Daniel Ostling News

The Brothers Karamazov, written and directed by Heidi Stillman, adapted from the novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky and translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky will premiere at The Lookingglass Theatre Company.

Next month, Tony Award-winning director Mary Zimmerman returns to Berkeley Repertory Theatre with an alluring adaptation of The Arabian Nights. This is Zimmerman's sixth trip to Berkeley Rep, and for the first time she works her magic on the intimate Thrust Stage. The Arabian Nights runs from November 13 through January 4 with the official press night on November 19.

Two of opera's leading sopranos - both acclaimed for their dramatic and vocal skills - sing the demanding title role in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor for the first time at the Met this season. In the opening performance, October 3, 2008, Diana Damrau - who last season became the first soprano to achieve the feat of singing both leading soprano roles in Mozart's Die Zauberflote, Pamina and the Queen of the Night, in the same Met season - sings the role of Lucia for the first time in her career. Polish tenor Piotr Beczala is her beloved Edgardo in his Met role debut.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) announced casting today for its upcoming world-premiere production of Brainpeople, written by OBIE Award-winning playwright and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter José Rivera and directed by 2007 OBIE Award-winner Chay Yew. Brainpeople plays at Zeum Theater January 30-February 16. Press night for the production is Saturday, February 2.

Theatre directors Mary Zimmerman, Adrian Noble, Richard Jones and John Doyle will be among those staging operas at the Met during the opera company's 2007-2008 season.

The 2006 Barrymore Awards, celebrating achievement in Philadelphia-area theatre, were announced on October 23rd at the Merriam Theatre

Christopher Durang, Frank Wildhorn, Lauren Kennedy and Jarrod Emick were among those who scored Barrymore Award nominations