Connie Ray News

Buck Creek Players is seeking directors interested in one of two directing opportunities in the 2011-2012 season.

La Jolla Playhouse will present a reading of its commissioned musical Hands on a Hardbody, written by Pulitzer Prize-winner and 2011 Playhouse Gala Honoree Doug Wright (I Am My Own Wife), Amanda Green (High Fidelity) and Trey Anastasio of the popular band Phish. Directed by Neil Pepe (Speed-the-Plow) and choreographed by Benjamin Millipied (Black Swan), the Hands on a Hardbody reading will take place in New York on April 8th and 9th (by invitation).

La Jolla Playhouse will present a reading of its commissioned musical Hands on a Hardbody, written by Pulitzer Prize-winner and 2011 Playhouse Gala Honoree Doug Wright (I Am My Own Wife), Amanda Green (High Fidelity) and Trey Anastasio of the popular band Phish. Directed by Neil Pepe (Speed-the-Plow) and choreographed by Benjamin Millipied (Black Swan), the Hands on a Hardbody reading will take place in New York on April 8th and 9th (by invitation).

Host Andy Cohen joined honorary chairs Hugh Dancy, Claire Daines, David Duchovny and Téa Leoni for MCC's annual MISCAST Gala. This one-night-only musical spectacular featured Broadway's hottest stars performing songs from roles in which they would never be cast. All proceeds from Miscast 2011 provide general operating support for MCC Theater. BroadwayWorld was on hand for the event and brings you photo coverage below!

MCC Theater (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) will celebrate the company's 25th anniversary by honoring a host of MCC artists past and present at Miscast 2011. This highly anticipated annual gala will take place on Monday, March 14, 2011 at The Hammerstein Ballroom (311 West 34th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues). Andy Cohen (Host of Bravo TV's 'Watch What Happens Live') will host the evening. David Duchovny (star of the recent MCC Theater hit, The Break of Noon), Téa Leoni, Hugh Dancy (star of yet another recent MCC hit, The Pride) and Claire Danes are this year's honorary chairs. Funds raised from Miscast help MCC Theater produce some of the most talked-about new work Off Broadway and support their Youth Company and in-school partnerships that serve New York City public high school students, as well as their literary development work with emerging playwrights.

MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, William Cantler, Artistic Directors; Blake West, Executive Director) has announced fabulous additions to their all-star line-up for the company's highly anticipated 25th anniversary gala honoring a host of MCC artists past and present at Miscast 2011. Complementing the glittering, previously announced Miscast will be Christian Borle (Angels In America, Legally Blonde), Justin Guarini ('American Idol,' American Idiot, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) and Josh Henry (Scottsboro Boys, American Idiot). Andy Cohen (Host of Bravo TV's 'Watch What Happens Live') will host the evening, which will take place Monday, March 14, 2011 at The Hammerstein Ballroom (311 West 34th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues).

Carolyn Rossi Copeland & AG Funding will present a special invitational reading of the new musical AMAZING GRACE, with music & lyrics by Christopher Smith and book by Mr. Smith & Arthur Giron, for two performances on Thursday, February 10th and Friday, February 11th at 3 p.m. at The New 42nd Street Studios (229 West 42nd Street)

Carolyn Rossi Copeland & AG Funding will present a special invitational reading of the new musical AMAZING GRACE, with music & lyrics by Christopher Smith and book by Mr. Smith & Arthur Giron, for two performances on Thursday, February 10th and Friday, February 11th at 3 p.m. at The New 42nd Street Studios (229 West 42nd Street)

MCC Theater (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) will celebrate the company's 25th anniversary by honoring a host of MCC artists past and present at Miscast 2011. This highly anticipated annual gala will take place on Monday, March 14, 2011 at The Hammerstein Ballroom (311 West 34th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues). Andy Cohen (Host of Bravo TV's 'Watch What Happens Live') will host the evening. David Duchovny (star of the recent MCC Theater hit, The Break of Noon), Téa Leoni, Hugh Dancy (star of yet another recent MCC hit, The Pride) and Claire Danes are this year's honorary chairs. Funds raised from Miscast help MCC Theater produce some of the most talked-about new work Off Broadway and support their Youth Company and in-school partnerships that serve New York City public high school students, as well as their literary development work with emerging playwrights.

2010 was quite a year for Broadway with some spectacular opening nights. We'll be sharing highlights from the year in photos, videos, interviews and more throughout this final week of the year. First off is a look at some of the star and excitement filled opening night curtain calls of 2010. Photos by Walter McBride / WM Photos / Corbis

Now onstage at Crossville's Cumberland County Playhouse is Sanders Family Christmas, the second part of the trilogy, in which the gospel-singing family returns to Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church for a Christmas Eve singing in 1941, just two days before son Dennis ('He's the boy!') leaves to join the Marines and go off to the big adventure that is World War II. The Playhouse has been very good to the Sanders Family over the years (in fact, next year Smoke on the Mountain will start its 18th annual season at the venue) and, in turn, the Sanders Family has been very good to the Playhouse, bringing in countless devoted and new fans for the theater. And it's easy to see why.

Martha Wilkinson directs a cast of Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre favorites in the upcoming Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming, the latest installment of the Sanders Family trilogy, conceived by Alan Bailey and written by Connie Ray. With Tim Fudge (who directed the last installment - Sanders Family Christmas - during the holiday season) as music director, the show runs July 22-August 28.

Martha Wilkinson directs a cast of Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre favorites in the upcoming Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming, the latest installment of the Sanders Family trilogy, conceived by Alan Bailey and written by Connie Ray. With Tim Fudge (who directed the last installment - Sanders Family Christmas - during the holiday season) as music director, the show runs July 22-August 28.

There comes a moment late in act two of the Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre production of Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming when now-married, about-to-give-birth daughter June Sanders Oglethorpe delivers a beautiful monologue in which she talks about her love for her family, her excitement at being a new mother, her devotion to her preacher husband's work and what it means to leave home and family for a new life adventure.

Martha Wilkinson directs a cast of Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre favorites in the upcoming Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming, the latest installment of the Sanders Family trilogy, conceived by Alan Bailey and written by Connie Ray. With Tim Fudge (who directed the last installment - Sanders Family Christmas - during the holiday season) as music director, the show runs July 22-August 28.

Martha Wilkinson directs a cast of Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre favorites in the upcoming Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming, the latest installment of the Sanders Family trilogy, conceived by Alan Bailey and written by Connie Ray. With Tim Fudge (who directed the last installment - Sanders Family Christmas - during the holiday season) as music director, the show runs July 22-August 28.

The Tony-nominated Best Play NEXT FALL, presented by Elton John & David Furnish, written by Geoffrey Nauffts and directed by Tony nominee Sheryl Kaller, will play its final performance at Broadway's Helen Hayes Theatre (240 West 44th Street) on Sunday, July 4, 2010 after 26 previews and 132 regular performances.

The Tony-nominated Best Play NEXT FALL, presented by Elton John & David Furnish, written by Geoffrey Nauffts and directed by Tony nominee Sheryl Kaller, will play its final eight performances this week at Broadway's Helen Hayes Theatre (240 West 44th Street).

The Tony-nominated Best Play NEXT FALL, presented by Elton John & David Furnish, written by Geoffrey Nauffts and directed by Tony nominee Sheryl Kaller, will play its final performance at Broadway's Helen Hayes Theatre (240 West 44th Street) on Sunday, July 4, 2010 after 26 previews and 132 regular performances.

The Tony-nominated Best Play NEXT FALL, presented by Elton John & David Furnish, written by Geoffrey Nauffts and directed by Tony nominee Sheryl Kaller, which has now played 26 previews and 132 regular shows will close on July 4th on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre.