When picking a season for the Totem Pole Playhouse, Artistic Director, Ray Ficca, equates it to putting on a carnival that lasts the whole summer. 'I want our patrons to feel that there will always be something new, different, and exciting, on the next ride. Like moving from the carousel to the roller-coaster to the bumper cars, a theatrical season shouldn't just be a menagerie of plays, but a total experience.' With a collection of musicals, along with Broadway and Off-Broadway hits, variety and thrills abound at Totem Pole in 2009.
Rediscover this famous play with the company that delivers Philadelphia's finest Shakespeare. Nationally-acclaimed performer Geoff Sobelle takes on the lead role, bringing his dynamic physical style to this searing production. Be a part of this surprising theatrical event that plumbs the dark humor of Shakespeare's tragic son! Also featuring Dallas Drummond, Melissa Dunphy, Joe Guzm?n, Dan Hodge, Dave Johnson, Andrew Kane, Mary Martello, and Tim Moyer.
People's Light & Theatre Company presents the East Coast Premiere of Dwayne Hartford's new adaptation of A TALE OF TWO CITIES from the classic novel by Charles Dickens. A TALE OF TWO CITIES runs from March 11 - May 3, 2009, on the Main Stage. Co-Founder Ken Marini directs. People's Light & Theatre is located at 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern. For tickets call 610-644-3500 or visit www.peopleslight.org. A TALE OF TWO CITIES is part of the Target Family Discovery Series and is part of the U.S. Airways New Plays Festival for Families.
Lantern Theater Company?s 15th Anniversary 2008-09 Season continues with Sizwe Bansi is Dead by Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona from January 30 ? March 1, 2009 at St. Stephen?s Theater in Center City. From South Africa's most celebrated playwright comes a drama as powerful today as in its first performance 35 years ago. Styles, an enterprising photographer, has a small storefront in a Port Elizabeth township. When Sizwe, a migrant worker, comes in to have his picture taken, the two explore issues of image and identity under South Africa's oppressive regime. Both soaring and personal, the play's attack on the dehumanizing laws of the apartheid era resonates with surprising humor and uplifting faith in the human spirit.
Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) continues its 2008/2009 Season with the New York premiere of THE SAVANNAH DISPUTATION, a new play by Evan Smith (Psych and The Uneasy Chair at Playwrights Horizons, Remedial English for the Young Playwrights Festival at Playwrights Horizons, Servicemen at The New Group). This will be Mr. Smith's fourth collaboration with the theater company.
Directed by Tony Award winner Walter Bobbie (Chicago, New Jerusalem), in his Playwrights Horizons debut, the production will began previews on Friday, February 6, 2009 with an Opening Night set for Tuesday, March 3 at 7PM. The limited engagement will run through Sunday, March 15 at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street).
Louis G. Spisto, Executive Producer of the Tony Award®-winning Old Globe, is pleased to announce that the Theatre will produce the new hip-hop/rock musical KINGDOM, with book/lyrics by Aaron Jafferis and music by Ian Williams, directed by Ron Daniels, for 14 performances, February 12 - 22, 2009 at The Lincoln High School Center for the Arts (Feb 12-15) and at the Old Globe Theatre (Feb 19-22).
Eight new productions, four of which are company premieres, will highlight the Metropolitan Opera's 2009-10 season. General Manager Peter Gelb and Music Director James Levine jointly announced plans that include: the Met premieres of Rossini's Armida, Verdi's Attila, Jan?ček's From the House of the Dead, and Shostakovich's The Nose; new productions of Bizet's Carmen, Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Thomas's Hamlet, and Puccini's Tosca; and 18 revivals from the company's repertory. The season is the first to be entirely planned under Gelb's leadership, in collaboration with Levine (the past three seasons were planned before Gelb became General Manager in 2006-07 but included some productions, repertoire, and casting changes made by Gelb).
Theater News from Broadway and the Baltimore/Washington Region
The Falcon Theatre presents the world premiere comedy Surviving Sex, the fourth production in its 2008-2009 'Bringin' the FUNNY' All-Comedy subscription season. Written by acclaimed comedy writer David Landsberg (author of last year's hit play An Act of Love at the Falcon Theatre), Surviving Sex stars an ensemble cast led by Jeff Marlow, a veteran of the Falcon stage (Where's Poppa?, Sheldon & Mrs. Levine) and directed by Susan Morgenstern (director of last year's Falcon comedy, Leap).
Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) continues its 2008/2009 Season with the New York premiere of THE SAVANNAH DISPUTATION, a new play by Evan Smith (Psych and The Uneasy Chair at Playwrights Horizons, Remedial English for the Young Playwrights Festival at Playwrights Horizons, Servicemen at The New Group). This will be Mr. Smith's fourth collaboration with the theater company.
LAST CHANCE TO SEE Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guilenstern Are Dead
Our most ambitious endeavor to date is proving a success. Taking two of the most challenging plays in the English Language and performing them SIMULTANEOUSLY between our two intimate theaters utilizing the same cast. Casting some of the best local talent with fresh perspectives on these classics, both of these shows are strong in their own right. Many are commenting about Hamlet's unique spiritual insight with this production, and of course the interaction between the two stages with multi-media, sword fights and swinging from ropes in addition to the actors entrances and exits makes this a once in a lifetime experience. Critics and audiences agree that this event pushes the boundaries of live theater in a way never before seen, and after this weekend it will be gone.
Theatre for a New Audience's Winter-Spring Shakespeare Season which begins with Othello (February 14 - March 7) continues with Hamlet which previews Sunday, March 15, at 7:00pm, opens Thursday, March 26, at 6:30pm and plays through April 19. Both productions play at The Duke on 42nd Street SM, a New 42nd Street? project, 229 West 42nd Street.
Hamlet features Christian Camargo in the title role. The production is directed by David Esbjornson. Joining Mr. Camargo will be Alyssa Bresnahan as Gertrude, Alvin Epstein as Polonius, Graham Hamilton as Laertes, Jennifer Ikeda as Ophelia and Patrick Page as Claudius.
The Colony Theatre Company presents the fourth production of its 2008 - 2009 season, CANDIDA, written by George Bernard Shaw and directed by Kathleen F. Conlin. CANDIDA will preview on Wednesday, February 4; Thursday, February 5 and Friday, February 6 at 8:00pm and will open on Saturday, February 7 at 8:00pm and continue through Sunday, March 8 at The Colony Theatre, 555 North Third Street (at Cypress) adjacent to the Burbank Town Center.
CANDIDA is the delightful, light-hearted classic from George Bernard Shaw, writer of Major Barbara and Arms and the Man, winner of the Academy-Award for writing Pygmalion, and recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Reverend Morell thinks he and his wife, Candida, have the perfect marriage, but when a passionate young poet also declares his love for her, Morell begins to doubt whether his wife loves him after all. Written over 100 years ago, George Bernard Shaw shows that marriage hasn't changed all that much. Directed by Kathleen F. Conlin, from her acclaimed production at the Utah Shakespearean Festival.
Week three of Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook brings to The Allen Room a soulful tribute to black music, a bluegrass legend, a genre-busting singer and the concert debut of a gifted actor, all celebrating the diversity of American popular song. On February 4th Soul Deep, an ensemble of some of the top black singers from Broadway and beyond will perform music - black music - that is the basis for most of the popular music heard today. The next night, bluegrass reigns with The Del McCoury Band (top right), who started out in the 1960s and remain so on top of their game that their latest CD is nominated for a 2009 Grammy. A new voice on the scene, and one that is electrifying all within range, is Lizz Wright (bottom left), who performs two shows on February 6th. She will perform songs from The Orchard, her third CD, as well as other pieces that shine with her expressive treatment. Next up on February 7th is the concert debut of the always surprising actor Alan Cumming (bottom right). Equally at ease in film and on the stage, this classically-trained star has never sung a concert before, and he has selected Dolly Parton and Cindi Lauper tunes, among others, to celebrate this new dimension in his career. American Songbook is presented in the spectacular Allen Room of Frederick P. Rose Hall. The Allen Room possesses one of New York's greatest settings - a stunning vista of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline provides an evocative backdrop for the performers.
Nominations have been announced for this year's Laurence Olivier Awards, London's equivalent of the Tonys. The awards, which were created in 1976 will be given out on Sunday March 8, 2009 in a ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel.
Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The Public Theater, has announced the 26-member Broadway cast of HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical. Newcomers to the cast include Gavin Creel, Caissie Levy and Sasha Allen, who join the rest of the tribe, who are reprising their roles from Central Park last summer. Currently in rehearsal at the Union Square Theatre, HAIR begins preview performances on Friday, March 6 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street, NYC) with an Opening Night set for Tuesday, March 31, 2009.
Rubicon Theatre Company continues its 'Brave New World' Season with Edward Albee's most intoxicated and haunting play, WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? The play will begin previews Thursday, January 29, open on Saturday, January 31 at 7pm and run through Sunday, February 22, 2009 at the Rubicon Theatre, 1006 E. Main Street in Ventura.
Jude Law and Penelope Wilton will headline Director Michael Grandage's upcoming production of Hamlet. The production will run May 29-August 22.
The King of Denmark is dead.
Consumed with grief, Prince Hamlet determines to avenge his father's apparent murder, with devastating consequences for his family and the kingdom.
Michael Grandage directs Jude Law as Hamlet in Shakespeare's iconic revenge tragedy. The cast will also include Kevin R. McNally, Peter Eyre, Matt Ryan, Alex Waldmann, Ron Cook, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and John MacMillan.
The New Group proudly presents Eugene O'Neill's epic drama Mourning Becomes Electra as the second production in its 2008-2009 season. Directed by Scott Elliott, this production will play a limited Off-Broadway run January 27 - April 18, with Official Opening Night on Thursday, February 19 at 6:00 PM. Headlining a standout cast are Lili Taylor as Christine Mannon, Jena Malone as Lavinia Mannon, Joseph Cross as Orin Mannon, Anson Mount as Brant, Mark Blum as Ezra Mannon, Robert Hogan as Seth. This production will play at The New Group @ Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street) Monday - Saturday @ 7:00 PM and Saturday at 12:00 PM (noon) and features original music by multi-Grammy? Award-winning jazz musician Pat Metheny.
The New Group proudly presents Eugene O'Neill's epic drama Mourning Becomes Electra as the second production in its 2008-2009 season. Directed by Scott Elliott, this production will play a limited Off-Broadway run January 27 - April 18, with Official Opening Night on Thursday, February 19 at 6:00 PM. Headlining a standout cast are Lili Taylor as Christine Mannon, Jena Malone as Lavinia Mannon, Joseph Cross as Orin Mannon, Anson Mount as Brant, Mark Blum as Ezra Mannon, Robert Hogan as Seth. This production will play at The New Group @ Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street) Monday - Saturday @ 7:00 PM and Saturday at 12:00 PM (noon) and features original music by multi-Grammy? Award-winning jazz musician Pat Metheny.
Village Theatre is excited to announce that The Importance of Being Earnest will open in Issaquah at the Francis J. Gaudette Theatre on Thursday, January 22, 2009 at 8:00 PM. A single preview performance will take place the night before, Wednesday, January 21, 2009 at 8:00 PM. The show will open in Everett at the Everett Performing Arts Center on Friday, March 6, 2009 at 8:00 PM.
The Colony Theatre Company presents the fourth production of its 2008 - 2009 season, CANDIDA, written by George Bernard Shaw and directed by Kathleen F. Conlin. CANDIDA will preview on Wednesday, February 4; Thursday, February 5 and Friday, February 6 at 8:00pm and will open on Saturday, February 7 at 8:00pm and continue through Sunday, March 8 at The Colony Theatre, 555 North Third Street (at Cypress) adjacent to the Burbank Town Center.
CANDIDA is the delightful, light-hearted classic from George Bernard Shaw, writer of Major Barbara and Arms and the Man, winner of the Academy-Award for writing Pygmalion, and recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Reverend Morell thinks he and his wife, Candida, have the perfect marriage, but when a passionate young poet also declares his love for her, Morell begins to doubt whether his wife loves him after all. Written over 100 years ago, George Bernard Shaw shows that marriage hasn't changed all that much. Directed by Kathleen F. Conlin, from her acclaimed production at the Utah Shakespearean Festival.
Week three of Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook brings to The Allen Room a soulful tribute to black music, a bluegrass legend, a genre-busting singer and the concert debut of a gifted actor, all celebrating the diversity of American popular song. On February 4th Soul Deep, an ensemble of some of the top black singers from Broadway and beyond will perform music - black music - that is the basis for most of the popular music heard today. The next night, bluegrass reigns with The Del McCoury Band (top right), who started out in the 1960s and remain so on top of their game that their latest CD is nominated for a 2009 Grammy. A new voice on the scene, and one that is electrifying all within range, is Lizz Wright (bottom left), who performs two shows on February 6th. She will perform songs from The Orchard, her third CD, as well as other pieces that shine with her expressive treatment. Next up on February 7th is the concert debut of the always surprising actor Alan Cumming (bottom right). Equally at ease in film and on the stage, this classically-trained star has never sung a concert before, and he has selected Dolly Parton and Cindi Lauper tunes, among others, to celebrate this new dimension in his career. American Songbook is presented in the spectacular Allen Room of Frederick P. Rose Hall. The Allen Room possesses one of New York's greatest settings - a stunning vista of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline provides an evocative backdrop for the performers.
Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook returns in January for its eleventh season celebrating the diversity of American popular song. For 17 nights of pop, folk, cabaret, R&B, country, rock, show tunes, bluegrass and multimedia, the series will explore the best of the golden age of musical standards through to today's most dynamic contemporary songwriting. The 2009 season - January 14 through March 6 - will bring to the stage some of today's most gifted interpreters of song, including top vocalist Kurt Elling and country's winning Patty Loveless. It will feature the rare opportunity to hear Paulo Szot, star of Broadway's South Pacific, and film and stage star Alan Cumming, in intimate concert settings.
New Repertory Theatre, in residence at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, is proud to present Kander and Ebb's Tony Award-winning musical Cabaret. Cabaret opens for the press on Wednesday, January 14, 2009 and plays through February 1, 2009 at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in the Charles Mosesian Theater.
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