August Wilson News

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that Aleta Mitchell, who appeared in the original Broadway cast of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom by August Wilson, passed away on April 14, 2026. She was 74 years old.

Beautifully acted, engagingly riveting, and populated with impactful characters, Reggie D. White's thoughtfully sprawling and emotionally layered new play—directed by Lili-Anne Brown—delivers an ambitious, deeply affecting examination of generational legacy, Black identity, masculinity, and the elusive pursuit of emotional healing. Set almost entirely within the walls of a suburban home in Southern California, the touching, and, often times, quite humorous play unfolds across multiple decades, chronicling the intersecting lives of three generations of African-American men connected not only by blood, but by inherited silence, buried resentment, generational trauma, and a complicated yearning for deep connection.

GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics announced nominations for the 4th annual Dorian Theater Awards, with SCHMIGADOON! earning nine nods and THE LOST BOYS close behind with eight nominations.

Rise and shine, BroadwayWorld! It is May 13, 2026 and it's time to catch up on all of the theatrical happenings you may have missed in the last 24 hours.

In-person ticket sales for The Book of Mormon will temporarily be relocated to the nearby August Wilson Theatre, home of Dog Day Afternoon, a few blocks from The Book of Mormon’s Broadway home, the Eugene O’Neill Theatre.

Broadway will get haunted this summer when the smash-hit, Olivier Award nominated new play PARANORMAL ACTIVITY arrives at The August Wilson Theatre. Tickets are on sale now.

This week's theater news spans awards season milestones, legal disputes, labor tensions, and the business challenges facing the art form on both sides of the Atlantic. The 2026 Tony nominations are in — with Schmigadoon! and The Lost Boys leading the pack. Voting is also now open for BroadwayWorld's own Theater Fans' Choice Awards. On a more turbulent note, a fire at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre has shuttered The Book of Mormon through at least May 17, a second lawsuit has been filed against the producers of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, and IATSE is accusing the Kennedy Center of using its upcoming temporary closure as cover to permanently eliminate union jobs. Regionally, The Naples Players have secured a multi-year grant to expand paid apprenticeships for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. And internationally, The Stage examines whether the UK touring sector — where the number of touring plays has fallen 64% since 2019 — can find a path forward through its mounting financial and structural pressures.

WHAT SURVIVES, a new one-act play about a community reckoning with an ICE abduction, will have its world premiere at The Broadwater in Los Angeles during the Hollywood Fringe Festival.

Theatrical Outfit has announced their 50th Anniversary Season with 5 mainstage productions of classics and modern works, 4 new plays, 3 special anniversary events, 2 productions with new and returning community partners and 1 brand new commission.

Tom Hanks recently paid a visit to two Broadway productions, Joe Turner's Come and Gone and The Balusters. The actor, who was last seen on stage in This World of Tomorrow in 2025, posed with cast members at both shows. Check out photos here!

Rise and shine, BroadwayWorld! It is May 8, 2026 and it's time to catch up on all of the theatrical happenings you may have missed in the last 24 hours.

August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone is officially a five-time Tony-nominated revival! Directed by Golden Globe Award, four-time Emmy Award winner and recipient of the 2026 Academy Honorary Award, Debbie Allen, the play is led by Taraji P. Henson as 'Bertha Holly' and Cedric 'The Entertainer' as 'Seth Holly.' Watch Highlights of the cast in action here!

Trinity Repertory Company has announced its 63rd season, which includes five shows in its subscription series and the theater's 50th anniversary production of A Christmas Carol.

Ruben Santiago-Hudson, David Stone, Tracy Letts and David Rockwell will present the Honorary Awards at the 92nd Annual Drama League Awards, taking place at The Ziegfeld Ballroom.

Everyman Theatre will present Kate Hamill's adaptation of EMMA, directed by Laura Kepley, featuring the theatre's Resident Company in a feminist, contemporary take on Jane Austen's classic.

Atlanta-based entertainment lawyer James Walker, an investor in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, has filed a second lawsuit against several of the show’s producers. Learn more here!

What did our critic think of GEM OF THE OCEAN at Actors' Shakespeare Project?

Playwright Zach Barr received the 2026 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award for THE PILON, which had its world premiere at Chicago's Red Theater. The award carries a $25,000 honorarium.

The Middletown Arts Center, in conjunction with Dunbar Repertory Company, is set to produce August Wilson’s Seven Guitars, directed by Mark Antonio Henderson.  Seven Guitars is a play by August Wilson set in Pittsburgh’s Hill District in 1948.

The nominations are in! Below, check out how each show fared individually in a full list of nominations by show. Follow us on BroadwayWorld throughout the day, as we'll bring you Tony nominee reactions, exclusive reports, surprises, behind the scenes coverage and oh, so much more!