Arena Stage News

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater will host the Voices of Now Festival, a four-day event featuring original works of theater written and performed by nine different youth ensembles from the internationally renowned Community Engagement program. The festival will bring together more than 100 artists, ages 11-24, from D.C., Maryland and Virginia who have been working with professional theater artists from Arena Stage for the past year to devise original one-act plays. The 2014 ensembles will come together May 14-17, 2014 to perform and discuss their work in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle at the Mead Center.

The Telly Awards announced the 2014 Award winners yesterday, naming the television spot for the new dark comedy THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN produced by AKA NYC the recipient of the 2014 Telly Award for Excellent Use of Humor (Local TV and Local Cable). "The Telly Awards has a mission to honor the very best in film and video," said Linda Day, Executive Director of the Telly Awards. "AKA NYC's accomplishment illustrates their creativity, skill, and dedication to their craft and serves as a testament to great film and video production."

A limited number of Opening Night tickets are now on sale for THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN starring Academy Award winner Estelle Parsons (Bonnie and Clyde, "Roseanne") and two-time Tony Award winner Stephen Spinella (Angels in America, Lincoln, "24") at Broadway's Booth Theatre. The new 90-minute powder keg dark comedy by Eric Coble and directed by Molly Smith began performances on Tuesday, April 1, 2014 and officially opens on Monday, April 21, 2014 for a limited engagement, following a sold-out, critically acclaimed run at Washington DC's Arena Stage (Edgar Dobie, Executive Producer) in the fall of 2013.

theatreWashington today kicks off its celebratory theatreWeek (April 14 - 20, 2014), offering countless opportunities for both lifelong patrons and reticent newbies to explore Washington's diverse professional theatres-from discounted performances to ticket giveaways and promotions to behind-the-scenes events. A joint endeavor with presenting sponsor The Washington Post, the Washington theatre community, Destination DC, and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the campaign spotlights Washington-area theatre through a regional ad campaign, to be seen by millions. The celebration culminates with the 30th Annual Helen Hayes Awards on April 21 at the National Building Museum.

STAGE17, Chairman David Stoller (Executive Chairman of Reach4Entertainment), and President and Executive Producer Ondine Landa Abramson are pleased to present the world premiere of the original reality series Fan Fare which offers backstage scoop, from auditions to closing nights, as casts and creative teams from iconic Broadway shows reunite at the legendary Sardi's with Julie James, host of On Broadway from SiriusXM. STAGE17, a new digital entertainment destination for episodic fiction and reality programming, launched the original series on Sunday, April 6, 2014 and part two airs today, April 11, 2014.

The Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA Programs present two raw and devastatingly humanistic plays running in repertory this May. Sam Shepard's poetic and psychedelic rock and roll drama The Tooth of Crime, opens May 1st and is directed by Dan Rogers (Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Programs '15). Alternating with this Shepard play starting May 2nd is Adam Rapp's surreal and dark new-age comedy, Stone Cold Dead Serious, directed by Flordelino Lagundino (Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Programs '15). Performances of both plays run May 1 through May 18 in the Pell Chafee Performance Center, 87 Empire Street, Providence. General admission is $10, with a $5 discounted ticket for students and seniors. Tickets are on sale now at the Trinity Rep box office, by phone (401) 351-4242, and online at www.trinityrep.com. Audiences should note that both of these productions contain mature subject matter and adult language.

The Wallis Center for the Performing Arts presents Maurice Hines is Tappin' Thru Life for 19 performances only from May 9 - 24, 2014 in the Bram Goldsmith Theater. Maurice Hines, a Tony Award nominee, is a celebrated dancer, choreographer, director, and singer, whose impressive career spans over 40 years. Directed by Tony Award nominee Jeff Calhoun (Broadway's Newsies and Grey Gardens), Maurice Hines is Tappin' Thru Life features D.C.'s dynamic tap-dancing duo, the Manzari Brothers, as well as the all-female, nine-piece big band, The Diva Jazz Orchestra.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) has announced the publication of The Great God Pan by Amy Herzog, "one of the brightest new talents in the theatre" (New York Times). Known for delicately detailed character studies that subtly balance humor and insight, Amy Herzog is the Obie Award-winning author of 4000 Miles. Her newest published work, The Great God Pan was commissioned by Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago and received its world premiere at Playwrights Horizons in New York City in 2012.

Perseverance Theatre opens Pulitzer Prize winning Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tenessee Williams. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is showing in the Sydney Laurence Theatre at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts today, April 11 - 27, 2014. Tickets are now available through Centertix online at centertix.net or by calling 263-ARTS. There is a Pay-As-You-Can Previews on Thursday, April 10th at 7:30p.m.

Previews begin tonight, Thursday, April 10, for the Lincoln Center Theater production of THE CITY OF CONVERSATION, a new play by Anthony Giardina, directed by Doug Hughes, at the Mitzi E. Newhouse (150 West 65th Street). Opening night is Monday, May 5. The cast includes John Aylward, Phillip James Brannon, Kristen Bush, Beth Dixon, Barbara Garrick, Jan Maxwell, Luke Niehaus, Kevin O'Rourke and Michael Simpson.

The Falcon Theatre, Abbie Phillips and Jan Kallish in association with the Lookingglass Theatre Company are thrilled to announce that their critically-acclaimed (LA Times CRITIC'S CHOICE), West Coast Premiere of THE LAST ACT OF LILKA KADISON, written by Nicola Behrman, David Kersnar, Abbie Phillips, Heidi Stillman and Andrew White and directed by Dan Bonnell is EXTENDINGthrough SUNDAY, APRIL 27 at the Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Dr. in Burbank. This is the first association between the Falcon Theatre and Lookingglass Theatre Company of Chicago, 2011 recipient of the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre.

The Theatre Group at SBCC presents a touching new play, GROUND by Lisa Dillman, as the final offering in the 2013-2014 SeasonFor its final offering in the 2013/2014 season, The Theatre Group at SBCC will present the West Coast Premiere of the new play GROUND by Lisa Dillman, directed by R. Michael Gros, in the Jurkowitz Theatre, April 23-May 10, 2014.

BroadwayWorld.com, the largest theatre web site on the net, is very excited today to announce the launch of its newest, exclusive TV series - BROADWAY QUICK CHANGE. The new series will feature Broadway performer Robert Hartwell using his passion for interior design to take viewers into the dressing rooms of Broadway's hottest stars, as he transforms them with truly fabulous make overs.

Smokey Joe's Cafe-The Songs of Leiber and Stoller transports audiences to the golden age of rock, rhythm and blues this spring at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. The show runs April 25-June 8, 2014 in the Fichandler Stage, and BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast below!

Aurora Theatre continues the 2013-2014 Harvel Lab Series with a Teatro del Sol production, Mariela in the Desert by Karen Zacarias. It is 1950 and artists Mariela and Jose are living an isolated existence in the desert of Northern Mexico, haunted by the ghost of their young son. Jose is very ill and Mariela sends a telegram to their daughter encouraging her to come home. Where once the walls were beautifully decorated, now only one painting remains, and it is shrouded in mystery. This play will be performed in Spanish with English supertitles. This production features an amazing cast including the stunning Blanca Aguero in the title role of Mariela and Aurora Theatre Producing Artistic Director Anthony P. Rodriguez as her husband, the ailing artist Jose. Scroll down to see some pictures of Blanca Aguero from the show!

The Old Globe today announced that two-time Golden Globe Award nominee Blair Underwood-who most recently made his acclaimed Broadway debut in the iconic role of Stanley in Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire and garnered rave reviews opposite Cicely Tyson in Lifetime's The Trip to Bountiful-will make his Globe debut in the title role of Shakespeare's classic tragedy Othello, the first show of the Globe's 2014 Summer Shakespeare Festival. Underwood's films include Something New, Deep Impact, Gattaca, and Rules of Engagement, and his television credits include 'Ironside,' 'In Treatment,' 'The New Adventures of Old Christine,' and 'Sex and the City.' Joining him and also making their Globe debuts are the previously announced Emmy Award winner Richard Thomas ('The Americans,' 'The Waltons') as Iago and Kristen Connolly ('House of Cards,' The Cabin in the Woods) as Desdemona.

Best for ages 5-10, Cinderella: the Remix runs in Imagination Stage's Annette M. and Theodore N. Lerner Family Theatre April 9-May 25, 2014. Tickets start at $10, and may be purchased online at www.imaginationstage.org, at the Imagination Stage box office, or via phone at 301-280-1660. Group rates are available.

Screen Actors Guild Foundation and Broadway World have partnered for an filmed Conversations Q&A series to recognize and celebrate the vibrant theatre community in New York City and the union actors who aspire to have a career on the stage and screen. The most recent conversation featured stage legend Kathleen Chalfant, moderated by BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge. Check out the full interview below!