series with Silver Lake Summers: an e. e. cummings revue. The Cafe-Lyceum format features refreshments and conversation along with scenes from one of Pontine Theatre's popular original plays based on New England literature. Silver Lake Summers is based on the life and work of American poet and painter Edward Estlin Cummings, a lifelong summer resident of Silver Lake in Madiosn, New Hampshire. Poems and stories, personal correspondence, and family photos, combine to illustrate how the 'New Hampshire experience' shaped the work of this seminal 20th century writer. Performances are Thursday and Friday at 7:30, Saturday at 4:00 and Sunday at 2:00. Tickets are $18 ($3 discount for seniors and students) and may be purchased at - www.pontine.org.

The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust honors playwrights Annie Baker and Rajiv Joseph at the Sixth Annual Steinberg Playwright 'Mimi' Awards tonight, Monday, November 18, 2013 at the Lincoln Center Theater in New York. The 'Mimi' Awards are presented biennially to honor the accomplishments of some of the most gifted up-and-coming American Playwrights and to recognize the promise they hold for the future of American theater.

Musical Theatre Artists of Pittsburgh (MTAP) has been established to foster collaboration between musical theatre artists in the Pittsburgh region, and to create opportunities for the development, presentation, and production of new musical theatre. Initiated by Erik Schark, under the guidance and advice of Stephanie Riso - co-founder of Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre currently in its 17th season, and Cabaret Pittsburgh which operated 2004-2008, the group is now led by Stephanie Riso with managing leadership by Jeanne Drennan and the advisory role now filled by Steve Cuden, author of the new book Beating Broadway: How to Create Stories for Musicals That Get Standing Ovations.

Holiday cheer will abound at Cleveland Play House (CPH) with an all-new production of the beloved holiday classic, A Christmas Story running from Nov. 29th - Dec. 22nd in the Allen Theatre at PlayhouseSquare. In honor of the 30th anniversary of the unforgettable film, CPH enthusiastically breathes new life into this classic story about Ralphie and his ultimate Christmas wish. Having delighted audiences for 30 years on both the big and small screens, this incredible production is brought to vivid life on stage for Northeast Ohio audiences. Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased by calling (216) 241-6000 or online at www.clevelandplayhouse.com. CPH is pleased to have University Hospitals as the Presenting Sponsor of A Christmas Story, along with Benesch, Nordson and FirstMerit as Supporting Sponsors.

The NATIONAL NEW PLAY NETWORK (NNPN), the country's alliance of non-profit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays, announces its 35th Rolling World Premiere: Steve Yockey's Pluto will receive three productions through the Network's Continued Life of New Plays Fund in the 2013/14 season. Pluto will begin its Rolling World Premiere at Actor's Express (Atlanta, GA, today, November 16 - December 8, 2013), followed by performances at Forum Theatre (Washington, DC, February 20 - March 15, 2014) and Orlando Shakespeare Theatre (Orlando, FL, February 27 - March 23, 2014).

The Utah Shakespeare Festival soared this year in more ways than one. Not only did the Festival produce a regional premiere of a Tony Award-winning play, it continued the Complete the Canon initiative, started the History Cycle, and the company is preparing to break ground on a new arts center. The Festival continues to push the envelope and through countless hours and a resilient company of artists, the Festival once again received tremendous praise this year for an artistically successful season.

Point Park University's Conservatory Theatre Company presents a refreshingly new take on Euripides' classic Greek tragedy, Hecuba, directed by Monica Payne. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Toronto's acclaimed Theatre Gargantua (TG) opened the world premiere of The Sacrifice Zone on November 14, marking the Canadian debut of Australian playwright Suzie Miller of The Uncertainty Principle and the culmination of the company's tenth cycle of work. The Sacrifice Zone runs to November 30, 2013 at the Factory Studio Theatre.

The year is 1961. In Ireland, things are bleak. The Catholic Church rules the lives of ordinary people. There is no compassion for sins involving sex. Unmarried girls who 'fall' are driven to desperate measures. Everyone knows someone who 'got into trouble' and the consequences. In the sewing factory, the girls try to forget. They laugh, worship Elvis and dream of films, pop music, fashion and happy-ever-after.

Apollinaire Theatre Company presents From White Plains by by Michael Perlman, in Collaboration with Craig Wesley Divino, Karl Gregory, Jimmy King and Aaron Rossinil. Just because it gets better, doesn't mean it didn't happen.

Florida Studio Theatre opens the first show of the 13-14 Mainstage Season, the Tony Award-Winning MONTY PYTHON'S SPAMALOT, with book by Eric Idle and score by Eric Idle and John Du Prez. It will open in Florida Studio Theatre's Gompertz Theatre (1241 N. Palm Avenue) tonight, November 15, 2013.

After finding a dead mouse in her apartment, a self-proclaimed 'Cat Lady' who lost her cats in 'the divorce,' cleans house in every possible way. As she gets rid of the garbage and clutter she also attempts to let go of her past and fears of becoming a crazy cat lady. Cat Lady Without A Cat, is a hilarious and heartfelt story of one woman's journey from a painful divorce to her new life in New York.