Berger News

The innovative Art of Time Ensemble today announced the details of the artists and productions featured in their 2013/14 concert series. With music at the centre of the four original programmes curated by Artistic Director Andrew Burashko, the upcoming series brings together theatre, dance, literature and the visual arts with the widest array of musical styles Art of Time has ever assembled in one season.

Bitingly relevant, and radically entertaining, Dion Boucicault's THE POOR OF NEW YORK opens at The Connelly Theater in the East Village, April 24, 2013. Tyne Rafaeli will direct a rip-roaring Columbia Stages production featuring a cast of 25, and 8 live musicians.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Artistic Director Carey Perloff announced today two additional productions for the company's 47th subscription season: Glen Berger's acclaimed solo drama, Underneath the Lintel, starring Emmy Award winner and Academy Award nominee David Strathairn, and Beatrice Basso and Linda Alper's new translation of Eduardo De Filippo's poignant Italian comedy, Napoli!, featuring A.C.T. favorites Marco Barricelli and Stratford Festival star Seana McKenna. These two productions join the previously announced 1776, A Christmas Carol, Major Barbara, Venus in Fur, and The Orphan of Zhao. The final production for the 2013-14 season will be announced at a later date.

Three Cat Productions announces the first Chicago New Work Festival. Seven Chicago playwrights will be partnered with directors to develop and perform staged readings of never before seen, full-length plays. Plays will be performed every Saturday from today, March 30 to May 18 in the Coach House at the Berger Park Cultural Center, 6205 N. Sheridan Rd, Chicago, IL.

Three Cat Productions has begun readings this week on Sasha Dune, a new play by Lisa Scott and the first of seven being workshopped as part of Three Cat's Chicago New Work Festival. The players will begin rehearsals this week at the Berger Park Coach House Theater at 6205 N. Sheridan Rd, Chicago, IL 60660. The final reading will be at 7:00 p.m., Saturday, March 30. Tickets are $10. All rehearsals are open and the public is encouraged to attend for a suggested donation.

First Folio Theatre (Mayslake Peabody Estate, 31st St. & Rt. 83) presents the acclaimed play UNDERNEATH THE LINTEL, directed by Jeff Award nominee Alison C. Vesely, previewing tonight, March 27, opening March 30 and running through April 28, 2013.

MASTERWORKS BROADWAY will soon release the Original Cast Recording of Kinky Boots, produced by Cyndi Lauper, William Wittman and Stephen Oremus. Visit MasterworksBroadway.com for more information as it develops. The cast was just in the recording studio and you can check out photos from the recording session below!

New Line Theatre closes its 22nd season May 30-June 22, 2013, with the regional premiere of one of the most outrageous shows the company has ever produced. With book and lyrics by Spencer Green and Gary Stockdale, and music by Stockdale, BUKOWSICAL is a wacky, high-energy - and gleefully adult - musical comedy, an ironic and insightful 21st-century reboot of the classic American musical comedy, exploring the intersection between sex, drugs, booze, and art, all through the life story of the great American novelist and poet Charles Bukowski.

Crackle, the multi-platform entertainment network, today announced that it has greenlit a second season of its hit original series, the thriller "Chosen.'

The St. Louis County Library Foundation's 'Buzz' Westfall Favorite Author Series is pleased to present journalist and bestselling author Blaine Harden for a discussion and signing of his book "Escape From Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West." The event will take place at Library Headquarters (1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd.) on Friday, April 5, at 7:00 p.m.

Porchlight Music Theatre presents Pal Joey, book by John O'Hara, music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, April 20 - May 26, at Stage 773, 1225 West Belmont Ave. Directed by Porchlight Music Theatre's Artistic Director, Michael Weber with music direction by Porchlight Artistic Associate Doug Peck (reuniting with Weber for the first time since their collaboration on Porchlight's triumphant production of Assassins) and choreography by Porchlight Artistic Associate Brenda Didier, Pal Joey stars Adrian Aguliar, 'Joey Evans,' Susie McMonagle, 'Vera Simpson,' Laura Savage, 'Linda English,' Matt Orlando, 'Ludlow Lowell' and Sharriese Hamilton, 'Gladys Bumps.'

New York Women in Communications will present the 2013 Matrix Awards on Monday, April 22, 2013 to honor seven remarkable women who have established themselves in the communications industry. The awards will be given in a luncheon ceremony hosted by WE tv at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. The distinguished honorees will include Audra McDonald, Joanna Coles, Bonnie Hammer and Mindy Grossman.

The spirit of independent cinema is soaring with the NewFilmmakers LA Film Festival March 23rd 2013 program. The event brings Groundlings alumni, award-winning filmmakers, Oscar nominated actors, first time filmmakers, and more all under one roof.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, U.S. District Court Judge Katherine B. Forrest announced last Friday, March 15, that fired director Julie Taymor's lawsuit against SPIDER-MAN's producers will go to trial on May 28, 2013. The court battle has now been dragging on for seven months with no clear indication of why a settlement has not been reached.

Yesterday SPIDER-MAN's Green Goblin, played by Robert Cuccioli, went to Times Square to celebrate with some St. Patrick's Day revelers. Check out photos from his aventures below!

First Folio Theatre (Mayslake Peabody Estate, 31st St. & Rt. 83) presents the acclaimed play UNDERNEATH THE LINTEL, directed by Jeff Award nominee Alison C. Vesely, previewing March 27, opening March 30 and running through April 28, 2013. The production stars Kristine Thatcher, a member of the 2001 Tony Award-winning Victory Gardens Playwrights Ensemble, where her play Voice of Good Hope premiered and was nominated for the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Work in 2000. Thatcher most recently appeared as Terri in Jeffrey Sweet's new play Immoral Imperatives. Prior to that, she appeared in First Folio Theatre's production of Macbeth. Other credits include "Hannah Jarvis" in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia at the Goodman Theatre, "Candida" in George Bernard Shaw's Candida at Writers' Theatre, and "Regan" in King Lear and "Kate" in Taming of the Shrew at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

A new CD released by Eloquentia features violinist Livia Sohn as soloist in Benjamin Britten's Violin Concert, Op 15, paired with Jiyeh, a concerto by Israeli-American composer Jonathan Berger. Written for and premiered by Livia Sohn in 2007, Jiyeh is scored for chamber orchestra, violin, cimbalom, percussion and strings. The album coincides with the ongoing Benjamin Britten centennial celebration.

In its fourth production of the season, Ross Valley Players presents the Broadway hit Enchanted April, a romantic comedy written by Matthew Barber, based on the novel by Elizabeth von Arnim. Set in 1920's London, Enchanted April is the story of two frustrated housewives who take a trip to Italy in hopes of rediscovering themselves. The Hartford News called Enchanted April, 'The kind of play that reminds you why you love theatre.' Enchanted April begins with a preview tonight, March 14 and runs through Sunday, April 14. Opening night is Friday, March 15 at 8PM.

Three Cat Productions announces the first Chicago New Work Festival. Seven Chicago playwrights will be partnered with directors to develop and perform staged readings of never before seen, full-length plays. Plays will be performed every Saturday from March 30 to May 18 in the Coach House at the Berger Park Cultural Center, 6205 N. Sheridan Rd, Chicago, IL. Tickets will be available for $10.00.

Immigrant Artists and Scholars in New York (IASNY) and Nuyorican Poets Cafe present NEW YORK WITH AN ACCENT tonight, March 13, 6-9 pm. Tickets: $8 online; $10, $5 (for students) - at the door.