Deaf West Theatre News

Torn from today's headlines, what do you do when your enemy may be smarter than you? William Mastrosimone's gripping drama CAW'S-PAW is set in a warehouse near the U.S. capital where a terrorist who has wreaked madness and destruction on America is about to use a news reporter to exploit just one more valuable hostage – the world's supply of clean water. Reflecting both current issues of the destruction of clean drinking water in such places as Flint, MI, as well as climate change, this play will get you thinking about how the media tends to promote violence when words fail to gets opposing sides talking to each other, and will get you thinking about what it takes for a good cause go bad.

The Old Globe will participate in the National Jewish Theater Foundation - Holocaust Theater International Initiative - Remembrance Readings 2017 in Honor of Elie Wiesel.

Producers Ken Davenport and Hunter Arnold have announced that Once On This Island, the Olivier Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated Best Musical, is returning to Broadway this fall.

Actors Co-op (Ovation Award-Winner 2014 Best Intimate Theatre Musical for 110 in the Shade) presents the fourth show in its celebratory 25th Silver Anniversary season with the riveting CAT'S-PAW by William Mastrosimone and directed by Stephen Rothman.  CAT'S-PAW will preview on Wednesday, March 22 & Thursday, March 23 at 8pm and will open on Friday, March 24 at 8pm and run through Sunday, April 30 at the Actors Co-op Crossley Theatre, 1760 N. Gower St. (on the campus of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood) in Hollywood.

The Ahmanson Foundation has awarded California State University, Los Angeles a two-year $1.5 million gift to update the University's State Playhouse. "This gift from The Ahmanson Foundation underscores the crucial role the arts play in our society," said Cal State LA President William A. Covino. "We're grateful to the foundation for its generous support of higher education and the arts."

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, has announced the recipients of the second cycle of Audience (R)Evolution Travel Grants.

EDWARD ALBEE'S AT HOME AT THE ZOO combines Albee's groundbreaking 1959 short play The Zoo Story with his acclaimed prequel Homelife, written in 2004. Together these short plays tell a more complete story of publishing executive Peter, his wife Ann, and Jerry, the volatile stranger Peter meets in the park. The production marks the first major Albee production in Los Angeles since the 2016 passing of the legendary American Playwright, with Coy Middlebrook directing a cast that includes deaf and hearing actors working in perfect unison.

Actors Co-op (Ovation Award-Winner 2014 Best Intimate Theatre Musical for 110 in the Shade) presents the fourth show in its celebratory 25th Silver Anniversary season with the riveting CAT'S-PAW by William Mastrosimone and directed by Stephen Rothman. CAT'S-PAW will preview on Wednesday, March 22 & Thursday, March 23 at 8pm and will open on Friday, March 24 at 8pmand run through Sunday, April 30 at the Actors Co-op Crossley Theatre, 1760 N. Gower St. (on the campus of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood) in Hollywood.

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts and Deaf West Theatre (DWT), the performing arts organizations behind the Tony Award-nominated and Ovation Award-winning revival of Spring Awakening, reunite to bring multiple Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee's At Home at the Zoo to life in an innovative and new production. Edward Albee's At Home at the Zoo begins previews on March 7 and will open in the Lovelace Studio Theater at The Wallis on Friday, March 10. It will run through March 26. This production is made possible by the generous support of Meeghan and Michael Nemeroff.

First up in Encores! 2017 season is Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the Tony Award-winning musical based on Mark Twain's classic American novel. Big River will star Nicholas Barasch, Patrice Covington, Andrew Cristi, Wayne Duvall, Mike Evariste, Charlie Franklin, Annie Golden, Katherine A. Guy, Megan Masako Haley, Adrianna Hicks, Zachary Infante, Gizel Jimenez, Andrew Kruep, John-Michael Lyles, Cass Morgan, Tom Nelis, David Pittu, Tom Alan Robbins, Horace V. Rogers, Kyle Scatliffe, Christopher Sieber, and Lauren Worsham.

As reported by BWW last month, President Donald Trump's initiative to shrink government spending involves the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts, an organization which provides funding and support to artistic projects throughout the nation.

Yale Repertory Theatre presents the world premiere of IMOGEN SAYS NOTHING by Aditi Brennan Kapil, directed by Laurie Woolery, at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street), January 20-February 11. Opening Night is Today, January 26.

Full casting for Edward Albee's The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? is announced today. Joining Damian Lewis and Sophie Okonedo, who play husband and wife Martin and Stevie in Ian Rickson's production, will be Jason Hughes as Martin's oldest friend Ross and Archie Madekwe as their son Billy.

Yale Repertory Theatre presents the world premiere of IMOGEN SAYS NOTHING by Aditi Brennan Kapil, directed by Laurie Woolery, at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street), January 20-February 11. Opening Night is Thursday, January 26.

Happy New Year, BroadwayWorld! As we eagerly anticipate the amazing musicals and plays coming up in 2017, we're taking a moment to look back at the significant Broadway closings of 2016.

Manhattan Concert Productions (MCP) has announced additional casting for their concert performance of Gershwin's Tony Award-winning musical comedy Crazy for You in its 25th Anniversary year.

Prospect Theater Company, under the leadership of Cara Reichel, Producing Artistic Director, and Melissa Huber, Managing Director, continues its 2016 IGNITE Series a special one-night-only event at The Times Center (242 West 41st Street, NYC).

Yale Repertory Theatre presents the world premiere of IMOGEN SAYS NOTHING by Aditi Brennan Kapil, directed by Laurie Woolery, at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street), January 20-February 11. Opening Night is Thursday, January 26.

The producers of INDECENT - Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel's newest work, one of the most acclaimed plays of 2016 when it debuted in New York Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre following productions at Yale Repertory Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse - have announced that the production will begin performances on Broadway at the Cort Theatre (138 W 48th St New York, NY), on April 4, prior to its official opening night on April 18.  

Legendary American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim's masterwork Merrily We Roll Along is revisited in a new production under the direction of Tony Award nominee Michael Arden (Spring Awakening), playing at the Bram Goldsmith Theater stage at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts through December 18.