Doug Wright News

Playwrights Horizons' production THE WHALE, the New York premiere of a new play by Obie Award winner Samuel D. Hunter (A Bright New Boise), is directed by Davis McCallum (February House, A Bright New Boise, the upcoming Water By the Spoonful at Second Stage) and opens tonight, November 5 at 7PM at Playwrights Horizons' Peter Jay Sharp Theater (416 West 42nd Street).

Today in 2006, Grey Gardens opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre, where it ran for 307 performances. Grey Gardens is a musical with book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel, and lyrics by Michael Korie, based on the 1975 documentary of the same title about the lives of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale ('Big Edie') and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale ('Little Edie') by Albert and David Maysles. The Beales were Jacqueline Kennedy's aunt and cousin, respectively. Set at Grey Gardens, the Bouviers' mansion in East Hampton, New York, the musical tracks the progression of the two women's lives from their original status as rich and socially polished aristocrats to their eventual largely isolated existence in a home overrun by cats and cited for repeated health code violations.

Producer and President of Disney Theatrical Productions, Thomas Schumacher and Shiki Theatre Company announced today that they will continue their ongoing producing partnership with The Little Mermaid, which will open in Tokyo, Japan on Sunday, April 7th, 2013 at Shiki's Natsu Theatre.

Acclaimed theater company Playwrights Horizons recently announced additional performers participating in the return of its popular benefit evening STORIES ON 5 STORIES: Poetic Justice this evening, October 22.

Acclaimed theater company Playwrights Horizons has announced additional performers participating in the return of its popular benefit evening STORIES ON 5 STORIES: Poetic Justice on Monday evening, October 22.

The 2012 Bessies: New York Dance and Performance Award Recipients were held on Monday, October 15, 2012 at the Apollo Theater (253 West 125th Street), hosted by Elizabeth Streb. Scroll down for a full list of the award winners!

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) has announced the U.S. release of The Oberon Anthology of Contemporary American Plays: Volume One, edited by Mark Subias, published by Oberon Books (London). This new volume brings together plays from four of the best young artists on the contemporary American playwriting scene. Volume One is introduced by André Bishop, Artistic Director of the Lincoln Center Theater, and each play is introduced by well-known and critically acclaimed writers.

Every era has its controversies. Since theatre represents the era from which it comes, here in the United States, attitudes about the women's movement were presented by feminist plays. The Black movement found African American writers sending forth their messages. Today, with the Gay rights movement in full swing, it is only logical that some of that community's issues reach the forefront.

Anyone who follows the theater scene in New York realizes that hardly a year goes by when actor Darren Pettie isn't appearing on Broadway, Off Broadway or regional theater. He's also been seen on television in "Mad Men", "Pan Am", "Castle", "Gossip Girl", "Brothers and Sisters" and a host of other shows. Not only is he one of New York's busiest actors, he's one of its finest, too. Take, for example, his performance two seasons ago in THE MILK TRAIN DOESN'T STOP HERE ANYMORE. As the enigmatic Christopher Flanders, Pettie was required to utter the single syllable word "Boom" to emulate the crashing of the waves upon the rocks surrounding Italy's Divina Costiera. Other actors in the role have faltered here, but Pettie imbued the line with authority and conviction that were never apparent in previous incarnations of the work. "Thanks," responds the actor via telephone. "There were some nights that I was very self conscious about that line."

The Moscow production of THE LITTLE MERMAID will open tonight, on the 175th anniversary of the first publication of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. This marks the first musical production to play the newly-renovated ROSSIA Theatre on Pushkin Square, now the largest theatrical venue in Moscow.

This season, Trustus Theatre is going on a "Sexploration" in their newly named Trustus Side Door Theatre. Not that all of the plays are explicitly about the act of sex, but they do explore sexuality. The Trustus Side Door kicks off its current season with I Am My Own Wife, a one-man show starring local favorite Paul Kaufmann who will portray over 30 characters in one evening. The show opens tonight, October 5th, at 8:00pm in the Trustus Side Door Theatre.

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) Artistic Director James C. Nicola and Managing Director William Russo have announced that tickets are on sale for A Civil War Christmas, written by Paula Vogel and directed by Tina Landau. Performances of this holiday-themed work begin Tuesday, November 13, 2012, at 7pm at NYTW, 79 East 4 Street, between Bowery and Second Avenue. Opening night is scheduled for Tuesday, December 4 at 7pm. A Civil War Christmas is scheduled to run through Sunday, December 30.

Producers Broadway Across America (John Gore, Thomas B. McGrath, Beth Williams), Barbara Whitman, Latitude Link, Dede Harris, Sharon Karmazin, and Howard and Janet Kagan have just announced that the La Jolla Playhouse production of the new American musical HANDS ON A HARDBODY will open Thursday, March 21, 2013 at Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre (256 West 47th Street), following a preview period that begins Saturday, February 23, 2013. Ticket information will be announced shortly.

Previews begin Friday, October 12 for the Playwrights Horizons' production of THE WHALE, the New York premiere of a new play by Obie Award winner Samuel D. Hunter (A Bright New Boise). Directed by Davis McCallum (February House, A Bright New Boise, the upcoming Water By the Spoonful at Second Stage), the production has an Opening Night set for Monday, November 5 at 7PM at Playwrights Horizons' Peter Jay Sharp Theater (416 West 42nd Street).

The producers of the new musical HANDS ON A HARDBODY announced today that Benjamin Millepied has withdrawn from the production due to unforeseen scheduling conflicts and that, going forward, Sergio Trujillo (Memphis, Jersey Boys) will assume musical staging responsibilities for the show. Theatre, dates, and ticket information for the Broadway production of HANDS ON A HARDBODY will be announced shortly.

Gulfshore Playhouse is preparing their seventh season with a variety of diverse productions, presentation formats, and venues. Naples' first and finest professional theatre company is growing to six Mainstage productions this year, running from October through April.

The Sundance Institute Theatre Program is now accepting submissions for the 2013 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, which will return to the Sundance Resort in Sundance, Utah. Under the supervision of Philip Himberg, Artistic Director, and Producing Director Christopher Hibma, the three-week Lab (July 8-28, 2013) is the centerpiece of the Theatre Program's year-round work and is designed to develop emerging and established artists and to create a place where their original work can be effectively mentored and challenged.