Arena Stage News

MCC Theater has just announced the the New York premiere of John Pollono's Lost Girls, BroadwayWorld has confirmed.  Golden Globe nominated star of stage and screen, Piper Perabo-who recently completed five seasons of the USA's popular drama series "Covert Affairs" for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination, and was last seen onstage in the Broadway and MCC Theater productions of Neil LaBute's Reasons to be Pretty-stars alongside Ebon Moss-Bachrach (HBO's "Girls"), Meghann Fahy (Next to Normal), Tasha Lawrence (Good People, The Whale), and newcomers Lizzy DeClement and Josh Green. 

'If life is a bowl of cherries, what am I doing in the pits?' Erma Bombeck, the award-winning humorist and syndicated columnist known for her wry and humorous take on family life, is the subject of the newest project from twin-sister journalists and playwrights Allison Engel and Margaret Engel -- the world-premiere drama ERMA BOMBECK: AT WIT'S END debuting at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. The Engels reunite with director David Esbjornson (Arena Stage's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner) following their collaboration on the smash hit Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins, which starred Kathleen Turner in its celebrated 2012 run at Arena Stage. ERMA BOMBECK: AT WIT'S END October 9-November 8, 2015 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle. Scroll down for a sneak peek at the cast!

The world premiere of Karen Zacarias' DESTINY OF DESIRE runs September 11-October 18, 2015 at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Below, BroadwayWorld has a first look below!

The Road Theatre Company and Taylor Gilbert, Founder/Artistic Director together with Sam Anderson, Artistic Director, are thrilled to announce the first show of its 2015-2016 - 25th Anniversary Season, the World Premiere of HOMEFREE, written by Lisa Loomer and directed by Ovation Award-winner Michael Matthews. HOMEFREE will open today, September 18 at 8pm and run through Sunday, November 8th at the Road Theatre Company's second home, the Road on Magnolia, located in The NoHo Senior Arts Colony, 10747 Magnolia Blvd. in North Hollywood.

The Road Theatre Company and Taylor Gilbert, Founder/Artistic Director together with Sam Anderson, Artistic Director, are thrilled to announce the cast for the first show of its 2015-2016 - 25th Anniversary Season, the World Premiere of HOMEFREE, written by Lisa Loomer and directed by Ovation Award-winner Michael Matthews.

The Philadelphia Theatre Company announced today that it has repurchased the iconic Suzanne Roberts Theatre from TD Bank, thanks in large part to a spirited community effort led by the Roberts family that raised over $3 million and enabled PTC to reclaim its longtime home, which is the final piece to its remarkable fiscal and artistic turnaround.

Signature Theatre presents the world premiere production of CAKE OFF, a new musical by Sheri Wilner (Kingdom City), Julia Jordan (Murder Ballad) and Adam Gwon (Signature's The Boy Detective Fails). Directed by Signature's Director of New Works Joe Calarco (Signature's Gypsy, Shakespeare's R&J) this hilarious new musical is a battle-of-the-sexes set at the 50th Annual Millberry Cake-Off competition. CAKE OFF runs September 29 - November 22 in the ARK Theatre. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in rehearsal below!

Fresh off its world-premiere run in Minneapolis, where Star Tribune declared "Akeelah and the Bee triumphs," Children's Theatre Company's new production about an 11-year-old spelling prodigy comes to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. The show is adapted for the stage by veteran playwright Cheryl L. West (Arena's Pullman Porter Blues, Jar the Floor), who partners with celebrated director Charles Randolph-Wright (director of Broadway's Motown and an inaugural resident playwright with Arena Stage, where he premiered his play Love in Afghanistan). Akeelah and the Bee runs November 13-December 27, 2015 in the Kreeger Theater.

Philadelphia Theatre Company (PTC) is pleased to announce James Ijames as the recipient of the fourth Terrence McNally New Play Award for the development of his play White. The Terrence McNally New Play Award is a $10,000 cash prize given annually to recognize a new play that celebrates the transformative power of art. The Award will also include a year of development support at PTC, including readings as well as administrative support and networking to help manage the future of the play beyond its time at PTC.

The Queer New York International Arts Festival (QNYIA) kicks off the lineup for the 2015 festival.

B Street Theatre's Mainstage will present the regional premiere of 5 LESBIANS EATING A QUICHE, playing October 4 - November 15, 2015.

Yale Repertory Theatre opens its 2015-16 season with the world premiere of INDECENT, a new play with music, written by Paula Vogel, created by Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman, and directed by Rebecca Taichman, at the University Theatre (222 York Street), October 2-24. Opening Night is Thursday, October 8. The world premiere of INDECENT is a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse, where it will play November 13-December 10.

Barrington Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and Managing Director Tristan Wilson, will present the new play VEILS by Tom Coash, from October 1-18, with a press opening Sunday, October 4 at 3pm..

The energy and passion emanating from playwright Karen Zacarías is evident immediately upon meeting, and bodes well for a conversation about a genre of storytelling known for its intensity. Zacarías' new play, DESTINY OF DESIRE, having its world premiere at Arena Stage this month, is inspired by, and crafted in the style of a telenovela, a Latin American style of televised series, and one of the first things I wanted Karen to do as we began our talk, was clarify just what was meant by the term “telenovela,” as a storytelling genre.

La Jolla Playhouse and Kansas City Repertory Theatre is presenting the world-premiere production of Blueprints to Freedom: An Ode to Bayard Rustin, by Michael Benjamin Washington, directed by Lucie Tiberghien (Blood and Gifts). Tiberghien replaced Phylicia Rashad, who had to depart the project due to scheduling conflicts. Check out photos from the production below!

Stephen Sondheim's macabre musical thriller Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street receives its highly anticipated San Francisco Opera premiere in a production featuring a cast of notable operatic stars and performed with Sondheim's original score for the lyric stage.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, in partnership with the U.S. Embassies in Zagreb, Croatia and Ljubljana, Slovenia, will send three Arena Stage Voices of Now artists to Zagreb, September 12-18, 2015. The U.S. Embassies will invite 25 college-age youth from vulnerable communities across the region for a seven-day workshop, culminating in an original play performed at the Tresnja Theater in Zagreb.

Broadway In Chicago has announced full casting for the Chicago premiere of UNSPEAKABLE, a dramatic fantasia inspired by the life of comedic legend Richard Pryor. 

One remarkable dance team. One big chance. One small twist. You gotta be over 60. Broadway In Chicago and Producers Dori Berinstein and Bill Damaschke announced the individual tickets for GOTTA DANCE, the new Broadway-bound musical about professional basketball's first ever aged 60-and-older dance team, go on-sale to the public on Sunday, September 13. GOTTA DANCE begins performances on December 13, 2015 and runs through January 10, 2016 at Broadway In Chicago's Bank of America Theatre (18 W Monroe St, Chicago).

Gloucester Stage proudly presents the New England Premiere of Israel Horovitz's Gloucester Blue from September 17 through October 3 at 267 East Main Street, Gloucester, MA.