Tennessee Williams News

A new play about the late Italian actress Anna Magnani, MAMMA ROMA -- written and performed by Anne DeSalvo, winner of the Obie Award for her performance in GEMINI -- will be presented by Cherry Lane Theatre's MENTOR PROJECT from April 3 to 14 at Cherry Lane Studio Theatre (38 Commerce St.) in Manhattan. MAMMA ROMA is directed by Rob Urbinati. David Rambo (THE LADY WITH ALL THE ANSWERS) has been Ms. DeSalvo's mentor for the play.

Connecting Creativity: A Trans-Atlantic Co-production will feature several monologues written by Irish playwrights for American actors as well as recorded performance of the Irish company performing monologues written just for them by company members of The New Theatre Project in Michigan.

On Monday, March 19 at 7pm, The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space at WNYC and WQXR will present a conversation with several cast and artistic team members of A Streetcar Named Desire, opening on Broadway on April 22.

The 6th Street Playhouse has announced special event presentations marking National Women's History Month. The women in the Sonoma County are highlighted in three special events and a new stage play will a special look at female characters created by playwright Tennessee Williams.

The Tony Award®-winning Hartford Stage, under the leadership of Darko Tresnjak, Artistic Director, and Michael Stotts, Managing Director, proudly announces the lineup of programming for the theater's 2012-13 season, the first chosen under Darko Tresnjak's artistic leadership.

Welcome to Desire, the fantastical reinterpretation of Tennessee Williams' Streetcar Named Desire by Nari Tomassetti Presents returns to the AllWays Lounge and Theater for a second ribald run. Hailed by the NOLA Defender's Jim Fitzmorris as containing "…the life force of (a) five day event" Welcome to Desire premiered at the 2011 New Orleans Fringe Festival to rave reviews. The show includes an original score by Matt Bell played live by his symphonic orchestra, epic battles of man versus beast, rollicking shadow puppets, punk rock divas, and wanton wildcats.

On Monday, March 19 at 7pm, The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space at WNYC and WQXR will present a conversation with several cast and artistic team members of A Streetcar Named Desire, opening on Broadway on April 22.

Academy Award® nominee and Emmy® Award winner David Strathairn (Dr. Austin Sloper) will join Academy Award® nominee Jessica Chastain (Catherine Sloper) in the Tony Award®-winning play The Heiress. Written by Ruth Goetz & Augustus Goetz, The Heiress will be directed by Tony Award® nominated playwright and director Moisés Kaufman and will open in the Fall of 2012 at a theatre to be announced.

The Meeting* hosted by Justin Sayre will present its newest edition on Thursday, March 15 at 9:30 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

'It's far easier to stay home and watch TV or refresh Facebook but it's more rewarding if you make the effort to appreciate and attend theater,' says Director/Actor/Producer Mark Fossen. 'I wish more people knew that.' Fossen's latest project is helming THE CRUCIBLE at The Grand Theatre in Salt Lake City.

The 6th Street Playhouse will present "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" with a cast led by its 2012 Distinguished Guest Artist - actor of stage, film and television, Charles Siebert as Big Daddy.

Due to audience reception and demand The Fugitive Kind (Michael Page, Artistic Director) once again will present the cabaret show, Sarcastic, Sentimental, Bitchy and Sweet for one performance only: March 13 at 7:00 p.m. at The Laurie Beechman Theatre (407 West 42nd St.). Written by Laura Caufield, directed by Michael Page, music direction by Jason Burrow - the cast includes Jason Burrow, Matthew Cleaver, Susan Molloy and Ethan Paulini.

Tennessee Williams is best known for his plays like The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, however, Portland Stage Company has masterfully brought together four of his lesser known works in a show that must be experienced.

Have you ever had a dream? To be an astronaut? A painter? A singer? For Billy Elliot, the title character of the hit Elton John musical that plays the Fabulous Fox Theatre March 13 - 18, his dream is to dance, which creates plenty of tension for his blue-collar, northern England family. Based on the movie of the same name, Billy Elliot shows us that sometimes your passions are something you never imagined yourself doing and once you discover them nothing should stop you from pursuing those goals. Helping Billy achieve his dream is his dance teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson, who pushes him to be his best. Playing the role in this production is veteran Broadway actress Leah Hocking who sat down with me to talk about her experience with following her own dreams of being an actor.

As part of Shattered Globe's 20th Anniversary Season, the Stage 773 resident company presents Orpheus Descending, written by Tennessee Williams and directed by guest artist Julieanne Ehre.

Orlando Shakespeare Theater hosts their Reading Events: Three by Tenn: Celebrating 100 Years of Tennessee Williams.

Beginning on March 2, 2012, Hart House Theatre is set to present a limited run of Tennessee Williams' last great masterpiece The Night of the Iguana.

The Open Fist Theatre Company has announced the next production in their 2012 season, MOON OVER BUFFALO, written by Ken Ludwig and directed by Bjørn Johnson, featuring fight choreography by B.H. Barry.