Suzan-Lori Parks News

The New Group presents the world premiere of An Early History of Fire, a new play by Tony Award-winning playwright David Rabe. Directed by Jo Bonney, this production features Deema Aitken, Gordon Clapp, Erin Darke, Jonny Orsini, Devin Ratray, Dennis Staroselsky, Theo Stockman and Claire van der Boom. Limited Off-Broadway engagement is slated April 5 - May 26 at The New Group at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street). Official Opening Night is set for Monday, April 30 at 7:00 PM.

The 2012 Actors Studio Drama School Repertory Season performances will take place at The Theater at Dance New Amsterdam, 53 Chambers St., just north of City Hall, Wednesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m. and Saturdays at 3 and 8 p.m. from March 28 through April 28. The full schedule and information about plays, actors, directors and playwrights can be found online at www.Pace.edu/ASDSRep

Topdog / Underdog is the story of two brothers, abandoned by their parents as adolescents, Lincoln and Booth. Both feeling powerless, they find themselves competing for the topdog position. Lincoln, the older brother, is now divorced, and living with Booth in a seedy, dilapidated room in a boarding house. They have no running water, but they have plenty of liquor. The room is furnished without comforts and with minimal furniture, including milk crates and a sheet of cardboard that serves as the card table for Booth to practice his 3-card monte hustle.

Producers of The Gershwins' PORGY AND BESS just announced that thanks to a generous donation from the families of George and Ira Gershwin, 2,250 high school students from New York City Public Schools will be coming to see the show on Wednesday matinees from March through May. The event kicked off yesterday, March 13, with a special event that involved both cast members and teachers and city officials. BroadwayWorld was there for the festivities, and we bring you full photo coverage below!

The Theatre School at DePaul University will present BARRIO GRRRL! A MUSICAL (book and lyrics by Quiara Alegria Hudes, music by Bill Sherman, musical direction by Mark Elliott, and directed by Lisa Portes) as the final production of the 2011-2012 Chicago Playworks for Families and Young Audiences Series. BARRIO GRRRL! A MUSICAL opens Tuesday, March 27, and runs through Saturday, May 12, 2012, at DePaul's historic Merle Reskin Theatre. Performances are Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 AM and Saturdays at 2 PM. There will be no performance on March 31, April 3, April 5, April 7, April 28, May 1, May 3, or May 5.

On Sunday, March 11, the first anniversary of the great Japanese earthquake, Theater Communications Group is organizing performance events nationwide to raise funds for the Japan Playwrights Association to help the Japanese theater community affected by the disaster. The collective event is called: SHINSAI: THEATERS FOR JAPAN.

Patti LuPone, Richard Thomas, Mary Beth Hurt, Jay O. Sanders and Henry Stram will join forces with the previously announced Michi Barral, Cindy Cheung, Joel de la Fuente, Angel Desai, Ann Harada, Jennifer Ikeda, Paul Juhn, Peter Kim, Ken Leung, Li Jun Li, Jennifer Lim, Angela Lin, Paolo Montalban, Olivia Oguma, Jon Norman Schneider, Thom Sesma, Sab Shimono, Jade Wu, Jonny Wo, James Yaegashi and Stacey Yen to raise funds that will go directly to Japanese theater artists devasted by last year's earthquake when they appear in this Sunday's March 11 benefit performances of Shinsai: Theaters for Japan, at the Great Hall at Cooper Union (Seventh Street at Third Avenue).

On March 11, 2012-the one-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Japan-American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) will join over 65 theaters across the country in presenting SHINSAI ("great quake" in Japanese), a benefit reading to support fellow theater artists on the other side of the world. Selections will be drawn from a menu of 10-minute plays and songs that were commissioned from major American and Japanese artists, who have donated their work for this one-night only event. Performance takes place at 7 p.m. at The Garret at the American Conservatory Theater. Tickets are $5 and can be ordered online at act-sf.org or by calling 415.749.2228. All proceeds will benefit the Japan Playwrights Association.

The Theatre Project, New York's 'Adventurous New Company,' is set to participate in a global benefit for the people of Japan. In conjunction with The Players Theatre and Literally Alive, The Theatre Project is proud to present SHINSAI: Theatre for Japan, Sunday, March 11 at 5 pm at The Players Theatre at 115 MacDougal Street. Tickets are $20.00 with all proceeds going to SHINSAI. For tickets and more information go to www.TheTheatreProject.org or call 212-475-1449.

American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) has announced that it will present the musical Pippin as part of its 2012 - 13 Season. The production will be directed by Diane Paulus with choreography by Gypsy Snider of the Montreal-based circus company Les 7 doigts de la main, also known as 7 Fingers. Performances will begin in December 2012 at the Loeb Drama Center, Cambridge.

Nicole Franklin's 36-minute film, GERSHWIN & BESS: A DIALOGUE WITH ANNE BROWN, brings Ms. Brown back to Broadway where she reigned in the 1930s. The documentary is on sale in the lobby of the Richard Rodgers Theatre, 226 West 46th St, New York, N.Y. during a revised version of the musical.

The benefit will feature a segment from the 1976 musical Pacific Overtures revised, with new lyrics, especially for the occasion by its creators librettist John Weidman and composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim. BroadwayWorld.com is excited to premiere the text from creators John Weidman and Stephen Sondheim.

On Sunday, March 11, the first anniversary of the great Japanese earthquake, Theater Communications Group is organizing performance events nationwide to raise funds for the Japan Playwrights Association to help the Japanese theater community affected by the disaster. The collective event is called: SHINSAI: THEATERS FOR JAPAN.