Actors Theatre of Louisville News

Elevator Repair Service, "one of the city's few truly essential theater companies" (New York Times), is pleased to present the world premiere of Everyone's Fine With Virginia Woolf, a new play written by longtime company member Kate Scelsa and directed by Elevator Repair Service Artistic Director John Collins.

Porchlight Music Theatre announced that Lorenzo Rush Jr has replaced James Earl Jones II in Porchlight Revisits They're Playing Our Song, music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager and book by Neil Simon, with direction and choreography by Christopher Carter and musical direction by Andra Velis Simon. Porchlight Revisits They're Playing our Song is presented for three-nights-only Tuesday, March 6 through Thursday, March 8 at 7:15 p.m. and is performed on the set of Porchlight's Merrily We Roll Along (previews begin January 26) at Porchlight's new home, The Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn Street. Tickets for They're Playing Our Song are $35. All tickets include access to the popular pre-performance event, Behind the Show Backstory, a multimedia presentation, created and hosted by Porchlight Music Theatre Artistic Director Michael Weber that discusses the evening's production including the show's creative history, juicy backstage gossip and the state of the art on Broadway that season. Single tickets to They're Playing Our Song and subscriptions for the entire series are available at porchlightmusictheatre.org or by calling the Porchlight Music Theatre box office at 773.777.9884.

Paper Mill Playhouse (Mark S. Hoebee-Producing Artistic Director, Todd Schmidt-Managing Director), recipient of the 2016 Regional Theatre Tony Award, has announced today Harry Connick, Jr. will star as Henry Gondorff in the world-premiere production of The Sting.  The musical is based on the 1973 film, and will have its world premiere at Paper Mill Playhouse for a limited run from March 29 through April 29, 2018, with book by Bob Martin, music and lyrics by Mark Hollmann &Greg Kotis with Harry Connick, Jr.  In addition, the score will contain music by Scott Joplin including 'The Entertainer.'

WP Theater and The Bushwick Starr, in association with New Georges, are pleased to announce that due to popular demand, [PORTO], the upside-down romantic comedy written by Obie Award Winner Kate Benson (Super Magic Wild Forest, Desert) and directed by Obie Award winner Lee Sunday Evans (Bull in a China Shop, Caught), will extend. Previously scheduled through February 25,[PORTO] will now play its final performance on Sunday, March 4, 2018 at WP Theater (2162 Broadway).

National New Play Network, the country's alliance of nonprofit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays, announces its 74th Rolling World Premiere (RWP): The Madres by Stephanie Alison Walker. The Roll will run through Skylight Theatre Company (March 10-April 29 in Los Angeles, CA) and Teatro Vista (April 21-May 27 in Chicago, IL), MOXIE Theatre (May 13-June 10, in San Diego, CA), and Shrewd Productions (August 24-September 15 in Austin, TX). The Madres was presented at NNPN's 2016 National Showcase of New Plays, hosted by the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas-Austin.

Actors Theatre of Louisville is proud to announce the 2018-2019 Season, beginning in September. Artistic Director Les Waters introduces the lineup, "In the coming season, we examine identity and ask 'Who are we and how did we get here?' We are delighted to welcome back Lucas Hnath with his witty and electrifying A Doll's House, Part 2 and Dominique Morisseau with Pipeline, her incisive and heartfelt look at education and the responsibilities of being a parent. We are proud to produce the Broadway hit The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, both a thrilling 'whodunnit' and 'who am I?.' In the acclaimed Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin, Mr. Felder examines the life of immigrant and American legend Irving Berlin through song and story. It's 2018, and together we'll ask 'who are you and how did you become who you are now?'"

Updated this week! Check out upcoming Non-Equity Auditions from Sunday, February 11, 2018 for productions in your area and around the country.

Abrons Arts Center is pleased to present the world premiere of Aloha, Aloha, or When I Was a Queen (April 4-21), a solo play written and performed by Eliza Bent and directed by Knud Adams. In 1996, a young Eliza Bent, along with a friend, created, directed and starred in an amateur historical film for a school project. In it, Bent portrayed Hawaii's last reigning monarch, Queen Liliuokalani. 22 years later, Bent uses her home movie as a jumping off point to lead audiences on a journey that grapples with personal history, legacy, and cultural appropriation. In the tradition of Spaulding Gray, Fran Leibowitz, and David Sedaris, Bent's humorous cringe-inducing stories chart a young Bostonian's education in race and appropriation.

Range of Light presents the world premiere of David Sessions' dark comedy Two Fisted Love, directed by Los Angeles stage veteran Jules Aaron, in a visiting production at the Odyssey Theatre. Opens February 10.

Auditions for South Bend Civic Theatre's production of 'The Nerd' will be held on Sunday, March 4th and Monday March 5th at 6pm.

PAGE 73 PRODUCTIONS (Page 73) (Michael Walkup, Producing Artistic Director; Jenny Lagundino, Managing Director; Liz Jones and Asher Richelli, Founding Directors) has named C.A. Johnson the 2018 P73 Playwriting Fellow. Selected from over 400 applicants, Johnson will receive a $10,000 award and additional $10,000 budgeted for developing several new plays over the course of the year.

 The wackiest beach party in town continues! Pasadena Playhouse, the State Theatre of California, announces a one-week extension of Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance, as reimagined by the Chicago theatre hooligans The Hypocrites, now through February 25, due to high demand.  Tickets are now on sale at pasadenaplayhouse.org or by calling 626-356-7529.

Seattle Repertory Theatre reveals a sneak peek at its 2018-2019 season, which will include the Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical from Lin-Manuel Miranda, In The Heights. Set to perform on the Bagley Wright Theatre stage in late 2018, In The Heights was conceived by Lin-Manuel Miranda who also wrote the music and lyrics, with book by Quiara Alegria Hudes.

PlayPenn, Philadelphia's artist-driven organization dedicated to the development of new plays and playwrights, has teamed up with R. Eric Thomas, Senior Staff Writer for ELLE Magazine (known for his 'Eric Reads the News' column) and winner of the 2016 Barrymore Best New Play Award for his work TIME IS ON OUR SIDE, to present an innovative and fun seminar designed to unlock the creative writer in any of us. Thomas, along with Yale-Horn Drama winning playwright Jacqueline Goldfinger, will present ART FOR ALL: A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR LEADING A CREATIVE LIFE on February 18 at 4PM.

In response to popular demand, Soho Rep. (Sarah Benson, Artistic Director; Cynthia Flowers, Executive Director) extends the world premiere of Aleshea Harris's Relentless Award-winning Is God Is, directed by Taibi Magar by two weeks, through March 25. In this play, which dauntlessly cracks jokes as it eviscerates, twin sisters Anaia (Alfie Fuller) and Racine (Dame-Jasmine Hughes) undertake a murderous journey from the Dirty South to the California desert, seeking payback for a horrendous act. Is God Is treats both morality and genre as notions to be exploded, drawing on the ancient, the modern, the tragic, the Spaghetti Western, hip-hop and Afropunk in its subversion of theatrical constructs.

Back by popular demand, Ammunition Theatre Company is proud to be reviving its wildly successful production by playwright D.G. Watson, THE TRAGEDY: A COMEDY. Acclaimed director Ahmed Best will be at the helm. The unique comic play returns March 8th, at THE PICO - 10508 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064. The show will play monthly (2nd or 3rd Thursday of each month).

It's Pompeii meets Heathers! New American Folk Theatre is pleased to announce casting for its 1980s-infused Midwest premiere comedy HOT PINK, OR READY TO BLOW, directed by Derek Van Barham.

Updated this week! Check out upcoming Non-Equity Auditions from Sunday, February 4, 2018 for productions in your area and around the country.

Range of Light presents the world premiere of David Sessions' dark comedy Two Fisted Love, directed by Los Angeles stage veteran Jules Aaron, in a visiting production at the Odyssey Theatre. Opens February 10.

Inspired by the classic Cyrano de Bergerac, Michael Golamco's 'Cowboy vs. Samurai' is not only a tale of misplaced love, it's also an insightful and wonderfully funny meditation on being Asian in middle America, on self-identity, and on the ways we categorize ourselves as well as each other. Pear Theatre's production of 'Cowboy vs. Samurai,' directed by Jeffrey Lo, previews on March 15, with press and Opening Night on Friday, March 16, followed by a champagne gala. The show runs Thursdays through Sundays through April 8. All performances are held at the Pear Theatre, 1110 La Avenida St., Mountain View. Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.thepear.org or calling (650) 254-1148.