Charles Dickens News

The Guthrie Theater today announced the 11 productions of its 2020-2021 mainstage season: Noël Coward's hot-blooded comedy Private Lives; Red Hot Patriot, a whip-smart one-woman show starring Kathleen Turner

The Omaha Community Playhouse (OCP) has announced the titles to be produced during their 96th season, which will run from August 2020 through June 2021. Subscriptions for OCP's 2020/21 season are now available for purchase through the OCP Box Office at 6915 Cass Street, Omaha, NE 68132, by phone at (402) 553-0800 or online at OmahaPlayhouse.com.

Theatre in the Round Players (TRP) continues its 68th Season with Barbara Field's adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic Great Expectations, in weekend performances from March 20 through April 12. 

Sometimes it IS enough just to be entertained, ya know? I don't care how socio-politically engaged you are, I think everyone needs at least an occasional break from all the angst and mishegas out there, and that's exactly what Foothill Music Theatre provides with its antic musical comedy 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood.' With book, music and lyrics by Rupert Holmes (yes, he of 'The Pina Colada Song' infamy. Apologies for implanting that deathless ear worm in your head for the rest of the day!), 'Drood' is truly sui generis. Based on an unfinished Charles Dickens novel of the same name, the show reimagines it as performed by a veteran troupe of British Music Hall performers circa 1895. When they reach the point in the story where Dickens left off, the audience is asked to vote on how it ends - who the murderer and secret detective are and - since this is a musical comedy a?' the pair they'd most like to see end up as lovers. The cast then plays out the concluding scenes and songs accordingly. Apparently, there are close to a mind-bogglingly thousand possible combinations, which just adds to the fun and unpredictability of the whole endeavor.

Artistic Director Blake Robison announced Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park's 2020-21 season today, which includes world premieres by Keith Josef Adkins, Deborah Zoe Laufer and Ken Ludwig, along with the U.S. Premiere of David Haig's Pressure.

Milwaukee Rep is pleased to welcome back Lee E. Ernst as Ebenezer Scrooge in the 45th Anniversary production of A Christmas Carol at the historic Pabst Theater November 24 a?" December 24, 2020.  

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis announces a dynamic new set of shows for its 2020-2021 season designed to delight, excite and engage theatregoers like never before.

Florida Repertory Theatre's 2019 PlayLab Festival of New Works kicks off April 30 with readings of six new plays, including one commissioned by Florida Rep for its popular Education Conservatory Program. The Festival also includes a Playwrights' Panel, where the festival playwrights talk about their craft and take questions from the audience.

The Tony® Award-winning Alley Theatre and Artistic Director Rob Melrose has just announced five productions as a part of the 74th season. Subscription renewals for the 2020-21 Alley Theatre season are on sale now. New subscriptions will be on sale May 18, 2020 at alleytheatre.org.

Heather Orth stars as mysterious opium den proprietress Princess Puffer in Foothill Music Theatre's new production of Rupert Holmes' rollicking musical comedy a?oeThe Mystery of Edwin Drood.a?? A Tony Award winner for Best Musical, the show is based on an unfinished novel by Charles Dickens. As the novel was left incomplete, so is the show - up to a point. When the cast reaches the part in the story where Dickens left off, they put a vote to the audience at each performance as to how the show will end. Ms. Orth has been gracing Bay Area stages with astonishing frequency as of late. She possesses a big, flexible voice and the ability to charm the pants off you or break your heart with her emotional transparency. BroadwayWorld caught up with her recently while she was still in the thick of rehearsals for a?oeDrood.a?? She has often played characters older than she is, and as she matures one gets the sense she may just be coming into her own as a musical theater performer, and even bigger opportunities may be on the horizon.

Ford's Theatre Director Paul R. Tetreault today announced the Ford's Theatre 2020-2021 season will include: Horton Foote's The Trip to Bountiful, directed by Michael Wilson and featuring Nancy Robinette; the D.C.-premiere of a new play based on the real-life friendship of contralto Marian Anderson and physicist Albert Einstein titled My Lord, What a Night, written by Deborah Brevoort and directed by Sheldon Epps; the musical Man of La Mancha, featuring Kevin McAllister and directed by Stephen Rayne; and A Christmas Carol featuring Craig Wallace in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge for the fifth year.

Following two years of applauded, in-depth workshop productions, Infinithéàtre continues its mandate of reflecting life in the 21st century with the combined and refined full-scale production of parts 1&2 of Fight On! (Nôtinikiy). With vital, overdue recognition of Indigenous Peoples manifested by Wet'suwet'en supporters joining the protest of Coastal GasLink's pipeline project running through traditional territories, Québec's signing of the Grand Alliance respecting Cree values and wildlife habitat protection in a clear break from colonial policies, and Canada Post honouring Louis Riel and the Red River Resistance with a 150th anniversary commemorative stamp, playwright and Infinithéâtre Artistic Director Guy Sprung's timely examination of Canada's ignoble past is a dynamic bonanza. Blending comedy and Dickensian irony with tragedy, Fight On! is performed mainly in English, with significant characters speaking French, Cree and Kanienʼkéha (Mohawk), from March 16-29 at the beautiful downtown Centre St Jax. There will be moderated talkbacks after a number of performances.

Lantern Theater Company has announced its upcoming 2020/21 season, which will include an ambitious and eclectic mix of classic and contemporary work for the stage. The five plays that comprise the company's mainstage season include Tom Stoppard's Tony Award-winning comic masterpiece Travesties; the Philadelphia premiere of two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage's satirical Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine; Philadelphia legend Frank X in Novecento by Italian writer Alessandro Baricco; Robert Bolt's award-winning classic A Man for All Seasons; and William Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors. The Lantern will also present a remount of its original adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, a new holiday tradition co-created by Philadelphia theater artists Anthony Lawton, Christopher Colucci, and Thom Weaver.

The 46th Season at People's Light invites you to revisit old favorites, find fresh perspectives on timeless classics, and be part of groundbreaking new theatre.

Alexandra Palace's restored Victorian Theatre will present the London premieres of two new productions later this year; Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (30 September a?" 11 October) and a new adaption of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol by Mark Gatiss (27 November a?" 10 January). Tickets for both productions are on sale at www.alexandrapalace.com/whats-on/

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis is kickstarting a brand-new holiday tradition with a fresh spin on an all-time classic.

The spirited and inventive ... the terrifying and riotous ... the beloved and redemptive ... the award-winning and history-making ... the amazing and terrifying ... the vibrant and hopeful. All that and more awaits audiences in Kansas City Repertory Theatre's 2020-2021 season.

The season opens with Clue based on the screenplay by Jonathan Lynn, written by Sandy Rustin, with additional material by Hunter Foster and Eric Price. Based on the Paramount Pictures Motion Picture and the Hasbro board game, this show will be running October 7 - November 1, 2020. Join the iconic oddballs known as Scarlet, Plum, White, Green, Peacock, and Mustard as they race to find the murderer in Boddy Manor before the body count stacks up. Featuring original music by Michael Holland, Clue is a madcap comedy that will keep you guessing until the final twist.

After hearing from educators and district leaders about their struggle to engage high school students in classic literature, the Alliance Theatre is pleased to announce a new playwriting initiative. The Classic Remix Project will commission leading American playwrights to create new works that revitalize, rethink, and respond to classic literary works found in most school curriculums.