Arlington News

The Signature Theatre has announced the complete cast for 'The Visit' the Kander and Ebb musical starring Chita Rivera and George Hearn.

Arena Stage presents Arena Restaged - a massive multi-venue, two year festival of American voices leading up to the opening of the Mead Center for American Theater. At your fingertips will be a remarkable exploration of American work featuring American giants (Edward Albee and Tennessee Williams), exciting contemporary voices (Daniel Beaty and Karen Zacarías) and the quintessential American art form-the musical (Next to Normal and Irving Berlin's I Love a Piano).

The American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) announced yesterday that it has selected Moisés Kaufman's 33 Variations to receive the 2008 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award. The announcement was made at Actors Theatre of Louisville during the Humana Festival of New American Plays. The award includes a commemorative plaque and a cash prize of $25,000-currently the largest national playwriting award. Deborah Zoe Laufer's End Days and Sarah Ruhl's Dead Man's Cell Phone also received citations and $7,500 each. These three were among six finalists selected from 28 eligible scripts submitted by ATCA members. They were evaluated by a committee of 12 theater critics from across the country.

Arena Stage announces the 16th Annual Arena Stage Benefit for Community Engagement: Play On! The event will take place on April 14, 2008 and will showcase a unique blend of sports, politics and entertainment. Baltimore-based playwright James Magruder (Arena's Christmas Carol 1941 and Broadway's Triumph of Love) pens the evening's original comedy, written for and performed by a bipartisan cast of politicians, celebrities and athletes and directed by Arena's Producing Artistic Associate David Dower. The 16th Annual Arena Stage Benefit for Community Engagement is co-chaired by Sheila C. Johnson and The Honorable William T. Newman, Jr. The sit-down dinner will take place at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, VA at 6:00 p.m. and the Play On! performance at 8:30 p.m. at Arena Stage in Crystal City.

The Artistic Director of Washington's Signature Theatre talks about John Kander, Fred Ebb, and honoring forty years of Broadway history in less than four months.

The Signature Theatre continues its national Kander and Ebb Celebration with a new production of the Broadway greats' forgotten musical The Happy Time, performed in Signature's 110-seat ARK Theatre. The Happy Time is part of a four-month celebration of the works of John Kander and Fred Ebb, the longest song-writing partnership in the history of the American musical theater. The Happy Time plays Tuesday, April 1 through Sunday, June 1, in repertory with Kiss of the Spider Woman in The MAX Theatre (through April 20), then The Visit (May 13 - June 22).

Taboo star spreads his wings to perform in concerts at the Oak Room.

The new Broadway-aimed musical adventure ACE will play a limited engagement this fall at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Va. Directed by Signature Theatre Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer, ACE begins performances on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 and continues through Sunday, September 28, in preparation for a Broadway bow in spring 2009.

Passing Strange, the new Broadway musical, offers web-surfers the opportunity to listen to four fresh new songs - available in both streaming audio and download-able on their expanded interactive website

On March 3rd at 7:30PM the University of Michigan Entertainment Coalition (UMEC) and the U of M Club of New York will present Bravo Blue! This 'Musical Homecoming' Concert will feature over 40 U of M alumni professionals and friends in a fast paced sampler of musical theatre, classical and contemporary music, jazz, opera, and dance. The performance will be held at the Peter Norton Symphony Space, Leonard Nimoy Thalia on Broadway at 95th St at 7:30PM.

On Wednesday, February 20, the Signature Theatre (Arlington, VA) held a cocktail reception in celebration for its up-coming Kander & Ebb tribute season.

Arena Stage will present the Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece Death of a Salesman and A View from the Bridge in rotating repertory as a salute to one of America's best playwrights, Arthur Miller.

Signature Theatre will present a closed reading of The Visit on Tuesday, February 19 in New York City. The East Coast premiere of The Visit will be one of three mainstage works presented as a part of Signature's four-month celebration of the songwriting team of John Kander & Fred Ebb.

Happy Birthday, Wanda June will open at Gunston Theater Two on March 7, and will run through March 29.

The 2008 Arena Stage Student Playwrights Project invites all students between 5th and 12th grades in the District of Columbia and its neighboring counties to enter into competition an original ten-minute play. Entries must be postmarked or delivered to Arena Stage by Wednesday, March 12, 2008.

The new Broadway musical Passing Strange began previews, Friday February 8, 2008 at the Belasco Theatre and will officially open Thursday February 28, 2008.

Mark Jacoby will join two-time Tony Award winning stars Chita Rivera and George Hearn in the Signature Theatre (Arlington, VA) production of The Visit. Signature's four-month celebration of the works of John Kander and Fred Ebb will also include The Happy Time, to star George Dvorsky, David Margulies and Michael Minarik.

BroadwayWorld's senior editors were stunned that an obituary for the legendary director / producer Dwight Hemion has not appeared in Variety, The Los Angeles Times or The New York Times. His accomplishments are both award-winning and legendary and it is for that reason that we are keeping this on our front page for the entire weekend.

Director / Producer Dwight Hemion died on Monday January 28 at his home in Rectortown, VA at age 81, due to a renal failure. Hemion is recognized for his pioneering work in televised concerts and variety specials