Tennessee Williams News

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater Artistic Director David Van Asselt and Managing Director Brian Long have announced that Karen Allen will star in the American premiere of Jon Fosse's A Summer Day, translated and directed by Sarah Cameron Sunde, which begins performances Wednesday, October 10 and opens Thursday, October 25 at the Cherry Lane Theatre.

From Phoenix to Elsinore, with a stop in St. Louis, the Tampa Repertory Theatre's second season promises to engage audiences with plays new and old, but always provocative, innovative and classic. The season opens with a regional premiere: Phoenix, by Scott Organ.

Director Lisa Gillespie is responsible for my most recent serving of Steel Magnolias (onstage at Boiler Room Theatre in Franklin through September 8), which like all richly decadent Southern delicacies, sates something within me that yearns for a memory-laden repast-serving up Harling's artful blend of comedy and drama that is so redolent of my upbringing. In fact, every new production of Steel Magnolias that I see reminds me of a family reunion, where the same stories of kinfolk and friends are told time and again, providing a rich heritage from which to draw sustenance.

During the last decade there has been a dramatic reassessment of Williams by scholars, critics and artists with new attitudes toward art, women, and sexual identity. In celebration of his centennial last year, groundbreaking productions of Williams' plays around the world, including the later work, accelerated the momentum of a new appreciation of this great playwright. Since its inception in 2006, the Tennessee Williams Theater Festival has been in the forefront of this movement to reassess Williams' stature. The Festival has presented nine world premieres of plays by Tennessee Williams. Now in its seventh year, the Festival is expanding its efforts to enrich the experience of Williams' work onstage through two initiatives: the TW Institute and Williams 101.

Today we are talking to a spectacularly talented stage and screen star who has appeared in countless film and TV properties over the years as well as in many remarkable theatrical productions all about her major role on the USA special miniseries event POLITICAL ANIMALS, which concludes this Sunday at 9 PM - Carla Gugino. In her many film roles - including SON IN LAW, MICHAEL, SNAKE EYES, the SPY KIDS trilogy, SIN CITY, NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM, WATCHMEN, SUCKER PUNCH, MR. POPPER'S PENGUINS and NEW YEAR'S EVE, to name but a few - as well as in her string of stage successes - Arthur Miller's AFTER THE FALL, Tennessee Williams's SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER, Eugene O'Neill's DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS, and, most recently, treading the boards with Rosemary Harris and Jim Dale in THE ROAD TO MECCA - Gugino has displayed a considerable commitment to her craft and a striking sensitivity for the medium she is inhabiting.

Rubicon wraps up a summer of youth productions with the fourth annual KIDS FOR KIDS BENEFIT CONCERT, a youth produced fundraiser that benefits Rubicon's Education & Outreach.

After filling its new studios on Center Street with sold-out summer camps for local teens, Berkeley Repertory Theatre proudly announces that this extra classroom space also means more activities for students of all ages during the School of Theatre's fall session. Now, in addition to its extensive outreach to local schools, Berkeley Rep offers classes with professional teaching artists at its home on Addison Street in downtown Berkeley, at its campus on Harrison Street in West Berkeley, and at its new 13,000-square-foot facility on Center Street, which features the Osher Studio and two adjoining classrooms.

Theater for the New City, Crystal Field, Executive Director, presents OPEN UP as part of the Dream Up Festival, August 28 through September 2, 2012. Written by Kimberly Pau and directed by Eric Mercado, the production features designs by Rachel R. Blackwell and production stage management and additional designs by Jeromy Hunt. The cast includes Melissa Chambers, Lauren Cipriano, David Fernandez, Aaron McDaniel, Amanda Peters and Elizabeth Spano. Meet the cast in the photos below!

Deadline.com reports that Blair Underwood has just signed a major 'development/talent holding deal' with Universal Television.

Kathryn Erbe ('Law & Order: Criminal Intent') will reprise her role as Alexandra Eames on the upcoming season of 'Law & Order: SVU.'

The Kings Head Theatre's acclaimed revival of Tennessee Williams' autobiographical play Vieux Carre, which recently ended a sold-out run, is to transfer to the West End to Charing Cross Theatre from tonight, August 14 for a strictly limited three-week season.

Yee-haw! It's time to start two-steppin' and boot-scootin' in the aisles, as Signature Theatre kicks off its 2012/13 season with the Tony Award-winning musical comedy The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, beginning performances tonight, August 14.

Revolve Productions presents "PIECES" by Chris Phillips at the 16th New York International Fringe Festival this month. The new play is directed by Brian Zimmer and will be performing at the historic Cherry Lane Theatre in the Village at 38 Commerce Street, NYC.

According to an Equity casting notice, Rob Ashord is set to helm the upcoming Broadway revival of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof in the Spring 2013. As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Scarlett Johansson, who won a 2010 Tony Award for her Broadway debut in A View From The Bridge, is rumored to play Maggie in the production. Those in the running to play Brick are Star Trek's Chris Pine and Johansson's The Avenger's co-star Jeremy Renner. Casting options for the remainder of the cast remain unknown.

When Lonesome Traveler played at Rubicon Theatre in Ventura last year, it became the best-selling premiere in Rubicon history.

Maryland Ensemble Theatre (MET) has announced its 2012-13, 15th anniversary mainstage season. This coming season will feature classic, contemporary and original productions including a recent Off-Broadway smash musical, a Tony-winning Hitchcock adaptation and a time-honored holiday tale. This season will also include a new production of Maryland Ensemble's first show, an original work that MET premiered more than 15 years ago.

Sonnet Repertory Theatre celebrates a decade of producing classic theatre for the modern planet with a world-premiere adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Michael Raver, directed by Quin Gordon. The Picture of Dorian Gray will begin performances tonight, August 9, with an official opening slated for Friday, August 10, at The Studio Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center.

Rubicon wraps up a summer of youth productions with the fourth annual KIDS FOR KIDS BENEFIT CONCERT, a youth produced fundraiser that benefits Rubicon's Education & Outreach.

Mitch Douglas, Tennessee Williams' last literary agent at ICM, will join the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival in an informal conversation with Festival Curator David Kaplan over Coffee during the four-day festival taking place September 20-23, 2012.