Arthur Laurents News

Penguin Rep Theatre, the award-winning professional Equity theatre under the leadership of founding artistic director Joe Brancato and executive director Andrew M. Horn, presents Robert Wuhl, the award-winning actor, comedian and writer, in his latest work, Shistory Happens!, for one performance only, Saturday, September 23 at SUNY Rockland Community College's 500-seat Cultural Arts Theatre in Suffern, New York.

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston has hit the trifecta with their season opener GYPSY, directed and choreographed by Rachel Bertone, music directed by Dan Rodriguez, and raised to the rafters by Leigh Barrett's forceful Mama Rose. This is one for the ages.

The York Theatre Company (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director; Evans Haile, Executive Director), dedicated to the development of new musicals and preserving musical gems from the past, will honor legendary musical theatre writing team Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones.

All For One Theater (AFO), the company that last produced My Name is Gideon, continues its legacy of producing acclaimed solo works with its upcoming production of Aaron Mark's SQUEAMISH starring two-time Tony nominee Alison Fraser (The Secret Garden, First Daughter Suite).

GYPSY has announced its cast and creative team at the Lyric Stage Company of Boston.

Leonard Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He took piano lessons as a boy and attended the Garrison and Boston Latin Schools. At Harvard University, he studied with Walter Piston, Edward Burlingame-Hill, and A. Tillman Merritt, among others. Before graduating in 1939, he made an unofficial conducting debut with his own incidental music to 'The Birds,' and directed and performed in Marc Blitzstein's 'The Cradle Will Rock.' Then at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, he studied piano with Isabella Vengerova, conducting with Fritz Reiner, and orchestration with Randall Thompson. 

LUCKY, the latest production by Atlas Circus, follows the life of a young man in 20th-century New York City, as he tries to find his literal and figurative center. Created and directed by Tommy McCarthy, a graduate of Muhlenberg College with 14 years of dance training (at the Joffrey and Boston Ballet, as well as Muhlenberg), the show consists of eleven comic vignettes. Two of the performers (Evans and Avery Deutsch), along with much of the crew, are Muhlenberg alumni, which may explain the palpable camaderie among Atlas Circus members. Leo Abel graduated from Ivaldo Bertazzo's school of dance and acting and worked in experimental theater for ten years, fusing dance, circus, singing, and puppetry. Russel Norris (who has appeared at Theater for the New City, Stairwell Theater, Brave New World Rep, among others) rounds out the talented cast.

Considered one of Broadway's all-time triumphs, Gypsy sets the memoirs of entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee to music, telling the story of ambitious showbiz mother Rose, who travels across the country in the 20's and 30's with her daughters June and Louise, in search of success with their homespun act. Directed by Valley favorite, Rusty Ferracane, Gypsy features many of the best-loved songs in the entire musical theater canon: 'Some People,' 'Let Me Entertain You,' 'Together (Wherever We Go),' 'Everything's Coming Up Roses,' and 'Rose's Turn.'

The John W. Engeman Theater announces the cast and creative team for GYPSY.

Lawrence Edelson, Founder and Producing Artistic Director of American Lyric Theater (ALT), announced today that three composers, three librettists, and one dramaturg have been selected as Resident Artists to participate in the tenth anniversary season of the company's nationally acclaimed Composer Librettist Development Program (CLDP). The artists selected for this prestigious residency and training program are composers Shuying Li, Andy Tierstein, and Liliya Ugay; librettists Lorene Cary, Julian Crouch, and Lila Palmer; and dramaturg Antigoni Gaitana.

Lawrence Edelson, Founder and Producing Artistic Director of American Lyric Theater (ALT), announced today that three composers, three librettists, and one dramaturg have been selected as Resident Artists to participate in the tenth anniversary season of the company's nationally acclaimed Composer Librettist Development Program (CLDP). The artists selected for this prestigious residency and training program are composers Shuying Li, Andy Tierstein, and Liliya Ugay; librettists Lorene Cary, Julian Crouch, and Lila Palmer; and dramaturg Antigoni Gaitana.

Lawrence Edelson, Founder and Producing Artistic Director of American Lyric Theater (ALT), announced today that three composers, three librettists, and one dramaturg have been selected as Resident Artists to participate in the tenth anniversary season of the company's nationally acclaimed Composer Librettist Development Program (CLDP). The artists selected for this prestigious residency and training program are composers Shuying Li, Andy Tierstein, and Liliya Ugay; librettists Lorene Cary, Julian Crouch, and Lila Palmer; and dramaturg Antigoni Gaitana.

The Music Theater Works (formerly Light Opera Works) 2017 season continues with GYPSY (August 19-27), DUKE ELLINGTON'S GREATEST HITS (October 6-15), and PETER PAN (December 23-January 1, 2018).

It opened 60 years ago on Broadway, yet its message continues to resonate today. The powerful and poignant musical West Side Story is now on stage at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre for performances now through Oct. 1. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Scottsdale Musical Theater Company has announced its full cast for its upcoming production of West Side Story, at Tempe Center for the Arts  (700 W. Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe AZ), August 17 - 20, 2017.

Director Rusty Ferracane says of Gypsy: 'it really is the perfect musical!' Gypsy takes us back to the 1920's and 30's, a pivotal time for performing arts in America, when the vaudeville circuit was dying and audience tastes were changing. Gypsy brings the memoirs of entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee to life through the book by Arthur Laurents (West Side Story), music by Jule Styne (Peter Pan), and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim (Sweeney Todd). Considered by many to be one of Broadway's all-time triumphs, Gypsy tells the story of ambitious showbiz mother Rose, who travels across the country with her daughters June and Louise, in search of success with their homespun vaudeville act. As times change, Rose is forced to accept the demise of vaudeville and the rise of burlesque, as well as her daughters' desires for autonomy.

Touted as "Broadway's greatest dance musical," "West Side Story," the international tour, opened in Manila to a crowd of old and new fans, and the result is both exhilarating and, to some degree, bifurcating.

The fifth production of the Cape Playhouse season arrives as Gypsy takes the stage, the second musical in the historic theatre's 91st season. Starring Julia Murney, Caroline Bowman, James Lloyd Reynolds, Tess Soltau and Garett Hawe, and directed by Michael Rader, Gypsy plays now through August 19. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Casa Mañana Theatre kicks off its 2017-18 Broadway Season presented by Frank Kent Cadillac with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, September 9-17. Tickets are on sale now.

59E59 Theaters (Val Day, Artistic Director; Brian Beirne, Managing Director) is thrilled to host the New York City premiere of SMALL WORLD, written by Frederick Stroppel and directed by Joe Brancato. Produced by Penguin Rep, SMALL WORLD begins performances on Wednesday, September 13 for a limited engagement through Saturday, October 7.  Press opening is Sunday, September 17 at 7:15 PM.  The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7:15 PM; Friday at 8:15 PM; Saturday at 2:15 PM & 8:15 PM; and Sunday at 3:15 PM & 7:15 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $25 - $35 ($24.50 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or visit www.59e59.org.