Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is a thought-provoking play that challenges us by asking pointed questions regarding equality and love in a heart-warming production at Arena Stage.
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces the full company for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner starring Malcolm-Jamal Warner (The Cosby Show, Malcolm and Eddie) in his Washington, D.C. theatrical debut as Dr. John Prentice. Under the direction of David Esbjornson (Broadway's Driving Miss Daisy and Arena's Red Hot Patriot starring Kathleen Turner), this heart-warming comedy features many of the same actors who appeared in the world premiere of the play by True Colors Theatre Company in July 2012. Kenny Leon, who collaborated with playwright Todd Kreidler on the world premiere and was previously announced to direct for Arena Stage, withdrew from the project due to an unforeseen conflict. The play is adapted from William Rose's screenplay for the 1967 film of the same name starring Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy about a young white woman in the 1960s introducing her family to her charming, accomplished and African-American fiance. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner runs November 29, 2013-January 5, 2014 in the Fichandler Stage.
ATLANTA- On Monday, November 5th, the Atlanta theatre community will celebrate the 8th Annual Suzi Bass Awards. The awards recognize the best of Atlanta's professional theatre scene, and Broadway World Atlanta will be updating the results live throughout the evening. You can follow along here or follow us on Twitter @BWW_Atlanta. For additional insights, videos, and photos follow BWW Atlanta Contributing Editor Matt Tamanini on Twitter @ATLTheatreMatt.
The Suzi Bass Awards, Inc. announced nominations for the 2011-2012 Atlanta professional theatrical season this evening to an enthusiastic crowd of patrons and theatre industry artists. The Suzi Nomination Party, which rotates venues, was hosted this year by the Aurora Theatre in Lawrenceville, GA. The spacious lobby allowed guests to enjoy drinks, hors d'ouevres and the chance to congratulate their colleagues. Guest announcers, Atlanta's own funny men Bryan Brendle, Bart Hansard, Tony Larkin, Aurora Theatre artistic director Tony Rodriguez and Scott Warren shared the list of nominees while playfully riffing on the 2011/2012 Atlanta theatre season.
The Ceremony for the Seventh Annual Kevin Kline Awards took place last night at the Loretto-Hilton Theater, honoring productions in St Louis from 2011. We've got the full list of nominees and winners below.
Jim Caruso's Cast Party has always been a shockingly eclectic refuge for talented types, but Monday night's impromptu guest list was one for the books. Seen onstage and in the audience were pop culture icon/performer Weird Al Yankovic, 5-time Grammy-nominee Michael Feinstein, 'American Idol' finalist Kimberley Locke, Lindsay Pearce from 'Glee' and 'The Glee Project,' Drake Bell from Nickelodeon's 'Drake & Josh,' Domenic Scaglione (Frankie in Jersey Boys), New York Pops conductor Stephen Reineke, Andrea Fryerson (The Lion King), Victoria Shaw (songwriter, 'The River' and producer, Lady Antebellum), multi-platinum-selling recording artist Jim Brickman, Superbowl champ/singer Benjamin Utecht, Broadway's Max Von Essen, and Amra-Faye Wright (currently Velma Kelly in Chicago)...among many, many others!
The Suzi Bass Awards, Inc. announced nominations for the 2010-2011 Atlanta professional theatrical season this evening to an enthusiastic crowd of patrons and theatre industry artists.
Set in the 1930's, jailed in a Texas prison, Alberta 'Pearl' Johnson has little hope for release and even less for reconnecting with her missing daughter. That is until Susannah Mullally, a song collector on a mission to record pieces of African American culture, overhears Pearl singing while on a visit to the prison. Through her music, Pearl has the unexpected opportunity to earn her freedom and search for her daughter. BLACK PEARL SINGS! is a work that harnesses race relations and the rich oral history of the African American community to build a tale that is funny, touching and compelling.
Set in the 1930's, jailed in a Texas prison, Alberta 'Pearl' Johnson has little hope for release and even less for reconnecting with her missing daughter. That is until Susannah Mullally, a song collector on a mission to record pieces of African American culture, overhears Pearl singing while on a visit to the prison. Through her music, Pearl has the unexpected opportunity to earn her freedom and search for her daughter. BLACK PEARL SINGS! is a work that harnesses race relations and the rich oral history of the African American community to build a tale that is funny, touching and compelling.
RUINED is one of those plays that lingers in your mind long after it's over. There's a reason that playwright Lynn Nottage won the Pulitzer Prize for drama with this powerful story, and once you've seen it yourself, it may well haunt you too. Because, even though this tale about the plight of civilians caught in a civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may seem far removed from your own sense of reality, the kinds of atrocities that are being related here are still happening all around the world, and with far-reaching consequences. The Black Rep's current production of this disturbing and harrowing work is buoyed by fine performances and insightful direction.
Though not as frequently performed or fondly remembered as some of the classics in the Shakespearean canon, PERICLES is an interesting tale nonetheless. While it's usually cataloged along with the romances and comedies, its circumstances are really quite tragic, until it reaches for a fairytale ending that neatly resolves matters in a satisfactory manner. The Black Rep's inspired re-imagining of this piece makes for a very captivating evening of theatre, as the characters travel back and forth in time, and locations are altered from the original text to include scenes in Haiti, Cuba, Sapelo Island, Georgia and New Orleans.
The theatre scene in St. Louis in 2010 turned out to be another year filled with fine productions and superb performances. Despite the economic barriers faced by all the local theatre companies many continued to take risks, presenting material that challenged audience expectations, but entertained them as well. And so, I'm presenting my own top ten of 2010, to honor the shows that beguiled and entranced me this past year.
William Shakespeare's PERICLES, a sweeping tale of politics and intrigue, laughter and tears, loss and reunion, lies and treachery, exhilaration and sex, magic and mystery, and death and miracles will be presented by The Black Rep, January 5 through January 30, 2011, at the Grandel Theatre, with performances Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, with matinees Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm.
Alliance Theatre artistic director Susan V. Booth and New York Times best-selling author Pearl Cleage collaborate this fall on the world premiere of The Nacirema Society Requests the Honor of Your Presence at a Celebration of Their First One Hundred Years.
Alliance Theatre artistic director Susan V. Booth and New York Times best-selling author Pearl Cleage collaborate this fall on the world premiere of The Nacirema Society Requests the Honor of Your Presence at a Celebration of Their First One Hundred Years. This romantic comedy takes a lighthearted look into one of Southern society's grandest traditions, the annual cotillion. As the new African-American debutants prepare for their introduction into the exclusive Nacirema Society of Montgomery, Alabama, their strong-willed grandmothers work behind the scenes to manage young love, the revelation of old flames, and the glare of the national spotlight. The Nacirema Society boasts a combination of some of the nation's finest actresses, including the Tony Award winning Trezana Beverly, Atlanta's own Andrea Frye, and acclaimed television, film and stage actress Jasmine Guy.
Alliance Theatre artistic director Susan V. Booth and New York Times best-selling author Pearl Cleage collaborate this fall on the world premiere of The Nacirema Society Requests the Honor of Your Presence at a Celebration of Their First One Hundred Years.
Alliance Theatre artistic director Susan V. Booth and New York Times best-selling author Pearl Cleage collaborate this fall on the world premiere of The Nacirema Society Requests the Honor of Your Presence at a Celebration of Their First One Hundred Years. This romantic comedy takes a lighthearted look into one of Southern society's grandest traditions, the annual cotillion. As the new African-American debutants prepare for their introduction into the exclusive Nacirema Society of Montgomery, Alabama, their strong-willed grandmothers work behind the scenes to manage young love, the revelation of old flames, and the glare of the national spotlight. The Nacirema Society boasts a combination of some of the nation's finest actresses, including the Tony Award winning Trezana Beverly, Atlanta's own Andrea Frye, and acclaimed television, film and stage actress Jasmine Guy.
Black Rep will close its production of ART by Yasmina Reza May 23, 2010, a play which takes a profound look at the nature of friendship. When well-to-do Serge purchases an expensive painting it causes his best friend to question not only his taste, but his moral fiber as well. What do we really know about our friends and can friendship survive when we discover an unexpected, hard to believe truth about someone we think we know?
The saying goes that 'one man's trash is another man's treasure', and that old adage is brought into sharp focus by Yasmina Reza's provocative script for her play ART. But, the play also examines relationships, and how tenuous they can become when fundamental disagreements occur between friends. Reza's work is funny, thought provoking and, in the end, touching in the way it handles these two distinct themes. The Black Rep's current production of ART is a masterful presentation, buoyed by three terrific performances, as well as stellar design and direction.
Black Rep to present ART by Yasmina Reza May 5 - 23, 2010, a play which takes a profound look at the nature of friendship. When well-to-do Serge purchases an expensive painting it causes his best friend to question not only his taste, but his moral fiber as well. What do we really know about our friends and can friendship survive when we discover an unexpected, hard to believe truth about someone we think we know?
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