Little Ham 1987

The longstanding favourite is all very slick but, 37 years on, the production is showing its age

Follow us throughout the day, as we'll bring you Tony nominee reactions, exclusive reports, surprises, behind the scenes coverage and oh, so much more!

First Stage has announced that next up in their 2022/23 season will be THE SPONGEBOB MUSICAL FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES, based on the iconic animated Nickelodeon series by Stephen Hillenberg, with book by Kyle Jarrow.

Filmmaker Robert Townsend has truly had a singular career ever since coming to prominence with his groundbreaking 1987 film a?oeThe Hollywood Shuffle.a?? That satirical comedy about Black actors dealing with racial stereotypes in the film and TV industry was famously self-financed by Townsend maxing out his credit cards. Perhaps even more remarkably, he has successfully maintained simultaneous careers over the ensuing decades as an actor, director, writer and producer working in both film and TV, narratives and documentaries, with the occasional mockumentary thrown in for good measure. Along the way, he has worked with a virtual galaxy of stars - Beyoncé, James Earl Jones and Morgan Freeman to name just a few a?" while surviving the inevitable ups and downs of a career in show business. Townsend is now returning to his roots as a stage performer with his solo show a?oeLiving the Shufflea?? at The Marsh Berkeley.

 The Golden Trailer Awards,  the most anticipated, fun and prestigious event honoring marketing executives and companies that create movie trailers, commercials and posters worldwide, today announced nominees in the 20th annual competition.  Evelyn Watters, Golden Trailer Awards Executive Director, proudly announced the 2019 nominees along with the show's executive producer Monica Brady.  #GTA20, will take place on Wednesday, May 29th at The Theatre at the Ace Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles.

The 49th Annual NASHVILLE Film Festival continues its rollout of film announcements with the short films in competition. This year the festival received nearly 5,000 shorts submissions and 215 shorts were selected. Selected shorts this year include films made by Dev Patel, Justine Bateman, and Neill Blomkamp and starring Natalia Dyer, Armie Hammer, Alfred Molina, Sigourney Weaver, and Kerri Kenney.

Rehearsals begin today for The 5th Avenue Theatre's new production of Mamma Mia!, the celebrated musical that features the music of global pop sensation ABBA. The 5th Avenue Theatre is the first producing theater company in the Pacific Northwest to be granted the rights to create its own refreshed version of the show, which toured the world for nearly 20 years.

1971, New York. There's a party on the stage of the Weissman Theatre. Tomorrow the iconic building will be demolished. Thirty years after their final performance, the Follies girls gather to have a few drinks, sing a few songs and lie about themselves.

1971, New York. There's a party on the stage of the Weismann Theatre. Tomorrow the iconic building will be demolished. Thirty years after their final performance, the Follies girls gather to have a few drinks, sing a few songs and lie about themselves.

Deafinitely Theatre today announces an extra date for its adaptation of Kathryn Cave's much loved children's book Something Else.  The production will now show at Pegasus Oxford on 2 June, in addition to the previously announced Claremont High School Academy in Brent (school performance), Derby Theatre, a fundraising gala at Wyndham's Theatre (invite only) and the actacentre in Bristol. 

Over halfway through DECONSTRUCTION, Jonathan Leaf's remarkable play about Paul De Man, Mary McCarthy (Fleur Alys Dobbins) tells Hannah Arendt (Karoline Fischer) that she sees no morality 'worthy of the name' in the philosophy of Martin Heidegger. 'There's a need to find authenticity,' McCarthy concedes, 'But it seems to me that you can be genuinely and perfectly evil.' However one feels about deconstruction as a method of reading--I happen to be a fan--we should all agree that De Man was a bad guy: a thoroughgoing liar, a bigamist, a swindler, a manipulator, and the author of some 200 pieces for the Nazi publication in Belgium, Le Soir. I've lingered over this literary-historical context (ironic, given that deconstruction deemphasizes extra-textual material, including authorial intent) because while Leaf's play works beautifully as a story about the (alleged) affair between De Man and McCarthy, the play's real triumph is how deftly it evokes the intellectual minefields on which these personal relationships developed. DECONSTRUCTION is far better, to say nothing of smarter, than most of the ideologically-driven caricatures of the play suggest. This is all the more remarkable given the play runs a mere 75 minutes.

???????Following its sell-out tour in 2015, Deafinitely Theatre's Artistic Director Paula Garfield today announces a new tour of its adaptation of Kathryn Cave's much-loved children's book Something Else, illustrated by Chris Riddell. 

Somewhere in England is a piece of 1940s war-time nostalgia with a big heart, brought to life in the cosy surroundings of New Wimbledon Studio this week. The show is an escapist and pastoral view of an interesting part of history, when American GIs arrived in England to prepare for the invasion of Normandy. They brought with them nylons, Coca Cola and bags of energy and fun. The appearance of the lively and girl-deprived young soldiers in the quiet village creates ripples with all the residents; some welcome, some less so. The show tells the story as the GIs settle into village life over the course of an eventful year; falling in love, creating a stir and making life-long friendships.

Aurora Theatre Company proudly opens its 25th anniversary season with a revival of the play that started it all, DEAR MASTER. Joy Carlin (The How and The Why, Talley's Folly, Jack Goes Boating) helms this elegant portraitfeaturing Bay Area favorite Michael Ray Wisely (The Letters, The Arsonists) and Aurora's first leading lady Kimberly King (Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance), wife of Aurora co-founder Ken Grantham, who played Flaubert in the original production. DEAR MASTER plays September 2 through October 2 at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. For tickets ($32-56) and information the public can call (510) 843-4822 or visit auroratheatre.org.

Since the dawn of the genre, stage shows have been adapted from various sources; books, other plays, poems, historical events, and, increasingly over the past two decades, movies. The best projects based on movies take what is special from the source material and use that as inspiration to form a fresh stage adaptation. However, the DIRTY DANCING National Tour, playing at Orlando's Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts through Sunday, April 3rd, focuses so intently on recreating the minutia of the film, that it completely misses what made it so captivating in the first place; authentic, compelling characters and an intimate, passionate story.

Coventry's Belgrade Theatre is banishing the winter blues with a brand new production of Moliere's rarely performed romantic comedy, The Sisterhood, which will be directed by Artistic Director Hamish Glen and runs from Sat 30 Jan - Sat 20 Feb 2016 in B2.

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show.

Debi Mazar and Gabriele Corcos launch the New Year Tuscan-style with a new season of Extra Virgin on Wednesday, January 7th at 9:00pm ET/6:00pmPT, embarking on new adventures with their family, friends and delicious Tuscan-inspired dishes.

Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd announces the cast and creative team for Alan Ayckbourn's science fiction comedy Communicating Doors. Eleven plays penned by Alan Ayckbourn have been produced by the Alley, including the American premiere of Henceforward, directed by Ayckbourn, in 1987 and House & Garden in 2002. Alan Ayckbourn has been inducted into the American Theatre's Hall of Fame, received the 2010 Critics' Circle Award for Services to the Arts, became the first British playwright to receive both Olivier and Tony Special Lifetime Achievement Awards and was knighted in 1997 for services to the theatre.

Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd announces the cast and creative team for Alan Ayckbourn's science fiction comedy Communicating Doors. Eleven plays penned by Alan Ayckbourn have been produced by the Alley, including the American premiere of Henceforward, directed by Ayckbourn, in 1987 and House & Garden in 2002. Alan Ayckbourn has been inducted into the American Theatre's Hall of Fame, received the 2010 Critics' Circle Award for Services to the Arts, became the first British playwright to receive both Olivier and Tony Special Lifetime Achievement Awards and was knighted in 1997 for services to the theatre.

According to a recent survey, women love their cheese, with 53 per cent naming it their favourite topping on a pizza, while men like it meaty, with 51 per cent listing pepperoni as their preferred pizza topping. This, just one of many insights gathered from Pizza Pizza and Pizza 73's annual Canadian Pizza Month survey, conducted by Leger, as part of its celebrations to mark National Pizza Month.

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

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.

Leading lady Catherine Russell has performed the role of Margaret Thorne Brent more than 10,000 times since the play's Off Broadway opening on April 18, 1987, and she has yet to take a single sick day off.

Casa 0101 Theater in association with CoActive Content will present a new co-production of "The King of the Desert," written by Stacey Martino, performed by Rene Rivera, and helmed by Sal Romeo, all Lifetime Members of The Actors Studio.