The Public Theatre News

The all-new Australian production of one the most successful American Broadway musicals of all time, A CHORUS LINE will play at Sydney's Capitol Theatre for 21 performances only from 20 July, 2012. Having played to full houses in Adelaide and Melbourne, this iconic smash hit musical is directed and re-staged by Baayork Lee, one of the original cast members and inspirations from the Tony Award® winning 1975 production. See photos from the show below!

The Public Theater is presenting the world premiere of February House, with music and lyrics by Gabriel Kahane and book by Seth Bockley, beginning today, May 8th in The Public's Martinson Theater, and running through June 10th. Three stars of the show - composer and lyricist Gabriel Kahane, actress Kacie Sheik, and actor Julian Fleisher have all been tapped by Joe's Pub at The Public Theater for solo performances this June.

The loons have begun their pre-summer song at the Public Theatre in Lewiston, Maine as Ernest Thompson's dramedy, On Golden Pond, takes the stage starring theatre, film and TV actors (and real life couple), Mike Genovese and Ellen Crawford.

The Public Theater (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Patrick Willingham, Executive Director) will continue the 2011-2012 Public Forum season tonight, May 7, with THE CULTURE CAPITAL: IS NEW YORK CITY STILL A HOME FOR ARTISTS?

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater produces the 2011 Tony Award-winning production of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart, directed by George C. Wolfe. Wolfe, who directed the show's sold-out Broadway engagement last season, mounts the professional D.C.-area premiere of this production, which features returning Broadway cast members Patrick Breen and Luke MacFarlane, among others. Presented by special arrangement with Daryl Roth, The Normal Heart runs June 8-July 29, 2012 in the Kreeger Theater.

Katselas Theatre Company will presents the world premiere of BEAUTIFIED by multi-award-winner Tony Abatemarco, opening Friday, May 25, 2012 with reception to follow and then 8pm Friday and Saturdays, 2pm Sundays through July 1, 2012 at the Skylight Theatre 1816 N. Vermont, LA 90027.

The Attic Theater Company will present a limited run of Erica Lipez's play The Tutors. The production will be directed by Drama League Directors Project Alumnus Laura Braza, and performances are May 18th-26th at The Access Theater.

The world-premiere of the new play PRATFALLS, by playwright Holly Webber, directed by Jenn Thompson and starring Victor Verhaeghe (HBO's 'Boardwalk Empire'), Kate Middleton, Amelia White and Matthew Baldiga opens tonight, April 27 at the Abingdon Theatre Complex (312 West 36th Street).

The Community Theatre of Little Rock presents its spring production of Ron Hutchinson's comedy Moonlight and Magnolias in downtown Little Rock, Ark.

The BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop announces its Spring Smoker, a semi-annual showcase for new songs from Workshop writers. The event will be held in the 30th Floor Media Room of BMI's New York office at 7 World Trade Center/250 Greenwich Street tonight, April 26, at 5:30PM and is open to members of the entertainment industry as well as Workshop members. Reservations are a must: Ssantana@bmi.com or 212 220-3177. Running time is 70 minutes.

The BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop announces its Spring Smoker, a semi-annual showcase for new songs from Workshop writers. The event will be held in the 30th Floor Media Room of BMI's New York office at 7 World Trade Center/250 Greenwich Street on Thursday, April 26, at 5:30PM and is open to members of the entertainment industry as well as Workshop members. Reservations are a must: Ssantana@bmi.com or 212 220-3177. Running time is 70 minutes.

Sideways The Play, adapted by Rex Pickett from his own novel, will play in its world premiere by the Ruskin Group Theatre in Los Angeles, May 18 through July 22, Fridays-Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 2pm. It is the story of two friends - Miles and Jack - and their journey across the Santa Ynez wine country, on one last blowout trip before Jack gets married. Miles and Jack must face their uncertain futures…just as soon as they figure out how to survive their chaotic present.

It was time to speak up. When LAUSD teacher and playwright Alan Aymie was given his second pink slip from the school district that he had worked for since 1998, and later 'graded' by the LA Times, he decided it was time to use his writing to provide a voice for the teaching professional. While painting a portrait of the daily challenges that teachers face in Los Angeles, Aymie also takes a look at his own experiences of trying to teach his son who was recently assessed with Asperger's Syndrome.

Twenty years after the devastating turmoil that followed a failed conviction of the officers in the Rodney King trial, Anna Deavere Smith's Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 explores the shades of that loss. Commissioned by the Mark Taper Forum and originally brought to life on stage by the playwright, twenty-five multi-ethnic actors from Katselas Theatre Company now recreate those characters at the Skylight Theatre.

The Marsh presents Charlie Varon & Jeri Lynn Cohen's FWD: Life Gone Viral, coming back April 19, 2012! FWD: LIFE GONE VIRAL is a comedy that skewers the brave new world of Internet exhibitionism. Cohen and Varon play an oncologist, her patient, their ex-spouses and an expert commentator each. Marriage, divorce, child-rearing, terminal illness, transmogrified flies and beef jerky all find their way into the play.

Twenty years after the devastating turmoil that followed a failed conviction of the officers in the Rodney King trial, Anna Deavere Smith's Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 explores the shades of that loss. Commissioned by the Mark Taper Forum and originally brought to life on stage by the playwright, twenty-five multi-ethnic actors from Katselas Theatre Company now recreate those characters at the Skylight Theatre.