Tennessee Williams News

Alison Fraser will lead the reading of Wendy Beckett's Off-Broadway - bound production of LOVE THERAPY. This new play, directed by Evan Bergman is the fourth in a series of Ms. Beckett's plays that will be brought across the pacific from Australia by Pascal Productions. The reading takes place on Sunday, February 3rd at 3PM at TACT Studios (900 Broadway at 20th Street - Suite 905) and is open to the public by reservation only. For tickets, please contact adamgm@kefproductions.com. Additional casting is soon to be announced.

Fresh from Ivanov starring Ethan Hawke, Obie Award-winning director Austin Pendleton directs Tennessee Williams' stark and religiously sensual morality play Suddenly Last Summer with the Mississippi Mud.

You may think that you know Tennessee Williams, but you don't. Stone Soup Theatre presents 5 X TENN (OR SO), selected one acts published after the death of one of America's most treasured playwrights. It's been five years since Stone Soup Theatre produced the west coast premiere of 5 X TENN, (directed by Julie Beckman) to both audience and critical acclaim. Now, to satisfy the hunger of Williams' fans, Stone Soup offers up 5 X TENN (OR SO), six seldom produced one acts, that will transport us to a post-apocalyptic dystopian society with Chalky White Substance; take us to a flooded New Orleans (eerily reminiscent of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina) in Kingdom of Earth; and encounter the dangers, both hidden and obvious, of a fascist regime in The Municipal Abattoir. In addition, equally prophetic, provocative, and confrontational pieces will seduce and shock you: Talk to Me Like the Rain, Sunburst, and The Big Game.

Rising-star soprano Susanna Phillips - who returned to the Metropolitan Opera to acclaim in Don Giovanni earlier this season - will make her Carnegie recital debut in Weill Recital Hall on February 8, with a program that ranges from Schubert, Chausson and Granados to Berg, Messiaen and Gordon Myers.

Wave Productions in association with Shetler Studios & Theatres will present the World Premiere of Charles Cissel's GOD STEELING, a revealing look at the lives of New York City ironworkers. Directed by Robin A. Paterson, previews begin March 8 at Theater 54. Opening is slated for March 14.

Twice Tony-nominated Broadway star Alison Fraser will command the stage and a seven piece swing band singing what she calls "the soundtrack of Tennessee Williams' life." The 90-minute benefit concert features songs Williams chose for his plays - music that is integral to the emotional contours of his indelible dramas.

American Lyric Theater presents the next installment in its popular series, The Living Libretto, at the National Opera Center, Wednesday February 6th, 2013. Featuring guest actors from the Broadway and off-Broadway stage, each event is the culminating reading of extensive libretto workshops conducted for new operas currently being written by ALT Resident Artists.

Erin Markey has announced a return to Joe's Pub. Known for her dark wit and absurdist transformations, Markey has been likened to Kristen Wiig, Kathy Acker and Eileen Brennan. Erin weaves together an exciting bill of R&B, 90's pop and grunge, standards and original music under the direction of Ben Rimalower (Leslie Kritzer is Patti LuPone at Les Mouches) with musical direction by Tony-nominated Kenny Mellman (Kiki and Herb).

Ever been to Palm Springs? It's that strange Californian land were a few glistening and brilliant buildings punctuate the otherwise cold, desolate and uninteresting landscape. The same can be said of the Palm Springs set play Other Desert Cities. While the play, now playing at the Austin Playhouse, has a few shimmering moments and features an incredible cast, the majority of the play is bleak, flat, and barren.

In their dedication to new play development, Blue Roses Productions will present 4 evenings of new play readings. The first evening, Not To Be Ignored, January 28 (Today) at 7:00pm, includes plays by - Judy Stadt, Linda Billington, Judd Lear Silverman - each piece containing a lead character entering their golden years. Winter Shorts, January 29 (Tuesday) at 7:00pm, includes a mix of themes by master writers Karen Eterovich, Judd Lear Silverman, Dawson Moore, Arlitia Jones, Richard Cottrell. The third evening, offers Blue Roses the opportunity to introduce NYC audiences to some of the outstanding playwrights from the last frontier. Blue Roses Celebrates Alaskan Playwrights, February 4 (Today) at 7:00pm - introduces plays by Mollie Ramos, Lucas Rowley, Tom Moran, Carolyn Roesbery, Dawson Moore, Linda Billington, Schatzie Schaefers, Kyra Meyer, Forrest Leo. The winter Infusion series concludes with a reading of Kennedy V, the latest full-length from popular playwright/filmmaker/composer - Roland Tec - February 26 (Tuesday) at 7:00pm.

San Francisco's African-American Shakespeare Company continues its 2012-13 season with Tennessee Williams's Pulitzer Prize-winning play CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF. African-American Shakespeare Company Artistic Director L. Peter Callender (A Raisin in the Sun, Twelfth Night) helms this scintillating interpretation of Williams's timeless play. Called 'an indestructible American classic' by Variety, CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF plays tonight, January 26 through February 17 (press opening: tonight, January 26) at the Buriel Clay Theater at the African American Art and Culture Complex in San Francisco.

The Tony Award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival's 2013 preview performances begin February 15, and the season will open Friday night, February 22 with Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, directed by David Ivers. On Saturday, August Wilson's Two Trains Running, directed by Lou Bellamy, takes the stage, as does Lerner and Loewe's classic American musical My Fair Lady, directed by Amanda Dehnert. Sunday afternoon in the Thomas Theatre, Shakespeare's King Lear opens, directed by OSF Artistic Director Bill Rauch.

Following its delightful presentation of SOME ENCHANTED EVENING, Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma will take a turn for the dramatic as it presents Tennessee Williams' powerful classic, THE GLASS MENAGERIE, March 27 through April 13, at the Plaza Theatre. The play is the second installment in Lyric's 50th Anniversary Season and will star nationally-recognized, Washington, D.C. actress Helen Hedman as Amanda.

Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, starring Scarlett Johansson as Maggie, Ciarán Hinds as Big Daddy, Benjamin Walker as Brick and Debra Monk as Big Mama, directed by Rob Ashford, opened on January 17. The show will play a limited engagement through March 30, 2013 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre (226 West 46th Street). Check out photos of the show's stars in the BroadwayWorld.com series 'In The Spotlight' by acclaimed photographer Walter McBride below!

UW School of Drama presents David Edgar's Pentecost, directed by MFA in Directing candidate Andrew McGinn, in his thesis production at the Jones Playhouse. Previews begin Wednesday, February 20, 2013. The production runs through Sunday, March 3, and features performers from the School of Drama's graduate and undergraduate programs.

BAX | Brooklyn Arts Exchange has announced the WORKS IN PROGRESS SERIES, featuring BAX Artists-In-Residence (AIR), and running today, January 24-27, 2013.

Each week Joe's Pub at The Public presents some of New York City's most eclectic programming ranging from world to classical, pop, singer-songwriter, jazz and more. At the center of Joe's Pub's genre-blind booking is The Public Theater's mission to bring world-class performance to New York City's diverse cultural community.

American Lyric Theater (ALT) has been awarded two grants of $15,000 each from OPERA America's THE OPERA FUND for Repertoire Development. Announced earlier today by OPERA America, the grants are for two operas in development at ALT: La Reina by composer Jorge Sosa and librettist Laura Sosa Pedroza; and The Long Walk, by composer Jeremy Howard Beck and librettist Stephanie Fleischmann based on Brian Castner's critically acclaimed book of the same name.