Ben Hecht News

Love in the newsroom, corrupt politics and a murder trial combine for screwball comedy in HIS GIRL FRIDAY over at Connecticut Repertory's Nafe Katter Theatre on the UConn campus.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) will present John Guare's adaptation of His Girl Friday, tonight, February 28 - March 10 in the Nafe Katter Theatre, Storrs. For tickets and information, call 860-486-2113 and visit www.crt.uconn.edu.

Spotlight Theatre presents The Front Page by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, directed by Carol Petitmaire, running February 23 through March 30, 2013.

Two questions: How hard would it be to write the screenplay to Gone with the Wind if you'd never read the Margaret Mitchell book? And how hard would it be to direct Gone with the Wind if you were pulled away from directing The Wizard of Oz to direct this Civil War era epic?

Actors' NET Co-Founder Joe Doyle directs a veteran cast in this comedy, as producer David O. Selznick, writer Ben Hecht and director Victor Fleming totally rewrite the shooting script for Gone with the Wind over five frenetic days and nights - the men acting out all the parts as they go along! Steve Lobis of Morrisville co-stars as Selznick, alongside David Newhouse of Middletown as Hecht and David Swartz of Ambler as Fleming. Featuring Margaret DeAngelis of New Hope as Selznick's secretary, Miss Poppenghul. James Cordingley of Lawrenceville, NJ assistant directs. Vicky Czarnik of Levittown stage manages. Set design by James Cordingley. Lighting design by Andrena Wishnie. Costume and sound design by Cheryl Doyle. Produced by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc.

La Jolla Playhouse announces a fifth production for its 2013/14 season: the world premiere of The Tallest Tree, a new play with music written and performed by Daniel Beaty (Emergency, Through the Night), directed by Moises Kaufman (I Am My Own Wife, The Laramie Project). A co-production with Kansas City Repertory Theatre, The Tallest Tree will run in the Playhouse's Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre October 9 - November 3, 2013. The piece is produced in association with Tectonic Theater Project.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) will present John Guare's adaptation of His Girl Friday, February 28 - March 10 in the Nafe Katter Theatre, Storrs. For tickets and information, call 860-486-2113 and visit www.crt.uconn.edu.

Trying to be a farce and a message play, MOONLIGHT AND MAGNOLIAS is neither fish nor fowl and only partially funny.

La Jolla Playhouse announces two additional productions for its 2013/2014 season. Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley (Glengarry Glen Ross, Memphis) will direct His Girl Friday, John Guare's (Six Degrees of Separation, The House of Blue Leaves) acclaimed adaptation of the Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur play The Front Page and the Howard Hawks film His Girl Friday, with screenplay by Charles Lederer, produced by Columbia Pictures. The production will kick off the season in June/July in the Mandell Weiss Theatre.

Playwright Ron Hutchinson has written a clever farcical comedy with his play, MOONLIGHT AND MAGNOLIAS, based on an actual event that occurred during the tumultuous production of the film Gone with the Wind. It may be true that producer David O. Selznick took extreme measures in order to get a screenplay produced, but unless you were a fly on the wall, the information presented here can only be considered fodder for laughs, since most of what is known about this occurrence is culled from biographies and Hollywood legend. Dramatic License has put together a splendid evening of entertainment with a fine staging of the fitfully funny work.

Fiddle-dee-dee! As God as my witness, I'll never laugh this hard again! With MOONLIGHT AND MAGNOLIAS, a behind-the-scenes comedy about the film version of Gone With the Wind, Penfold Theater Company delights audiences with some good ol'-fashioned 1930s Hollywood antics.

Penfold Theatre Company opens its 2013-13 season with Moonlight and Magnolias,which plays at City Theatre from tonight, October 4th to 21st.

Penfold Theatre Company opens its 2013-13 season with Moonlight and Magnolias,which plays at City Theatre from October 4th to 21st.

The Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) announces its 2012 - 2013 season which will include a wide variety of exciting theatrical styles investigating a polarized society. For detailed information and tickets call the box office at 860-486-2113 or visit www.crt.uconn.edu.

Pamela Rabe and Philip Quast star in the classic screwball comedy, His Girl Friday which opens Thursday 16 August 2012 at 8pm at Arts Centre Melbourne, Playhouse in its Australian premiere.

Three days of Shaw Festival summer openings start tonight at the Court House Theatre with Bernard Shaw's comedy The Millionairess.

His Girl Friday, John Guare's inspired combo of Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's original play The Front Page and the screen version His Girl Friday, began previews Sunday at The Shaw's Festival Theatre

The Des Moines Community Playhouse presents 'Moonlight and Magnolias,' tonight, June 8 to June 24. Tickets may be purchased online at dmplayhouse.com, by phone at 515-277-6261, and at The Playhouse ticket office, 831 42nd St.

With the start of summer comes the promise of sunny days, but since June is only the first of many warm months to come, there is no excuse not to duck into a theater for a few hours to catch a fabulous show.