Faetra Petillo - Page 72

Westport Country Playhouse (Joanne Woodward and Anne Keefe, artistic directors, Jodi Schoenbrun Carter, managing director) will stage John Steinbeck's classic drama, 'Of Mice and Men,' directed by Mark Lamos. Peformances began October 7th and will run through November 1. Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 and the Pulitzer Prize for his 1939 novel 'The Grapes of Wrath.' The production will honor the late Paul Newman, who was married to Westport's Artistic Director Joanne Woodward and who participated in many Westport Playhouse productions.

Primary Stages (Casey Childs, Executive Producer; Andrew Leynse, Artistic Director; Elliot Fox, Managing Director) presents the New York premiere of A Body of Water by Lee Blessing. Maria Mileaf (Going to St. Ives) returns to Primary Stages to direct the three-member cast that features Michael Cristofer (Romeo & Juliet, The Shadow Box) as Moss, Christine Lahti ('Chicago Hope,' The Heidi Chronicles) as Avis and Laura Odeh (The Rivals) as Wren.

New writing from Niger will be performed by actors in New York City to raise funds for girls' education in the West African country. This unique collaboration, featuring stories, poems and songs written by young Nigerien women, will be held at Manhattan Theatre Source (177 MacDougal Street) on Saturday, November 1, 2008.

Gates of Gold, a new drama by Frank McGuinness will open at 59E59 on Tuesday, January 27, 2008. Directed by Lonnie Price, the production will be produced by Artists Theatre Group, Sally Jacobs and Warren Baker. McGuinness, a Tony Award winner, has his new version of Oedipus, starring Ralph Fiennes opening at the National Theatre in London and will soon have his adaptation of Ibsen's The Master Builder opening in New York at the Irish Repertory Theatre on October 29.

New Repertory Theatre, in residence at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, is thrilled to present The Lieutenant of Inishmore.

Ellie Covan, Artistic Director of Dixon Place, announced today the opening of the world premiere of FOREVER, created by Laura Peterson Choreography, on October 29, 2008. FOREVER. will be the inaugural production at the new Dixon Place, a state-of-the-art laboratory facility located at 161 Chrystie Street.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company continues its 2008-2009 season, an exploration of the imagination, with The Seafarer by Conor McPherson, directed by ensemble member Randall Arney. The production, featuring ensemble members Francis Guinan, Tom Irwin, John Mahoney and Alan Wilder with Randall Newsome, runs December 4, 2008 - February 8, 2009 in Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St.

North Shore Music Theatre (NSMT) announced today that the role of Peggy Sawyer in its upcoming production of 42nd STREET (October 28 to November 23, 2008) will now be played by actress Melissa Lone. Ms. Lone comes to NSMT from Broadway where she recently appeared as Maggie in the Tony(R) Award winning revival of A Chorus Line. No stranger to 42nd STREET, she played Gladys in the National Tour and Peggy Sawyer in the Trump Plaza's production in Atlantic City.

Direct from New York, VALARIE PETTIFORD - THANKFUL, the smash hit solo show starring Tony Nominee Valarie Pettiford makes its west coast debut at Upright Cabaret at Mark's Restaurant, 861 N. La Cienega Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069.

Performance Space 122 presents the world premiere of Death, a dance-theater piece by solo performance artist Sara Juli that addresses the taboo topic of death. After losing her father tragically to cancer, Juli experienced first-hand our culture's inability to deal with death. She was amazed that something inevitable was so uncomfortable for people who, in particular, seemed to struggle to find the right thing to say and do. In this 50-minute solo performance, Juli uses movement, text, song, gesture, sounds, humor and audience interaction to present a reflection on the awkwardness of death. Juli will be six months pregnant during the performance adding a layer of a piece about death while pregnant with life.

Musicals Tonight presents Tovarich October 28 - November 9 McGinn/Cazale Theatre (2162 Broadway between 76th & 77th Streets).

Following the popular and critical success of Alladeen (2003 Next Wave Festival) and Super Vision (2005 Next Wave Festival), Obie award-winning, New York-based The Builders Association returns to BAM with the New York premiere of Continuous City. Poignant and thought-provoking, this multimedia theater work investigates how networking technology both encourages and hinders human interaction and relationships.

The Hollywood Reporter is stating that MGM has now cast most of the leads in the upcoming Fame remake.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre brings bilingual storytelling to local schools - and gets children excited about reading - with the return of Target ® Story Builders. Last spring, this interactive program nearly doubled in size, and in only four years the Tony Award-winning theatre has served 18,000 students by visiting more than 800 classrooms in nine counties.

Mike Birbiglia, starring in Sleepwalk With Me (www.SleepwalkWithMike.com) at The Bleecker Street Theater (45 Bleecker Street at Lafayette Steet) has announced a new program where audience members as well as people around the country can sign up to be his BEST FRIEND and be a part of the theater experience.

Shubert Organization President Philip J. Smith and Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels, both major figures in the entertainment industry, will be honored by St. Malachy's Church, a.k.a. the Actors Chapel, at the Father George Moore Benefit Dinner at Sardi's, 234 West 44th Street, on Monday, October 27, at 6:00pm.

After a critically acclaimed first season, Wide Eyed Productions kicks off their exciting second season with Jean Racine's racy Greek tragedy, Phédre. Directed with the unique vision and excellent movement sensibilities of Aubrey Snowden, this production explores human weakness and the true meaning of integrity.

Paper Mill Playhouse (Mark S. Hoebee-Artistic Director, Mark W. Jones-Executive Director) have announced the full cast of Paper Mill's premiere of Disney High School Musical.

'A Brush With Georgia O'Keeffe,' a new play by Natalie Mosco, which recently concluded a successful off-Broadway run in New York, will play a special performance at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC on Saturday, November 1 at 3:00 PM. Natalie Mosco stars as famed painter Georgia O'Keeffe. There will be a meet and greet with the performers after the show.

On October 19th at 7:30PM, a special reading will take at the James Christy Access Theater of James Christy's Put Them Away, starring Cady Huffman (Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Producers) and Paul O'Brien (Equus) and directed by Hal Brooks (Obie-winning No Child).