David Wilson Barnes News

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE presents the world premiere of THESE PAPER BULLETS!, a modish ripoff of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, adapted by Rolin Jones, with songs by Billie Joe Armstrong, and directed by Jackson Gay, March 14-April 5 at the University Theatre (222 York Street). Opening Night is Thursday, March 20.

In Stephen Belber's new play 'The Power of Duff' a lonely newsman seeks redemption by inadvertently turning his anchor desk into a pulpit, working miracles for strangers while still failing to communicate at home.

The Power of Duff playwright Stephen Belber and Trinity College professor of religion in public lifeMark Silk will lead the conversation at the Huntington Theatre Company's Humanities Forum on Sunday, November 3rd following the 2pm performance of Belber's The Power of Duff.

David Wilson Barnes plays Charlie Duff, a burnt-out local newscaster who transforms first his community and then himself when he begins praying on-air in the Huntington Theatre Company's new production of Stephen Belber's moving new drama The Power of Duff. Amy Pietz ("The Office," "Caroline in the City") plays Duff's ex-wife Lisa, and Jennifer Westfeldt (Kissing Jessica Stein, Friends with Kids) plays Sue, Charlie's co-anchor, in the production helmed by Huntington Artistic Director Peter DuBois. Performances began on October 11 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. The Power of Duff is produced in association with New York Stage and Film and Vassar's Powerhouse Theater. BroadwayWorld has photos from the opening night celebrations on October 23rd below -- including Westfeldt's boyfriend Jon Hamm!

Noor Theatre opens the 2013-2014 Season with the return of the fall play-reading series, Highlight, followed by a co-production with the Rutgers/New Jersey Institute of Technology Theatre program in December, and the next phase of The Myth Project in the Spring.

AMC announced today series orders for the scripted dramas 'Halt & Catch Fire' and 'Turn.' This is the first time the network has ordered two scripted series concurrently. Production on each is scheduled for 4th quarter 2013 with both expected to premiere on AMC in 2014.

The third of three world-premieres presented by the 5-time Obie Award-winning Clubbed Thumb in its 18th annual SUMMERWORKS festival of new plays -- LA BREA by Gregory S. Moss -- begins previews June 20 prior to its official press opening June 23 at The Wild Project (195 E. 3 St.) in Manhattan. LA BREA performs daily at 8 p.m. from June 20 to 29. (No performance on June 24.)

The second of three world-premieres presented by the 5-time Obie Award-winning Clubbed Thumb in its 18th annual SUMMERWORKS festival of new plays -- PHOEBE IN WINTER by Jen Silverman -- begins previews June 7 prior to its official press opening June 10 at The Wild Project (195 E. 3 St.) in Manhattan. PHOEBE IN WINTER performs daily at 8 p.m. from June 7 to 16. (No performance on June 11.)

The Off-Broadway League today gave out awards in 14 categories and two additional special awards for the 2013 Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway. The Lortel Awards were handed out on Sunday, May 5, 2013 at NYU Skirball Center, hosted by acclaimed stage and screen actors Aasif Mandvi and Maura Tierney. This year's event once again benefited The Actors Fund.

The Off-Broadway League previously announced award nominations in 14 categories and two additional special awards for the 2013 Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway. The Lortel Awards will be handed out today, May 5, 2013 at NYU Skirball Center beginning at 7:00pm EST, and hosted by acclaimed stage and screen actors Aasif Mandvi and Maura Tierney. This year's event will once again benefit The Actors Fund.

The Off-Broadway League today announced nominations in 14 categories and two additional special awards for the 2013 Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway. The Lortel Awards will be handed out on Sunday, May 5, 2013 at NYU Skirball Center beginning at 7:00pm EST, and hosted by acclaimed stage and screen actors Aasif Mandvi and Maura Tierney. This year's event will once again benefit The Actors Fund.

MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, William Cantler, Artistic Directors; Blake West, Executive Director) has just announced that Leslie Bibb (Iron Man, ABC's 'GCB') and Jenna Fischer (NBC's 'The Office') will be making their New York City stage debuts opposite Josh Hamilton (The Coast of Utopia) and Fred Weller (MCC's Still Life and In a Dark Dark House) in the world premiere of MCC Playwright-in-Residence Neil LaBute's new play, Reasons to Be Happy, which LaBute will also direct. Reasons to Be Happy is a companion piece to LaBute's critically-acclaimed award-winning play, Reasons to Be Pretty, first produced at MCC Theater in 2008 before moving to Broadway where it was nominated for three 2009 Tony Awards, including Best Play. Performances begin at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) on May 16, 2013 and continue through June 23, 2013. An official opening is set for June 11, 2013 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are now on sale.

Performances begin tonight for Roundabout Theatre Company's second annual Roundabout Underground Reading Series. The actors involved in the series include: Penn Badgley, David Wilson Barnes, Noah Bean, Reg E. Cathey, Tracee Chimo , Liza Colon-Zayas, Patch Darragh, Erin Gann, Jordan Gelber, Kelli Giddish, Andre Holland, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Ezra Knight, Austin Lysy, Madeleine Martin, Chris Perfetti, Lorenzo Pisoni, Phillipa Soo, Stephen Stout, Andrea Syglowski, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Nitya Vindyasagar, Allison Williams.

MCC Theater presents the New York premiere production of Paul Downs Colaizzo's Really Really, directed by David Cromer (the Obie Award and Lucille Lortel Award-winning director of hits Our Town, Adding Machine and Tribes). The production, which marks Colaizzo's New York playwriting debut, plays at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) through March 10, 2013. The opening was last night, February 19. BroadwayWorld was there for opening night and you can check out photos from the theatre arrivals below!

MCC Theater has announced that MCC Playwright-in-Residence Neil LaBute will direct the world premiere of his new play, Reasons to Be Happy, as part of its 2012-13 Season. Performances of Reasons to Be Happy begin at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) on May 16, 2013 and continue through June 23, 2013. An official opening is set for June 2, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. Additional information, including complete casting, will be announced shortly.

MCC THEATER presents the world premiere production of Don't Go Gentle by Stephen Belber and directed by Lucie Tiberghien, which opened last night, October 14, at the Rattlestick Theater. Don't Go Gentle features David Wilson Barnes (Broadway's The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Becky Shaw at Second Stage), newcomer Maxx Brawer, Michael Cristofer (NBC's hit series "Smash," Broadway's A View from the Bridge with Liev Schreiber), Angela Lewis (Milk Like Sugar at Playwrights Horizons), and Jennifer Mudge (Roundabout Theatre Company's The Philanthropist). BroadwayWorld brings you photos from the big opening below!

MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, William Cantler, Artistic Directors; Blake West, Executive Director) begins previews today for the world premiere production of Don't Go Gentle by Stephen Belber and directed by Lucie Tiberghien, who also directed Belber's play Geometry of Fire at the Rattlestick Theater.

MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, William Cantler, Artistic Directors; Blake West, Executive Director) today announced that individual tickets have gone on-sale for the first show of its 2012-13 season: the world premiere of Stephen Belber's Don't Go Gentle. Performances take place at The Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street) and tickets go on sale at 11AM today Thursday, August 23rd at www.mcctheater.org or by calling (212) 352-3101.

MCC THEATER today announced full casting for Don't Go Gentle and additional casting for Small Engine Repair, two productions in their upcoming 2012-13 season, which marks the company's 27th consecutive year producing and developing new work by today's most provocative and vibrant artists.

It's quite a shame when a well-written, absorbing play has three strikes against it from the onset. Such is the case with The Exorcist by John Pielmeier. The best-selling novel by William Peter Blatty and the 1973 boxoffice blockbuster film of the same name were so powerfully gripping and unforgettable that, with the play coming along 40 years later, for those of us that lived through the nightmare to end all nightmares, we've been there, seen that. For those of a newer, unfamiliar generation, it won't have enough special effects. Wisely, for my generation, the spinning head and green vomit in the original film are not recreated onstage. But, as a result, many may tune out or turn off preferring a midnight screening of the film on Netflix. As I already said, a shame, as Pielmeieir's script is psychologically thrilling on its own, so apt for the mature, questioning adult mind, and the production is extremely well directed by John Doyle and superbly acted by a first-rate ensemble headed by Brooke Shields in her best and most remarkable performance to date. But is all of this enough? Probably not.