Terrence McNally News

Gingold Theatrical Group's GOLDEN SHAMROCK GALA will be held in the evening on Saturday, March 17 at the Players Club (16 Gramercy Park South), honoring the prodigious talents of playwright, Terrence McNally, actor, Brian Murray and, of course, George Bernard Shaw.

On Monday, April 30, The New York Pops marks its 29th birthday with a grand gala evening titled 'Journey On' honoring Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, the Tony Award-winning and Oscar-nominated songwriting team of such renowned Broadway musicals as Ragtime, Once On This Island, Seussical, My Favorite Year, A Man of No Importance, The Glorious Ones and the feature film Anastasia.

The Pearl Theatre Company 29th season, beginning October 2012, will culminate with the world premiere of And Away We Go, a new play written expressly for the The Pearl by four-time Tony Award-winner Terrence McNally.

Route 66 today announced a special Valentine's Day edition of their Route 66 Reading Series. Harmony France joins Artistic Director Stef Tovar for this reading of Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune by Terrence McNally. After the reading Diana Lawrence will perform a solo set.

The story of the controversial 'Mad Monk,' Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin is now the subject of the new rock musical Brother Russia, which is making its world premiere at the Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre. The new musical features Music by Dana Rowe and Book and Lyrics by John Dempsey - the award-winning creators behind The Fix (1998) and The Witches of Eastwick (2007). Check out performance highlighs below!

Eric Schaeffer, Artistic Director of Signature Theatre, today announced the lineup for the company's 2012/2013 season. The Tony Award®-winning company, long renowned for staging bold and innovative productions of classic musicals, will be reinventing four legendary Broadway favorites for their exciting 23rd season. In addition to a co-production with Ford's Theatre of the 10-time Tony Award®-winner Hello, Dolly!, Signature will be bringing the uproarious musical comedy The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and the inspirational award-winning musical Dreamgirls to the intimate MAX Theatre. Signature, the Theatre most closely associated with producing definitive productions of Stephen Sondheim, will also present the quintessential musical on love and marriage, Company, for the first time in twenty years.

Philadelphia Theatre Company announces BILL CAIN as the first recipient of the Terrence McNally New Play Award for the research and development of his newest play about Philadelphia artist Thomas Eakins which has the working title Unvarnished. The Terrence McNally New Play Award is a $10,000 cash prize given annually to recognize a new play that celebrates the transformative power of art. The Award will also include a year of development support at PTC, including readings as well as administrative support and networking to help manage the future of the play beyond its time at PTC.

The story of the controversial 'Mad Monk,' Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin is now the subject of the new rock musical Brother Russia, which makes its world premiere at the Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre. The new musical features Music by Dana Rowe and Book and Lyrics by John Dempsey - the award-winning creators behind The Fix (1998) and The Witches of Eastwick (2007). Directed by Signature's Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer, the production will star John Lescault (Signature's Art and The Lieutenant of Inishmore) as the infamous and enigmatic Rasputin, Natascia Diaz (Kiss of the Spider Woman at Signature, and Savage in Limbo at MetroStage), Doug Kreeger (Signature's The Visit), Amy McWilliams (Signature's The Witches of Eastwick and Urinetown), and Tracy Lynn Olivera (Les Misérables and Merrily We Roll Along at Signature). Erin Driscoll, Stephen Gregory Smith, Rachel Zampelli, Russell Sunday, Kevin McAllister, and Christopher Mueller round out the cast for this world premiere event. Brother Russia will play at Signature's MAX Theatre from March 6, 2012 through April 15, 2012. Tickets are now on sale. Check out production shots below!

On Twitter, Faye Dunaway had this to say @RealFayeDunaway about the upcoming big screen adaptation of Master Class. Just edited scene with Liam Dunaway O'Neill and Danielle de Niese. They are electric. We will be entered in most film festivals. Unfortunately not Cannes this year. Master Class is my dream. I work on it every day. I am a perfectionist. It shall be worth the wait.

Nicky Silver's play THE LYONS -- a critical and popular success when it debuted last fall at Vineyard Theatre -- will transfer to Broadway's Cort Theatre (138 W. 48 St.) with its entire original cast expected to be inteact, including the Tony Award-winning stars Linda Lavin and Dick Latessa, along with Kate Jennings Grant, Brenda Pressley and Gregory Wooddell. Michael Esper is in negotionations to return as well. The Vineyard Theatre production of THE LYONS will be presented on Broadway by producer Kathleen K. Johnson. Mark Brokaw directs.

Philadelphia Theatre Company will present PTC@Play, a two-week festival of new work on February 2-March 11 at PTC's home at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre (Broad and Lombard Streets).

TOPHER GRACE and OLIVIA THIRLBY will co-star in Second Stage Theatre's production of Paul Weitz's world premiere comedy, LONELY, I'M NOT, directed by Trip Cullman. Preview performances are scheduled to begin on Tuesday, April 10 at Second Stage's Tony Kiser Theatre (305 West 43rd street). The production will officially open on Monday, May 7. For tickets or more information, please visit www.2ST.com. Additional casting will be announced shortly.

The Blank Theatre's Young Playwrights Festival is seeking submissions nationwide from playwrights 19 years of age and younger. The submission deadline is March 15, 2012. Winning plays will be presented by professional actors and directors from May 31 - June 24, 2012 at the Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood, CA.

ZOE CALDWELL has been entertaining audiences as a cold-hearted Upper East Side matron in David Adjmi's intimateElective Affinitives. Meanwhile she has been seen as an affectionate grandmother in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, one of this year's Academy Award nominees for Best Picture. Caldwell has earned four Tony Awards, most recently as Maria Callas in Terrence McNally's Master Class. She has portrayed such heroines as Lady Macbeth and Medea, not to mention Lillian Hellman and Miss Jean Brodie, and she has worked with such legends as Dame Judith Anderson, Dame Edith Evans, Sir Tyrone Guthrie, Charles Laughton, and Paul Robeson. She has also directed stars such as Eileen Atkins, Glenda Jackson, James Earl Jones, Christopher Plummer, and Vanessa Redgrave. Caldwell is now writing a sequel to I Will Be Cleopatra, a memoir about her early years in Australia, and she'll share a few highlights from her most memorable encounters with Shakespeare with President of the Shakespeare Guild, JOHN ANDREWS, OBE. and answer questions from the audience.

New Feet Productions will present Leave the Balcony Open, a new play about learning how to live with loss written by Maya Macdonald.

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