Lawrence Wright

Top stories: New York, New York and Grey House close, El Mago Pop will make his make US national television debut today, and more!

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater has released pre-production photos for the world premiere of Exclusion, a wickedly funny Hollywood-set comedy. 

Atlantic Theater Company (Neil Pepe, Artistic Director; Jeffory Lawson, Managing Director) has announced an extension for the world premiere musical Cornelia Street. The production, which will begin performances this Friday, January 20th and open on Tuesday, February 14th, will now play through Sunday, March 5th, Off-Broadway at Atlantic Stage 2.

Atlantic Theater Company has announced casting for the world premiere musical Cornelia Street, with a book by Tony Award winner Simon Stephens. Find out who is joining the cast, the performance schedule and how to get tickets.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater today announced that Artistic Director Molly Smith has decided to retire in July of 2023. The Arena Stage Board of Trustees will conduct a nationwide search to appoint a new Artistic Director to build on the pioneering legacy of Smith and Arena’s Founder Zelda Fichandler.

Richard Thomas will play the role of Atticus Finch in the National Tour of To Kill A Mockingbird, Aaron Sorkin's new play, directed by Bartlett Sher, and based on Harper Lee's classic novel. The tour will begin performances next month at Shea's Performing Arts Center in Buffalo.

Change Agent is a play based on historical events, in this case the life of American painter Mary Pinchot Meyer (Andrea Abello) and her relationship with President John F. Kennedy (Luis Vega). The two meet at a college dance in 1936, continually run into each other at major world events, such as in San Francisco at the founding of the United Nations in 1945, and develop a friendship and then relationship culminating during Kennedy's presidency.

As Fidel Castro ponders on how to move his country forward, his political partner, Celia Sánchez, is never far from his side. Imbued with magical realism, Celia and Fidel is the dynamic story of radical change in Cuba featuring the country's most notorious political figure and Cuba's most influential female revolutionary.

The Wittliff Collections, an internationally acclaimed collection of Southwest writing, photography, film and music, announce the new date for The Wittliff Collections Festival, a fundraising event celebrating the unbridled imagination of Texas, Mexico and the Southwest.

SHOWTIME has released the new documentary KINGDOM OF SILENCE for free online sampling.

SHOWTIME announced today it will premiere the Showtime Documentary Film KINGDOM OF SILENCE, exploring the complicated dynamic between the United States and Saudi Arabia.

The Wittliff Collections, an internationally acclaimed collection of Southwest writing, photography, film and music, announces the availability of limited complimentary public seating at four panel discussions that are part of The Wittliff Collections Festival, taking place April 18, 2020. The panel discussions will be held at the W Austin Hotel (200 Lavaca St., Austin, Texas 78701) from 8:45 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Public seating will be released ten minutes prior to the start of each panel, and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater presents the world premiere of Eduardo Machado's (Havana Is Waiting, The Cook) Celia and Fidel. It's 1980 and Cuba is dealing with a failing economy. As Fidel Castro ponders on how to move his country forward, his political partner, Celia Sánchez, is never far from his side. Imbued with magical realism, Celia and Fidel is the dynamic story of radical change in Cuba featuring the country's most notorious political figure and Cuba's most influential female revolutionary. Directed by Molly Smith, Celia and Fidel runs February 28 through April 12, 2020 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle.

The Wittliff Collections, an internationally acclaimed collection of Southwest writing, photography, film and music, announces a limited availability of a?oeDate-Nighta?? tables-for-two for their inaugural Festival, taking place April 18, 2020. Just in time for Valentine's Day, these intimate Date-Night Tables are priced at $1,000 and include gala seating for two at ACL Live at the Moody Theater, access to two full bars and a buffet dinner on the mezzanine level, a chance to bid on silent and live auction items, and a great view of the program, which will include an acoustic performance by Robert Earl Keen and Ray Benson. The Wittliff Collections will host this debut festival in Austin, Texas, with a one-day event celebrating the unbridled imagination of Texas, Mexico and the Southwest. For information on attending the Festival and sponsorship opportunities, email here.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater has announced the full company for the world premiere of Eduardo Machado's (Havana Is Waiting, The Cook) Celia and Fidel.

Today, SHOWTIME Documentary Films announced upcoming titles from its 2020 slate from preeminent documentarians, including LOVE FRAUD from Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing, THE TRADE from Matthew Heineman, THE LONGEST WAR from Greg Barker, Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon, KINGDOM OF SILENCE from Alex Gibney, Rick Rowley and Lawrence Wright, and THE KINGMAKER from Lauren Greenfield. The announcement was made today by Gary Levine, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc., at the Television Critics Association's Winter Press Tour.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces four additional commissioned playwrights as a part of Power Plays, an ambitious initiative commissioning and developing 25 new plays and musicals from a diverse mix of writers, composers and lyricists over the course of 10 years. Playwrights Lauren Yee, Zack Zadek, Emily Feldman and Karen Zacarías join previously commissioned playwrights with projects underway, including Eduardo Machado, whose Power Play Celia and Fidel, a perceptive and authentic look at Fidel Castro's most trusted confidant and political partner, Celia Sánchez, enjoys its world premiere in Arena's Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle, February 28 through April 12, 2020.

The Wittliff Collections, an internationally acclaimed collection of Southwest writing, photography, film and music, will host its festival debut on April 18, 2020, in Austin, Texas, with a one-day event celebrating the unbridled imagination of Texas, Mexico and the Southwest.

To Kill A Mockingbird, Aaron Sorkin's new play, directed by Bartlett Sher, and based on Harper Lee's classic novel, will launch its coast-to-coast National Tour in August 2020 at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in the heart of the nation's capital. The tour will be on the road for over two years. According to the Hollywood Reporter, stage and screen star Richard Thomas will lead the production as Atticus Finch.

BBC Two has acquired ten-part series, The Looming Tower, based on Lawrence Wright's Pulitzer Prize-winning non-fiction book about the rising threat of Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda in the late 1990s and how the rivalry between the FBI and CIA during that time may have inadvertently set the path for the tragedy of 9/11.