Arlington News

Local playwright Karen Zacarías offers Arena Stage audiences the world premiere of Legacy of Light, a funny and moving romp about the passion for truth as lived by two different women in their separate eras.

Local playwright Karen Zacarías offers Arena Stage audiences the world premiere of Legacy of Light, a funny and moving romp about the passion for truth as lived by two different women in their separate eras.

Mill 6 Presents the New England Premiere of Bunbury: A Serious Play for Trivial People Opens May 1st 2009, at the Factory Theatre in Boston When he finds out that he is only a fictitious character who never appears in The Importance of Being Earnest, Bunbury uses his double anonymity to infiltrate and alter classic literature, starting by accidentally giving Romeo and Juliet a happy ending.

On Sunday evening, April 5, at 8:30 PM, E.D.T., a simple toll-free call will admit anyone in the country to a lively examination of the history, significance and controversy surrounding Native Son, the 1941 stage adaptation of Richard Wright's classic novel that sparked a debate about civil rights, social policy and racism that still burns hotly today.

On Sunday evening, April 5, at 8:30 PM, E.D.T., a simple toll-free call will admit anyone in the country to a lively examination of the history, significance and controversy surrounding Native Son, the 1941 stage adaptation of Richard Wright's classic novel that sparked a debate about civil rights, social policy and racism that still burns hotly today.

Remember a time when big hair = big fashion? When girls just wanted to have fun? When you couldn't wait to have 'the time of your life' and Cabbage Patch Dolls and the Rubik's Cube were all the rage? Come back in time on a multimedia journey through the fabulous decade known as the 1980's! Hear the music, catch some of your favorite stars and experience the sights and sounds of this exciting time at Loki's next revue, TOTALLY 80's

Crowns is back in town, and with direction and choreography by Kenneth Lee Roberson (Broadway's Avenue Q, Arena's Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill) and musical direction by Grammy nominee e'Marcus Harper, this soulful musical will be bigger than ever in the Lincoln Theatre. Arena favorites Marva Hicks (The Women of Brewster Place) and E. Faye Butler (Dinah Was, Ain't Misbehavin') are joined by NaTasha Yvette Williams (Broadway's The Color Purple), Mary Millben, Kara Tameika Watkins, Phillip Boykin and Zurin Villanueva. Howard University student Villanueva was discovered in Arena's January 'Finding Yolanda' one-day casting search, and this production marks her debut professional performance.

Novelist Richard Wright's searing novel Native Son aroused violent controversy from the moment it was published. The saga of a young American black man who becomes an unrepentant killer, the book was hailed as an uncompromising indictment of the nation's racial divisions and social injustice, and condemned as feeding white bigotry while excusing crime. Naturally, Orson Welles, then the most dynamic force in American theater, thought it was just the kind of story his Mercury Theater needed to tackle.

The Broadway production of Yasmina Reza's GOD OF CARNAGE opens on Sunday, March 22. The play, directed by Matthew Warchus began previews on Saturday, February 28 at the Bernard Jacobs Theatre (242 West 45 Street). Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden star in GOD OF CARNAGE, the new play by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton, directed by Matthew Warchus.

Signature Theatre's Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer today announced Signature's 20th anniversary season, saluting the two decades that have led the company to its position as one of the nation's leading forces in musical theater. The company will present a world premiere musical through its innovative American Musical Voices Project; a masterpiece by the composer for which the company is renowned, Stephen Sondheim; the Washington premiere of a recent Broadway hit; and the reinvention of a classic musical, supporting Signature's 'much-deserved reputation for excellence in revisionist musical theater' (Chicago Tribune).

Jo-Ann Ragosta, Chairperson of the ARTS Scholarships 2009 program, along with the members of the Community Outreach Committee of the Providence Performing Arts Center, are pleased to announce today the winners of the ARTS Scholarships 2009 program, sponsored by Textron Inc. with support from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, the Rhode Island Health and Educational Building Corporation, and the PPAC Annual Fund Donors.

Over twenty Washington DC area theaters are offering free tickets to over thirty Spring shows for those aged seventeen and younger (when accompanied by an adult.) This opportunity, which was announced March 1st, is one of the many attempts to get young audiences interested in theater.

The Annual Benefit at Arena Stage is a fun evening that raises over one-third of the funds necessary to run Arena's Community Engagement programs, which educate, excite and enrich the lives of over 20,000 students from across the region. This year's event on Monday, March 16, 2009 at Arena Stage in Crystal City highlights Arena's temporary home in the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington, VA, with co-chairs Angela Fox, President/CEO, Crystal City Business Improvement District and Mitchell N. Schear, President, Vornado/Charles E. Smith.

Come and join us for this exciting Audition Success seminar led by JOHN S. DAVIES This class concentrates on one on one camera auditions using film and television scripts from projects shot in Texas and Louisiana. John invites you to visit: www.johnsdavies.com

On Saturday March 14, at 8 PM, the Riverdale Y will present a quartet of internationally known jazz performers. Nicki Parrott, jazz bassist and vocalist is making her second appearance at the Y. She will be joined by Derek Smith, the world's most recorded commercial/jazz pianist; Randy Sandke, noted trumpeter, composer and arranger, whom The Wall Street Journal dubbed 'the greatest trumpeter nobody knows'; and Joe Ascione, who has joined the three in concert on his birthday! Ms. Parrott, who plays regularly with legendary Les Paul at Manhattan's Iridium Club came to New York from her native Australia in 1994 on an Arts Council Grant to study with acclaimed bassist Rufus Reid. She has performed all over the world with jazz greats like Ken Peplowski, Bucky Pizarelli, Skitch Henderson and Warren Vache. She appears at major jazz festivals throughout the US and abroad and is a favorite on the cruise ship circuit. She also plays Klezmer music and appeared at the Riverdale Y last year with noted Klezmer violinist Alicia Svigals as well as touring Europe with David Krakeur. Randy Sandke has also appeared in clubs and festivals worldwide and is known for his virtuosity. He has recorded over 20 albums with musicians ranging from Benny Goodman, Cab Calloway and Dick Hyman to Mel Torme, Rosemary Clooney, Art Garfunkle and Barbara Carroll. His work has been heard on the soundtracks of many well known films including five Woody Allen pictures. As a composer he has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and his works have been featured at Carnegie Hall and Avery Fischer Hall; more than 50 of his compositions have been recorded.

Remember a time when big hair = big fashion? When girls just wanted to have fun? When you couldn't wait to have 'the time of your life' and Cabbage Patch Dolls and the Rubik's Cube were all the rage? Come back in time on a multimedia journey through the fabulous decade known as the 1980's! Hear the music, catch some of your favorite stars and experience the sights and sounds of this exciting time at Loki's next revue, TOTALLY 80's

Crowns is back in town, and with direction and choreography by Kenneth Lee Roberson (Broadway's Avenue Q, Arena's Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill) and musical direction by Grammy nominee e'Marcus Harper, this soulful musical will be bigger than ever in the Lincoln Theatre. Arena favorites Marva Hicks (The Women of Brewster Place) and E. Faye Butler (Dinah Was, Ain't Misbehavin') are joined by NaTasha Yvette Williams (Broadway's The Color Purple), Mary Millben, Kara Tameika Watkins, Phillip Boykin and Zurin Villanueva. Howard University student Villanueva was discovered in Arena's January 'Finding Yolanda' one-day casting search, and this production marks her debut professional performance.

Rover Dramawerks presents the World Premiere adventure comedy Around the World in 80 Days by award-winning playwright Carol M. Rice of Plano at the Courtyard Theater, 1509 H Avenue in Plano (next to the Cox Building Playhouse). Performances are March 5-21, 2009, with shows on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., with an additional matinee performance on Saturday, March 14 at 2:00 p.m.

Rover Dramawerks presents the World Premiere adventure comedy Around the World in 80 Days by award-winning playwright Carol M. Rice of Plano at the Courtyard Theater, 1509 H Avenue in Plano (next to the Cox Building Playhouse). Performances are March 5-21, 2009, with shows on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., with an additional matinee performance on Saturday, March 14 at 2:00 p.m.

Celebrate an evening of Irish heritage, at the Riverdale Y, located at 5625 Arlington Avenue in the northwest Bronx on Saturday, March 7 at 8:00pm. Tickets are $20 general admission, $15 seniors/students and $10 for Simon Senior Center members and can be purchased at www.RiverdaleY.org. Directions to the Y are also on the website. There is ample free parking in the Riverdale Y?s private lot.