Actors Theatre of Louisville News

Rehearsals have begun for the world premiere of Kimber Lee's "different words for the same thing," which begins previews May 4 at the Center Theatre Group / Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. Opening night is May 11 and performances run through June 1, 2014. Scroll down for a sneak peek at the cast in rehearsal!

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) has announced the publication of The Great God Pan by Amy Herzog, "one of the brightest new talents in the theatre" (New York Times). Known for delicately detailed character studies that subtly balance humor and insight, Amy Herzog is the Obie Award-winning author of 4000 Miles. Her newest published work, The Great God Pan was commissioned by Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago and received its world premiere at Playwrights Horizons in New York City in 2012.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre continues the second half of its season with Tribes, a sophisticated and moving family drama by celebrated British playwright Nina Raine. Her profound and powerful new play became an award-winning hit in London and New York. Now renowned director Jonathan Moscone brings it to Berkeley Rep this April for its Bay Area premiere. Tribes follows Billy, a young man who was born deaf into a loquacious and highly opinionated academic family who raised him to lip-read and integrate into the hearing world. When he meets Sylvia - raised by Deaf parents and going deaf herself - Billy decides it's time to speak on his own terms and to be heard. Playing out in words, sign language, and sometimes mesmerizing silence, this penetrating drama examines familial love, notions of belonging, and the intersections of communication. Tribes start previews tonight, April 11, opens on April 16, and closes on Sunday, May 11, 2014.

Queens-based Titan Theatre Company will conclude its critically acclaimed, award-winning second season with a signature take on Shakespeare's epic masterpiece King Lear. The production will play a limited run April 25 - May 11, 2014 at Queens Theatre, the borough's premiere performing arts venue. Titan Theatre Company Artistic Director Lenny Banovez, who previously helmed Titan's hit productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet and Henry V, will direct.

City Theatre closes its 39th season with the world premiere of Hope and Gravity, a new play by Michael Hollinger featuring dynamic, interconnected stories. Directed by Tracy Brigden, Hope and Gravity runs on City Theatre's Mainstage from May 3-25, 2014, with an Opening Night performance on Friday, May 9 at 8pm.

NATURAL GAS, the five-year-old house improv team of The Gift Theatre, appears Friday nights at Wicker Park's The Den Theatre, performing entirely improvised group sets in addition to their standing Wednesday night set at The Gift in Jefferson Park. Every other week is YOU & ME-a two-person, entirely improvised show featuring ensemble member/The Gift artistic director Michael Patrick Thornton with a special guest from the Chicago arts community.

Profiles Theatre announces the Midwest premiere of Annapurna by Sharr White, opening at The Alley Stage, 4147 N. Broadway on June 12, 2014. Annapurna, directed by Profiles ensemble member Eric Burgher and featuring ensemble member Darrell W. Cox, runs June 6, 2014 - July 20, 2014 with the press opening on Thursday, June 12 at 8:00pm. The previously announced production ofHunter Gatherers by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb has been postponed until further notice.

The star of the Civilians' new musical about climate change shares her thoughts on the company's unique brand of investigative theater.

Michael Wyatt Cox, who is currently touring the United States as Albert in War Horse, sits down with BroadwayWorld in Omaha columnist Analisa Peyton to talk about his career and life with War Horse.

Can a jealous actor fool his cheating wife? Lillian Groag (artistic associate at the Old Globe) directs a new adaptation of The Guardsman, the comic tour de force about love, fidelity and illusion by Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnar, opening May 17 at the NoHo Arts Center.

ATCA has named Lauren Gunderson's I and You recipient of the Harold and Mimi Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award, recognizing playwrights for scripts that premiered professionally outside New York City during 2013.

Award-winning slam poet, actor, singer, musician Saul Williams (Slam), Christopher Jackson (After Midnight), Saycon Sengbloh (Motown The Musical, Fela!), Ben Thompson(Matilda), John Earl Jelks (Radio Golf - Tony nomination), Joshua Boone (Brownsville Song [b side for Tray] at Actors Theatre of Louisville), Dyllon Burnside ('Prison Break') and Tony Award winner Tonya Pinkins (Jelly's Last Jam, Caroline or Change, Play On!) will star in HOLLER IF YA HEAR ME, the new Broadway musical inspired by the lyrics of Tupac Shakur. Written by Todd Kreidler and directed by Kenny Leon, HOLLER IF YA HEAR ME will begin performances on May 29, 2014 and open June 19, 2014 at the Palace Theatre (1564 Broadway at 47th Street).

The 2013-2014 season at Cleveland Play House (CPH) continues with the compelling world premiere production of Deborah Zoe Laufer's Informed Consent. Co-produced with Geva Theatre Center, this incredibly thought-provoking production is inspired by the real life court case between the Havasupai Indian tribe and Arizona State University, and sparks an intriguing debate on both ethicality and morality. Directed by Sean Daniels and Sponsored by Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic and MetroHealth, Informed Consent will serve as the centerpiece to CPH's 2014 New Ground Theatre Festival and will run from April 23 - May 18 in the Second Stage.

Rehearsals began this week for Titan Theatre Company's final production of its critically acclaimed second season, Shakespeare's masterpiece, KING LEAR. The epic story of the 'Mad King' and his three daughters will run April 25 - May 11, 2014 at Queens Theatre, the borough's premiere performing arts venue. Titan Theatre Company Artistic Director Lenny Banovez, who previously helmed Titan's hit productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet and Henry V, will direct. Scroll down for some pictures of the cast and production team!

Florida Studio Theatre announces its annual Richard and Betty Burdick New Play Reading Series, which will present three new plays by contemporary American playwrights. The series will take place in the Keating Theatre on Monday, April 28 at 7:00pm, Monday, May 5 at 7:00pm, and Saturday, May 10 at 2:00pm, and is part of FST's Sarasota Festival of New Plays. Tickets for the series are 3 plays for $25, or individual play readings for $10. Additionally, FRIENDS of FST can purchase a subscription for all 3 plays for $15. They may be purchased by calling the FST Box Office at (941) 366-9000 or by visiting www.floridastudiotheatre.org.

BAY STREET THEATRE NEW WORKS FESTIVAL will take place on April 25-27 at the Bay Street Theatre on the Long Wharf in Sag Harbor, NY. The Festival is produced in Association with SPACE on Ryder Farm. The media sponsor for the festival is Dan's Papers Literary Prize Contest.

2014-2015 season announcements from some of Louisville's most popular theater companies.

Yale Repertory Theatre, in a co-production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre, presents the world premiere of The House that will not Stand by Marcus Gardley, directed by Patricia McGregor. The House that will not Stand will be performed at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street) April 18-May 10. Opening Night is Thursday, April 24.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) will present Legally Blonde the Musical onstage at the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theater April 24-May 4. The 2007 winner of London's Olivier Award for Best Musical, stars Courtney Hammond as the intelligent, self-assured and fashion conscious Elle Woods. For tickets and information, call 860-486-2113 and visit www.crt.uconn.edu.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University, under the leadership of Diane Paulus, Artistic Director and William Russo, Managing Director, presents the last production of its 2013/14 Season, THE TEMPEST, adapted and directed by Aaron Posner and Teller from the play by William Shakespeare, with magic by Teller, music by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, and movement by Matt Kent of Pilobolus.