Arena Stage News

Marin Theatre Company, in association with Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, will stage August Wilson's Fences, the 1950s entry into his Century Cycle (also known as his Pittsburgh Cycle) - a decade-by-decade exploration of the black experience in 20th century America. Directed by Derrick Sanders, the Pulitzer Prize and two-time Tony Award-winning play will feature veteran film and television actor Carl Lumbly as Troy Maxson, Steven Anthony Jones, the artistic director of Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, as Jim Bono and award-winning actor, playwright and director Margo Hall as Rose, as well as Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Eddy Ray Jackson as Cory, Adrian Roberts as Gabriel, Tyee Tilghman as Lyons and two Marin City youths - Jade Sweeney, who attends Willow Creek Academy, and Makaelah Bashir, Bayside Martin Luther King, Jr. Academy - splitting the role of Raynell.

MAD COW THEATRE announces the headliners for the The Twelfth Annual Orlando Cabaret Festival, Orlando's Home of the Great American Songbook. The Festival features cabaret artists and acts from Central Florida and beyond. Joining the previously announced headliner Christiane Noll (April 25-26) are Nicholas Rodriguez (May 1-3) and Tony Award-winner Laura Benanti (May 9-10).

Chance Theater presents the second show of its 16th Anniversary Season - the humorous and inventive glimpse behind-the-scenes of the traditional Passion play produced in three distinctively different locations and times. Written by two-time Pulitzer Prize Finalist Sarah Ruhl, with direction by Trevor Biship (director of Chance's Ovation Award-winning Jerry Springer: The Opera). Passion Play will preview from April 25 through May 2, open May 3 and continue through May 25 at Chance Theater @ Bette Aitken Theater Arts Center.

Tony-winner Stephen Spinella recently spoke about his upcoming return to Broadway and sparring with Estelle Parsons in The Velocity of Autumn. Check out the interview below!

City Theatre continues its 2013-2014 season with Grounded, a high-intensity drama by George Brant. Directed by Jenn Thompson, Grounded runs from March 29 to May 4, 2014 in City Theatre's Hamburg Studio, with an Opening Night performance on Friday, April 4 at 8pm.

Screen Actors Guild Foundation and BroadwayWorld have partnered for an inaugural 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 next Career Conversations will feature Kathleen Chalfant on March 19 (2PM)- currently starring in Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere of David Grimm's Tales From Red Vienna - and moderated by Broadway World's Richard Ridge of 'Backstage with Richard Ridge!' The event will take place at the NYIT Auditorium on Broadway (1871 Broadway - between 61st and 62nd).

Upcoming Equity Auditions from Sunday, March 16, 2014.

Artistic Director Bill Rauch announced the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's 2015 playbill today. The 2015 season is sponsored by U.S. Bank.

Birdland Jazz Club is thrilled to announce their outstanding line-up of amazing talent for the month of April 2014. Birdland will kick-off their exciting month of programming with the following acts:

The Smith Center for the Performing Arts has now added a third and final week of performances for the world premiere of THE TEMPEST, which will now play April 6-27, with special preview performances April 1-4. The opening night celebration will take place on Saturday, April 5. Produced in association with the American Reparatory Theater (A.R.T.), THE TEMPEST is adapted and directed by Aaron Posner and Teller from the play by William Shakespeare, with magic by Teller, music by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan and movement by Matt Kent of Pilobolus. THE TEMPEST will perform at The Smith Center's Donald W. Reynolds Symphony Park in a 500-seat climate-controlled tent. Tickets start at $35 for regular performances and $25 for preview performances. Tickets for the opening night celebration are $150 and include an exclusive post-show reception. All tickets are on sale now at The Smith Center box office, online at www.TheSmithCenter.com or by phone at (702) 749-2000.

People's Light & Theatre presents the regional premiere of Dear Elizabeth running April 2-27 on the Steinbright Stage. Lisa Rothe directs. People's Light & Theatre is located at 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, PA 19355.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University, under the leadership of Diane Paulus, Artistic Director and William Russo, Managing Director; announced today the company for the last production of its 2013/14 Season, THE TEMPEST, adapted and directed by Aaron Posner and Teller from the play by William Shakespeare, with magic by Teller, music by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, and movement by Matt Kent of Pilobolus.

From Egypt and England to South Africa, backstage, and beyond -The Tony Award-Winning McCarter Theatre Center is about to take audiences around the world as Artistic Director Emily Mann announces the five theatre productions for McCarter's 2014-2015 season.

The new musical ROCKY, starring Andy Karl and Margo Seibert, opens tomorrow, March 13, at Broadway's historic Winter Garden Theatre. Scroll down to learn more about the full company, plus watch footage of Sylvester Stallone's speech following the first preview of Rocky on Broadway!

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. Director Randy Johnson returns to Arena Stage following the success of A Night with Janis Joplin (which enjoyed two runs at Arena Stage followed by a subsequent run on Broadway) to helm this Grammy Award-winning tribute to legendary songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, which originally opened on Broadway in 1995 and became the longest running musical revue, topping 2,000 performances. Bursting with hit tunes including 'Hound Dog,' 'Jailhouse Rock,' 'Stand by Me,' 'Love Potion #9' and 'On Broadway,' Smokey Joe's Cafe showcases choreography by Parker Esse (Arena Stage's The Music Man, Oklahoma!) and music direction by Victor Simonson (Center Stage's A Civil War Christmas, Arena Stage's 3 Mo' Divas) and runs April 25-June 8, 2014 in the Fichandler Stage.

What happens when an elderly patient with dementia goes missing in a northern Idaho blizzard, leaving his wife and others behind to face the unknown? The story is Rest, a heartbreakingly funny and tender play commissioned by South Coast Repertory from Samuel D. Hunter. SCR Founding Artistic Director Martin Benson directs the world premiere of Rest, March 28-April 27, on the Segerstrom Stage. The show is a cornerstone production of SCR's Pacific Playwrights Festival. Tickets are available online: www.scr.org.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company, recipient of the 2012 Regional Theatre Tony Award, presents Shakespeare's Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2 as part of the Clarice Smith Repertory. STC Artistic Director Michael Kahn will direct both parts of this sweeping epic - one of Shakespeare's culminating achievements in the history play genre - over multiple nights. As Kahn says, describing Parts 1 and 2 as his favorite Shakespearean drama: 'It brings to the stage every issue we as human beings experience.' The two productions will run in the Company's Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW) from March 25 - June 8, 2014.

Tickets for the new critically acclaimed American play THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN are now on sale at the Booth Theatre box office (222 West 45 Street). THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN will begin previews Tuesday, April 1, 2014, at Broadway's Booth Theatre 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. THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN is a 90-minute powder keg dark comedy by Eric Coble that stars Academy Award winner Estelle Parsons (Bonnie and Clyde, 'Roseanne') and two-time Tony Award winner Stephen Spinella (Angels in America, Lincoln, '24'), is directed by Molly Smith and will open Monday, April 21, 2014. THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN will mark the Broadway debuts of playwright Eric Coble and director Molly Smith.

Screen Actors Guild Foundation and BroadwayWorld have partnered for an inaugural 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 next Career Conversations will feature Kathleen Chalfant on March 19 (2PM)- currently starring in Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere of David Grimm's Tales From Red Vienna - and moderated by Broadway World's Richard Ridge of 'Backstage with Richard Ridge!' The event will take place at the NYIT Auditorium on Broadway (1871 Broadway - between 61st and 62nd).