Tom Stoppard News

The American Theatre Wing has announced the return of its acclaimed interview show 'Downstage Center,' back by popular demand. The show returns as a podcast on Monday, August 3 with Tony Award-winner and Billy Elliot star Gregory Jbara.

PETER GALLAGHER, DON'T GIVE UP ON ME is a new musical play by stage and screen star Peter Gallagher. Featuring great American song selections from 'Pal Joey,' 'Guys and Dolls,' and songs by Cy Coleman, Bart Howard, Lyle Lovett, Leon Russell, Burt Bacharach, Dan Penn and others, this new musical play is the story of an actor's apprenticeships with the legends he admires: James Cagney, Jack Lemmon, Peter O'Toole, Stubby Kaye and more and the journey he takes with them.

The American Theatre Wing has announced the return of its acclaimed interview show 'Downstage Center,' back by popular demand. The show returns as a podcast on Monday, August 3 with Tony Award-winner and Billy Elliot star Gregory Jbara.

The Open Fist Theatre Company presents their First Ever, FIRST LOOK FESTIVAL OF NEW PLAYS, with new works written by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, Steven Haworth, Karen Hartman, Julie Hebert, Neil LaBute, Rick Pagano and directed by Bjorn Johnson, Neil LaBute, Marya Mazor, Charles Otte and Randee Trabitz. The Festival will begin on Thursday, July 23 and run through Sunday, September 13 at The NEW Open Fist Theatre, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd. (former home of The Actor's Gang) in Hollywood.

The Open Fist Theatre Company presents their First Ever, FIRST LOOK FESTIVAL OF NEW PLAYS, with new works written by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, Steven Haworth, Karen Hartman, Julie Hebert, Neil LaBute, Rick Pagano and directed by Bjorn Johnson, Neil LaBute, Marya Mazor, Charles Otte and Randee Trabitz. The Festival will begin on Thursday, July 23 and run through Sunday, September 13 at The NEW Open Fist Theatre, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd. (former home of The Actor's Gang) in Hollywood.

Victory Gardens' premiere of David Harrower's BLACKBIRD is a blunt anguished success.

Blackbird is by David Harrower, starring William L. Petersen and directed by Dennis Zacek. Blackbird contains adult content. Not recommended for audiences under 17.

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE opens St. Louis Shakespeare's 25th anniversary season, directed by Jerry Vogel. MERCHANT runs July 17 through 26, 2009, Friday and Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 2pm, and Thursday at 7:30pm. At the Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square.

The Orfeo Group offers an enjoyable alternative to summer school if you need to brush up your Shakespeare

British Theater Producer Sonia Friedman recently spoke with The New York Times about her current and upcoming projects. Friedman is currently producing eight shows including two West End hits rumored for transfer to Broadway- La Cage aux Folles and Arcadia.

Sam Waterston, star of TV's 'Law and Order' and countless film and stage appearances, returns to the Long Wharf Theatre stage in the 2009-10 world premiere of Athol Fugard's play Have You Seen Us?, directed by Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein.

AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS (AOP) 'a valuable company [that] offers a chance to look in on operas in progress by talented composers.' (The New Yorker) will begin its 21st season of commissioning, developing and presenting new opera and musical works this fall.

ARCADIA plays at the Duke of York's Theatre, St Martin's Lane, London WC2, 27 May - 12 September. Arcadia is a dazzling, witty masterpiece of misunderstanding and quest for knowledge, resonating across centuries.

Blackbird by David Harrower starring William Petersen and Mattie Hawkinson holds pre-show discussions July 9th & July 16th 6pm.

Main Street Theater will open its 2009-2010 MainStage season with the English-language premiere of a new adaptation of Isabel Allende's best-selling novel, The House of the Spirits, on September 10, 2009 and running through October 11.

With Blackbird, William Petersen, former star of CBS-TV's CSI, returns to the theater where he first earned his Equity card to tackle a role that echoes his earliest work on Chicago's stages playing morally damaged characters in In the Belly of the Beast, The Night of the Iguana, and Flyovers.

Writers' Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma, opens its 2009-10 season with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard, directed by Michael Halberstam. The production runs September 29- December 6, 2009, at Writers' Theatre, 325 Tudor Court in Glencoe.

With Blackbird, William Petersen, former star of CBS-TV's CSI, returns to the theater where he first earned his Equity card to tackle a role that echoes his earliest work on Chicago's stages playing morally damaged characters in In the Belly of the Beast, The Night of the Iguana, and Flyovers.

Blackbird offers an open rehearsal June 25th at 6pm. Go behind the scenes before the play opens. See moments from the play, at a mid-point in rehearsals, and talk with the artists. **Blackbird features Adult Content - mature audiences only.

St. Louis Shakespeare celebrates its 25th year presenting the finest classical theatre. The Company's 2009 season opens in July with THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, followed in August by TWELFTH NIGHT and MACBETH in October, at the Grandel Theatre in the Grand Center Arts District. In November, SLS returns with an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's TREASURE ISLAND, presented at the Missouri History Museum as part of their Performing Arts Series.