The Public Theatre News

Left Field Productions, Neil Berg, Adam Friedson and MSC OPAS at Texas A&M University have announced that veteran Broadway actor Marc Kudisch will direct the world premiere project that will close the 40th Anniversary OPAS Season at Texas A&M University - Neil Berg's The Phantoms of the Opera.

Katselas Theatre Company presents THEATRE SEX: BEFORE & AFTER, theatrical readings in honor of World AIDS Day 2012. BEFORE AIDS: tonight, November 30th at 8pm and AFTER AIDS: December 2nd at 8pm at the Skylight Theatre Complex – 1816 N. Vermont, LA.

Tony nominee Anne Meara guest-stars on NBC's LAW & ORDER: SVU on Wednesday, December 5. The episode, titled "Dreams Deferred," also guest-stars Patricia Arquette.

MTC MainStage, Music Theatre of Connecticut's Professional Equity Acting Company, presents an encore of its' Moss Hart Award-Winning production of 'It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play.' Adapted for the stage by Joe Landry and directed by MTC MainStage Artistic Director Kevin Connors, this beloved American holiday classic comes to captivating life as a live 1940s radio broadcast. Two benefit performances are Saturday, December 15 at 2pm and 8pm and take place at MTC MainStage Studio Theatre in Westport, CT. All proceeds to benefit Music Theatre of Connecticut and its programming.

New Repertory Theatre proudly announces Becky Mode's wry comedy, FULLY COMMITTED, December 19 through 30, 2012, performing in the Black Box Theater, Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown, MA.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) will present William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, tonight, November 29 - December 9 in the Nafe Katter Theatre, Storrs. For tickets and information, call 860-486-2113 and visit www.crt.uconn.edu.

Laguna Playhouse presents the third show of their 2012-2013 season, PLAID TIDINGS, written and directed by Stuart Ross. The cast of PLAID TIDINGS will feature William Martinez as Frankie, Scott Dreier as Smudge, David Brannen as Sparky and Ciaran McCarthy as Jinx. PLAID TIDINGS will preview tonight, November 27; Wednesday, November 28; Thursday, November 29 and Friday, November 30 at 8:00pm and will open on Saturday, December 1 at 7:30pm and run through Sunday, December 30, 2012 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

The Fred Ebb Foundation (Mitchell Bernard, Trustee) in association with the Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) will present the eighth annual Fred Ebb Award for aspiring musical theatre songwriters to Sam Willmott. The award, named in honor of the late award-winning lyricist Fred Ebb, will be presented by David Hyde Pierce tonight, November 26th from 6-8pm at a by-invitation-only ceremony in the Penthouse Lobby of The American Airlines Theater.

Katselas Theatre Company presents THEATRE SEX: BEFORE & AFTER, theatrical readings in honor of World AIDS Day 2012.

The League of Professional Theatre Women has announced that its 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award, which honors women exhibiting exemplary service to the theatre, will be presented by Marsha Norman (playwright) to Joan D. Firestone, Executive Director of The Moth. In addition to its annual Lifetime Achievement Award, LPTW will have Linda Chapman (playwright) present the 2012 Lee Reynolds Award to Kia Corthron, an outstanding American dramatist and activist, and the 2012 Josephine Abady Award presented by Angelina Fiordellisi (Cherry Lane Theater) to Stephanie Ybarra, an Artistic Associate at The Public Theatre. All the awards will be presented at the LPTW's Turning Thirty Awards Celebration, in honor of the League's 30th Anniversary year, on December 6, 2012, at Scandinavia House at 58 Park Avenue, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. This year's celebration will also be the culmination of a year of celebratory events for the League.

The Colony Theatre previously announced that it has achieved the first goal of its emergency "Save the Colony" campaign by raising $49,000 in ten days so that it can open THE MORINI STRAD as scheduled tonight, November 17th. However, the award-winning theatre company still must raise $500,000 by year's end to continue serving the region.

The Community Theatre of Little Rock will present its Christmas Musical 'A 1940's Radio Christmas Carol". Show dates are tonight, November 16st, 17nd, 22nd, 23th, 24th, December 1st and 2nd at 7:30 pm and October 18th and December 2nd 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.

The Fred Ebb Foundation (Mitchell Bernard, Trustee) in association with the Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) will present the eighth annual Fred Ebb Award for aspiring musical theatre songwriters to Sam Willmott. The award, named in honor of the late award-winning lyricist Fred Ebb, will be presented by David Hyde Pierce on Monday, November 26th from 6-8pm at a by-invitation-only ceremony in the Penthouse Lobby of The American Airlines Theater.

In celebration of its 35th anniversary landmark year, The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has announced a global celebration where theatres across the English-speaking world will produce 75 plays by past winners and finalists.