Ben Porter News

Today's top stories: Sing Street will transfer to Broadway's Lyceum Theatre, Donna Vivino joins the tour of Cats, further casting for MJ the Musical, and more!

Now playing at the McKittrick Hotel is the original production of long-running West End play The Woman In Black. What is the play all about?  'It's a play that makes you scream. It makes you laugh as well, but it makes you scream,' says star Ben Porter.

The McKittrick Hotel (530 West 27th Street, NYC), home of Sleep No More, presents the original production of long-running West End play The Woman In Black. Previews will begin in the hotel's hidden pub The Club Car on January 8, with an official opening on January 23, 2020.

The McKittrick Hotel (530 West 27th Street, NYC), home of Sleep No More, announces the original production of long-running West End play The Woman In Black is coming to New York for the first time. Previews will begin in the hotel's hidden pub The Club Car on January 8, with an official opening on January 23, 2020.

I had forgotten what an extraordinary experience it is to be working on a brand new script - one that has never been performed. We're two weeks into a three-week rehearsal period, and every day is very different!

Dead Letter Perfect today announces the world première of Stray Dogs. Robin Herford directs Olivia Olsen (Anna Akhmatova), Ben Porter (Isaiah Berlin) and Ian Redford (Joseph Stalin). The production opens at Park Theatre on Friday 15 November, with previews from 13 November, and runs until 7 December.

PW Productions celebrated the 30th Anniversary of Susan Hill's THE WOMAN IN BLACK on Wednesday 5 June at The Fortune Theatre, London with celebrations led by producer Peter Wilson and director Robin Herford.

The Tokyo International Players will present THE WHO'S TOMMY at The Pocket, Nakano, running May 17 to May 20. 

The Tokyo International Players will present THE WHO'S TOMMY at The Pocket, Nakano, running May 17 to May 20. 

George Bernard Shaw's Chekhovian black comedy has plenty of political heft, but lacks the dramatic clarity required to engage from first to last.

This production offers the very best of Lamplighters Music Theater.  As of last week's opening, Barbara Heroux has now directed every Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. Once again, she brings the finest ensemble (with leads double-cast) and a pleasant, character-driven staging.

Next up in the 2015-2016 season The Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) presents 1984 as part of an ongoing initiative to include productions by international companies on its mainstage.

The horrific future depicted in George Orwell's cautionary tale '1984' feels that much more frightening in 2016 because so much of the oligarchical world predicted by the visionary author in his dystopian 1949 novel has come to fruition. The power gap between the haves and the have-nots is alarming. Politicians use doublethink to twist hypocrisies into mind-numbing (and brainwashing) campaign slogans. Three-second sound bites and 140-character tweets are the newspeak that distills thought into easily regurgitated propaganda.

The Headlong, Nottingham Playhouse, and Almeida Theatre Production of/1984/by George Orwell/in a new adaptation by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan/directed by Icke and Macmillan/The Broad Stage, Santa Monica/through February 6

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University, under the leadership of Artistic Director Diane Paulus and Executive Director Diane Quinn, presents George Orwell's 1984, in a new adaptation created by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan. 

A company of more than 60 artists will bring The Iliad to life in a durational reading on Friday 14 August. The reading will begin at the British Museum and culminate on the Almeida stage. The marathon reading is the latest event in the theatre's Almeida Greeks Festival which has so far seen Robert Icke's critically acclaimed production of Oresteia transfer to Trafalgar Studios in the West End and James Macdonald's production of Bakkhai play to sold out houses at the Almeida.

 Julia will be played by Janine Harouni until 25 July, and then Hara Yannas from 27 July to the end of the run. Simon Coates, Tim Dutton, Stephen Fewell, Christopher Patrick Nolan, Ben Porter, Gavin Spokes and Mandi Symonds complete the cast.

Matthew Spencer will play the role of George Orwell's Winston Smith in the hit West End stage production of 1984 this summer.              Julia will be played by Janine Harouni until 25 July, and then Hara Yannas from 27 July to the end of the run. Simon Coates, Tim Dutton, Stephen Fewell, Christopher Patrick Nolan, Ben Porter, Gavin Spokes and Mandi Symonds complete the cast.

The casting was revealed today for a compelling black comedy Charlie's Dark Angel, which opens at London's intimate Drayton Arms Theatre on 03 March.

59E59 Theaters will welcome the Stephen Joseph Theatre back to Brits Off Broadway with the US premieres of ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES, TIME OF MY LIFE, and FARCICALS: A Double Bill of Frivolous Comedies, written and directed by Alan Ayckbourn. ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES begins performances on Thursday, May 29 (Opening Night is Wednesday, June 4 at 7:00 PM). TIME OF MY LIFE begins performances on Friday, June 6 (Opening Night is Wednesday, June 11 at 7:00 PM). FARCICALS: A Double Bill of Frivolous Comedies begins performances on Saturday, June 7 (Opening Night is Tuesday, June 10 at 7:00 PM). All shows run through Sunday, June 29. The performance schedule varies. Please see attached calendar for the individual show schedules. Single tickets for ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES and TIME OF MY LIFE are $70 ($49 for 59E59 Members). Single tickets to FARCICALS: A Double Bill of Frivolous Comedies are $50 ($35 for 59E59 Members).