Charles Abbott News

The Greenhouse Theater Center is pleased to announce its 2017-18 Season, kicking off this summer with Artistic Director Jacob Harvey and Elizabeth Margolius' bold reimagining of Sophie Treadwell's most celebrated play MACHINAL, inspired by the first woman to be executed by the electric chair. 

Cleveland Play House's Outcalt Theatre will be transformed into the rent-controlled apartment of ex-cop Walter 'Pops' Washington in the bold, fresh, and unfiltered work of renowned playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis. Packed with irreverent humor, lightning-quick dialogue, and tremendous heart, Between Riverside and Crazy is the Pulitzer Prize-winning dark comedy about family, pride, and redemption.

The Chicago Premiere of playwright Matty Selman's "Uncle Philip's Coat" will run at the Greenhouse Theater Center (2257 N. Lincoln Ave) Nov. 27 - Dec. 31. Directed by Elizabeth Margoliusand starring Gene Weygandt (best known as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in "Wicked" in Chicago and on Broadway), "Uncle Philip's Coat" follows Matty on his humorous and heartfelt journey of personal discovery, sparked by his inheritance of a tattered coat from his eccentric Russian-Jewish immigrant uncle Philip. 

Greenhouse Theater Center will continue its popular Solo Celebration! series with the Chicago premiere of UNCLE PHILIP'S COAT, Matty Selman's hilarious and heartbreaking show about a Jewish man's search for his place in his family's history, starring veteran Broadway and Chicago actor and three-time Jeff Award-winner Gene Weygandt.

Walnut Street Theatre opens its landmark 208th season with Rodgers and Hammerstein's Tony Award-winning romantic musical, SOUTH PACIFIC. Directed by Charles Abbott, with choreography by Michelle Gaudette, this production begins previews on September 6th, opens on September 14th and runs through October 23rd on the Walnut's Mainstage.

The Chicago Premiere of playwright Matty Selman's "Uncle Philip's Coat" will run at the Greenhouse Theater Center (2257 N. Lincoln Ave) Nov. 27 - Dec. 31. Directed by Elizabeth Margoliusand starring Gene Weygandt (best known as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in "Wicked" in Chicago and on Broadway), "Uncle Philip's Coat" follows Matty on his humorous and heartfelt journey of personal discovery, sparked by his inheritance of a tattered coat from his eccentric Russian-Jewish immigrant uncle Philip. 

Director Joshua Chase Gold has been selected to be the 2016 SDCF Charles Abbott Fellow. He will be assisting Charles Abbott on his production of South Pacific at Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, PA.

The New York Musical Festival (NYMF) presents ULTIMATE MAN! a new colorful adventure with comic overtones with a book by Jane Edith Wilson & Charles Abbott, music By Alastair William King, and lyrics by Paul Gambaccini, Alastair William King & Jane Edith Wilson. Charles Abbott directs a cast of six including Gayle Samuels, Douglas Ladnier, Alan Gillespie, Michael Glavan, Joyah Love Spangler and Sidney Fischer. ULTIMATE MAN! is an official selection of the 2016 New York Musical Festival and is being staged at The Pearl Theatre, 555 West 42nd Street (bet. 10th and 11th Aves.) in NYC for five performances from July 19-26, 2016.

New York/Seattle-based director Brandon Ivie (Jasper in Deadland, Lizard Boy) has been named as the new Associate Artistic Director of Village Theatre. Ivie's main role will be as creative lead on new musical development through the company's Village Originals program, beginning July 1.

The New York Musical Festival (NYMF), previously known as The New York Musical Theatre Festival, confirmed the complete slate of programming and venues for NYMF 2016, taking place from July 11 through August 7 in Midtown Manhattan.

This year, Walnut Street Theatre's annual Gala will take place on Friday, May 6. The evening will begin with a one-night-only concert titled Come Hear the Music Play: An Evening of Kander & Ebb. Some of Philadelphia's favorite performers will take the stage to 'Give 'em the old Razzle Dazzle.' Guests will enjoy performances by: Charles Abbott, Sara Brophy, Jennie Eisenhower, Cameron Flurry, Laura Giknis, Lexi Gwynn, Joliet F. Harris, Billy D. Hart, Heidi Hayes, Melissa Joy Hart, Jesse Jones, Liam Keenan, John Charles Kelly, Cambria Klein, Ben Lipitz, Forrest McClendon, Ellie Mooney, Craig Mulhern Jr., Nichalas L. Parker, Owen Pelesh, Lyn Philistine, Fran Prisco, Jenny Lee Stern, Christopher Sutton, Tara Tagliaferro, Denise Whelan and Jacob Wilner. Following the Gala Concert, a sold-out, swanky speakeasy VIP Party will be held on the Thomas Jefferson University Campus in the Jefferson Alumni Hall Atrium.

This Fellowship will continue to present a new generation of gifted artists with a remarkable education in - and unique understanding of - the directorial skills necessary to create musical theatre, the workings of regional theatre, and the leadership of those artists shaping the regional arts landscape.

?Tony Award nominee David Garrison, Sean Hudock and Ellen Foley will appear in an industry reading of writer and film executive Michael Menzies' new play DEEPLY SUPERFICIAL. 

“We came up with this pitch that alliterates,” says Maine State Music Theatre's Managing Director Stephanie Dupal of the theatre's description of their upcoming 2016 summer season. “Relive the romance of Ghost; feel the fire of Evita; welcome the warmth of Fiddler; and experience the excitement of Mama Mia,” she recites. Joined by Artistic Director Curt Dale Clark, the pair is talking about their plans for their main stage productions and the various new initiatives this dynamic team has launched since taking the helm of the company's leadership in 2013. By all accounts it is to be a season to surpass even the excellence of the prior ones!

A mishmash of stuffy characters debating over a 'Who done it' and by Act II you might wish There Were None left.

It's Agatha Christie at her murderous best! AND THEN THERE WERE NONE runs at Walnut Street Theatre now through April 26, 2015. Go behind-the-scenes with award-winning director Charles Abbott below!

It's Agatha Christie at her murderous best! AND THEN THERE WERE NONE runs at Walnut Street Theatre now through April 26, 2015. Click below to watch highlights from the show!

It's Agatha Christie at her murderous best! AND THEN THERE WERE NONE runs at Walnut Street Theatre now through April 26, 2015. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast onstage below!

AND THEN THERE WERE NONE is not only Dame Agatha Christie's best-selling novel, but the world's best-selling mystery. Over 100 million copies of the book have been sold to date in 50 different languages. The success of her novel, published in 1939, led to AND THEN THERE WERE NONE becoming her most adapted work. The stage adaptation came in 1943 with a world premiere at the Wimbledon Theatre in London. In November of that same year the production transferred to the West End. Its Broadway premiere came in June, 1944 under the title Ten Little Indians.

Director Charles Abbott and actor Jeremiah James fill the Fulton stage with area native Ken Ludwig's best farce