It's Only a Play 1986 - Articles Page 19.4

Opened: January 12, 1986
Closing: January 26, 1986

It's Only a Play - 1986 - Off-Broadway History , Info & More

Manhattan Theatre Club Stage I
131 West 55th Street New York, NY 10019

It’s the opening night of The Golden Egg on Broadway, and the wealthy producer Julia Budder is throwing a lavish party in her lavish Manhattan townhouse. Downstairs the celebrities are pouring in, but the real action is upstairs in the bedroom, where a group of insiders have staked themselves out to await the reviews. The group includes the excitable playwright; the possibly unstable wunderkind director; the pill-popping leading lady, treading the boards after becoming infamous in Hollywood; and the playwright’s best friend, for whom the play was written but who passed up this production for a television series. Add to this a drama critic who’s panned the playwright in the past and a new-in-town aspiring singer, and you have a prime recipe for the narcissism, ambition, childishness, and just plain irrationality that infuse the theatre—and for comedy. But don’t worry: This play is sure to be the hit they have all been hoping for.

It's Only a Play - 1986 - Off-Broadway Cast

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It's Only a Play - 1986 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 19.4

Works by DiPietro, Bryan, Rebeck, Logan & More Play Alley Theater in 2011-2012
by Gabrielle Sierra - May 9, 2011


Artistic Director Gregory Boyd announced that the Alley Theatre's 65th Season beginning in September 2011 will include two world premieres, Elizabeth Egloff's epic play Ether Dome and Theresa Rebeck's black comedy What We're Up Against, (the latter in a rolling world premiere that includes theatres in San Francisco and Chicago), and the Outer Critics Circle Award-winning rock musical The Toxic Avenger by Joe DiPietro and David Bryan, winners of last year's Best Musical Tony Award for Memphis.

Keys to the Future Piano Fest Moves to Lower East Side May 24-26
by Gabrielle Sierra - May 6, 2011


Following five seasons of sold-out concerts, KEYS TO THE FUTURE-New York's only festival of contemporary solo piano music-is back with 10 'front-rank soloists' (The New Yorker) who will perform 27 classical and jazz-inspired works by an aesthetically diverse group of modern masters and emerging composers over the course of three evenings.

Robert Randolph, Pat DiNizio & The Nuge Play Iridium's Les Paul Mondays
by Gabrielle Sierra - May 5, 2011


The Iridium's trademark Les Paul Mondays series continues to bring 'Best In Breed' guitarists into the heart of Manhattan for one-of-a-kind collaborations with The Les Paul Trio.

2011 Tony Awards Nominees: 'Best Direction of a Play'
by Charlie Piane - May 4, 2011


Nominations in 26 competitive categories for the American Theatre Wing's 65th Annual Antoinette Perry 'Tony' Awards were announced May 3, 2011 by Tony Award winning actor Matthew Broderick and Tony Award winning actress Anika Noni Rose, at the Tony Award Nominations Announcement sponsored by IBM.

Luker, Von Essen, Cavenaugh, Balgord & More to Star in DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY; Previews Start June 10
by Robert Diamond - Apr 25, 2011


Roundabout Theatre Company announced the full company of the new musical Death Takes A Holiday, with a book by Peter Stone & Thomas Meehan, music & lyrics by Maury Yeston, directed by Doug Hughes. The cast will include Linda Balgord (Contessa Danielli), Matt Cavenaugh (Eric Fenton), Mara Davi (Alice), Joy Hermalyn (Cora), Jay Jaski (Lorenzo), Simon Jones (Dr. Dario Albione), Rebecca Luker (Duchess Lamberti), Patricia Noonan (Sophia), Julian Ovenden (Prince Sirki / Death), Jill Paice (Grazia), Michael Siberry (Duke Lamberti), Alexandra Socha (Daisy Fenton), Don Stephenson (Fidele), Max Von Essen (Corrado Montelli).

SATURDAY SPECIAL: A Salute To Sidney Lumet
by Robert Diamond - Apr 9, 2011


Today we lost one of the greats: the gentle giant of directors, Sidney Lumet. What a resume! Just to pick seven of perhaps the best known of the bunch, the bunch in question being over 100 titles strong: 12 ANGRY MEN, LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT, SERPICO, DOG DAY AFTERNOON, NETWORK and BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD - the films spanning fifty years from MEN in 1957 and DEVIL in 2007 - it is clear to see why Lumet was one of the most cherished and celebrated directors in Hollywood, especially known for his tough, gritty New York stories and his pristine stage-to-screen transfers. For an excellent example of the latter (in addition to LONG DAY'S JOURNEY and the others) check out DEATHTRAP - based on Ira Levin's play, the longest-running thriller in Broadway history - featuring Michael Caine in one of his best roles and Christopher Reeve and Dyan Cannon in their finest performances on film. For an example of the former genre, look no further than NETWORK, containing one of the strongest screenplays ever penned, from the fiery and ferocious pen of Paddy Cheyefsky, and Faye Dunaway in her Oscar-winning performance for all the ages. As far as theatrical screenplays on screen, Lumet would be hard-pressed to even come close to the power, prescience and transformative brilliance at the core of the conceit of that film - yet he did just that; with his final, 2007 film no less. I am speaking, of course, of the underrated and riveting BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, with Albert Finney and Rosemary Harris. Taking an original screenplay that could just as well have been written for the stage - shades of 12 ANGRY MEN, DOG DAY AFTERNOON, NETWORK and SERPICO, certainly - Lumet made a bristling, biting brilliant work of staggering craft and ingenuity - all with verve, energy and drive of a man a quarter of his age at the time (80). His films were classics in his own time and, now, in his passing, they are just as timeless - if not more so. With each passing year, new layers of truth, beauty, sadness and soulfulness can be found in the countless frames in the innumerable unforgettable scenes in his many masterpieces.

AMERICAN IDIOT, DONNY & MARIE AND COLM WILKINSON Play Toronto in '11
by Jessica Lewis - Mar 7, 2011


At a media announcement today, Dancap Productions added two new shows to their 2011 line-up at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts: DONNY & MARIE and COLM WILKINSON IN CONCERT: BROADWAY AND BEYOND; and one new show at the Toronto Centre for the Arts, the explosive Broadway musical GREEN DAY'S AMERICAN IDIOT.

Yale Rep Announces A Cast Change For THE PIANO LESSON 1/28-2/19
by BWW News Desk - Jan 28, 2011


YALE REPERTORY THEATRE (James Bundy, Artistic Director; Victoria Nolan, Managing Director) presents August Wilson's THE PIANO LESSON, directed by Liesl Tommy, at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street, at York Street) January 28-February 19, 2011.

Letts, Coon, Morton Lead Signature's Edward Albee Fest
by Gabrielle Sierra - Jan 27, 2011


Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater continues its inaugural season this spring with an unparalleled tribute to one of the nation's greatest living playwrights, Edward Albee.

Roundabout Announces DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY by Yeston, Meehan and Stone to Open July 2011
by Robert Diamond - Jan 24, 2011


Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) is pleased to announce the world premiere of the new musical Death Takes a Holiday, with a book by Peter Stone & Thomas Meehan, music & lyrics by Maury Yeston, directed by Doug Hughes. Death Takes a Holiday is based on the dramatic play by Alberto Casella, rewritten for the American stage by Walter Ferris, and originally produced by Messrs. Shubert.

Yale Rep Announces A Cast Change For THE PIANO LESSON 1/28-2/19
by Gabrielle Sierra - Jan 4, 2011


YALE REPERTORY THEATRE (James Bundy, Artistic Director; Victoria Nolan, Managing Director) presents August Wilson's THE PIANO LESSON, directed by Liesl Tommy, at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street, at York Street) January 28-February 19, 2011.

A Noise Within Closes Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, 12/17
by BWW News Desk - Dec 17, 2010


A Noise Within (ANW), the acclaimed classical repertory theatre company, presents Noel Coward's timeless comedic gem Blithe Spirit, directed by Damaso Rodriguez, which opens Saturday, October 9 and closes Friday, December 17, 2010 (previews begin Saturday, October 2).

Case Western's Mark Alan Gordon to Relocate in Spring 2011
by Nicole Rosky - Dec 6, 2010


Mark Alan Gordon, associate director of the Case Western Reserve University-Cleveland Play House Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Acting Program, announced that he will leave Cleveland in May, after the conclusion of the Spring 2011 semester, to pursue opportunities in Vermont.

"Boojum!" What is it? Exactly. (An American Stage Premiere)
by Paul W. Thompson - Dec 2, 2010


This show has only been staged one other time in its entire existence, in Australia in 1986, and certainly deserves a wider viewing. It is "Boojum!: Nonsense, Truth and Lewis Carroll," and it is on the boards at the DCA Theater on Randolph Street (now through December 19), a co-production of Chicago Opera Vanguard and Caffeine Theatre.

Playwrights Theatre's FORUM Features 16 New Plays
by Nicole Rosky - Nov 3, 2010


Playwrights Theatre's roundtable reading series FORUM will take place at 7pm each evening on November 30, December 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. FORUM brings playwrights, actors and audience members together to enjoy the creative process of bringing a play to life. Staged readings of 16 innovative new plays by some of the country's best writers with intimate discussions between author and audience following each performance. The readings will be held at Playwrights Theatre, 33 Green Village Road, Madison, NJ. Patrons can attend one reading for $10 or purchase a FORUM PASS which gives them entry to the entire festival for $25. Playwrights Theatre's season subscribers receive a FORUM PASS as a free added bonus. Reservations can be made online at www.ptnj.org or call (973) 514-1787 X10.

Wing-It Productions Invites Patrons To Celebrate Halloween With Them
by BWW News Desk - Oct 31, 2010


Wing-It Productions is proud to present 7 shows to celebrate Halloween weekend!

Carrollwood Cultural Center Presents JAZZ WITH JIM: MUSIC OF HAROLD ARLEN 10/29
by BWW News Desk - Oct 29, 2010


Jim Burge and the Jazz Directions will play some of the greatest tunes of Harold Arlen: Music from The Wizard of Oz, Stormy Weather, It's Only a Paper Moon, That Old Black Magic, Ill Wind, Blues in the Night, and more.

Playwrights Theatre Presents MoM A Rock Concert Musical, Previews 9/30
by BWW News Desk - Oct 24, 2010


Playwrights Theatre is pleased to present the World Premiere of MoM A Rock Concert Musical by Richard Caliban. The production (appropriate for ages 16 and up, adult language and situations) will preview on September 30 and run for four weeks through October 24, 2010 (Press Opening: Friday, October 1 at 8:00pm).

A Noise Within Presents Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, Runs 10/9-12/17
by BWW News Desk - Oct 9, 2010


A Noise Within (ANW), the acclaimed classical repertory theatre company, presents Noel Coward's timeless comedic gem Blithe Spirit, directed by Damaso Rodriguez, which opens Saturday, October 9 and closes Friday, December 17, 2010 (previews begin Saturday, October 2).

Wing-It Productions Invites Patrons To Celebrate Halloween With Them
by Gabrielle Sierra - Oct 7, 2010


Wing-It Productions is proud to present 7 shows to celebrate Halloween weekend!

Playwrights Theatre Presents MoM A Rock Concert Musical, Previews 9/30
by BWW News Desk - Sep 30, 2010


Playwrights Theatre is pleased to present the World Premiere of MoM A Rock Concert Musical by Richard Caliban. The production (appropriate for ages 16 and up, adult language and situations) will preview on September 30 and run for four weeks through October 24, 2010 (Press Opening: Friday, October 1 at 8:00pm).

Cantone, Macchio, Doherty Lead A ROOM OF MY OWN Industry Reading 9/20
by BWW News Desk - Sep 20, 2010


On Monday, September 20th at 8:00pm, the Bleecker Street Theater Company will present a reading of Charles Messina's astoundingly hilarious new Broadway-bound comedy, 'A ROOM OF MY OWN' as part of that theater's Play Development Series.

Playwrights Theatre Presents MoM A Rock Concert Musical, Previews 9/30
by Gabrielle Sierra - Sep 16, 2010


Playwrights Theatre is pleased to present the World Premiere of MoM A Rock Concert Musical by Richard Caliban. The production (appropriate for ages 16 and up, adult language and situations) will preview on September 30 and run for four weeks through October 24, 2010 (Press Opening: Friday, October 1 at 8:00pm).

A Noise Within Presents Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, Runs 10/9-12/17
by Gabrielle Sierra - Sep 15, 2010


A Noise Within (ANW), the acclaimed classical repertory theatre company, presents Noel Coward's timeless comedic gem Blithe Spirit, directed by Damaso Rodriguez, which opens Saturday, October 9 and closes Friday, December 17, 2010 (previews begin Saturday, October 2).

Carrollwood Cultural Center Presents JAZZ WITH JIM: MUSIC OF HAROLD ARLEN 10/29
by Gabrielle Sierra - Sep 14, 2010


Jim Burge and the Jazz Directions will play some of the greatest tunes of Harold Arlen: Music from The Wizard of Oz, Stormy Weather, It's Only a Paper Moon, That Old Black Magic, Ill Wind, Blues in the Night, and more.

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