Ben Brantley News

Theatre Y announces the world-premiere of The Binding, by Evan Hill, on October 3 at Saint Luke's Lutheran Church of Logan Square (2649 N. Francisco Ave.).

The Glass Menagerie opens tonight, September 26th, on Broadway. The production stars multiple Tony and Emmy Award-winner Cherry Jones as Amanda Wingfield, film and stage star Zachary Quinto as Tom, two-time Tony-nominee Celia Keenan-Bolger as Laura, and Brian J. Smith as Jim, the Gentleman Caller. Let's see what the critics had to say...

Following a successful engagement at Joe's Pub in New York City, Joey Arias and Kristian Hoffman bring their acclaimed show Lightning Strikes to Feinstein's at the Nikko for one performance only - Thursday, October 24 at 8 p.m. Located within Hotel Nikko (222 Mason Street, San Francisco), Feinstein's at the Nikko presents a wide range of entertainers from stage and screen all within an intimate 140-seat cabaret setting.

Center Theatre Group recently announced that Justin Bartha would be joining the cast of Neil Simon's 'The Sunshine Boys' at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre replacing the previously announced David Krumholtz who needed to leave the production for personal reasons.

Ferndale's Ringwald Theatre continues its season devoted to The Power of Words with the southeast Michigan premier ofreasons to be pretty by Detroit's own Neil LaBute. All performances of reasons to be pretty will be held at The Ringwald Theatre 22742 Woodward Ave, Ferndale MI 48220. Performances begin on Friday, October 11 and play Fridays-Mondays thru Monday, Novermber 4.

Jerry Ruiz (Love Goes to Press, Basilica) directs a cast that includes Cliff Bemis, Teddy Bergman, Bernardo Cubria, Carole Healey, Christine Toy Johnson, Kathryn Kates (replacing the previously announced Jennifer Harmon), Natalie Kuhn, Brian MacDonald, Jennifer McVey and Rachel Moulton. Philip Goes Forth will have scenic design by Steven C. Kemp, costume design by Carisa Kelly, lighting design by Christian DeAngelis, and sound design by Toby Algya. Performances began on August 24th and continue through October 20th. Opening Night is set for tonight, September 22nd at Mint's home (311 West 43rd Street). BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast onstage below!

In an interview with the UK's The Daily Mail yesterday, showman Hugh Jackman revealed that he is hoping to bring his hit musical revue BACK ON BROADWAY, to the London stage.

The hit comedy Buyer & Cellar will play its 100th performance tonight at the Barrow Street Theatre, where it is currently playing an open-ended run and continues to break box office records.

The new Broadway production of Shakespeare's timeless love story ROMEO AND JULIET starring international film star Orlando Bloom, making his Broadway debut opposite two-time Tony Award nominee Condola Rashad, officially opens tonight, Thursday, September 19, 2013 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. Let's see what the critics had to say...

Obie- Award winning and Tony nominated director Austin Pendleton directs Tennessee Williams' Cat on A Hot Tin Roof in a new Indie theatre production with the Mississippi Mud. This is the play that Ben Brantley described as Williams' 'most impassioned and articulate statement on human isolation, the wrenching problems of communication between people and the ways in which death defines life.' It is brought to life in a new intimate bold raw space production that unfolds in 'real time' and places center stage the lush language of this modern classic fable.

Complete casting has been announced for the Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) World Premiere production of THE PATRON SAINT OF SEA MONSTERS, a new play by Blackburn Prize winner Marlane Meyer (The Chemistry of Change and Moe's Lucky Seven for PH; Etta Jenks).

Italy's Dario D'Ambrosi is a radical innovator of the theater and founder of the movement called Teatro Patologico (Pathological Theater). Having staged revolutionary interpretations of 'Richard III' in 1996 and 'Romeo and Juliet' in 2009, he is now taking on 'Hamlet' with a new full-length work, 'Hamlet Hallucinations.' La MaMa E.T.C., D'Ambrosi's theatrical home in the USA, will present the work's world premiere October 17 to November 3.

Mint Theater today announced their current production, Philip Goes Forth by George Kelly will extend one additional week, through October 27h. Jerry Ruiz (Love Goes to Press, Basilica) directs a cast that includes Cliff Bemis, Teddy Bergman, Bernardo Cubria, Carole Healey, Christine Toy Johnson, Natalie Kuhn, Brian MacDonald, Jennifer McVey and Rachel Moulton. Opening Night is set for Sunday September 22nd at Mint's home (311 West 43rd Street).

Who would have thought that The Simpsons would ever make their Broadway debut? Many people did not but Anne Washburn shows that it is definitely their time to shine her play, Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play. This dark, out of the box comedy throws us forward about one century and follows a new civilization that is clumsily stumbling into its future...with a little help from Bart Simpson. Mr. Burns is an animated exploration of how the pop culture of one era can slowly but surely evolve into the mythology of another. Anne Washburn's plays have been featured many times, at different festivals. In 2011, her play A Devil at Noon was featured in the Humana Festival of New American Plays and in 2013, her play Sleep Rock Thy Brain was featured in the festival.

THE OLD FRIENDS, a play written by Horton Foote and had been worked on since the 1960's, but took until four years after the playwright's death to be put on. This is the story of friends as they deal with drama, loyalty, and alchol

The powerful tale of Huckleberry Finn is vividly brought to life for both the hearing and deaf communities when the Pennington Players present "Big River," Roger Miller and William Hauptman's Tony Award-winning musical adaptation of Mark Twain's 1884 novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Performances are Fridays, Oct. 4 and 11 at 8 p.m.; Saturdays, Oct. 5 and 12 at 8 p.m.; and Sundays, Oct. 6 and 13 at 2 p.m. Kelsey Theatre is located on the college's West Windsor campus, 1200 Old Trenton Road. A reception with the cast and crew follows the opening night performance on Oct. 4.

Join a live studio audience on the set of a '70s-style sitcom as The Inconvenience, The New Colony and the University of Chicago's Theater and Performance Studies Program team up to co-produce the world premiere of B-SIDE STUDIO, co-written by Inconvenience Resident Writer Ike Holter and New Colony Co-Artistic Director Evan Linder and directed by Nicholas J. Carroll, Andrew Hobgood and Gus Menary. B-SIDE STUDIO is performed on Fridays and Saturdays at 9/8c (that's 8 pm in Chicago, meathead!) from tonight, September 13 - October 12, 2013 at The Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St. in Chicago.

Jerry Ruiz (Love Goes to Press, Basilica) directs a cast that includes Cliff Bemis, Teddy Bergman, Bernardo Cubria, Carole Healey, Christine Toy Johnson,Kathryn Kates (replacing the previously announced Jennifer Harmon), Natalie Kuhn, Brian MacDonald, Jennifer McVey and Rachel Moulton. Philip Goes Forth will have scenic design by Steven C. Kemp, costume design by Carisa Kelly, lighting design by Christian DeAngelis, and sound design by Toby Algya. Performances began on August 24th and continue through October 20th. Opening Night is set for September 22nd at Mint's home (311 West 43rd Street). BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast onstage below!

Walnut Street Theatre opens its landmark 205th season with the groundbreaking 21st century musical IN THE HEIGHTS. Directed by Bruce Lumpkin, with choreography by Michelle Gaudette, this exhilarating musical about chasing your dreams and finding your true home, opens tonight, September 11th, and runs through October 20th on the WST Mainstage. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

T. Schreiber Studio and Theatre presents Martin McDonagh's acclaimed play THE PILLOWMAN - winner of the 2004 Olivier Award for Best New Play and the 2004-05 New York Drama Critic's Circle Award for Best New Foreign Play - with preview performances beginning October 16 prior to an official press opening of October 20 at T. Schreiber Studio and Theatre (151 West 26th Street, 7th floor) in Manhattan.