A. Smith News

Open Book Theatre Company will open its second season with an American classic, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning play The Shadow Box by Michael Cristofer.

Sony Pictures Classics has just announced a December 11, 2015 release date for THE LADY IN THE VAN, Alan Bennett's adaptation of his commercial and critical West End hit, based on his own bestselling memoir. Dame Maggie Smith, stage vet and star of DOWNTON ABBEY, will reprise one of her most-loved stage roles for the big screen, under the direction of Nicholas Hytner.

The Carole King Musical continues the 2015-2016 Bank of America Broadway on Hennepin Season on November 18-29, 2015, at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Minneapolis. Producers Paul Blake and Sony/ATV Music Publishing announce that the Tony and Grammy Award-winning Broadway hit Beautiful, about the early life and career of Carole King, the legendary and groundbreaking singer/songwriter, is making its Minnesota premiere. Single tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. today, August 21 and can be purchased in person (no service fees) at the State Theatre Box Office (805 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis), online at HennepinTheatreTrust.org, by calling 1.800.982.2787 or visiting a Ticketmaster Center.

On JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE, Queen talks about playing legendary blues singer Bessie Smith.

ROLEX presents Career Transition For Dancers' 30TH ANNIVERSARY PEARL JUBILEE: A STAR-STUDDED RETROSPECTIVE on Monday, September 28, at 7:00 pm in association with the Lloyd E. Rigler - Lawrence E. Deutsch Foundation, at New York City Center, 131 West 55 Street (btwn. 6  & 7  Aves) NYC followed by "Supper With The Stars" at The Grand Ballroom at The Hilton New York.

2015 First Night Honoree Kaul Bluestone claimed her place in the First Night record books in the 20th Century: She was the 1996 Outstanding Leading Actress in a Play for her role in Circle Players' production of Dancing at Lughnasa...and she has starred in two critically acclaimed plays directed by First Night founder and executive producer Jeffrey Ellis in the 21st Century: The Last Night of Ballyhoo and Picnic, both for Circle Players.

Poetic Theater Productions presents the second annual CONSCIOUS LANGAUAGE: Workshops, Conversations and Performances on the Power of Language. CONSCIOUS LANGAUAGE is a 5-day generative workshop designed for poets interested in writing poetic theater (by invitation only), which culminates in four evenings of performances and conversation with leaders in the field (open to the public).

The Carole King Musical continues the 2015-2016 Bank of America Broadway on Hennepin Season on November 18-29, 2015, at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Minneapolis. Producers Paul Blake and Sony/ATV Music Publishing announce that the Tony and Grammy Award-winning Broadway hit Beautiful, about the early life and career of Carole King, the legendary and groundbreaking singer/songwriter, is making its Minnesota premiere. Single tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, August 21 and can be purchased in person (no service fees) at the State Theatre Box Office (805 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis), online at HennepinTheatreTrust.org, by calling 1.800.982.2787 or visiting a Ticketmaster Center.

Hosted by 2014 MPA Emily Eytchison (a graduate of Nashville's David Lipscomb University) and 2013 MPA Cade Smith (an alumnus of Trevecca Nazarene University), the 90-minute show will feature members of this year's class of promising young actors performing a wide variety of musical numbers and dramatic/comedic monologues for their audience.

Plan-B Theatre Company opens its 25th season with THE KREUTZER SONATA, a co-production with the Nova Chamber Music Series.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents All the Way by Robert Schenkkan and directed by Steven Woolf. More topical than ever before, this behind-the-scenes view of Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency runs September 9 - October 4 on the Browning Mainstage of the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, 130 Edgar Road (on the campus of Webster University).

NBC's summer sensation, “American Ninja Warrior,” has been renewed for a fifth season on the network.

Global Citizen has announced that Stephen Colbert, CHIME FOR CHANGE co-founder Salma Hayek Pinault, Deborra-Lee and Hugh Jackman, Kerry Washington and Olivia Wilde will appear as the lead hosts of the 2015 Global Citizen Festival

TV One today announced that the premiere night of its newest scripted comedy Born Again Virgin reached 1.4 Million unique Viewers P2+, Live +3.

The New York Philharmonic will present the third season of THE ART OF THE SCORE: Film Week at the Philharmonic September 18-21, 2015, featuring two complete Academy Award-winning films screened with live performances of their acclaimed scores: On the Waterfront and The Godfather.

This summer, TV One takes a sexy, sassy look at love and dating in today's hyper-connected world in the new scripted comedy Born Again Virgin premiering tonight, August 5.

 Interrobang Theatre Project is pleased to launch its 2015-16 Season: "Unnatural Disasters," with the Midwest premiere of the dark comedy KATRINA: MOTHER-IN-LAW OF 'EM ALL by Rob Florence, directed by Co-Artistic Director Georgette Verdin*, marking the the tenth anniversary of the infamous hurricane that struck the U.S. Gulf coast.  

2015 First Night Honoree Martha Wilkinson holds the record for the most First Night Awards with nine. A frequent performer on the First Night stage -- including particularly show-stopping numbers such as her rendition of 'You'll Never Walk Alone,' while clad in a white ballgown and backed up by a chorus of Nashville theater's leading men -- she's one of Tennessee's favorites for certain. She was first recognized by the First Night Awards in 1989, when she won the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Musical for her role in Circle Players' production of Pippin.

SHOWTIME will debut JAY PHAROAH: CAN I BE ME? from standup comedian and master impressionist Jay Pharoah tonight, August 1st at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

More than 150 people gathered at Nashville's venerable Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre Monday night for the announcement of honorees and award winners for the 2015 First Night Honors. Preview Party celebrants were treated to a bountiful buffet of entertainment as cast members from several musicals currently on the boards or upcoming on Middle Tennessee stages performed numbers from their shows