Ben Brantley News

Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python, and you have Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps.

The New York Times has confirmed that The Soho Playhouse will close MADE IN HEAVEN on Monday, December 7 to make way for the transfer of EMPEROR JONES by Eugene O'Neil. EMPEROR JONES will begin performances on December 15th.

Following its sold-out run, The Irish Repertory Theatre Co. Inc. and Darren Lee Cole Theatricals are set to present The Irish Repertory Theatre's production of Eugene O'Neill's THE EMPEROR JONES - starring John Douglas Thompson as the charismatic Brutus Jones -- Off-Broadway for a strictly limited 7-week engagement, with previews set to begin Tuesday, December 15 prior to an official press opening December 22, at SoHo Playhouse. Ciaran O'Reilly directs.

Today's Broadway Blogs on BroadwayWorld.com from Sunday, December 13, 2009.

Italy's Dario D'Ambrosi, a radical innovator of the theater and founder of the movement called Teatro Patologico (Pathological Theater), will stage a novel version of 'Romeo and Juliet' at La MaMa December 3 to 13. His interpretation is meant to contrast the marvel of love with the fragility of life, the shock of the moment of total loss, and what he calls a 'schizophrenia of the world.'

REDCAT (the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater) proudly presents the West Coast premiere of Arias with a Twist, a bigger-than-life cabinet of curiosities created by Joey Arias (Zumanity's 'Mistress of Seduction') and legendary puppeteer Basil Twist. Arias with a Twist opens Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at REDCAT and runs for a limited four-week run through Sunday, December 13, 2009.

This Saturday, December 12th, the Drama Desk, Lortel and Obie Award-winning Mint Theater Company will conclude its 2009 EnrichMINT Events, an exciting series of post-show discussions.

Following the success of the inaugural round, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has renewed its New Play Development Program (NPDP) for a second round and the application period is now open.

This Saturday, December 12th, the Drama Desk, Lortel and Obie Award-winning Mint Theater Company will conclude its 2009 EnrichMINT Events, an exciting series of post-show discussions.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is pleased to announce that playwright David Henry Hwang will appear at the Drama Book Shop at 5:30pm this Thursday, December 8, for a free event to celebrate TCG Book's publication of his OBIE Award-winning play Yellow Face. Hwang will read from the play with actors Francis Jue and Kathryn Layng, who appeared in the play's production at The Public Theater, and will discuss the work with Edward Albee. A book signing will follow.

What are THE 39 STEPS? You have only 39 performances left to discover the secret before Alfred Hitchcock's THE 39 STEPS plays its final performance on Broadway.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is pleased to announce that playwright David Henry Hwang will appear at the Drama Book Shop at 5:30pm this Thursday, December 8, for a free event to celebrate TCG Book's publication of his OBIE Award-winning play Yellow Face. Hwang will read from the play with actors Francis Jue and Kathryn Layng, who appeared in the play's production at The Public Theater, and will discuss the work with Edward Albee. A book signing will follow.

THE HIGHLINE BALLROOM presents Lea Delaria's Holiday Ho-Ho-Ho-Down! on Wednesday, December 9.

THE HIGHLINE BALLROOM presents Lea Delaria's Holiday Ho-Ho-Ho-Down! on Wednesday, December 9.

Playwrights Horizons announced today that the New York premiere of ME, MYSELF & I, a new play by three-time Pulitzer Prize and three-time Tony Award winner Edward Albee (A Delicate Balance; Seascape; Three Tall Women; Who's Afraid of Virgina Wolf?; The Goat or, Who Is Sylvia?) will open the theater company's 2010/2011 40th Anniversary Season. Mr. Albee will be making his Playwrights Horizons debut.

Tony Award winner Christine Ebersole and popular singer/pianist Billy Stritch will team up once again for several upcoming concerts.

Fela!, the new musical based on the life and music of groundbreaking African composer, performer and activist Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, will perform on Comedy Central's 'The Colbert Report' on Monday, December 7 at 11:30pm EST.

Today's Broadway Blogs on BroadwayWorld.com from Sunday, December 6, 2009.

Tony Award winner Christine Ebersole and popular singer/pianist Billy Stritch will team up once again for several upcoming concerts.

The New York Times has confirmed that The Soho Playhouse will close MADE IN HEAVEN on Monday, December 7 to make way for the transfer of EMPEROR JONES by Eugene O'Neil. EMPEROR JONES will begin performances on December 15th.