Vineyard Theatre News

The Howl Help Festival presents A PATCH OF BLUR, An Un-authorized, Satirical Jukebox Musical, Fractured & Directed by Kevin Malony, October 18 - 21, 2012 at Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand Street @ Pitt LES NYC.

WaterTower Theatre Producing Artistic Director Terry Martin today announced casting details for The Mystery of Irma Vep which will open the 2012-2013 season. The show stars WaterTower Theatre veterans Regan Adair and Bryan T. Donovan.

Sunday, September 23rd marked the 60th anniversary of Richard Nixon's political game-changing 'Checkers speech,' and today, September 24th at 10 a.m. tickets go on sale for the Vineyard Theatre's world-premiere production of CHECKERS, a play by Douglas McGrath about Nixon, his wife Pat and that historic speech. CHECKERS is directed by Terry Kinney. Preview performances begin at The Vineyard (108 E. 15 St.) on October 12; October 31 is opening night. Tickets can be purchased by calling The Vineyard box office at 212 353 0303 or online at

La Jolla Playhouse presents the next production in its acclaimed Without Walls (WoW) series this fall, featuring award-winning actor Luke Macfarlane (ABC's Brothers and Sisters) in Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir, by Keith Bunin, directed by Mark Rucker.

Last season it was their 2011 BEST PRODUCTION (Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, LA Weekly, Ovation, and Garland Awards) Small Engine Repair which started out in the "Off The Clock" series. Now, in the tradition of offering 'edgier' entertainment in this slot, Rogue Machine launches the World Premiere of Rob Mersola's Dirty Filthy Love Story on Saturday, October 6th at 10:30pm.

Sunday, September 23rd marks the 60th anniversary of Richard Nixon's political game-changing 'Checkers speech,' and on Monday, September 24th at 10 a.m. tickets go on sale for the Vineyard Theatre's world-premiere production of CHECKERS, a play by Douglas McGrath about Nixon, his wife Pat and that historic speech. CHECKERS is directed by Terry Kinney. Preview performances begin at The Vineyard (108 E. 15 St.) on October 12; October 31 is opening night. Tickets can be purchased by calling The Vineyard box office at 212 353 0303 or online at www.vineyardtheatre.org.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center and Michael Bush jointly announced today that, after eight years, Mr. Bush is moving on from his position as the artistic director of the O'Neill's Cabaret & Performance Conference due to increased professional obligations directing in New York and regionally. These obligations include the further development of the new musicals STORMY WEATHER, THE PIPER, and his recently acclaimed NYMF production of HIMSELF AND NORA. He will also be a founding partner in a new company, Tritone Productions, which is dedicated to the development of new work.

Performance Space 122 (PS122) and the French Institute Alliance Francaise (FIAF), New York's premiere French cultural center, present the New York premiere of Habit, from David Levine, as part of the 2012 Crossing the Line festival. Habit is a durational performance installation that features three actors performing a 90-minute drama on a continuous loop for eight hours a day. Using a commissioned script by playwright Jason Grote, Habit takes place within a four-walled, fully-furnished and functional American ranch house designed by Marsha Ginsberg and built inside a raw, unused space in the Essex Street Market on the Lower East Side.

Vineyard Theatre will celebrate its 30th anniversary season with a host of special events, in addition to its mainstage productions. These events include developmental readings and workshops, and one-night-only readings of acclaimed productions from the company's history.

Oya can run faster than anyone-but not fast enough to escape her destiny. Shirley Jo Finney directs the long-awaited Los Angeles premiere of In the Red and Brown Water. Lyrically weaving together elements of urban contemporary realism with West African mysticism, Tarell Alvin McCraney's lusciously theatrical and boldly original new play opens at The Fountain Theatre on October 20.

To coincide with the ongoing presidential campaign, the Huntington Theatre Company will stage the American premiere of Now or Later, Christopher Shinn's timely political drama about our freedoms. Drama Desk and Outer Critic's Circle Award winner Michael Wilson, who recently helmed the acclaimed Broadway production of Gore Vidal's presidential drama The Best Man, directs the new production.

The Civilians (Steven Cosson, Artistic Director), the award-winning New York-based theater company known for projects investigating real life topics, presents Let Me Ascertain You: Occupy #S17 on September 17 at Joe's Pub. The cabaret will focus on the one-year anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, and will feature monologues and songs crafted from interviews with activists conducted by Civilians artists throughout the past year. The one-night-only performance in The Civilians' entertaining and thought-provoking style will illuminate many of the diverse individual voices behind these large-scale protests, examine how this dynamic call to action has evolved, and explore what its future holds.

John Tartaglia, Stephanie D'Abruzzo and Carey Anderson (all from Broadway's AVENUE Q) along with Gwen Hollander (LITTLE WOMEN), Christine Toy Johnson (FALSETTOLAND), Francis Jue (THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, PACIFIC OVERTURES), singer/songwriter Phoebe Kreutz, Raymond J. Lee (ANYTHING GOES), Adam Levinskas, Jose Llana (THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE, RENT), Orville Mendoza (PETER AND THE STARCATCHER), Olivia Oguma (MAMMA MIA) and actress Lexi Windsor will all be on hand to perform and pay tribute to the beloved director and actor ALAN MURAOKA ('Sesame Street', Broadway's MISS SAIGON, THE KING AND I) at an evening to benefit National Asian American Theatre Company (NAATCO) tonight, September 10 at 416 W. 42 St.

Vineyard Theatre will open its 30th Anniversary season with the world premiere production of Douglas McGrath's play CHECKERS. Preview performances begin on October 12th, and opening night is set for October 28th. The production will be directed by Terry Kinney, it has been announced by The Vineyard's Artistic Director Douglas Aibel and Co-Artistic Director Sarah Stern.

Judy Kuhn has been nominated for three Tony Awards and three Drama Desk Awards for her work on Broadway in She Loves Me, the American premieres of Chess and Les Misérables, and Rags. She joins the acclaimed lineup of the Broadway at The Art House series in Provincetown, today, Sept 8 and 9 for two shows only. Series host Seth Rudetsky joins her at piano. For tickets please visit www.ptownarthouse.com or call 508-487-9222.

The Old Globe today announced the cast and creative team for the San Diego Premiere of Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire's Good People, the award-winning play about class divisions in modern-day Boston. Directed by Paul Mullins, Good People will run Sept. 29 - Oct. 28, 2012 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run Sept. 29 - Oct. 3. Opening night is Thursday, Oct. 4 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.