Behzad Dabu News

Performances of five-time Tony Award-winning production of 'A Christmas Carol' began this week at the Ahmanson Theatre. Get a look inside the show's star-studded opening night!

I didn't hate I HATE IT HERE. In fact, Chicago playwright Ike Holter's 'concept album' play was both uproariously funny and thought-provoking.

“I hate it here” is so 2020 that it is the perfect title for Studio Theatre’s second audio play; a work so zeitgeist-y it is exposure therapy for “these unprecedented times.”

As the world collectively plans to close the door (and maybe throw away the key?) on 2020, Studio Theatre offers a reflection on this complicated, unexpected, and consequential moment in history with the world premiere of I Hate It Here: Stories from the End of the Old World, a Studio-commissioned audio play written and directed by Ike Holter.

Theatre 40 is launching a shortened season of its long standing Adult Education Theatre Appreciation Seminars this month. This Semester's theme is 'THE OTHER: plays concerning the relationships with those different from ourselves'. The presentations are virtual, online.

Following its Tony-nominated hit Broadway run seen by tens of thousands, Tony Award winner John Leguizamo's one-man play “Latin History for Morons” will be presented by Center Theatre Group at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles from September 5 through October 20, 2019. See photos from opening night!

The national tour of 'The Play That Goes Wrong,' the hilarious Tony Award-winning hit Broadway comedy celebrated its opening night at the Ahmanson Theatre last night!

It's an old joke that dating can be dangerous business, but no more so then in the world premiere of Ike Holter's horror influenced, and thought provoking PUT YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER at the La Jolla Playhouse, now playing through June 30th.

La Jolla Playhouse announces the cast and creative team for its world-premiere production of Put Your House in Order, by acclaimed Chicago playwright Ike Holter (Lottery Day), directed by Lili-Anne Brown. The show kicks off the Playhouse's 2019/2020 season, running in the Playhouse's Mandell Weiss Forum June 2 - 30.

TimeLine Theatre Company announces its inaugural "FIRST DRAFT: A TimeLine Playwrights Collective Festival,' the culmination of the company's latest two-year new-play incubator program offering residency to Chicago-based emerging and established writers. FIRST DRAFT will take place December 1 - 3, 2018, at TimeLine's home at 615 W. Wellington Avenue in Chicago, with free public readings of new plays by current Playwrights Collective members Tyla Abercrumbie, Will Allan, Maureen Gallagher, and Calamity West. 

The York Theatre Company celebrates the release of three new original cast recordings of York productions from the 2017-2018 season: Desperate Measures, Unexpected Joy, and Lonesome Blues.

Firebrand Theatre, in partnership with TimeLine Theatre Company, is pleased to launch its 2018-19 season with a revival of the Tony Award-nominated Best Musical CAROLINE, OR CHANGE, playing September 22 - October 28, 2018, at The The Den Theatre's Heath Main Stage, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Firebrand Theatre, in partnership with TimeLine Theatre Company, is pleased to launch its 2018-19 season with a revival of the Tony Award-nominated Best Musical CAROLINE, OR CHANGE, playing September 22 - October 28, 2018, at The The Den Theatre's Heath Main Stage, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave.

TimeLine Theatre Company is pleased to announce the addition of several new artists and community leaders to its ranks. Chicago artists Tyla Abercrumbie, Will Allan, Wardell Julius Clark, Charles Andrew Gardner, and Anish Jethmalani have been named Company Members at the theater, effective immediately. Additionally, the theater is welcoming JoAnne Dobrick, Anne Voshel, Richard G. Weinberg, and Nicholas Yassan to its Board of Directors, and Jared Bellot as a new Associate Artist.

Firebrand Theatre, in partnership with TimeLine Theatre Company, is pleased to launch its 2018-19 season with a revival of the Tony Award-nominated Best Musical CAROLINE, OR CHANGE, playing September 22 - October 28, 2018, at The The Den Theatre's Heath Main Stage, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Firebrand Theatre, in partnership with TimeLine Theatre Company, is pleased to announces casting for its revival of the Tony Award-nominated Best Musical CAROLINE, OR CHANGE, featuring music by Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home, Violet), book and lyrics by Tony Kushner (Angels in America), direction by Lili-Anne Brown and music direction by Andra Velis Simon. 

"Glee" star Jane Lynch visited the cast of The York Theatre Company production of the new musical Unexpected Joy, with book and lyrics by Bill Russell and music by Janet Hood. Unexpected Joy concludes its extended limited engagement this Sunday afternoon, May 27, 2018 at 2:30 p.m. at The York Theatre Company at Saint Peter's where performances began April 24, 2018.

Pop singer/songwriter Brielle Von Hugel stopped by to visit the cast of The York Theatre Company production of the new musical Unexpected Joy

Jump For Joy! The Off-Broadway cast recording of the New York premiere production of the new musical Unexpected Joy, with book and lyrics by Bill Russell (Side Show) and music by Janet Hood (Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens with Bill Russell), will be recorded and released by JAY Records. Produced by John Yap, the recording will feature the original cast of The York Theatre Company production who will gather at Sear Sound Studios (353 West 48th Street) on Monday, May 14, 2018 to lay down the tracks for the recording.

Opening Night is Tonight! The York Theatre Company (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director; Evans Haile, Executive Director), dedicated to the development of new musicals and the preservation of musical gems from the past, in association with Jim Kierstead, Aria Entertainment, Gabby Hanna & Marcy Feller, Riki Kane Larimer, Linda & Craig Wielkotz, Drew Desky & Dane Levens/Michael Mills, William Fernandez/Behzad Dabu, presents the New York premiere of the new musical Unexpected Joy, with book and lyrics by Bill Russell (Side Show) and music by Janet Hood (Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens with Bill Russell).