David Rooney News

Jackie Hoffman's JACKIE FIVE-OH! has opened to rave reviews and extended its run at Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette Street) through January 17.

Roundabout Theatre Company presents the new Broadway production of Oscar Wilde's comedy The Importance of Being Earnest, directed by and starring Brian Bedford as 'Lady Bracknell,' at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway (227 West 42nd St.).

The original Broadway cast of the smash hit comedy GOD OF CARNAGE comes to the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles for six weeks only! Hear what Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden have to say about the play, which took New York by storm last year.

Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden, the original Tony Award-nominated Broadway cast of the scathingly funny, Tony Award-winning Best Play "God of Carnage," will reunite in Los Angeles for six weeks only to bring this comedy of manners without the manners to the Center Theatre Group's Ahmanson Theatre, April 5 through May 15, 2011.

Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden, the original Tony Award-nominated Broadway cast of the scathingly funny, Tony Award-winning Best Play "God of Carnage," will reunite in Los Angeles for six weeks only to bring this comedy of manners without the manners to the Center Theatre Group's Ahmanson Theatre, April 5 through May 15, 2011. Opening night is April 13.

Michael Cumpsty (one of the recent stars of the hit film 'Eat, Pray, Love') joins the cast of Gingold Theatrical Group's Project Shaw presentation of HEARTBREAK HOUSE, a light comedy about the residents and guests of an English country house crammed full of revelations, romance, and shocking discoveries, just before WWI changes everything -- on Monday, December 20 at 7pm at The Players Club (16 Gramercy Park South) in Manhattan. David Staller produces and directs.

Donny & Marie - A Broadway Christmas, a new holiday production starring America's favorite sibling entertainers, has extended for two performances, now ending on January 2, 2010. The production had been once extended through December 30, 2010. Productions on December 31 and January 2nd have now been added due to demand.

The Oscar-nominated actress Patricia Clarkson - whose many stage credits include the Nicky Silver plays RAISED IN CAPTIVITY and THE MAIDEN'S PRAYER at the Vineyard Theatre - will be the featured guest at a "Vineyard Voices" evening at the theatre (108 E. 15 St.) on Monday, December 13 at 7 p.m., it has been announced by Douglas Aibel, Artistic Director of the Vineyard Theatre.

Jackie Hoffman's JACKIE FIVE-OH! has opened to rave reviews and extended its run at Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette Street) through January 17.

Michael Cumpsty (one of the recent stars of the hit film 'Eat, Pray, Love') joins the cast of Gingold Theatrical Group's Project Shaw presentation of HEARTBREAK HOUSE, a light comedy about the residents and guests of an English country house crammed full of revelations, romance, and shocking discoveries, just before WWI changes everything -- on Monday, December 20 at 7pm at The Players Club (16 Gramercy Park South) in Manhattan. David Staller produces and directs.

The Oscar-nominated actress Patricia Clarkson - whose many stage credits include the Nicky Silver plays RAISED IN CAPTIVITY and THE MAIDEN'S PRAYER at the Vineyard Theatre - will be the featured guest at a "Vineyard Voices" evening at the theatre (108 E. 15 St.) on Monday, December 13 at 7 p.m., it has been announced by Douglas Aibel, Artistic Director of the Vineyard Theatre.

The Break of Noon is Neil LaBute's seventh collaboration with MCC Theater as Playwright-in-Residence, following the 2009 Tony Award-nominated Best Play, Reasons to be Pretty. Renowned for his darkly-comic morality plays (The Shape of Things, In a Dark Dark House), he teams up again with longtime collaborator, director Jo Bonney (Some Girl(s), Fat Pig), for this exploration of the daunting, sometimes harrowing process of 'finding religion.' David Duchovny ('Californication,' 'The X-Files') stars as John Smith, a man who, amidst the chaos and horror of the worst office shooting in American history, sees the face of God. His modern-day revelation creates a maelstrom of disbelief among everyone he knows. A newcomer to faith, John urgently searches for a modern response to the age-old question: at what cost salvation?

The Tony and two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning Vineyard Theatre (108 E. 15 St.) will continue its popular VINEYARD VOICES - a series of panel discussions with leading figures from the theatre community - on Monday, November 22 at 7 p.m. with an evening entitled, "THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS: From Inception to Broadway," it has been announced by Douglas Aibel, Artistic Director of Vineyard Theatre.

Brendan Fraser and Denis O'Hare star in ELLING on Broadway with Jennifer Coolidge in ELLING, new comedy from London, directed by Tony Award-winner Doug Hughes. ELLING began performances Tuesday, November 2, opened Sunday, November 21 on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre 243 West 47th Street and will play a strictly limited engagement through March 20, 2011. ELLING is based on the popular original novels by Ingvar Ambjørnsen and adapted for the Oscar nominated film and the stage by Axel Hellstenius and Petter Næss, in a new English adaptation by critically hailed writer Simon Bent. ELLING played the West End and was nominated for the Lawrence Olivier Award for Comedy of the Year.

The Lincoln Center Theater production of John Guare's new play, A FREE MAN OF COLOR, directed by George C. Wolfe, opened tonight (Thursday, November 18) at 6:45pm at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. The cast features Yao Ababio, Peter Bartlett, Nicole Beharie, Arnie Burton, Rosal Colón, Veanne Cox, Paul Dano, Sara Gettelfinger, Derric Harris, Justina Machado, Joseph Marcell, John McMartin, Nick Mennell, Mos, Teyonnah Parris, Postell Pringle, Esau Pritchett, Brian Reddy, Reg Rogers, Triney Sandoval, Robert Stanton, Wendy Rich Stetson, Jerome Stigler, Senfaub Stoney, David Emerson Toney and Jeffrey Wright.

ELF opened on Sunday, November 14th at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street). ELF is the hilarious tale of Buddy, a young orphan child who mistakenly crawls into Santa's bag of gifts and is transported back to the North Pole. Buddy is raised unaware that he is actually a human, until his enormous size and poor toy-making abilities cause him to face the truth. With Santa's permission, Buddy embarks on a journey to New York City to find his birth father and discover his true identity. Faced with the harsh reality that his father is on the naughty list and his step-brother doesn't even believe in Santa, Buddy is determined to win over his new family and help New York remember the true meaning of Christmas. This modern day Christmas classic is sure to make everyone embrace their inner ELF!

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE is one of Shakespeare's most thrilling and controversial plays, rich with love and betrayal, forgiveness and revenge. The Jewish moneylender Shylock makes a loan to Antonio, a Christian merchant. Their loan contract, steeped in prejudice and centered on the play's infamous 'pound of flesh,' sweeps the two men and everyone in their worlds into chaos. Only the insightful Portia can imagine a way forward, but for her and those she loves, even 'the quality of mercy' has its limits. Al Pacino (Shylock), Lily Rabe (Portia), Byron Jennings (Antonio), Jesse L. Martin (Gratiano), Gerry Bamman (Duke of Venice), Heather Lind (Jessica), Matthew Rauch (Solanio), and Richard Topol (Tubal) reprise their roles in this acclaimed production. New cast members who have joined the Broadway company include Marsha Stephanie Blake (Nerissa), Christopher Fitzgerald (Launcelot Gobbo), David Harbour (Bassanio), Peter Francis James (Salerio), Isaiah Johnson (Prince of Morocco), Charles Kimbrough (Prince of Arragon), and Seth Numrich (Lorenzo).

The Tony and two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning Vineyard Theatre (108 E. 15 St.) will continue its popular VINEYARD VOICES - a series of panel discussions with leading figures from the theatre community - on Monday, November 22 at 7 p.m. with an evening entitled, "THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS: From Inception to Broadway," it has been announced by Douglas Aibel, Artistic Director of Vineyard Theatre.

Based on Reubens' 1981 cult classic stage production, The Pee-Wee Herman Show, with new elements from the ground-breaking CBS show 'Pee-wee's Playhouse' added generously, this new production is written by Paul Reubens and Bill Steinkellner, with additional material by John Paragon. Directed by Alex Timbers (Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson), The Pee-Wee Herman Show will feature music by Jay Cotton and the work of renowned puppetry artist Basil Twist. Direct from its acclaimed, sold-out run in Los Angeles, The Pee-Wee Herman Show began its 48-performance limited run on Tuesday, October 26, 2010 and officially opened on Thursday, November 11 at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre (124 West 43rd street). The engagement will run through January 2.

Former 'Saturday Night Live' and Comedy Central star Colin Quinn moves his one-man show Colin Quinn Long Story Short, directed by Jerry Seinfeld, to Broadway's Helen Hayes Theatre for an 11-week limited engagement. Preview performances began on Friday, October 22nd and will officially open on Tuesday, November 9th. The production will play through Saturday, January 8th. Colin Quinn Long Story Short proves that throughout human history, the joke has always been on us.??The New York Post says of this summer's critically acclaimed Bleecker Street Theatre production that it's 'historical and hysterical. While he dutifully traces his saga from the caveman era to the present, Quinn happens to be very, very funny. Clearly benefited from Seinfeld's influence, with tight pacing and a procession of hilarious one-liners,' while NY1 says, 'The humor is infused with plenty of witty insights...even wisdom.