Tom Stoppard News

Actor Steven Weber guest starred on last night's episode of TV Land's HOT IN CLEVELAND. The actor played the role of the former fiance of Jane Leeve's character on the show.

Tony Estrella, artistic director of The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (The Gamm), has announced the theater's 28th Season (2012-2013).

The Mechanicals Theatre Group, a professional acting company (Los Angeles), has announced its tenth anniversary 2012 season to include an ambitious trio of classic plays.

A visually stunning production of the classic ghost story by Peter Pan author J. M. Barrie, Mary Rose will feature Harry Potter actress Jessie Cave in the title role.

Winner of 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress - Gwyneth Paltrow and Best Supporting Actress - Judi Dench, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE is noted playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard's imaginative restaging and reworking of the story of William Shakespeare which proceeds to present a thesis for how he came to write many of the finest dramas and comedies written in the English language. Boasting gorgeous costumes, breathtaking sets and an unmistakably Shakespearean atmosphere, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE has aged considerably well and looks even more rapturous and resplendent on Blu-ray than it ever has before. The new Blu-ray also comes with a fascinating slew of special features, the most appreciable of all being the two commentary tracks, one from director John Madden and another from assorted cast and crew members. Boasting an all-star cast to best even the Bard's vaunted coterie of performers themselves, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE is lousy with pedigree - and nearly every actor makes his or her mark over the quite tight, terse running time of the film. In addition to the aforementioned Oscar-betrothed leading lady and supporting player, the cast of SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE also boasts recent Oscar-winner for THE KING'S SPEECH, Colin Firth, in a memorable role, as well as a charismatic lead performance by Joseph Fiennes as the titular playwright. Additionally, British stage stars Simon Callow, Antony Sher, Imelda Staunton, Tom Wilkinson and Tony Award-winning Australian leading man Geoffrey Rush all make solid impressions in their smaller roles. Yet, as with all of the greatest works of William Shakespeare, the text is the star, and Stoppard's precise and exacting script is much like a modern Shakespeare play in the way it juggles moments of levity, intrigue, history, comedy, tragedy and love into the drama of the film. While SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE may have been somewhat derided at the time for being too light to win over that year's favorite, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, time has been kind to the theatrically-tinged film, and, dare I say, it is even more enjoyable and entertaining now, on Blu-ray, than it may have even been at the time of its release fifteen years ago. All the world may be a stage, by SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE is a Hollywood film relating to Shakespeare worth your time, attention and investment.

Atlantic Theater Company has just announced that the world premiere production of Gabe McKinley's play CQ/CX, directed by Tony Award® nominee David Leveaux has been extended in advance of officially opening next week.

Dancap Productions will present IN THE HEIGHTS, winner of four 2008 Tony Awards® - Best Musical, Best Music and Lyrics, Best Choreography and Best Orchestrations, as well the 2008 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Show Album - at the Toronto Centre for the Arts, February 7-19, 2012.

Tom Bateman, Mark Bonnar, Harry Lloyd and Finbar Lynch join Eve Best in John Webster's great Jacobean tragedy, The Duchess of Malfi, directed by Jamie Lloyd. Eve Best last appeared at The Old Vic in London and on Broadway opposite Kevin Spacey in A Moon for the Misbegotten in the 2006/2007 Season. The Duchess of Malfi will open at The Old Vic on 28 March 2012, previewing from 17 March.

Next up in its continuing series Dark Nights, The New Group presents Re-imagining Baal today at 4:00pm.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) is proud to present the world premiere of Higher, written by A.C.T. Artistic Director Carey Perloff and directed by A.C.T. Associate Artistic Director Mark Rucker.

Get a first look at the world premiere of Atlantic Theater Company's CQ/CX by Gabe McKinley, opening February 15. CQ/CX is directed by Tony Award nominee David Leveaux and features Larry Bryggman, Peter Jay Fernandez, Tim Hopper, Arliss Howard, Kobi Libii, David Pittu, Steve Rosen and Sheila Tapia. See the production photos below!

The Group Rep will present Lee Blessing's COBB, directed by Gregg T. Daniel, produced by Richard Alan Woody.

Beautifully conceived by an ambitious, driven director and artfully brought to life by a stellar cast of actors, Pacific Overtures-the musical by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman-seems, at first, an unlikely choice for the sophomore season of Nashville's Blackbird Theater. Yet when you consider the company's prior offerings (which include Twilight of the Gods, an original play by Wes Driver and Greg Greene, the company's co-founders; Tom Stoppard's intellectually compelling Arcadia; and G.K. Chesterton's rarely produced Magic), it fits perfectly into the Blackbird canon. And, like those earlier productions, Pacific Overtures is another artistic triumph, the realization of a long-held dream by director Greene to bring his favorite work for musical theater to the stage.

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has announced 10 Finalists for its prestigious playwriting award, now celebrating its thirty-fourth year. The ten Finalists for the 2011-2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, chosen from over 100 submitted plays, are:

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) has announced that Artistic Director Carey Perloff has won this year's Blance and Irving Laurie Foundation Theatre Visions Fund Award for the upcoming world premiere of her play Higher.

Harrisburg Shakespeare Company will present Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard which will run Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from March 9 - 25, 2012 at Gamut Classic Theatre, located at 605 Strawberry Square, Downtown Harrisburg.

Next up in its continuing series Dark Nights, The New Group presents Re-imagining Baal on Sunday, February 5 at 4:00pm. Reservations required at seats@thenewgroup.org (space is limited). Suggested donation: $20.

SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, the 1998 British-American comedy film directed by John Madden and written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard is coming on Blu-ray on January 31st.

Dancap Productions will present IN THE HEIGHTS, winner of four 2008 Tony Awards® - Best Musical, Best Music and Lyrics, Best Choreography and Best Orchestrations, as well the 2008 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Show Album - at the Toronto Centre for the Arts, February 7-19, 2012.