Addison News

Academy and Tony Award-winning actor Joel Grey returns to television in a new episode of ABC's 'Private Practice.' Grey, whose recent TV credits include 'Brothers & Sisters' and a critically acclaimed appearance on FOX's hit drama 'House,' will guest star as Dr. Alexander Ball in the January 22, 2009 episode titled 'Nothing to Fear.' In 'Nothing to Fear,' Violet finds out she's pregnant but isn't sure who the father is; Addison struggles with her own guilty conscience after her kiss with Wyatt; and Sam and Pete clash when an old friend and colleague (Grey) asks them to help him die. Meanwhile Charlotte proposes marriage to Cooper. 'Private Practice' stars Kate Walsh as Dr. Addison Forbes Montgomery, Tim Daly as Dr. Pete Wilder, Audra McDonald as Dr. Naomi Bennett, Paul Adelstein as Dr. Cooper Freedman, KaDee Strickland as Dr. Charlotte King, Chris Lowell as William Dell Parker, with Taye Diggs as Dr. Sam Bennett and Amy Brenneman as Dr. Violet Turner. 'Private Practice' airs on ABC-TV from 10:01 - 11:00 p.m. For more information, visit http://abc.go.com/primetime/privatepractice.

Academy and Tony Award-winning actor Joel Grey returns to television in a new episode of ABC's 'Private Practice.' Grey, whose recent TV credits include 'Brothers & Sisters' and a critically acclaimed appearance on FOX's hit drama 'House,' will guest star as Dr. Alexander Ball in the January 22, 2009 episode titled 'Nothing to Fear.'

Academy and Tony Award-winning actor Joel Grey returns to television in a new episode of ABC's 'Private Practice.' Grey, whose recent TV credits include 'Brothers & Sisters' and a critically acclaimed appearance on FOX's hit drama 'House,' will guest star as Dr. Alexander Ball in the January 22, 2009 episode titled 'Nothing to Fear.' In 'Nothing to Fear,' Violet finds out she's pregnant but isn't sure who the father is; Addison struggles with her own guilty conscience after her kiss with Wyatt; and Sam and Pete clash when an old friend and colleague (Grey) asks them to help him die. Meanwhile Charlotte proposes marriage to Cooper.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre is ending the year the way it started: delighting audiences and impressing critics on both coasts with two hits here in Berkeley and another show taking New York by storm. Today even as Joe Turner's Come and Gone nears the end of its local run and Artistic Director Tony Taccone is Taking Over Manhattan with Danny Hoch the company announced another extension for its production of The Arabian Nights.

Berkeley's acclaimed Aurora Theatre Company announces the four plays chosen as winners for the Global Age Project (GAP), the company's new works initiative that promotes the creation of forward-looking theatre: The First Grade by Joel Drake Johnson; Birnham Woods by Wendy MacLeod; Right? by Dan Hoyle ; and and when we awoke there was light and light by Laura Jacqmin. The selected plays will be presented as staged readings in a four-week festival at the Aurora Theatre, Mondays, February 2-23, 7:30pm, coinciding with the company's fully-staged West Coast Premiere of George Packer's provocative Lucille Lortel-winning play Betrayed (January 23-March 1). Each GAP reading will be followed by an audience discussion of the contemporary issues raised in each work. Additionally, the company announces that it has received a $20,000 grant from the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation to support the Global Age Project. For information on GAP events (free and open to the public) an d Betrayed, the public may call (510) 843-4822 or visit auroratheatre.org.

The Flea Theater presents the World Premiere of KASPAR HAUSER: a foundling's opera, a music-theater piece by Tony-nominee and Obie-winner Elizabeth Swados and Erin Courtney of 13P. Commissioned by The Flea in 2006, the piece marks Swados return to The Flea, where she previously wrote, composed and directed the long-running hit JABU. Performances of KASPAR HAUSER begin previews on February 13th, with opening night set for February 28th.

TAKE WING AND SOAR PRODUCTIONS proudly presents Shakespeare's KING LEAR, at the National Black Theatre, from February 20th - March 1st. Directed by Shakespearean actor & director TIMOTHY D. STICKNEY, KING LEAR stars Tony Award winning actress TREZANA BEVERLEY. KING LEAR tells a poignant tale of tragedy, murder, greed, power, madness & ungrateful children! Can a man of power, give away that which makes him powerful & still rule? Join the TWAS Classical Actors of Color as they share the stage with Tony Award winning actress Trezana Beverley* as she takes on the role of a King gone mad, in one of the greatest plays in world drama. Joining Ms. Beverley in starring roles are Leon Addison Brown*, Jim DeMonic* & Bryan Webster*.

In her 13 years as artistic director of Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Sharon Ott led the company to new artistic heights, national prestige, and a well-deserved Tony Award. Now, after a 12-year absence, she returns with a gripping production of Fyodor Dostoevsky's classic Crime and Punishment. The scene of this Crime is Berkeley Rep's intimate Thrust Stage, where Ott earned her reputation as a dazzling director. The show begins previews on February 27, opens March 4, and closes March 29. Its executive producers are John and Helen Meyer and Richard H. Rubin and H. Marcia Smolens, with production sponsorship from the Bernard Osher Foundation. BART and Wells Fargo are the season sponsors for Berkeley Rep's 41st year of fearless theatre.

After the holidays have passed, Berkeley Repertory Theatre will still have a gift for local families: free activities throughout the year. Its monthly Family Series continues in 2009, promising family fun for everyone. The classes take place in the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre at 2071 Addison Street in downtown Berkeley, near bus lines, bike routes, and parking lots - and only half a block from BART. There is no cost to attend; Berkeley Rep suggests instead that each family bring a book as a donation for the library at the nearby John Muir Elementary School.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre is ending the year the way it started: delighting audiences and impressing critics on both coasts with two hits here in Berkeley and another show taking New York by storm. Today ? even as Joe Turner's Come and Gone nears the end of its local run and Artistic Director Tony Taccone is Taking Over Manhattan with Danny Hoch ? the company announced an extension for its production of The Arabian Nights.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre rings in the New Year with new classes for kids, teens, and adults. Among the original offerings, Erica Blue invites moms to explore their creativity and individuality in a workshop called Mothering on the Edge of Art, while Ron Campbell reinforces those resolutions to work off extra pounds with Theatre of Sweat, an aerobics class to exercise theatrical demons. The winter session at Berkeley Rep's School of Theatre begins January 10 - and new discounts make classes more affordable than ever.

Berkeley's acclaimed Aurora Theatre Company concludes its American trilogy with the West Coast Premiere of BETRAYED, winner of the 2008 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play. Filled with dignity, humor, and defiance, this provocative theatrical adaptation of journalist George Packer's eye-opening 2007 essay in The New Yorker follows three Iraqi translators who risk their lives to aid the American war effort.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre celebrates the New Year with a new film, new books, a popular CD, more venues for its touring shows, and two world premieres here at home. In 2008, the Theatre moved a musical to Broadway with its original cast intact and repeatedly broke box-office records in Berkeley with a series of spectacular solo shows. That sounds like a tough act to follow, but the future looks bright for this Tony Award-winning company:

Berkeley's acclaimed Aurora Theatre Company concludes its American trilogy with the West Coast Premiere of BETRAYED, winner of the 2008 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play. Filled with dignity, humor, and defiance, this provocative theatrical adaptation of journalist George Packer's eye-opening 2007 essay in The New Yorker follows three Iraqi translators who risk their lives to aid the American war effort. BETRAYED plays at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley January 23 through March 1. Robin Stanton (Permanent Collection, The Busy World is Hushed) helms this astonishing play, featuring Bobak Cyrus Bakhtiari, Keith Burkland, Denmo Ibrahim, Alex Moggridge, Amir Sharafeh, Khalid Shayota, and James Wagner. For tickets and information ($28-50) the public can call (510) 843-4822 or visit auroratheatre.org.

Currently celebrating its 17th season, Berkeley's acclaimed Aurora Theatre Company announced today the company's plan to expand its Addison Street space. More than halfway through a $2.1 million capital campaign, Aurora will officially break through the wall connecting its current space to an adjacent space during a ceremony to be held on January 12, 2009. Once completed, the expansion space will add 2,600 square feet to the 7,200 square feet the company currently occupies, and will house a new rehearsal space for main stage productions, readings, and workshops of new productions, as well as artistic offices; the expansion will also increase space for in-house set-building. The projected completion date of the expansion project is summer 2009.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre greets the new year by proudly presenting its 50th world premiere, a new comedy about marriage, intimacy, and electricity from the creators of Eurydice. Celebrated playwright Sarah Ruhl and Obie Award-winning director Les Waters come together again for the debut of In the Next Room (or the vibrator play). Commissioned by Berkeley Rep and staged in the state-of-the-art Roda Theatre, this hotly anticipated play begins previews on January 30, opens February 4, and closes March 15. BART and Wells Fargo serve as season sponsors for Berkeley Rep's 41st year of fearless theatre, and the executive producer for this show is the Strauch Kulhanjian Family.

SFB--AURORA THEATRE PRESENTS 'THE COVERLETTES COVER CHRISTMAS'

The Flea Theater will present the World Premiere of Itamar Moses' LOVE/STORIES (OR BUT YOU WILL GET USED TO IT), a collection of five short new plays. Moses is the author of The Four of Us, Bach at Leipzig, Back Back Back and Celebrity Row, a playwright whose sensibility is the perfect match for The Bats, The Flea's resident company of emerging artists. Performances begin previews on January 29 with opening night slated for Monday, February 16.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre is ending the year the way it started: delighting audiences and impressing critics on both coasts with two hits here in Berkeley and another show taking New York by storm. Today even as Joe Turner's Come and Gone nears the end of its local run and Artistic Director Tony Taccone is Taking Over Manhattan with Danny Hoch the company announced another extension for its production of The Arabian Nights.

After the holidays have passed, Berkeley Repertory Theatre will still have a gift for local families: free activities throughout the year. Its monthly Family Series continues in 2009, promising family fun for everyone.