The Public Theatre News

Producing Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside and American Blues Theater, Chicago's second oldest Equity ensemble, are proud to announce the first production in American Blues Theater's "Legends and Legacies" season, Hank Williams: Lost Highway, by Randal Myler and Mark Harelik, directed by Damon Kiely, music director Malcolm Ruhl and starring Matt Brumlow as "Hank Williams," August 30 - October 6, at the Greenhouse Theater Center's Downstage Mainstage Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. Tickets are $19 for previews, $29 Thursdays and Fridays and $39 Saturdays and Sundays and $49 for opening night. Previews are Friday, Aug. 30 and Saturday, Aug. 31 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 1 at 2:30 p.m. Press/opening night is Thursday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursday - Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. There are post-show discussions following Sunday performances beginning September 8. Single tickets go on sale July 24 at 773.404.7336 or americanbluestheater.com.

Undercover Productions will present the WORLD PREMIERE of ETHEL SINGS: Espionage in High C, written by Joan Beber. ETHEL SINGS begins previews on June 27th, with a June 28th opening at Walker Space. Directed by Jules Aaron, ETHEL SINGS has set design by Gary Guidinger, lighting design by John Eckert Original Music by Max Kinberg & costume design by Michele Young. Sarah Brown stages manages & Sherry Netherland assistant directs. Ethel Sings is produced by Linda Toliver & Gary Guidinger for Undercover Productions.

The Exchange's Artistic Director, Ari Edelson, has announced the artists and companies who participating in the 2013 Orchard Project Summer Residencies. An unprecedented twenty-one companies, teams, and individual artists have been selected from hundreds of applicants to develop new work at The Exchange's Orchard Project. The Orchard Project (Ari Edelson, Artistic Director, Dean Strober, Executive Director) runs now through June 29, 2013 in New York's Catskill Mountain Preserve.

Juilliard Dance, under the direction of Lawrence Rhodes, opens its 2013-2014 season with New Dances PLUS: Edition 2013, Wednesday, December 11 through Sunday, December 15, 2013 in Juilliard's Peter Jay Sharp Theater and features Juilliard alumna Pina Bausch's Wind von West (Wind from the West) performed by the Senior Class, plus three world premiere commissions created for each of the classes of Juilliard's Dance Division. Next season's innovative choreographers are Juilliard alumnus Takehiro Ueyama (1st Year Dancers); Brian Brooks (2nd Year Dancers); and Juilliard alumnus Darrell Grand Moultrie (3rdYear Dancers).

Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, presents the Tony Award-winning 2008 Broadway revival version of the hit comedy BOEING-BOEING, previewing tonight, June 13, opening Today, June 20 at 8 p.m., and running through August 4, 2013. BOEING-BOEING stars Saturday Night Live alum Nora Dunn as'Berthe' (Dunn was Meryl Streep's co-star in the Nancy Meyers film It's Complicated; her TV credits include Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage, Private Practice, Psych and Franklin & Bash; and she recently starred in Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron's play Love, Loss and What I Wore at the Broadway Playhouse in Chicago).

Connecticut's premier outdoor Shakespeare will present As You Like It, tonight, June 13-30, 2013. The show is one of Shakespeare's most beloved and pastoral comedies. Claire Shannon Kelly, currently the Director of Youth Programming for Shakespeare on the Sound and the director of the company's touring educational program, 'Speaking Daggers,' will direct. Kelly previously worked at the Ordway Theater, the Guthrie Theater, the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey and the George Street Playhouse. She is a resident of New Canaan.

Chris Ghaffari, in rehearsal for perhaps his biggest role, the romantic male lead in Shakespeare's pastoral comedy 'As you Like It,' unabashedly admits he is intrigued by the timeless fascination of the actor for the stage.

Barrett Foa, of NCIS: Los Angeles and Broadway's Avenue Q, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Mamma Mia! and Godspell, will star as 'Harold Hill' in Connecticut Repertory Theatre's production of THE MUSIC MAN, running July 11-21, 2013, with opening night set for July 12.

Beginning in July 2013, the Alley Theatre will produce Agatha Christie's The Hollow during its popular ExxonMobil Summer Chills series. Under the direction of Gregory Boyd, the Alley's resident company of actors will bring to life the colorful cast of characters in Agatha Christie's The Hollow.

Guerra: a clown play is a satirical physical comedy created by Mexico City-based company La Piara in collaboration with writers/directors Seth Bockley (February House at The Public Theatre) and Devon de Mayo (The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler with Dog & Pony Theatre Company). Performed in three languages, Guerracombines slapstick, clown, dance, bouffant and farce to tell the story of a military outpost desperate for recruits, and the cannon fodder that a hapless General sends to war. This contemporary story of war's inhumanity is given a darkly humorous edge through the medium of clown.

The Community Theatre of Little Rock is pleased to close out its 57th season with its Summer Musical 'Legally Blonde: The Musical' by Heather Hach, Laurence O'Keefe, and Nell Benjamin. Show dates are July 12th, 13th, 19th, 20th, 26th and 27th at 7:30 pm and July 14th, 21st and 28th at 2pm, to be held at the PUBLIC Theatre, located at 616 Center Street, next to Horn's Men's Store in downtown Little Rock.

Theatre for a New Audience has been partnering for 15 years with P.S. 235 in Canarsie, Brooklyn, with an annual 13-week program that combines the experience of seeing a great Shakespearean play with in-depth classroom work. P.S. 235 is a Pre-K to Grade 8 school which attracts gifted and talented students, largely of Caribbean descent, from all over Brooklyn.

Native Voices at the Autry, America's leading Native American theatre company, continues its tradition of excellence, developing plays by new and established Native American Playwrights at its highly regarded PLAYWRIGHTS RETREAT AND FESTIVAL OF NEW PLAYS, and culminating in free staged public readings of three intriguing new works today, May 29, 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, May 30, 7:30 p.m.; and Friday, May 31, 2013, 7:30 p.m., at the Autry National Center's Wells Fargo Theater in Los Angeles.

Connecticut's premier outdoor Shakespeare will present As You Like It, June 13-30, 2013. The show is one of Shakespeare's most beloved and pastoral comedies. Claire Shannon Kelly, currently the Director of Youth Programming for Shakespeare on the Sound and the director of the company's touring educational program, 'Speaking Daggers,' will direct. Kelly previously worked at the Ordway Theater, the Guthrie Theater, the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey and the George Street Playhouse. She is a resident of New Canaan.

Philadelphia Theatre Company announces that Mary Birdsong, Aisha de Haas, Kate Flannery, Ashley Austin Morris, andJoyce Van Patten will appear in the Philadelphia cast of Love, Loss, and What I Wore on June 25-July 7 at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre. This intimate collection of stories by sisters Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron and directed by Karen Carpenter is based on the best-selling book by Ilene Beckerman. Like the popular book, the show uses clothing, accessories and the memories they trigger to tell funny and often poignant stories to which all women can relate. This production is presented by special arrangement with producer Daryl Roth.

Well known children's poems spring to life when The Crabgrass Puppet theatre brings their delightful show, Haiku, HipHop and Hotdogs to The Public Theatre today, May 19th at 2pm, with additional school day morning matinees May 20-22. Perfect for families and children pre-K through fifth grade, this production is a fun way to introduce a child to the magic of theatre, at the affordable price of only $5 a ticket for children 18 and under, and just $10 for adults.

Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, presents the Tony Award-winning 2008 Broadway revival version of the hit comedy BOEING-BOEING, previewing June 13, opening Thursday, June 20 at 8 p.m., and running through August 4, 2013. BOEING-BOEING stars Saturday Night Live alum Nora Dunn as"Berthe" (Dunn was Meryl Streep's co-star in the Nancy Meyers film It's Complicated; her TV credits include Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage, Private Practice, Psych and Franklin & Bash; and she recently starred in Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron's play Love, Loss and What I Wore at the Broadway Playhouse in Chicago).

Arthur Darvill and Joanna Christie recently made their Broadway debuts starring in the 8-time Tony Award-winning Best Musical Once at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on April 23rd. The actors took over from the temporary leads Ben Hope and Laura Dreyfuss, who, as planned and scheduled, resume being standbys for 'Guy' and 'Girl.' Check out photos of the new cast in action below!

Well known children's poems spring to life when The Crabgrass Puppet theatre brings their delightful show, Haiku, HipHop and Hotdogs to The Public Theatre on Sunday May 19th at 2pm, with additional school day morning matinees May 20-22. Perfect for families and children pre-K through fifth grade, this production is a fun way to introduce a child to the magic of theatre, at the affordable price of only $5 a ticket for children 18 and under, and just $10 for adults.