Actors Theatre of Louisville News

Dallas Theater Center has announced the return of A Christmas Carol at the Kalita Humphreys Theater Nov. 25 - Dec. 24.

Midwest New Musicals kicks off Words and Music, its new concert reading series of original musicals with TABLE TURNS by Sheilah Rae and Michele Brourman on Monday, November 21, at 8 PM at the Light Opera Works Second Stage, 1420 Maple (at Lake) in Evanston.

Colt Coeur's Play Hotel reading series will present a staged reading of Max Posner's The Thing About Air Travel on Monday, November 21st at 7pm at the CoCo Studio in NYC.

Upcoming Theatre Communication Group Member Shows - 11/20 for Kentucky

Upcoming Theatre Communication Group Member Shows - 11/20 for Louisville

This October, the Tony Award-winning Berkeley Repertory Theatre once again introduces a new script for the American theatre with the world premiere of How to Write a New Book for the Bible.

Lookingglass Theatre Company presents The Great Fire, a Lookingglass Original written and directed by Ensemble Member John Musial.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater is set to present Oregon Shakespeare Festival's production of Bill Cain's Equivocation in the first collaboration between Arena Stage and OSF.

Penumbra Theatre Company, the nation's preeminent African American theatre, announces a special presentation of I Wish You Love in the 2011-2012 season. Due to popular demand, 16 performances will be staged at Penumbra Theatre November 18 - December 4, 2011

Producers Lee Dean, Laurence Myers and Joey Parnes announced today that the complete cast of the Broadway premiere of End of the Rainbow, a new play with music, is in place. Michael Cumpsty, Tom Pelphrey and Jay Russell will join two-time Oliver Award-winner Tracie Bennett in Peter Quilter's acclaimed play about the legendary Judy Garland. Directed by the Tony® Award winning Terry Johnson, End of the Rainbow will begin performances on Monday, March 19, 2012 at the Belasco Theatre, with an opening night now set for Monday, April 2.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company continues its 2011-2012 Season with the return of Ethan McSweeny (The Merchant of Venice, The Persians, Ion, Major Barbara) directing Shakespeare's romantic comedy Much Ado About Nothing.

Pioneer Theatre Company presents the holiday family musical Annie from December 2 through December 23, 2011.

Long Way Down, Nashville playwright Nate Eppler's critically acclaimed new work which premiered locally earlier this year, has been named a semi-finalist for the 2012 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award.

Lindsay Fraser presents Execution of Justice by Emily Mann. The show is directed by Joss Bennathan, and designed by James Turner.

A multi-talented cast and onstage band bring to life the famous songs of 'The Man In Black' when Cabrillo Music Theatre's production of RING OF FIRE: THE MUSIC OF JOHNNY CASH makes its Thousand Oaks premiere at the Civic Arts Plaza.

Actors Theatre of Louisville is thrilled to announce the lineup of the 36th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays. This year's Festival will feature 10 world premieres that celebrate 14 vital voices in American theatre today. Described by Gordon Cox at Variety as "one of the most prominent showcases of fully staged new plays in the U.S." the Festival is a driving force of new play development in America and attracts a national and international audience of nearly 40,000 theatre professionals and enthusiasts each year. This season, the Humana Festival runs February 26 through April 1, 2012. Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein states,"I am incredibly proud of our artistic team and the selections in the 2012 Humana Festival. The plays that we announce today will join a prestigious catalogue of work we have launched into the American theatre repertoire. The Humana Festival remains a standout event in the American theatre, drawing local, national and international attention and attracting arts professionals and theatre enthusiasts from across the country. Last year's Humana Festival boasted more than 100 performances and attracted visitors from 44 states and 9 countries. We are extremely grateful to the Humana Foundation, whose commitment to support the Festival's mission is unmatched.' This year's Festival showcases seven full-length plays, including a play by five writers commissioned by Actors Theatre and featuring the Acting Apprentice Company, and an evening of three ten-minute plays (yet to be announced). The productions will run in rotating repertory in Actors Theatre's 633-seat Pamela Brown Auditorium, 318-seat Bingham Theatre and 159-seat Victor Jory Theatre. "We are tremendously excited to support an array of remarkable voices in this festival lineup that brings together a diverse collection of aesthetics, cultural perspectives and original stories," remarked Amy Wegener, Actors Theatre's Literary Director."This constellation of amazing playwrights includes a mix of men and women, experiences that range from the suburban Midwest to the Middle East, veterans of Broadway and writers who'll see their work produced on this scale for the first time. The Humana Festival's commitment to production as a vital stage of new play development, with the writer's imagination as our compass, allows the creative teams to fully engage with the possibilities of the plays' rich theatrical worlds-and for audiences to share in that discovery." Idris Goodwin, who will make his Humana Festival debut, said, "How We Got On launches my most recent theatrical endeavor: to pay homage to Hip Hop in the Midwest, the culture that shaped me as a writer. What greater affirmation than to participate in this country's most essential new play festival.' 'I'm tremendously grateful and thrilled that my odd play about a vampire with second thoughts will premiere at the Humana Festival," said playwright Greg Kotis on having his play selected. "I've had the honor to participate in the Festival twice before, first as a co-author of BRINK! (an anthology show written for and performed by Actor Theatre's Acting Apprentice Company), and then as a performer in and an author of one of the ten-minute plays. The Humana Festival continues to be one of the essential events of our national theatre season, and I'm very happy to be a part of it once again.' Mona Mansour said, "I am thrilled to be invited to be in this year's festival, where so many plays I admire were launched. And I am equally thrilled to be there with Mark Wing-Davey, who directed the very first reading of The Hour of Feeling at the Public Theater." This year's festival program will feature (in chronological order): Seven full-length world premieres, including The Veri**on Play by Lisa Kron How We Got On by Idris Goodwin The Hour of Feeling by Mona Mansour Eat Your Heart Out by Courtney Baron Death Tax by Lucas Hnath Michael von Siebenburg Melts Through the Floorboards by Greg Kotis Oh, Gastronomy! by Michael Golamco, Carson Kreitzer, Steve Moulds, Tanya Saracho and Matt Schatz, performed by the Actors Theatre Acting Apprentice Company. An evening of three Ten-Minute Plays (to be announced) The 2012 Humana Festival schedule also features special industry weekend packages, networking opportunities, discussions and soiree events, making Louisville the place to be in American theatre this spring. For more information on individual plays, see below. Actors Theatre celebrates the 36th Annual Humana Festival with its underwriter The Humana Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Humana, Inc. Additional support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust. Editor: The involvement of The Humana Foundation in the Humana Festival of New American Plays is very important to us. We would greatly appreciate inclusion of its participation in your coverage. The Humana Festival represents the largest and longest-running active partnership between a corporation and a theatre in the United States.

Upcoming Theatre Communication Group Member Shows - 11/13 for Kentucky

Upcoming Theatre Communication Group Member Shows - 11/13 for Louisville

Midwest New Musicals kicks off Words and Music, its new concert reading series of original musicals with TABLE TURNS by Sheilah Rae and Michele Brourman on Monday, November 21, at 8 PM at the Light Opera Works Second Stage, 1420 Maple (at Lake) in Evanston.

Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, presents Season's Greetings by Alan Ayckbourn, directed by Artistic Director BJ Jones.