Tennessee Williams News

Westport/Weston Natives Justin Paul, Dan Asher, Drew McKeon and Jeremy Goldsmith in Band: The Broadway Boys' Holiday Concert at Westport Country Playhouse

The National Board of Review named The Social Network the 2010 Best Film of the Year. Directed by David Fincher, this timeless drama explores the moment at which Facebook, the most revolutionary social phenomenon of the new century, was invented and the resulting lawsuits. The film was released on October 1st by Columbia Pictures.

The Greatest Gift, a special family holiday playreading with music, will be presented by Westport Country Playhouse in association with Bisno Productions as part of the Playhouse's popular Script in Hand series, on Monday, December 13, 7 p.m.

Bad Habit Productions, one of Boston's Top Small Theatres according to WBZ, presents an evening of Christopher Durang comedies in the hilarious theatrical mash-up DURANG/DURANG December 2 through 12 (Press performance on December 3 at 8pm.) The New York Times raved that 'these works have so many good lines that quoting them could enliven a week's worth of dull dinner parties.' Eccentric characters travel through wild situations in this night of short plays by the 'prodigiously gifted playwright' (The New York Times)

Westport Country Playhouse's Family Festivities Series will present, "Season's Greetings," with magic, music, live animals, special effects and audience participation, celebrating the world's seasonal holidays, on Sunday, December 12, 1 and 4 p.m.

James Franco, who was just announced as a 2011 Oscar co-host yesterday, is reportedly in talks to join Oscar winner Nicole Kidman in the upcoming Broadway revival of SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH, according to Showbiz411.com. Franco would appear as Chance Wayne, in the Fall 2011 production.

Bill Irwin, actor, director, writer and clown, whose work has been honored with Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Barrymore and Helen Hayes Awards, and Doug Skinner, musician, puppeteer and composer, who wrote and played the music for several of Mr. Irwin's shows, will appear in "The Clowns and Mr. Beckett," an evening of madcap routines, shtick and novelty songs, at Westport Country Playhouse on Saturday, December 11, 8 p.m.

Kathleen Turner and Matthew Rhys will reprise the roles they created (as Mrs. Robinson and Benjamin Braddock) in the original West End production when L.A. Theatre Works records Terry Johnson's hit stage adaptation of The Graduate for radio. Also in the cast are Bruce Davison (Mr. Braddock), John Getz (Mr. Robinson), Lucy Punch (Elaine), Linda Purl (Mrs. Braddock) and Tom Virtue (multiple roles). John Rubinstein will direct five performances, December 8-12, at the Skirball Cultural Center. L.A. Theatre Works' nationally syndicated radio theater series airs locally in Southern California on KPCC 89.3 every Saturday from 10 pm - midnight and can be streamed on demand at www.latw.org.

Westport Country Playhouse offers the holiday gift of entertainment for family and friends. Subscriptions or tickets to upcoming plays, family festivities or special events make great stocking stuffers.

The Wilma Theater will continue its 2010 - 2011 Season with The Understudy, the latest comedy from Pulitzer Prize nominee Theresa Rebeck, directed by David Kennedy.

Berkeley's acclaimed Aurora Theatre Company presents the second Aurora Script Club meeting of the season with Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie.

The New National Theatre of Japan presents CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF this November 9 - 28. The play is written by Tennessee Williams and translated by Tsuneda Keiko, with direction by Matsumoto Yuko. The cast includes Terajima Shinobu, Kitamura Yukiya, Hirooka Yuriko, Ginpuncho, Kiba Katsumi, Ichikawa Isamu, and Mikami Ichiro.

Tony Award nominated actress Debbie Allen will direct the new musical TWIST at the Alliance Theatre from September 1 through October 3 as a part of the 2010-2011 season.

Stage and screen actress Nicole Kidman, who made her Broadway debut in the 1998 production of THE BLUE ROOM, will join her husband Keith Urban on the November 30 episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Their appearance will be among other celebrity Aussies -- who have yet to be confirmed -- who will help whisk Oprah and 300 of her audience members off on an eight-day trip to Australia, 'Oprah's Ultimate Australian Adventure,' one week later. Kidman and Urban will discuss what audience members venturing on the trip can expect in the 'land down under.' The couple will reconvene with Oprah on the show's taping in Sydney on December 14.Theatre-enthusiasts can expect to see Kidman back on the Broadway stage next fall, when she stars in the revival of Tennessee Williams' SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH.

Following the sell-out success of The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Young Vic), Joe Hill-Gibbins directs an outstanding cast including Deborah Findlay (Cranford, BBC), Sinead Matthews (Happy-Go-Lucky, Mike Leigh), Leo Bill (Alice in Wonderland, Tim Burton) and Kyle Soller (A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Globe) in Tennessee Williams' first great Broadway success.

Twice the trouble... four times the fun! Jefferson Performing Arts Society (JPAS) is thrilled to present the WORLD PREMIERE production of TWO TIMES TWO, A New Comedy Play by Samuel Warren Joseph.

BAM presents Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz's 'The Marriage of Maria Braun,' November 17.

From the fiendish minds at Bang! Arts Promotions comes El Fantasma! A paranormal circus event celebrating that backbone of Atlanta workshop theater PushPush, who for nearly 15 years has been connecting artists, cultivating film and theater projects, co-creating striking international shows, and providing Atlanta with a one way ticket to new heights of theatrical experience.

Bang! Arts Promotions and PushPush theatre present El Fatasma! on November 20. This will be a paranormal circus event celebrating that backbone of Atlanta workshop theater PushPush who for nearly 15 years have been connecting artists, cultivating contemporary theater, creating a place for Atlanta in the international arts scene, and providing audiences with a one way ticket to new heights of theatrical experience.

Actress/musician Gwendoline Yeo (Desperate Housewives) brings Laughing with My Mouth Wide Open, the sharply observed and riotously funny story of her cultural journey from Singapore to America, to Hollywood's El Centro Theatre beginning November 20.