Dianne Wiest News

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Greg Reiner, today announced complete casting for the company's upcoming new production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Tony Award-winning musical PASSION, to be directed by John Doyle (director of the acclaimed Broadway revivals of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd and Company). Joining previously announced Melissa Errico (Clara), Judy Kuhn (Fosca) and Ryan Silverman (Giorgio) in the production are Stephen Bogardus (Colonel Ricci), Jeffry Denman (Lieutenant Barri), Jason Michael Evans (Private Augenti), Amy Justman (understudy), Ken Krugman (Lieutenant Torasso), Orville Mendoza (Sergeant Lombardi), Tom Nelis (Doctor Tambourri) and Will Reynolds (Major Rizzoli/Ludovic). PASSION is slated to begin performances on February 8, 2013 at CSC (136 East 13th Street), with an official press opening scheduled for Thursday, February 28, playing a limited engagement through Sunday, April 7. Tickets will go on sale to the public beginning at Noon on Thursday, January 3.

Happy New Year, all! To kick off this brand new year, BroadwayWorld looks ahead at all the upcoming productions slated to take the Broadway stage in 2013!

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Greg Reiner, announced today that acclaimed film and television actor Christopher Lloyd, will star as Azdak in the company's upcoming spring production of Bertolt Brecht's THE CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE, to be directed by Brian Kulick (who directed Brecht's Galileo last season), and featuring new music by Tony Award-winning singer/songwriter Duncan Sheik, featuring translation by James and Tania Stern with lyrics by W.H. Auden. THE CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE will begin performances Thursday, May 2 at CSC (136 East 13th Street) for a limited engagement. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Tuesday, April 2.

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Greg Reiner, presents Anton Chekhov's IVANOV, starring Ethan Hawke, Joely Richardson and Juliet Rylance. Directed by Austin Pendleton, the show ends its limited run today, December 9, 2012.

Dixon Place will present the music of Greencard Wedding and La Lucha Art Group's production of PORNING THE PLANET - THE DE-SENSITIZATION OF A NATION, A Works in Progress Solo Showing, Written/Performed by Raquel Almazan, Directed by Penny Arcade. It will take place tonight, December 8th at 7:30 pm at Dixon Place at 161A Chyrstie Street. Lounge bar is open before and after the show.

Dixon Place presents the music of GREENCARD WEDDING, featuring special guest David Anzuelo and la Lucha Arts Group production of PORNING THE PLANET The De-Sensitization of a Nation, A Works in Progress Solo Showing, written/performed by Raquel Almazan and directed by Penny Arcade on Saturday, December 8th at 7:30 PM. Dixon Place is located at 161A Chyrstie Street. Lounge bar is open before and after the show.

Dixon Place will present the music of Greencard Wedding and La Lucha Art Group's production of PORNING THE PLANET - THE DE-SENSITIZATION OF A NATION, A Works in Progress Solo Showing, Written/Performed by Raquel Almazan, Directed by Penny Arcade. It will take place on Saturday December 8th at 7:30 pm at Dixon Place at 161A Chyrstie Street. Lounge bar is open before and after the show.

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Greg Reiner, announced today that Ryan Silverman has been cast as Giorgio, joining acclaimed/awarding winning actresses Judy Kuhn (as Fosca) and Melissa Errico (as Clara), in the company's upcoming new production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Tony Award-winning musical Passion, to be directed by John Doyle (director of the acclaimed Broadway revivals of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd and Company).

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Greg Reiner, will present its popular Books On Stage Reading Series, this season featuring stage adaptations of works by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Beginning today, November 12 at CSC (136 East 13th Street) at 7 pm, the company presents Crime and Punishment, featuring F. Murray Abraham, Michael Stuhlbarg and Joanne Tucker, directed by Anna Brenner.

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Greg Reiner, will present its popular Books On Stage Reading Series, this season featuring stage adaptations of works by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Beginning Monday, November 12 at CSC (136 East 13th Street) at 7 pm, the company presents Crime and Punishment, featuring F. Murray Abraham, Michael Stuhlbarg and Joanne Tucker, directed by Anna Brenner.

Classic Stage Company's new production of Anton Chekhov's IVANOV, starring Ethan Hawke, Joely Richardson and Juliet Rylance, and directed by Austin Pendleton, begins previews Wednesday, October 17 at CSC (136 East 13th Street), prior to an official opening Sunday, November 4. IVANOV has extended its run by popular demand through Sunday, December 9. Hawke, in the title role, Richardson, who will play Anna, and Rylance, who will play Sasha, will be joined in IVANOV by Glenn Fitzgerald (Borkin), Annette Hunt (Avdotya Nazarovna), Stephanie Janssen (Babakina), Roberta Maxwell (Zinaida), George Morfogen (Shabelsky), James Patrick Nelson (Kosykh), Anthony Newfield (Guest), Jonathan Marc Sherman (Lvov), Anne Troupe (Gavrila) and Louis Zorich (Lebedev).

John Douglas Thompson will make his Long Wharf Theatre debut in Satchmo at the Waldorf, by Terry Teachout, directed by Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein. The one-man show runs now through Sunday, November 4 on Stage II. The press performance takes place Wednesday, October 10 at 7:30 p.m. Get a first look at Thompson onstage in the photos below!

John Douglas Thompson, described by the New York Times as one of the most compelling classical stage actors of his generation, will make his Long Wharf Theatre debut in Satchmo at the Waldorf, by Terry Teachout, directed by Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein. The one-man show will take place tonight, October 3 through Sunday, November 4 on Stage II.

The Old Globe presents the San Diego Premiere of Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire's Good People, the award-winning play about class divisions in modern-day Boston. Directed by Paul Mullins, Good People runs now through Oct. 28, 2012 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Opening night is Thursday, Oct. 4 at 8:00 p.m. Get a first look at the production in the photos below!

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Greg Reiner, has announced that their upcoming production of Anton Chekhov's IVANOV, starring Ethan Hawke, Joely Richardson and Juliet Rylance, which begins performances Wednesday, October 17 at CSC (136 East 13th Street), has extended its run by popular demand through Sunday, December 9.

The Old Globe today announced the cast and creative team for the San Diego Premiere of Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire's Good People, the award-winning play about class divisions in modern-day Boston. Directed by Paul Mullins, Good People will run Sept. 29 - Oct. 28, 2012 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run Sept. 29 - Oct. 3. Opening night is Thursday, Oct. 4 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Greg Reiner, has announced that acclaimed stage, screen and television actress Joely Richardson (bio below) has joined the cast of their upcoming production of Anton Chekhov's IVANOV, starring Ethan Hawke and directed by Austin Pendleton, which begins performances Wednesday, October 17 at CSC (136 East 13th Street) as the first show of the award-winning company's 45th Anniversary Season. Hawke, in the title role, and Richardson, who will play Anna, will be joined in IVANOV by Glenn Fitzgerald (Borkin), Roberta Maxwell (Zinaida), George Morfogen (Shabelsky), Juliet Rylance (Sasha), Jonathan Marc Sherman (Lvov) and Louis Zorich (Lebedev). IVANOV, which will have its official opening on Sunday, November 4, will play a limited engagement through Sunday, November 25. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Thursday, September 20.

John Douglas Thompson, described by the New York Times as one of the most compelling classical stage actors of his generation, will make his Long Wharf Theatre debut in Satchmo at the Waldorf, by Terry Teachout, directed by Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein. The one-man show will take place Wednesday, October 3 through Sunday, November 4 on Stage II.

In light of this week's news of the passing of noted author, playwright, producer and director Nora Ephron, today we are highlighting some of the most memorable moments from her accomplished and versatile career onscreen and onstage. Ephron's artistic output consisted of collections of essays, memoirs, novels, screenplays, feature films, plays and producing duties on projects close to her heart, as well as a considerable amount of awareness raising for women's causes and general charitable work for the arts. While perhaps best known for her much-loved trio of romantic comedies WHEN HARRY MET SALLY…, SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE and YOU'VE GOT MAIL, Ephron also penned the screenplay for the Mike Nichols biopic SILKWOOD about whistleblower Karen Silkwood, as well as wrote and directed the recent hit comedy JULIE & JULIA, re-teaming with her friend and consistent collaborator, three-time Oscar-winner Meryl Streep. Incidentally, Streep actually played Ephron - or at least a thinly-veiled version of her - in the 1986 Mike Nichols film HEARTBURN, based on her novel of the same name. While BEWITCHED, LUCKY NUMBERS and HANGING UP may have failed to ignite, Ephron created fine films with the angelically-themed John Travolta starrer MICHAEL and the Julie Kavner vehicle THIS IS YOUR LIFE, as well as crafted indelible characters in screenplays such as COOKIE, MIXED NUTS and MY BLUE HEAVEN. Closing out her career, Ephron showcased Streep once again and rising star Amy Adams shone brightly in the fun and frothy JULIE & JULIA, ending Ephron's film output with a hit to go along with her successful early beginnings as an essayist, humorist and cultural commentator - having penned essay collections in the 1970s such as WALLFLOWER AT THE ORGY, CRAZY SALAD: SOME THINGS ABOUT WOMEN, SCRIBBLE, SCRIBBLE: NOTES ON THE MEDIA, and, more recently, I FEEL BAD ABOUT MY NECK: AND OTHER THOUGHTS ON BEING A WOMAN and I REMEMBER NOTHING: AND OTHER REFLECTIONS - who famously parlayed those skills into TV writing, and, then, her Oscar-nominated work on SILKWOOD - arguably her finest dramatic work of all in film. As far as Ephron's stage ventures are concerned, besides the forthcoming musical adaptation of SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE currently being developed under director Lonny Price and her writing of next season's purportedly Tom Hanks-headlining Broadway bow in LUCKY GUY, Ephron penned the 2002 Jack O'Brien play with music (by no less than Marvin Hamlisch and Craig Carnelia) IMAGINARY FRIENDS, starring Cherry Jones and Swoozie Kurtz, as well as the recently-closed Off Broadway smash, LOVE, LOSS AND WHAT I WORE, co-written with her sister, Delia Ephron. JFK White House intern to New York Post columnist to celebrated essayist to Oscar-nominated screenwriter, director and producer, Ephron left a significant mark on society and also crafted some heartwarming - or, should that be: heartburning - stories along the way.

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