Arlington News

Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden will star in GOD OF CARNAGE, the new play by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton, directed by Matthew Warchus, opening on Broadway at the Bernard Jacobs Theatre (242 West 45 Street) on Sunday March 22. Previews will begin on February 28.

Come experience the music of Pharaoh's Daughter, led by the famed Basya Shechter, at the Riverdale Y, located at 5625 Arlington Avenue in the northwest Bronx on Saturday, February 28 at 8:00pm. Tickets are $25 general admission, $20 seniors/students and $15 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.

Come and enjoy the return of noted Klezmer violinist Alicia Svigals at the Riverdale Y on Thursday, March 5th, at 7pm. The Riverdale Y is located at 5625 Arlington Avenue in the northwest Bronx. Tickets are $15 general admission, $10 seniors/students and $7 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.

In preparation for the opening of the theater's renovated complex in Southwest D.C., Arena Stage has undertaken ARENA RESTAGED-a two-year festival of American voices. Part One of ARENA RESTAGED was an ambitious staging of 10 productions ranging from classics such as Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance to the Broadway-bound rock musical Next to Normal. Part Two will continue the remarkable exploration of American work and provide the theater with necessary time to move into the new Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater in time for the Fall 2010 opening.

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

SIS Productions is excited to present the Northwest premiere of The Theory of Everything by Prince Gomolvilas running February 20-March 15, 2009 playing Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 4pm. There will also be an additional performance on Thursday, March 12 at 8pm. All performances will be at Richard Hugo House located at 1634 11th Avenue (11th Avenue, off of Pine Street) on Seattle's Capitol Hill. 'A refreshing look at Asian-American issues of race, gender and identity, layered with deeper questions of life and death. Gomolvilas's writing is tight, intelligent and funny. . . likeable characters and sharply written dialogue . . . a play worth seeing for its humor and humanity.' - The Business Times, Singapore

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.

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 experience the music of Pharaoh's Daughter, led by the famed Basya Shechter, at the Riverdale Y, located at 5625 Arlington Avenue in the northwest Bronx on Saturday, February 28 at 8:00pm. Tickets are $25 general admission, $20 seniors/students and $15 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.

The International Ticketing Association (INTIX) has selected Arena Stage as the recipient for the 2009 Outstanding Box Office Award. INTIX-a nonprofit organization of ticketing professionals in the performing arts, entertainment, athletics and more-represents over 1,200 members from 23 countries. This yearly honor recognizes only one box office. According to INTIX, the INTIX Awards program was created 'to honor and showcase those who have demonstrated leadership, service, professionalism and special achievements through innovative, informative and creative management.'

The previously announced Kathleen Chalfant (Obie Award-winner for Wit) and Ellen McLaughlin (original Angel in Broadway's Angels in America) will be joined by Terry Beaver, Carla Harting, Helen Hedman and James Slaughter for the upcoming production of Edward Albee's provocative drama A Delicate Balance. Directed by Pam MacKinnon, A Delicate Balance will officially open February 12, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. at Arena Stage in Crystal City. The show will run February 6 through March 15, 2009. Full release to follow at a later date.

Winner of the 1967 Pulitzer Prize, Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance comes to Arena Stage in a contemporary and provocative new staging under the direction of experienced Albee collaborator Pam MacKinnon. Featuring Broadway stars Kathleen Chalfant (Wit, Angels in America), Terry Beaver (Henry IV, The Last Night of Ballyhoo), Ellen McLaughlin (Angels in America) and Carla Harting (Eurydice),joined by Helen Hedman and James Slaughter, A Delicate Balance runs February 6-March 15, 2009 at Arena Stage in Crystal City. The press opening performance is Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. 'Albee is fearless about writing stories that get us in the solar plexus, and he does so with his brilliant wit, dynamic storytelling and rigorous use of language,' shares Artistic Director Molly Smith. 'His work draws the best artists, and with this production audiences are fortunate to have an enormously strong cast and creative team-approved by Albee himself.' A frequent director of Albee plays, MacKinnon has directed The Play About the Baby, the world premieres of Peter and Jerry: Homelife and The Zoo Story (now titled At Home at the Zoo) and Occupant, as well as the U.S. regional and European premieres of The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?

Experience the irresistible Ribs and Brisket Revue, led by the famed saxophonist Paul Shapiro, at the Riverdale Y, located at 5625 Arlington Avenue in the northwest Bronx on Saturday, February 21 at 8:00pm. Tickets are $18 general admission and $12 seniors/students 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.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts celebrates the 12th Anniversary of the Millennium Stage on January 31, 2009 with 'Broadway Today'-a star-studded, free concert, produced by Michael A. Kerker and presented in cooperation with ASCAP, in the Opera House as a part of the Center's season-long artistic initiative Broadway: The Third Generation. With the composers at the piano, original cast members and Broadway stars perform signature songs that made these artists household names. Free tickets are required. Tickets will be given away one (1) per person in line in front of the Opera House beginning at 4 p.m. on Saturday, January 31, 2009.

I Love a Piano, an enchanting revue of the music and lyrics of Irving Berlin, spans over seven decades of American history and includes 64 of Berlin's most enduring and popular favorites. Under the direction and choreography of Ray Roderick (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang national tour), who co-created the show with Michael Berkeley, these show-stopping song and dance numbers performed by a cast of talented young actors bring fresh energy to Berlin's material. I Love a Piano runs January 29-February 15, 2009 at Arena at the Lincoln Theatre.

Arena Stage announces eight winners of the 2009 Student Playwrights Project Ten-Minute Play Competition - an annual event in which Washington, D.C. metropolitan area students submit ten-minute original plays into competition. More than 500 works were submitted from students in 61 middle and high schools. The eight winning playwrights will receive master classes in playwriting and work with an Arena Stage dramaturg to develop their plays. The plays will then be directed by an Arena Stage director and performed by professional actors. In addition, Arena Stage will host two evenings of readings for the middle school and high school honorable mention plays. Admission to the Student Playwrights Project performances is free, but reservations through the Arena Stage Sales Office are required: (202) 488-3300. All performances take place at Source, 1835 14th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. Note: Some of the plays contain mature content and language and may not be appropriate for younger children. Performances of Winning Plays Monday, March 2 - 7:30 pm Tuesday, March 3 - 7:30 pm Honorable Mention Readings Middle School Readings - February 9, 7:30 p.m. High School Readings - February 10, 7:30 p.m. The Student Playwrights Project is a direct outgrowth of Arena Stage's mission to expand the American canon with new work from diverse voices.

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.

Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden will star in GOD OF CARNAGE, the new play by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton, directed by Matthew Warchus, opening on Broadway at the Bernard Jacobs Theatre (242 West 45 Street) on Sunday March 22. Previews will begin on February 28. Tickets which had been available for American Express cardholders only in a pre-sale special are now available to the general public, order by clicking here. The Jacobs Box Office will be open for business starting February 9th, 2009. GOD OF CARNAGE will be produced by Robert Fox, David Pugh & Dafydd Rogers, Stuart Thompson, Scott Rudin, and The Shubert Organization. The play comes to Broadway after a sold-out run in London's West End in 2008. The London critics raved about GOD OF CARNAGE: The Times called it 'tense, edgy and funny' and praised Reza's 'incisive observation, acerbic wit and shrewd humor.' The Daily Telegraph called it 'a crackling night' and The Daily Mail called the play 'terrific stuff . ' The Daily Express said it was 'a triumph' and The International Herald Tribune proclaimed 'God of Carnage' is an expert piece of stagecraft and savagely funny.' GOD OF CARNAGE reunites the creative team that staged the Tony Award-winning Best Play, Art. Designed by Mark Thompson (sets and costumes), with lighting by Hugh Vanstone, sound by Simon Baker & Chris Cronin, the play has music by Gary Yershon.

Dallas Theater Center, in association with SMU Meadows School of the Arts, presents In the Beginning, an adaptation of the first 10 chapters of the Book of Genesis, featuring the newly announced DTC acting company, and directed by artistic director Kevin Moriarty. In the Beginning runs Jan. 21-Feb. 15 at the Kalita Humphreys Theater. Presenting familiar stories from Genesis - the creation of the world, Adam and Eve in Eden, jealousy and murder among brothers, the world's destruction by water - In the Beginning offers a fresh retelling of age-old tales interspersed with engaging dialogue taken directly from conversations with local community members and respected religious scholars about the text. 'In the Beginning does not present a single, definitive interpretation of the stories we find in Genesis,' Moriarty says. 'Rather, it is a reflection of the conversations we've had with people of faith throughout our community about the text and the personal truths and insights they've found through their own explorations into these stories.'

SIS Productions is excited to present the Northwest premiere of The Theory of Everything by Prince Gomolvilas running February 20-March 15, 2009 playing Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 4pm. There will also be an additional performance on Thursday, March 12 at 8pm. All performances will be at Richard Hugo House located at 1634 11th Avenue (11th Avenue, off of Pine Street) on Seattle's Capitol Hill. 'A refreshing look at Asian-American issues of race, gender and identity, layered with deeper questions of life and death. Gomolvilas's writing is tight, intelligent and funny. . . likeable characters and sharply written dialogue . . . a play worth seeing for its humor and humanity.' - The Business Times, Singapore