Adam Bock News

54 BELOW has announced that Sherie Rene Scott will play an exclusive two-week engagement when she presents her brand new show "Piece of Meat" at 54 Below October 16-20 & 23-27 at 8:30 PM and October 19, 20, 26, & 27 at 11:00 PM. To purchase tickets, visit www.54below.com. Doors open for dinner at 7:00 PM for the 8:30 PM show and 10:00 PM for the 11:00 PM show. $60 cover charge. $30 food & beverage minimum.

Steep Theatre Company's Twelfth Season will begin tonight, October 4th, with their production of Robert Holman's Making Noise Quietly. Mr. Holman's body of work has served as an inspiration to many of today's most exciting playwrights, including Steep favorites Simon Stephens (Harper Regan, Pornography) and David Eldridge (Festen, Under the Blue Sky). Steep brings Mr. Holman's seminal work, Making Noise Quietly, to the Chicago stage for the first time in 23 years. Erica Weiss, Associate Artistic Director of Route 66 Theatre Company and director of their 2011 hit Twist of Water, will be making her Steep directing debut.

Now at the forefront of play development, with local writers, KTC presents their 11th World Premiere in only two years. Chosen from seven new works, this stand out comedy is being directed by Eric Hunicutt.

Previews begin Friday, October 12 for the Playwrights Horizons' production of THE WHALE, the New York premiere of a new play by Obie Award winner Samuel D. Hunter (A Bright New Boise). Directed by Davis McCallum (February House, A Bright New Boise, the upcoming Water By the Spoonful at Second Stage), the production has an Opening Night set for Monday, November 5 at 7PM at Playwrights Horizons' Peter Jay Sharp Theater (416 West 42nd Street).

Tongue in Cheek Theater Productions will present Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Our Town, for eight performances this October. The play is a love story between Emily and George, and a love letter to small town life in America.

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director), Barry Grove (Executive Producer), and Mandy Greenfield (Artistic Producer) have just announced full casting for the upcoming world premiere of MURDER BALLAD, the new musical by Julia Jordan and Juliana Nash, directed by Trip Cullman. MURDER BALLAD is the inaugural production of MTC's The Studio at Stage II - Harold and Mimi Steinberg New Play Series at New York City Center - Stage II (131 West 55th Street). MURDER BALLAD will play a limited four-week engagement with previews beginning Tuesday, October 30 and opening Thursday, November 15.

The fifth production of the 2012 Hangar season is a true American classic, Horton Foote's The Trip to Bountiful. This intensely moving and riveting story of acceptance and coming home again will be directed by the Hangar's Associate Artistic Director Stephanie Yankwitt (Hangar's Rounding Third) and features a cast of local favorites including Susannah Berryman (Hangar's Penelope of Ithaca, The Chalk Circle, Cabaret, and The Rainmaker) and Jesse Bush (Hangar's Ever So Humble, Disney's Beauty and the Beast). The Trip to Bountiful opens tonight, September 7, and runs through September 15th.

DEAD ACCOUNTS has just announced that two-time Tony Award winner Norbert Leo Butz and Katie Holmes will be joined by Judy Greer, Josh Hamilton, and Tony Award nominee Jayne Houdyshell on Broadway this fall.

Now in the forefront of play development, with local writers, KTC presents their 11th World Premiere in only two years, Focus Group Play. Chosen from seven new works, this stand-out production is being directed by Eric Hunicutt.

The fifth production of the 2012 Hangar season is a true American classic, Horton Foote's The Trip to Bountiful. This intensely moving and riveting story of acceptance and coming home again will be directed by the Hangar's Associate Artistic Director Stephanie Yankwitt (Hangar's Rounding Third) and features a cast of local favorites including Susannah Berryman (Hangar's Penelope of Ithaca, The Chalk Circle, Cabaret, and The Rainmaker) and Jesse Bush (Hangar's Ever So Humble, Disney's Beauty and the Beast). The Trip to Bountiful will preview September 6, and run September 7 through September 15th.

Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) has announced additional casting for its 2012/2013 Season, with initial casting for THE GREAT GOD PAN, the World Premiere of a new play by Obie Award winner Amy Herzog (After the Revolution at PH, 4000 Miles), directed by Carolyn Cantor (After the Revolution and Essential Self-Defense at PH, Pumpgirl, Orange Water Flower).

Now in the forefront of play development, with local writers, KTC presents their 11th World Premiere in only two years, Focus Group Play. Chosen from seven new works, this stand-out production is being directed by Eric Hunicutt.

Steep Theatre Company's Twelfth Season will begin on Thursday, October 4th, with their production of Robert Holman's Making Noise Quietly. Mr. Holman's body of work has served as an inspiration to many of today's most exciting playwrights, including Steep favorites Simon Stephens (Harper Regan, Pornography) and David Eldridge (Festen, Under the Blue Sky). Steep brings Mr. Holman's seminal work, Making Noise Quietly, to the Chicago stage for the first time in 23 years. Erica Weiss, Associate Artistic Director of Route 66 Theatre Company and director of their 2011 hit Twist of Water, will be making her Steep directing debut.

Profiles Theatre announces the Midwest premiere of Sweet and Sad by Richard Nelson, opening the company's 2012-2013 season. Sweet and Sad, directed by Joe Jahraus and featuring Co-Artistic Director Darrell W. Cox, runs tonight, August 17, 2012 - October 7, 2012 with the press opening on Friday, August 24 at 8:00 pm. Performances are held at Profiles newest venue, The Main Stage, 4139 N. Broadway.

Stage and screen star Sanaa Lathan (A Raisin in the Sun, Contagion) returns to the title role in Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage's By the Way, Meet Vera Stark for its West Coast premiere at the Geffen Playhouse. Lathan, who originated the character of Vera Stark in the critically acclaimed New York run, will once again take the stage as the 1930's era maid turned movie star, reunited with original cast member Kimberly Hebert Gregory (Spike Lee's Red Hook Summer) reprising her role as fellow aspiring African American actress Lottie. Broadway vet and Geffen alum Merle Dandridge (Spamalot, Rent, Aida) will take on the spicy role of Anna Mae, who fakes a Brazilian accent for a slice of fame, and former leading lady of ABC's Man Up, Amanda Detmer, will portray Gloria Mitchell, the white starlet dubbed "America's little sweetie pie" and Vera's first employer. Helmed by award-winning director Jo Bonney, the West Coast premiere cast also features Kevin Carroll (Paid in Full, Being John Malkovich), Spencer Garrett (Iron Man 3, Air Force One) and Geffen alum Mather Zickel (Extraordinary Chambers, Rachel Getting Married).

Second Stage Theatre Uptown extends its 10th anniversary season with the world premiere of Warrior Class, written by Kenneth Lin and directed by Evan Cabnet through August 18th. Warrior Class is presented at Second Stage Theatre's uptown home, the McGinn/Cazale Theatre on Broadway at 76th Street, for tickets or more information; please visit www.2st.com or call 212-246-4422.

Profiles Theatre announces the Midwest premiere of Sweet and Sad by Richard Nelson, opening the company's 2012-2013 season. Sweet and Sad, directed by Joe Jahraus and featuring Co-Artistic Director Darrell W. Cox, runs August 17, 2012 - October 7, 2012 with the press opening on Friday, August 24 at 8:00 pm. Performances are held at Profiles newest venue, The Main Stage, 4139 N. Broadway.

13P, the innovative collective of 13 playwrights, is about to culminate the mission it set forth upon its founding in 2003: to produce one play by each of its members. Pulitzer Finalist, TONY Award nominee and MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship recipient Sarah Ruhl (P#13) is creating a new, chamber version of her Melancholy Play (2001) with the composer Todd Almond and Davis McCallum, who directed a version of the work in 2002.

The Amoralists are currently presenting the World Premiere of The Bad and the Better, written by Derek Ahonen, directed by Obie Award winner Daniel Aukin and featuring The Amoralists acting ensemble. The acclaimed downtown theater company moved uptown for this six-week Off-Broadway run that began on June 14, and continues through July 21 at The Peter Jay Sharp Theater, located at 416 West 42 Street between 9 and 10 Avenues in New York City. The show officially opened on June 19. Check out a series of portraits of the 26-member cast below!