Ben Williams News

The Double Cupp Diner sits on the side of the road "somewhere between Frog Level and Smyrna, NC." But from June 13 to July 27 the diner - the setting of Pump Boys and Dinettes - will relocate to East Sonora as Sierra Repertory Theatre stages another rendition of this popular musical.

Just last night, Drama Desk and Tony Award winner Laura Benanti ('The Sound of Music Live!', Gypsy, Women On The Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) hosted the 59th Annual Drama Desk Awards at The Town Hall (123 W. 43rd Street). Big winners for the night included Audra McDonald, Bryan Cranston, Jessie Mueller, and Neil Patrick Harris and Jefferson Mays- who tied for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. Click here for a full list of winners. Also check out more photos of arrivals and photos of the winners.

Strange Sun Theater presents the world-premiere of Evan Mueller's new play HOT SEASONDirected by Kevin J. Kittle June 13 through June 28 at The Black Box at The Sheen Center (18 Bleecker Street) in Manhattan Strange Sun Theater presents the world-premiere new play HOT SEASON by Evan Mueller (Strange Sun Co-Founder and Artistic Director), directed by Kevin J. Kittle (IN GOD'S HAT) with preview performances beginning June 13th prior to an official press opening of June 16th at The Black Box at The Sheen Center (18 Bleecker Street) in Manhattan.

NOMADS, written by Julia Jarcho and directed by Alice Reagan, will run May 30-June 15, 2014 at 8pm, Saturday June 6 at 2pm & 8pm; Sunday June 15 at 5pm & 8pm at Incubator Arts Project.

NOMADS, written by Julia Jarcho and directed by Alice Reagan, will perform May 30-June 15, 2014 at 8pm, Saturday June 6 at 2pm & 8pm; Sunday June 15 at 5pm & 8pm.

"Mr. Chief Justice, may it please the court," is the opening every lawyer states before presenting oral arguments. When Arguendo at Woolly Mammoth Theatre keeps its focus on the oral arguments of Barnes v. Glen Theatre Inc., the show is praiseworthy on many levels. But when the Arguendo becomes distracted, it not only fails to please the court, it loses on appeal.

The Sheen Center - a brand new arts center located on the corner of Bleecker and Elizabeth Streets (18 Bleecker Street) in Manhattan, consisting of two state-of-the-art theater spaces (the 250-seat Loretto Auditorium and the 93-seat Black Box), four studios and an art gallery - is currently completing construction and scheduled for a soft opening on May 1, 2014 and a full opening season beginning September 2014, it has been announced by The Sheen Center's Artistic Director Jessica Bashline and Executive Director Monsignor Michael F. Hull.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company will present Elevator Repair Service's Arguendo, a playful and incisively witty theatricalization of the 1991 Supreme Court case in which a group of go-go dancers, citing the First Amendment, challenged an Indiana state ban on public nudity. Elevator Repair Service's Artistic Director John Collins will direct the Company in its first extended stay in Washington, DC. Originally slated to close April 20, Arguendo will be extended for an additional weekend, performing April 25-27.

CAPA presents the Pat Metheny Unity Group at the Capitol Theatre (77 S. High St.) on Thursday, March 13, at 8 pm. Tickets are $30-$75 at the CAPA Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster outlets, and www.ticketmaster.com. To purchase tickets by phone, please call (614) 469-0939 or (800) 745-3000.

Blue Note Jazz Club, the iconic Greenwich Village jazz and blues venue that offers live musical performances every night of the week, announces new show additions through February 2014.

The National Jazz Museum in Harlem has announced its January 2014 schedule. Details below!

Blue Note Jazz Club, the iconic Greenwich Village jazz and blues venue that offers live musical performances every night of the week, announces new show additions through February 2014.

The National Jazz Museum in Harlem has announced its January 2014 schedule. Details below!

Blue Note Jazz Club, the iconic Greenwich Village jazz and blues venue that offers live musical performances every night of the week, announces new show additions through February 2014.

Our final show was a matinee and we had a good crowd… with one exception. There was a special needs patron who kept screaming out things during the first act at the MOST inopportune moments. Apparently he left or was subdued somehow during the second act as we finally had quiet in the house. (To do such a difficult script with running commentary… was QUITE challenging.) I had yet another high school friend in the audience as well as a dresser from the original Broadway company of LES MIZ and a couple of Facebook friends and a student of mine from many years ago. All in all, I greeted many old friends here in Ft. Worth and made several new ones to boot, Ben Williams, Mongomery Sutton, Anthony Fortino, Zak Reynolds and so many others. Plus the whole backstage crew at Casa Manana was a delight. Who could ask (as Mr. Porter said) for anything more?

Started the day with a TV interview in Dallas. Ben and I were interviewed live on channel 8 at noon, a beautiful studio, and the interviewer was quite versed on the topic and the play, very enjoyable. Then friends of mine arrived at the airport from Oklahoma and California. We all went to a high end steakhouse (it's called Silver Fox… so I originally thought it was a strip club) and had a mini-reunion. Was great to have them at the show and we took a lot of photos and drove them both back to their hotels afterward. A very enjoyable day.

Wally Jones, President and Executive Producer is proud to announce the regional premiere of Oswald: The Actual Interrogation by Dennis Richard, as part of the 2013-2014 Broadway at Casa Mañana Season, now playing through November 17, 2013. Single tickets are now on sale. Check out highlights below!

Wally Jones, President and Executive Producer is proud to announce the regional premiere of Oswald: The Actual Interrogation by Dennis Richard, as part of the 2013-2014 Broadway at Casa Mañana Season, tonight, November 9-17, 2013. Single tickets are now on sale.

Last Friday marked the first time I watched a live theater performance from a swivel chair. The occasion was Big Dance Theater's presentation of Ich, Kurbisgeist at New York Live Arts. Directed by Paul Lazar and written by Sibyl Kempson, the work is a chaotic and humorous collage of sound, movement, and visual art.

We continued our work on act one as the day started and to everyone's great surprise, by the dinner break we had staged the entire first act of the play. So when we returned from eating we actually started at the top and worked all the way through act one. Because the play is so enormously serious, Casey broke the tension with humor over and over, and that coupled with looping back numerous times over each section, time seemed to stand still and by the end of the day, we felt that we'd been in rehearsal for a week. Many laughs were had over the fact that we'd all bonded and we'd dunned some of the more difficult passages into our heads and we'd only been at it for TWO DAYS. Then we all realized that we were going to get in more runs of the play than we'd anticipated and suddenly the ten day rehearsal period stopped seeming so frightening. (When I first heard that we were going to stage this gigantic play in ten days, I simply couldn't imagine it.) Did I mention that Casey Hussian is a truly marvelous director?