Bill Rauch News

a??a??a??a??a??a??a??The Association for Theatre in Higher Education named Randy Reinholz (Choctaw), the recipient of their most prestigious honor, named for Ellen Stewart, well-known Artistic Director of the acclaimed La MaMa Theater in New York. Reinholz, a celebrated leader in the field of theater and higher education, has been at the forefront of equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice for 25 years as the Founder and Producing Artistic Director of Native Voices at the Autry, the only Equity theater company wholly dedicated to developing and producing Native American plays.

Producers announced today final casting and the opening night for Tony Award & Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan's THE GREAT SOCIETY, his new play celebrating Lyndon B. Johnson's legacy, directed by Bill Rauch (All the Way). The Great Society continues the journey begun by All the Way.

Additional casting has been announced for The Great Society, coming to Broadway this fall!

Future IDs at Alcatraz, a yearlong project, exhibition, and series of monthly public programs on view in the New Industries Building on Alcatraz Island until October 2019, brings attention to criminal justice reform efforts and second chances. The exhibition encourages the viewer to reevaluate ideas about rehabilitation, reentry, and reintegration, which features ID inspired artwork created by individuals who have a conviction history as they conceive and develop a vision for a future self.

Tony Award & Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan will return to Broadway with the second of his two exhilarating dramas celebrating Lyndon B. Johnson's legacy: THE GREAT SOCIETY. This new play is the companion piece to Schenkkan's Tony Award winning All The Way, depicting the tumultuous times that led to the conclusion of the Johnson presidency in 1968.

The Board of Directors of the Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center today announced the appointment of Leslie Koch as its next President. Koch succeeds Maggie Boepple, the Perelman's current President who has worked on the project since 2012 and will continue to serve as an advisor.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for U.S. theatre, is pleased to announce the recipients of Audience (R)Evolution Exploration Grants.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival will open two new plays in early July with origins at the festival: La Comedia of Errors and Indecent.

David R. Jimenez, President of the Board of Directors of Hartford Stage, and incoming Artistic DirectorMelia Bensussen have announced the appointment of Cynthia Rideras Managing Director of the Tony Award-winning theatre. Rider, who previously served as Executive Director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, will assume the role in July. She takes over the position from Michael Stotts, who departed from the theatre in January.

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF), the not-for-profit foundation of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), announced today that nominations for the Zelda Fichandler Award, for a director or choreographer who is transforming theatre in the Central Region, are now being accepted through July 2, 2019.

The African-American Shakespeare Company will bring a bold, updated, modern-verse version of Macbeth to the Taube Atrium Theater in San Francisco for a series of six performances only. The adaptation-which will feature a more potent and alluring trio of witches than usually seen-is by playwright Migdalia Cruz, and was originally written for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Play On series. This is its West Coast debut. 

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival invites audiences to enjoy two plays by William Shakespeare-plus one about a young girl with a crucial superpower, curiosity, and the beloved fantastical dream adventure in which she tries to figure out how to stay true to who she is-under the stars when its flagship outdoor theatre opens the weekend of June 7-9, 2019. The Allen Elizabethan Theatre will feature Macbeth, directed by Jose Luis Valenzuela; Alice in Wonderland, adapted from Lewis Carroll by Eve Le Gallienne and Florida Friebus, directed by Sara Bruner; and All's Well That Ends Well, directed by Tracy Young. Previews begin May 28, and all three shows will run through the weekend of October 11-13.

Play On Shakespeare today announces an expansive list of compelling actors and dynamic directors confirmed to participate in the Play on! Festival, presented in association with Classic Stage Company (CSC) and Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF). Play on! features 39 readings of new, work-in-progress translations of Shakespeare's plays into contemporary modern English by some of today's most exciting playwrights-May 29-June 30 at the Lynn F. Angelson Theater at CSC (136 E. 13th Street). In 2015, Oregon Shakespeare Festival launched an ambitious 39-play, three-year commissioning project, Play on!, tasking 36 playwrights-more than half of whom were women and playwrights of color, each paired with a dramaturg-to translate Shakespeare's canon in celebration of the enduring impact of the Bard's work. Supported by a generous grant from the Hitz Foundation and inspired by long-time patron Dave Hitz's passion for Shakespeare, the project was and continues to be led by Lue Morgan Douthit. For more information, visit playonfestival.org.

Artists from across the nation travel to Kansas for the 38th Annual William Inge Theater Festival, to celebrate playwright Octavio Solis, one of this country's leading storytellers of the Hispanic-American experience. Solis will be honored as the recipient of the 2019 Distinguished Achievement in American Theater Award.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) Incoming Artistic Director Nataki Garrett and Artistic Director Bill Rauch announced the Festival's 2020 playbill today. The season celebrates OSF's ongoing commitment to the work of Shakespeare, imaginative adaptations of beloved classics and illuminating new plays in a Jubilee year that includes two world-premiere American Revolutions commissions for only the second time in the Festival's history.

Closing out the Town Hall Theatre 2018/19 Lost & Found Season with a bang is WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN, a sizzling musical farce of female resilience, with book by Jeffrey Lane, music and lyrics by David Yazbek, based on the Academy Award nominated film by Pedro Almod var. WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN will have 12 performances, including two previews, May 30 through June 22, 2019, at Town Hall Theatre Company, 3535 School Street, in Lafayette, CA. Tickets are $18 - $35, and are available through the Box Office at (925) 283-1557 or online at www.TownHallTheatre.com.

The Actors' Gang presents VIOLENCE: The Misadventures of Spike Spangle, Farmer, written by The Actors' Gang Artistic Director Tim Robbins and Adam Simon and directed by Bob Turton, who was most recently seen at The Actors' Gang as "The Maniac" in Accidental Death of an Anarchist. This no-holds barred satire of militarism and media manipulation begins performances May 2nd (Press Opening May 11th at 8:00pm) and will run Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, through June 22nd. 

Play On Shakespeare in association with Classic Stage Company (CSC) and Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) presents the Play on! festival-featuring 39 readings of new, work-in-progress translations of Shakespeare's plays into contemporary modern English by some of today's most exciting playwrights-May 29-June 30 at the Lynn F. Angelson Theater at CSC (136 E. 13th Street).In 2015, Oregon Shakespeare Festival launched an ambitious 39-play, three-year commissioning project, Play on!, tasking 36 playwrights-more than half of whom were women and playwrights of color, each paired with a dramaturg-to translate Shakespeare's canon in celebration of the enduring impact of the Bard's work. Supported by a generous grant from the Hitz Foundation and inspired by long-time patron Dave Hitz's passion for Shakespeare, the project was and continues to be led by Lue Morgan Douthit. For more information, visit playonfestival.org.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre today announced the full cast for the world premiere of Kiss My Aztec! John Leguizamo teams up with Artistic Director Tony Taccone for this musical comedy, following their collaboration on the hit one-man show Latin History for Morons, which received its world premiere at Berkeley Rep before heading to Broadway. Leguizamo will serve as co-writer and co-lyricist only for Kiss My Aztec! - 11 other talented actors will perform in this production. Taccone will also direct.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) announces today that Nataki Garrett will become its sixth artistic director in August 2019, succeeding Bill Rauch. The announcement by OSF Emeritus Board Chair and Search Committee Chair Gail Lopes ends a nearly yearlong search.