Bob Davis News

If the homespun humor and quirky philosophizing that comes to you live from Lake Woebegone via A Prairie Home Companion warms you up on a cold winter's night, then NICE FISH is your cup of cocoa. The brainchild of Mark Rylance and Louis Jenkins, based on Jenkins' offbeat down home prose poems written over the course of 50 years, NICE FISH is a somewhat surrealistic tale of those hearty folk who search for solace on the frozen lakes of Minnesota and spiritual solitude in the murky depths of their own minds.

We're just three days into the New Year, and we can't wait for all the new shows set to open around the corner from Broadway! Below, BroadwayWorld brings you a look at some of the upcoming plays and musicals from The Public, Classic Stage, Atlantic Theater, Second Stage, Manhattan Theatre Club, Signature Theatre, Roundabout, the Encores! series and more, currently slated to open off-Broadway in 2016!

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University, under the leadership of Artistic Director Diane Paulus and Executive Director Diane Quinn, is pleased to present the new American play Nice Fish, conceived, written, and adapted by Mark Rylance and Louis Jenkins, and directed by Claire van Kampen.

No one does Shakespeare like Ten Thousand Things. They manage to boil the text down to its bare essentials, and convey the heart of the story in a way that feels fresh and modern. This season they bring their unique Shakespeare style to perhaps his most well-know play, the story of star-crossed lovers that inspired all others, Romeo and Juliet. In the typically minimalist production (since TTT performs on location at prisons, homeless shelters, and community centers, the paid public performances are also in a small, fully lit room with little in the way of sets and costumes), director Peter Rothstein and his fantastic cast of eight playing multiple characters bring this familiar story to life in a unique way.

Tuesday, October 22 marks the first day of rehearsal for the Guthrie Theater's 2013 production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, presented by U.S. Bank. The perennial holiday favorite, now in its 39th year at the Guthrie, features a script by British playwright Crispin Whittell and is directed by Joe Chvala. Chvala is the founder and artistic director of the Flying Foot Forum and has previously served as both director and movement director for the production. Longtime Guthrie actor J.C. Cutler will reprise the role of grubby miser Ebenezer Scrooge. Cutler has been involved in 30 productions at the Guthrie since 1993, including five productions of A Christmas Carol - appearing as Ebenezer Scrooge (2011), Bob Cratchit (1995, 1997), Banker (1996) and Young Scrooge (1993, 1994) - and was last seen on a Guthrie stage in this past summer's original romantic comedy Pride and Prejudice. Check out a first look at highlights below!

Tuesday, October 22 marks the first day of rehearsal for the Guthrie Theater's 2013 production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, presented by U.S. Bank. The perennial holiday favorite, now in its 39th year at the Guthrie, features a script by British playwright Crispin Whittell and is directed by Joe Chvala. Chvala is the founder and artistic director of the Flying Foot Forum and has previously served as both director and movement director for the production. Longtime Guthrie actor J.C. Cutler will reprise the role of grubby miser Ebenezer Scrooge. Cutler has been involved in 30 productions at the Guthrie since 1993, including five productions of A Christmas Carol - appearing as Ebenezer Scrooge (2011), Bob Cratchit (1995, 1997), Banker (1996) and Young Scrooge (1993, 1994) - and was last seen on a Guthrie stage in this past summer's original romantic comedy Pride and Prejudice. Check out a first look below!

On August 2, 2013, the ballot tabulation of the Twin Cities Local election was conducted.

Inspired by the life and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., author Tricia J Culverhouse also believe in a dream that someday all will live in a world of justice, freedom, and peace. Her new publication, A Story of Twindom, takes the readers into an unforgettable journey where this dream comes true. This book is a perfect blend of history, fantasy and allegory in which the elements interact and intertwine in unexpected ways to create a unique tapestry.

The beguiling thriller SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SUICIDE CLUB, a new script by Jeffrey Hatcher, takes the Park Square stage tonight for a week of previews before opening on June 14.

The beguiling thriller SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SUICIDE CLUB, a new script by Jeffrey Hatcher, takes the Park Square stage next Friday for a week of previews before opening on June 14. A fast-paced mash-up of the unforgettable characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyleand The Suicide Club by Robert Louis Stevenson, this script has its roots in Park Square's last wildly popular homage to the great sleuth, Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily (2010). "David Ira Goldstein (Artistic Director of the Arizona Theatre Company, former Artistic Director of Actor's Theatre of Saint Paul) and Jeff Hatcher were in the audience at that show," explains Park Square Artistic Director Richard Cook. "Jeff boasted he could write an even better Sherlock and David Ira said 'then I'll commission it.'" David Mann directs and Steve Hendrickson returns once again as the absurdly smart Holmes, this time in a thriller with multiple murders in which Holmes is either target or suspect. Three performances have been added to meet the demand for tickets.

Saturday, May 18, marks the closing of the daring and original world premiere play Nice Fish-written by Mark Rylance and Louis Jenkins, dedicated to Nataasha van Kampen and James Hillman.

Tonight marks the opening of the world premiere of Nice Fish, a play by Mark Rylance and Louis Jenkins, dedicated to Nataasha van Kampen and James Hillman. Get a first look at Rylance and the cast in action below!

Two-time Tony Award winner Mark Rylance and the cast of Nice Fish recently ventured out onto Minnesota's Silver Lake for an ice fishing expedition, a detour into a first-hand experience of the frozen north.

Park Square closes its season June 2013 with the beguiling thriller SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SUICIDE CLUB, a new script by Jeffrey Hatcher. A fast-paced mash-up of the unforgettable characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and 'The Suicide Club' by Robert Louis Stevenson, this script has its roots in Park Square's last wildly popular homage to the great sleuth, Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily (2010). "David Ira Goldstein (Artistic Director of the Arizona Theatre Company, former Artistic Director of Actor's Theatre of Saint Paul) and Jeff Hatcher were in the audience at that show," explains Park Square Artistic Director Richard Cook. "Jeff boasted he could write an even better Sherlock and David Ira said 'then I'll commission it.'" David Mann directs and Steve Hendrickson returns once again as the absurdly smart Holmes, this time in a thriller with multiple murders in which Holmes is either target or suspect.

The Guthrie Theater today announced complete casting for its world premiere of Nice Fish by Mark Rylance and Louis Jenkins, dedicated to Nataasha van Kampen and James Hillman. The production will be directed by Rylance and Claire van Kampen (who also contributes original music) and will feature Rylance as Ron as well as actors Jim Lichtscheidl (Guthrie: Arms and the Man, The 39 Steps) as Eric, Emily Swallow (Guthrie: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, A Midsummer Night's Dream; Television: the upcoming TNT series "Monday Mornings") as Flo and Chris Carlson (Guthrie: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, God of Carnage) as Wayne in a humorous and mythic story based on Jenkins' prose poetry and taking place on the frozen waters of the Upper Midwest on the last day of ice fishing season. Nice Fish also features Bob Davis (Guthrie: Tales from Hollywood, Arsenic and Old Lace) as DNR Officer and Tyson Forbes (Guthrie: Peer Gynt, 1776) as Wainwright.

You would have to be some sort of modern-day Ebenezer Scrooge-mean and spiteful, unfeeling and cold-not to be totally captivated by Irving Berlin's White Christmas, the exuberant stage musical based on the classic holiday film that many hold dear and now onstage at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall through Sunday, November 18.

The Guthrie Theater today announced the full cast and creative team for the Theater's 2012 production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, presented by U.S. Bank. The perennial holiday favorite, now in its 38th year at the Guthrie, will feature a script by British playwright Crispin Whittell and be directed by Joe Chvala. Chvala is the founder and artistic director of the Flying Foot Forum and has previously served as movement director for the production. Longtime Guthrie actor J.C. Cutler will take on the role of grubby miser Ebenezer Scrooge. Cutler has been involved in 30 productions at the Guthrie since 1993, including five productions of A Christmas Carol - appearing as Ebenezer Scrooge (2011), Bob Cratchit (1995, 1997), Banker (1996) and Young Scrooge (1993, 1994) - and was last seen on a Guthrie stage in this past spring's American premiere of Conor McPherson's The Birds.

Kicking off its 50th season, Minneapolis' own Guthrie Theater debuted Christopher Hampton's, TALES FROM HOLLYWOOD, a dizzyingly dark and absurdist comedy of the lives and work of Bertolt Brecht, Heinrich and Thomas Mann, and their emigre (or more appropriately-exiled) novelists and screen-writers as they flee Nazi-occupied Europe for Los Angeles. Fascism, capitalism and the role of the writer are at odds as director, Ethan McSweeny, cleverly weaves historical insight into this 'film within a play' staging style, taking audiences on a whirlwind of philosophical discourse and witty banter.