Williamstown Theatre News

There was a lot of Broadway buzz surrounding a 2012 Williamstown Theatre Festival presentation of The Elephant Man, starring Patricia Clarkson and Bradley Cooper. The production never made it to the Great White Way, but according to the Daily Mail, Cooper will lead the play on Broadway soon!

Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced the full line-up of participants for the inaugural WTF CABARET SERIES at 54 Below. Tony Award nominee Kate Baldwin (Big Fish), Bryce Pinkham (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder),Elena Shaddow (The Bridges of Madison County), and Emma Galvin (Blood Play) join the previously announced revolving cast of Festival veterans, including Todd Almond, Becky Ann Baker, Jessica Hecht, Greg Hildreth, Joe Iconis, Lauren Molina, Euan Morton, Amy Spanger, and Jacob Ming Trent.

The Huntington Theatre Company announces that the 2014 Breaking Ground festival of new plays will be held January 30 - February 2 at the Huntington's home for new work, the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA.

Chris Isaacson Presents and Upright Cabaret have announced that Tony Award-winning Broadway star Laura Benanti will make her Los Angeles solo concert debut in January. The show celebrates the West Coast release of her first album 'In Constant Search of the Right Kind of Attention,' which USA Today named 'Pick of the Week' and TV Guide called 'A must-have.' With musical direction and arrangements by Todd Almond, there will be one show only tonight, January 9, 2014 at 8:30pm at the Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood. Cocktail and dinner service begin at 7pm.

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE presents THE FAIRYTALE LIVES OF RUSSIAN GIRLS by Meg Miroshnik, directed by Rachel Chavkin, January 31-February 22 at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street). Opening Night is Thursday, February 6. The cast of THE FAIRYTALE LIVES OF RUSSIAN GIRLS is Sofiya Akilova, Celeste Arias, Stephanie Hayes, Jessica Jelliffe, Felicity Jones, and Emily Walton.

What's in a name? Plenty - if it is the title of a new play. You want the title to capture your audience's imagination, yet also be reflective of the play itself. Often, like the words on the page, the title gets changed in the process as well. Such is the case with the third play in George Street Playhouse's 2013-14 season: Assisted Living by husband and wife team PAUL DOOLEY and WINNIE HOLZMAN. The new title is now One of Your Biggest Fans. Mr. Dooley and Ms. Holzman will trod the boards in New Brunswick beginning January 28 through February 23 in the dual role of authors as well as actors. Noted director Larry Biederman will helm the production.

A different kind of love story opens The Echo Theater Company's 2014 season in its new home at Atwater Village Theatre. Chris Fields directs the world premiere of Firemen by Tommy Smith, opening Feb. 8.

MCC THEATER announced today that tickets are now on sale for the anticipated Off-Broadway premiere of Robert Askins' Hand to God starring Steven Boyer who reprises his celebrated, Obie Award-winning performance from the Ensemble Studio Theatre (EST) in 2011. Boyer will be joined in this brand new production by Tony Award nominee Marc Kudisch as well as Geneva Carr, Michael Oberholtzer, and Sarah Stiles. Hand to God is directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel and begins at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) on February 19, 2014. An official opening night is set for March 10, 2014. For tickets and info, please visit www.mcctheater.org.

Ars Nova kicks off 2014 with Game Play, this year's incarnation of Ars Nova's annual Play Group production. An evening of original short plays and live music inspired by classic board game titles, Game Play features Peter Benson, Marcia DeBonis, Dashiell Eaves, Brandon Gill, Ben Graney, Susan Heyward, Jessica Love and Carmen Zilles. This production plays 10 performances, January 29 - February 8.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater's Artistic Director David Van Asselt and Managing Director Brian Long have announced that Ken Urban's The Correspondent, directed by Stephen Brackett will begin previews Wednesday, January 29, 2014, at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 224 Waverly Place, west of Seventh Avenue South, between West 11th and Perry Streets. The official opening night is set for Thursday, February 13, 2014. The Correspondent is scheduled to run through Sunday, March 16.

Tonight, Jan. 5, 92Y hosts an evening with the stars and director behind the new Broadway musical The Bridges of Madison County at 7:30 pm. Four-time Tony Award-nominee Kelli O'Hara (Francesca) and Steven Pasquale (Robert Kincaid) will join Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher and composer/lyricist Jason Robert Brown for a conversation moderated by Tony Award winning composer/lyricist Adam Guettel. The evening will also include a few performances of songs from the show.

This January and February at 54 BELOW presents an exciting lineup of the brightest talent from Broadway and beyond. Located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street.

Tony-nominated and Obie-winning Chekhov director Austin Pendleton helms and appears in Mississippi Mud Productions' SeaGull69, a new version of Anton Chekhov's masterpiece, The SeaGull. This is a world premiere of an adaptation by Austin Pendleton and the acting company drawing on Marian Fell's translation. Set in Los Angeles in the summer of 1969, the play looks at family and friends pursuing the American dream of fame, love, and fortune in Hollywood, the land of dreams. Chekhov's sense of humor along with his tender and honest look at life is explored through the terrain of this family and their circle's life in Hollywood from 1969-1971. Tickets on sale online @ http://seagull69.brownpapertickets.com - $17 general admission, $14 student/senior.

Huntington Theatre Company kicks off 2014 with David Ives' sexy Broadway smash hit Venus in Fur, deemed '90 minutes of good, kinky fun,' by The New York Times. Daniel Goldstein (God of Carnage) returns to the Huntington to the direct the 2012 Tony Award nominee for Best Play. Performances will begin tonight, January 3 at the Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre.

92Y presents an evening with the stars and director behind the new Broadway musical The Bridges of Madison County, on Sunday, January 5 at 7:30 pm. Four-time Tony Award-nominee Kelli O'Hara (Francesca) and Steven Pasquale (Robert Kincaid) join Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher for a conversation moderated by Tony Award winning composer/lyricist Adam Guettel. The evening will also include a few performances of songs from the show.

The new musical, Beautiful - The Carole King Musical, about the early life and career of the legendary and groundbreaking singer/songwriter is currently in previews on Broadway at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre (124 West 43rd Street), following a critically acclaimed, sold-out World Premiere in San Francisco. An official opening night set for Sunday, January 12, 2014. Scroll down to learn more about the cast!

City Theatre continues its 2013-2014 season with The Mountaintop by Katori Hall, a powerful and provocative reimagining of a pivotal night in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life-his last. Directed by Peter Flynn, The Mountaintop runs on City Theatre's Mainstage from January 18 to February 9, 2014, with an Opening Night performance on Friday, January 24 at 8pm.

Stageworks Media proudly announces the launch of the LIVE FROM GRAMERCY PARK cabaret series at The Players Club (16 Gramercy Park South). The series will kick-off on Monday January 27th, 2014 with Tony nominee Euan Morton, backed by Grandpa Musselman & His Syncopators. Mr. Morton and the six-piece jazz ensemble will perform a repertoire of turn of the century ragtime, 1920?s jazz and depression-era swing by composers such as Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton and Duke Ellington. Show times are at 7:00 PM and 9:30 PM (doors open 45 minutes prior to show time). Tickets are priced at $25-$35 (cocktails and light fare will be available, but there is NO food or drink minimum). Tickets are available now at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/537761.

LaChance spoke exclusively to BWW about her making her Broadway debut, meeting Carole King and jumping into the lead role with just an hour's notice!