Bill Rauch News

En Garde Arts presents Asiimwe Deborah Kawe and Sean Christopher Lewis's Red Hills, returning the company to its trailblazing site-specific origins with a work that speaks "precisely to its time" (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). This haunting two-person play follows an American and a Rwandan who, as teens during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, shared a chance encounter that changed them forever. En Garde, with director Katie Pearl, has adapted Red Hills to a New York-specific space: an empty floor in a downtown office building one block from Wall Street, where it will run from June 6-July 1.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival will open Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, directed by OSF Artistic Director Bill Rauch, on April 22 in the Angus Bowmer Theatre. Preview performances are April 18, 20 and 21, and the musical runs through Oct. 27.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) Artistic Director Bill Rauch announced the Festival's 2019 playbill today. The season, which will be Rauch's last at the artistic helm, celebrates Shakespeare, classics and new plays, including two American Revolutions commissions and a pilot Community Visit Project that will take a bilingual Play on! translation into community venues throughout the region.

 The Oregon Shakespeare Festival will present the world premiere of Manahatta by Mary Kathryn Nagle, directed by Laurie Woolery, on April 1, 2018, in the Thomas Theatre. Preview performances are March 28, 30 and 31, and the play runs through Oct. 27.

The Actors' Gang has announced an extension of "The New Colossus" due to strong ticket sales. The production will now continue through May 12 at The Actors' Gang Theater. Directed by Tim Robbins and written The Actors' Gang ensemble and The Actors' Gang's Artistic Director, Tim Robbins. The world premiere of The New Colossus began previews on February 8 and opened on February 17, 2018. Six new performances have been added on Saturday nights at 8:00pm - April 7, 14, 21, 28, May 5, and closing night, May 12.

Rehearsals began this week for Head Over Heels, the new musical comedy featuring the iconic songs of The Go-Go's - the most successful female rock band of all time. Prior to its Broadway bow,Head Over Heels will play a limited engagement at San Francisco's Curran theater from April 10, 2018 through May 6, 2018 (opening night is Wednesday, April 18).

Asolo Rep will host Inside Asolo Rep: RHINOCEROS and ROE on Wednesday, February 28 at 11am, with refreshments at 10:30am. This insightful behind-the-scenes panel will feature Frank Galati (Director, RHINOCEROS), Lavina Jadhwani (Director, ROE), Peggy Roeder (Queen Elizabeth, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE; Mrs. Boeuf, RHINOCEROS); and Terri Weagant (Norma McCorvey, ROE). The discussion will be moderated by Asolo Rep Dramaturg and Literary Manager Paul Adolphsen.

The Board of Directors for The Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center (The Perelman Center) today announced the appointment of Bill Rauch - an acknowledged leader in American theater, as the head of its artistic team, planning for The Perelman's opening season. Working with the organization's Board of directors, president and The Perelman team, Rauch joins The Perelman's leadership following his twelve-year tenure as Artistic Director of The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF). The Perelman Center will be New York City's newest state-of-the-art performing arts venue, and is the final component of the original World Trade Center 'Master Plan.'

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) announced today that Artistic Director Bill Rauch will leave OSF in August 2019 to assume artistic leadership of The Ronald O. Perelman Center for Performing Arts at the World Trade Center in New York City.

Asolo Rep continues its record-breaking season with Lisa Loomer's ROE, a poignant new play that humanizes and examines both sides of one of the most polarizing Supreme Court cases of all time: Roe v. Wade. Asolo Rep is proud to be only the fourth theater in the country to be granted the rights to this must-see production. Directed by Lavina Jadhwani and based on the original production directed by Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Artistic Director Bill Rauch,  ROE previews March 14 and 15, opens March 16, and runs in rotating repertory through April 15 in the Mertz Theatre, located in the FSU Center for the Performing Arts.

Carole Shorenstein Hays announced today that single tickets are now available for Head Over Heels, the new musical comedy featuring the iconic songs of The Go-Go's-the most successful female rock band of all time. Directed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Spring Awakening), Head Over Heels will perform at the Curran (445 Geary St., San Francisco) April 10-May 6, 2018 ahead of its Broadway premiere (opening July 26 at Hudson Theatre).

Two River Theater will be presenting the world premiere of 'The Bridge of San Luis Rey' by Thornton Wilder from 2/17 to 3/18. Directed by Ken Rus Schmoll, it has been adapted for the stage by and stars David Greenspan. Broadwayworld.com had the pleasure of interviewing Zachary Infante who plays Esteban in The Bridge of San Luis Rey.

The Tony Award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival will launch its 83nd year with preview performances beginning on February 16. The 2018 season officially kicks off Friday night, February 23, in the Angus Bowmer Theatre with Shakespeare's Othello (director, Bill Rauch). On Saturday afternoon, Shakespeare's Henry V (director, Rosa Joshi) opens in the Thomas Theatre, and the West Coast premiere of Kate Hamill's adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Sense and Sensibility (director, Hana S. Sharif) opens that evening in the Angus Bowmer Theatre. On Sunday afternoon, Karen Zacarias's Destiny of Desire (director, Jose Luis Valenzuela) will be staged in the Angus Bowmer Theatre.

The nominees for the 2018 Helen Hayes Awards were announced on February 5, 2018. One of the country's most prestigious cultural honors, The Helen Hayes Awards recognizes and celebrates excellence in professional theatre throughout the Washington metropolitan area. The National Theatre's Helen Hayes Gallery set the scene for the announcement of nominees in 47 categories for artistic excellence, and the theatre companies eligible for the 2017 John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company. The recipient of the 2018 Helen Hayes Tribute will be announced shortly.

Could Lisa Loomer's new play Roe be heading to Broadway soon? Cindy Adams of Page Six has reported that the play, about Roe v. Wade, 1973's historic Supreme Court decision legalizing a woman's right to an abortion, will be produced by Daryl Roth and is eying Broadway.

WaterTower Theatre Artistic Director, Joanie Schultz, today announced details for the inaugural DETOUR: A Festival of New Work (March 1 - 4, 2018). This year's Festival will consist of four new play readings, three devised works, and two "late nite" performances.  Highlights from this year's Festival include a reading from Oregon Shakespeare Festival's "Play On!" initiative commissioning modern adaptations of 39 of Shakespeare's works, three new works from rising company Dark Circles Contemporary Dance, the next installment of Brigham Mosley's laugh-out-loud creation, Movies That Should Be Musicals, and more.

Tonight, live from the stage of the Bowery Ballroom, it was announced that Head Over Heels, the new musical comedy featuring the iconic songs ofThe Go-Go's - the most successful female rock band of all time - will officially open on Broadway at Hudson Theatre (141 West 44th Street) on Thursday, July 26, 2018 (performances begin Saturday, June 23). The announcement was delivered by The Go-Go's alongside the musical's director Michael Mayer. Prior to its Broadway bow, Head Over Heels will play a limited engagement at San Francisco's Curran theater from April 10, 2018 through May 6, 2018 (opening night is Wednesday, April 18).

Actors' Equity Association named Bill Rauch, Artistic Director of Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) as recipient of the Ivy Bethune Award at an award ceremony today in OSF's Thomas Theatre.

Actors' Equity Association named Bill Rauch, Artistic Director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF), as recipient of the Ivy Bethune Award at an award ceremony in OSF's Thomas Theatre.

The Actors' Gang presents The New Colossus, a new play written by The Actors' Gang ensemble and directed by Actors' Gang Artistic Director Tim Robbins. The New Colossus begins previews on Thursday, February 8, has its world premiere on Saturday, February 17 and runs through Saturday, March 24, 2018.