Andrew Jackson News

The John W. Engeman Theater announces the cast and creative team for WEST SIDE STORY.  Performances begin on Thursday, September 17, 2015 at 8:00pm and run through November 8, 2015.

Arizona Theatre Company, in a special collaboration with Stray Cat Theatre, will present Laura Eason's new comedy about the calculations people are making to find love or fame in an age of social media, brightly-lit phone screens and blogging. SEX WITH STRANGERS plays Sept. 24-Oct. 11 in Stage West at the Herberger Theater Center, 222 E. Monroe.

Fresh off a trip to Scotland and the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Joe's NYC Bar gets back in 'The New York Groove', starting September 13th, 2015 at St. Matthew's Tavern.

AstonRep Theatre Company is pleased to kick off its 2015-16 season with the Chicago premiere of Nicky Silver's darkly humorous family drama THE LYONS, directed by Company Member Derek Bertelsen*, playing tonight, August 27, through September 27, 2015 at The Raven Theatre (West Stage), 6157 N. Clark St. in Chicago.

After an overwhelming demand, the two-time Emmy and Grammy Award-winning comedian Kathy Griffin has extended the engagement of her 'Like A Boss' Tour at the Center Theatre Group / Mark Taper Forum in Downtown Los Angeles. Originally announced for November 4 and 5, Griffin has added two more 8 p.m. performances - Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 7.

You don't have to make a deal with the devil to find laughs, love, baseball and heart. Just come out to the theatre, as Cabrillo Music Theatre kicks off the 2015-2016 season with a brand-new production of the American Classic DAMN YANKEES! Winner of eleven Tony Awards including Best Musical, DAMN YANKEES is sure to be a home run hit. With a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, and music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, this ever-popular baseball musical will have fans on the edge of their seats. DAMN YANKEES includes favorite songs such as "Heart," "Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets," "A Little Brains, A Little Talent," and "A Man Doesn't Know," among many others.DAMN YANKEES opens on Friday, October 16th, 2015, playing until Sunday, October 25th, 2015 at the 1,800-seat Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, located at 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks. 

The national tour of the new musical comedy BULLETS OVER BROADWAY will make its Nashville premiere at Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall during a limited, one-week engagement November 10-15, 2015.

Plath. had its first production at Columbia University's Glicker-Milstein Theatre in Fall 2014, and the creative team is excited to bring this new musical to the New York International Fringe Festival this August under the direction of Emily Feinstein.

Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC), under the leadership of Artistic Director Vivienne Benesch and Managing Director Sarah Clare Corporandy, presents William Shakespeare's Henry V from August 14 through August 21 on the Bratton Stage.

Single Room Occupancy, a new pop/rock comedy musical will be presented as part of the 2015 New York International Fringe Festival tonight, August 14, 17, 20, 21 and 27.

Berkeley Rep has announced the full company for its 2015-16 season opener Amelie, A New Musical, starring award-winning actress Samantha Barks.

After embarking on a search for New York's finest undiscovered concert acts earlier this summer, 54 Below recently announced the 16 finalists selected for their new concert development series, 54 CONCERT LAB. At the LAB, emerging artists hand-picked by 54 Below will develop new solo concerts bit by bit and draft by draft. Each artist will have the chance to preview their concert in 3 separate nights at 54 Below, beginning tonight, August 13 at 11:30pm.

Phoenix Theatre of Indianapolis welcomes the Regional Premiere of Silence! The Musical opening tonight, August 13, 2015 on the Frank and Katrina Basile Stage. This production runs through September 13, 2015, with Bryan Fonseca serving as director.

Crowded Fire Theater (CFT) is pleased to announce the cast and creative team and dates for the American Premiere of TRUCK STOP by Lachlan Philpott, opening Monday October 5, 8 pm running through October 24 at the Thick House in San Francisco's Potrero Hill. Directed by Marilee Talkington, this production marks Lachlan Philpott's first fully produced play in the United States. Philpott is an award-winning playwright in Australia whose plays have been extensively developed at American theaters including San Francisco's ACT, Crowded Fire Theater and the Magic.

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show.

Broadway actors Lucas Caleb Rooney, fresh off of a run in Classic Stage Company's production of Doctor Faustus, and Bryce Pinkham, after a run of The Heidi Chronicles and before returning to his Tony-nominated role in the Tony award-winning musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, have recently returned from Madagascar, where they worked to secure a permanent home for their non-profit organization, Zara Aina.  Also joining them in Madagascar was puppeteer, Annie Worden.

La Jolla Playhouse opened its world premiere of UP HERE, a new musical comedy featuring book, music and lyrics by the husband-and-wife composing team of Robert Lopez (The Book of Mormon, Avenue Q) and Kristen Anderson-Lopez (In Transit), recipients of the 2014 Academy Award for Best Original Song for their hit song, 'Let It Go,' from the Disney animated film Frozen. UP HERE is directed by Tony Award nominee Alex Timbers (Broadway's Rocky, Off-Broadway's Here Lies Love, Playhouse's Peter and the Starcatcher) and runs now through September 6 in the Playhouse's Mandell Weiss Theatre. 

Two-time Emmy and Grammy Award-winning comedian Kathy Griffin brings her searing brand of pull-no-punches comedy to the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum with the 'Like A Boss' Tour for two performances, November 4 and 5 at 8 p.m.

From the comedic minds behind The Colbert Report and Fifty Shades! The Musical, Underscore Theatre Company is pleased to present the world premiere musical comedy THE STORY OF A STORY (THE UNTOLD STORY) with book and lyrics by Peter Gwinn, music by Jody Shelton, direction and choreography by Christopher Pazdernik, music direction and orchestrations by David Kornfeld. THE STORY OF A STORY (THE UNTOLD STORY) will play October 3 - November 8, 2015 at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St. in Chicago.  Tickets will go on sale Tuesday, September 1 at www.underscoretheatre.org or by calling (312) 646-0975. The press opening is Tuesday, October 6 at 7:30 pm.  

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? This weekend's big news: CHESS gets a brand-new staging in White Plains, RENT goes to Scotland, Broadway nerds battle it out with theatre trivia and more!