Edward Albee News

Due to popular demand, the critically acclaimed production of Anna Deavere Smith's LET ME DOWN EASY, now playing at Second Stage Theatre, has extended a second time and will now close on January 3, 2010. The show, which is currently extended through December 6, will not be performed December 14 - 20 due to Smith's previous commitment to perform Hymn with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at City Center.

On Monday, November 23, 2009 The Players Foundation will present a Benefit/Celebration to honor the life's work of Jerry Tallmer, the legendary, prolific NYC theater journalist and critic who was a founder of the Village Voice and creator of the OBIE Awards. Artists and admirers will gather to toast the man whose inquiring intellect and visionary writings started many careers.

Silver Spring Stage presents Edward Albee's The Goat or, Who is Sylvia? directed by Craig Allen Mummey offering with humor and pathos the most unexpected twists and turns of a family and a husband's surprising love. The Goat or, Who is Sylvia? will perform weekends October 30 to November 22.

On the heels of the well-received ensemble piece, 'Three Tall Women,' and the daring and quirky 'The Lady from Dubuque,' Muddy Waters Theatre Company wraps its 2009 Edward Albee season, Mothers and Other Strangers, with what is probably his best known and most respected play, 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' The play will run Nov. 6-22 at the Kranzberg Art Center in the Big Brothers Big Sisters Building at Grand and Olive.

Producers Angelo Fraboni and Daryl Roth have announced that the New York premiere of Vigil, written by Morris Panych and directed by Stephen DiMenna, will begin performances Sunday, September 20, at 3pm at the DR2 Theatre, 103 East 15 Street, east of Union Square. The opening is scheduled for Tuesday, September 29 at 7pm.

Michael Frayn is an English playwright and novelist. He began as a reporter for The Guardian and The Observer after graduating college in 1957. His first novel, The Tin Men, was published in 1965 winning him his first of many accolades. His other award winning novels include Headlong, The Russian Interpreter and Spies. Considered to be Britain's finest translator of Anton Chekhov, he adapted four major plays along with several smaller plays for an evening called The Sneeze in London in 1988. Theatrically, Frayn is the playwright for such well received plays including Noises Off, Benefactors, Wild Honey and Democracy.

On November 20, 1964, Downstage Theatre opened its Cambridge Terrace doors for the first time with Edward Albee's The Zoo Story starring Peter Bland and Martyn Sanderson.

Second Stage Theatre will host a post performance discussion with Anna Deavere Smith and three of her interview subjects from Let Me Down Easy following the Friday, November 20 performance.

The Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce St. in Manhattan) announces a three-week extension - now through December 20, 2009 -- of David Rambo's play THE LADY WITH ALL THE ANSWERS starring Tony Award-winner Judith Ivey as the legendary advice columnist Ann Landers Off-Broadway.

THE ORPHANS' HOME CYCLE, PART 1: THE STORY OF A CHILDHOOD, the first part of the world premiere, three part theatrical event by the Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award-winning playwright Horton Foote, opens tonight, Thursday, November 19 at Signature Theatre Company at the Peter Norton Space, 555 West 42nd Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater continues its 15th anniversary season with the world premiere of Post No Bills, a Tex-Mex play with music by Mando Alvarado. Directed by Michael Ray Escamilla, performances begin Thursday, November 11th, 2009. Opening night is Thursday, November 19th at 7pm. The show is scheduled to run through Sunday, December 13th, 2009.

People's Light & Theatre Company presents SNOW WHITE, by Kathryn Petersen, with music and lyrics written by Michael Ogborn, from November 18, 2009 to January 3, 2010 on the Main Stage. Pete Pryor directs. SNOW WHITE is one of three shows in the Target Family Discovery Series and is sponsored by ING.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) will launch its 31st season this fall with the New York premiere of Anna Deavere Smith's LET ME DOWN EASY. Conceived, written, and performed by Ms. Smith and directed by Leonard Foglia, LET ME DOWN EASY will begin preview performances on Tuesday, September 15 and will officially open on Wednesday, October 7 at 6:45pm.

The Tony Award-winning Vineyard Theatre will present the world-premiere of the new musical THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, with music and lyrics by Tony Award-winners John Kander and Fred Ebb, book by David Thompson and directed by Tony Award-winner Susan Stroman with musical direction by David Loud. Previews begin February 12, 2010 prior to an official opening date of March 10, it has been announced by Vineyard Artistic Director Douglas Aibel.

On Monday, November 23, 2009 The Players Foundation will present a Benefit/Celebration to honor the life's work of Jerry Tallmer, the legendary, prolific NYC theater journalist and critic who was a founder of the Village Voice and creator of the OBIE Awards. Artists and admirers will gather to toast the man whose inquiring intellect and visionary writings started many careers.

Playwright Edward Albee, best known for Who's Araid of Virginia Woolf?, gave a rare public interview at the Sydney Theatre Company, and had not too many complimentary things to say about the state of theater production today, according to a report in moreintelligentlife.com.

Broadway's most talked about new musical and the biggest Tony Award-winner in years is coming to the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the nation's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy and anti-defamation organization, presented the 8th Annual GLAAD OUTAuction NYC to celebrate established and emerging artists on Sunday, November 15, 2009 at the Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th St, New York, NY.

The world premiere of Rajiv Joseph's (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo) Gruesome Playground Injuries features Selma Blair (Hellboy, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, Storytelling, Legally Blonde, NBC's Kath & Kim) playing Kayleen and Brad Fleischer (Center Theatre Group's premiere of Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Broadway's Coram Boy, Off Broadway's Streamers) playing Doug.

On November 20, 1964, Downstage Theatre opened its Cambridge Terrace doors for the first time with Edward Albee's The Zoo Story starring Peter Bland and Martyn Sanderson.