Valisia LeKae News

Arena Stage's inaugural season at the Mead Center for American Theater opens with three productions featuring three powerful leading ladies - E. Faye Butler in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! in the company's renovated, iconic Fichandler Stage; Phylicia Rashad in playwright Marcus Gardley's world premiere of Every Tongue Confess in the brand new 200-seat Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle; and Anna Deavere Smith in her one-woman play, Second Stage's production of Let Me Down Easy, which begins its national tour in the freshly refurbished Kreeger Theater.

As Arena Stage begins a new life in its renovated home at the Mead Center for American Theater in Southwest D.C., it opens its inaugural season with a classic American musical that similarly embraces life on a new frontier. Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! is the first production at the Mead Center and features an all-star cast under the direction of Artistic Director Molly Smith. Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! runs October 22-December 26, 2010 in the Fichandler Stage.

The Jeff Awards for Chicago Equity theater announced this year's nominees. Productions that opened between August 1, 2009 and July 31, 2010 were eligible for nominations.

The Jeff Awards announced 162 nominations in 31 categories for Chicago Equity theatrical productions which opened between August 1, 2009, and July 31, 2010.

Arena Stage's inaugural season at the Mead Center for American Theater opens with three productions featuring three powerful leading ladies - E. Faye Butler in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! in the company's renovated, iconic Fichandler Stage; Phylicia Rashad in playwright Marcus Gardley's world premiere of Every Tongue Confess in the brand new 200-seat Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle; and Anna Deavere Smith in her one-woman play, Second Stage's production of Let Me Down Easy, which begins its national tour in the freshly refurbished Kreeger Theater.

Kicking off their 2010 season, Drury Lane Oakbrook, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace, IL, will close their epic production of the nostalgic and powerful portrait of life in turn of the century America, RAGTIME on May 23rd. The production is directed and choreographed by Rachel Rockwell, who received a Jeff Award nomination for her direction of last season's smash hit Miss Saigon. Quentin Earl Darrington will star as "Coalhouse Walker" (Broadway: RAGTIME, National Tours of THE COLOR PURPLE, RAGTIME and THE LION KING; and Regionally RAGTIME at Paper Mill Playhouse; ABYSSINIA at Goodspeed Opera House; A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC at California Music Theatre, and DREAMGIRLS at Madame Walker Theatre; and Valisia Lekae (Broadway: RAGTIME, 110 IN THE SHADE, THE THREEPENNY OPERA; Off-Broadway: ALMOST HEAVEN; 1st National Tours of ALL SHOOK UP, MAMMA MIA) will star as "Sarah".

Is "Ragtime" the Great American Musical? Certainly a grand argument in favor of that statement is now on display at the Drury Lane Theatre in Chicago's western suburb of Oakbrook Terrace, where one of the strongest home-grown musical productions in recent memory very nearly floored the opening night audience this past Wednesday night.

Kicking off their 2010 season, Drury Lane Oakbrook, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace, IL, presents an epic production of the nostalgic and powerful portrait of life in turn of the century America, RAGTIME.

Kicking off their 2010 season, Drury Lane Oakbrook, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace, IL, presents an epic production of the nostalgic and powerful portrait of life in turn of the century America, RAGTIME. Previewing March 18, opening March 24, and running through May 23, the riveting production will be directed and choreographed by Rachel Rockwell, who received a Jeff Award nomination for her direction of last season's smash hit Miss Saigon. Quentin Earl Darrington will star as "Coalhouse Walker" (Broadway: RAGTIME, National Tours of THE COLOR PURPLE, RAGTIME and THE LION KING; and Regionally RAGTIME at Paper Mill Playhouse; ABYSSINIA at Goodspeed Opera House; A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC at California Music Theatre, and DREAMGIRLS at Madame Walker Theatre; and Valisia Lekae (Broadway: RAGTIME, 110 IN THE SHADE, THE THREEPENNY OPERA; Off-Broadway: ALMOST HEAVEN; 1st National Tours of ALL SHOOK UP, MAMMA MIA) will star as "Sarah".

Quentin Earl Darrington, who recently starred as Coalhouse Walker Jr. in the Broadway revival of RAGTIME, will take to the stage in the same role at the Drury Lane Oakbrook Theater beginning March 18 and running through March 23.

Kicking off their 2010 season, Drury Lane Oakbrook, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace, IL, presents an epic production of the nostalgic and powerful portrait of life in turn of the century America, RAGTIME. Previewing March 18, opening March 24, and running through May 23, the riveting production will be directed and choreographed by Rachel Rockwell, who received a Jeff Award nomination for her direction of last season's smash hit Miss Saigon. Quentin Earl Darrington will star as "Coalhouse Walker" (Broadway: RAGTIME, National Tours of THE COLOR PURPLE, RAGTIME and THE LION KING; and Regionally RAGTIME at Paper Mill Playhouse; ABYSSINIA at Goodspeed Opera House; A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC at California Music Theatre, and DREAMGIRLS at Madame Walker Theatre; and Valisia Lekae (Broadway: RAGTIME, 110 IN THE SHADE, THE THREEPENNY OPERA; Off-Broadway: ALMOST HEAVEN; 1st National Tours of ALL SHOOK UP, MAMMA MIA) will star as "Sarah".

STAGES ST. LOUIS was recognized today with 27 Kevin Kline Award nominations, the most it has ever received in one year, for all four of its 2009 productions. STAGES was the top recipient of total nominations for the Awards, which honor professional theatre in the St. Louis area. The 5th Annual Kevin Kline Awards Ceremony will be held March 22nd, 2010 at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the campus of Webster University.

The thrilling new Broadway production of RAGTIME at the Neil Simon Theatre (250 West 52 Street) and officially opens today, Sunday, November 15, 2009.

Before the show closes however, it will be filmed for the Lincoln Center Archives on Friday night, January 8, 2010.

After an extremely popular debut installment of Ragtime Talk Time, the producers of RAGTIME have announced that On Tuesday, January 5th Michael Kaiser, President of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, will be the guest.

Following the closing announcement of Broadway's RAGTIME for January 3, the production was met with public dismay and a swell of strong ticket sales for the closing week. As previously reported, the producer's have responded to public sentiment by extending the show by a week. The critically acclaimed new production of Terrence McNally, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's Tony Award® winning musical RAGTIME will now play its final performance on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre on Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. following 28 preview and 65 regular performances.

Due to popular demand and a swell of strong ticket sales following an initial closing announcement yesterday, the critically acclaimed new production of Terrence McNally, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's Tony Award® winning musical RAGTIME will now play its final performance on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre one week later on Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. following 28 preview and 65 regular performances.

For the seven Washington-Baltimore based members of the RAGTIME cast who originated the production at the Kennedy Center and remained a part of its transfer to Broadway, the show's closing is bittersweet. In a feature out in the Washington Post today, Donna Migliaccio (Emma Goldman), Dan Manning (Grandfather), Sumayya Ali (Ensemble), Tracy Lynn Olivera (Ensemble), Christopher Cox (Narrator), Ben Cook (Narrator Understudy), and Sarah Rosenthal (The Little Girl) weigh in on just what Ragtime, and making their Broadway debuts, has meant to them.

The critically acclaimed new production of Terrence McNally, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's Tony Award® winning musical RAGTIME will play its final performance on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre (250 West 52 Street) on Sunday, January 3, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. following 28 preview and 57 regular performances.

Earlier this month, various unconfirmed reports surfaced that the Broadway production of 'Ragtime' was scheduled to close in January. Actor Bobby Steggert who plays Mother's Younger Brother in the musical revival fields regular questions and messages of support from fans on the show's supposed demise. Yet despite slow ticket sales, no closing date has been posted and a marketing strategy is in place for January, as reported in the New York Times.