Elliot Norton News

Jeffery Roberson aka Varla Jean Merman, will debut his new film Varla Jean and the Mushroomheads at NewFest, New York's premier LGBT Film Festival.

When Varla Jean Merman (aka Jeffery Roberson) starred opposite Leslie Jordan this past May at the Little Shubert Theatre, the New York Times wrote 'If Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman had stood in front of the right pair of funhouse mirrors, they might have resembled Ms. Merman and Mr. Jordan in stature as well as comedic talent.'

'A Strange and Separate People' by Jon Marans announces casting of The Off Broadway play is presented by Stacy Shane / ManUnderdog Prods., the original producer of Marans' critically acclaimed, award-winning play from a season ago, The Temperamentals, at Theatre Row Studio Theatre, 410 West 42nd Street, beginning July 14th and Opening Tuesday, July 19th. It is directed by Jeff Calhoun. It stars , Jonathan Hammond, Tricia Paoluccio and Noah Weisberg. The set and costume design is by Clint Ramos; with lighting by Ryan O'Gara and sound by Jill BC Du Boff.

Orfeo Group is thrilled to be back on the boards this summer at a new (and, ahem, air- conditioned!) venue.

'A Strange and Separate People' by Jon Marans announces casting of The Off Broadway play is presented by Stacy Shane / ManUnderdog Prods., the original producer of Marans' critically acclaimed, award-winning play from a season ago, The Temperamentals, at Theatre Row Studio Theatre, 410 West 42nd Street, beginning July 14th and Opening Tuesday, July 19th. It is directed by Jeff Calhoun. It stars , Jonathan Hammond, Tricia Paoluccio and Noah Weisberg. The set and costume design is by Clint Ramos; with lighting by Ryan O'Gara and sound by Jill BC Du Boff.

New Repertory Theatre, in residence at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, is pleased to announce The World Goes ‘Round, the award-winning musical revue of Kander and Ebb, as its 2011 Summer Show. The World Goes ‘Round begins performances on July 10 and runs through July 31, 2011. The press opening will be held on Monday, July 11, 2011 at 7:30pm.

Dallas Theater Center proudly presents The Wiz at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre at the AT&T Performing Arts Center July 8 - August 7. Dallas Theater Center Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty will direct the first-ever collaboration between Dallas Theater Center and Dallas Black Dance Theatre.

'A Strange and Separate People' by Jon Marans announces casting of Jonathan Hammond, Tricia Paoluccio and Noah Weisberg. The Off Broadway play is presented byStacy Shane / ManUnderdog Prods., the original producer of Marans' critically acclaimed, award-winning play from a season ago, The Temperamentals, at Theatre Row Studio Theatre, 410 West 42nd Street, beginning July 14th and Opening Tuesday, July 19th. It is directed by Jeff Calhoun, with set and costume design by Clint Ramos; lighting by Ryan O'Gara and sound by Jill BC Du Boff.

Dallas Theater Center proudly presents The Wiz at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre at the AT&T Performing Arts Center July 8 - August 7. Dallas Theater Center Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty will direct the first-ever collaboration between Dallas Theater Center and Dallas Black Dance Theatre.

A.R.T. American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) opens its 2011-12 season with The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, by George Gershwin, DuBose and Dorothy Heyward, and Ira Gershwin. The adaptation by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks and Obie Award-winning composer Diedre L. Murray, directed by A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus, with choreography by Ronald K. Brown, begins previews on August 17 and opens for the reviewing press on August 31 at 7pm. Performances are at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge. Tickets for preview performances are currently on sale, remaining tickets for the run go on sale on July 12.

'A Strange and Separate People' by Jon Marans announces casting of Jonathan Hammond, Tricia Paoluccio and Noah Weisberg. The Off Broadway play is presented byStacy Shane / ManUnderdog Prods., the original producer of Marans' critically acclaimed, award-winning play from a season ago, The Temperamentals, at Theatre Row Studio Theatre, 410 West 42nd Street, beginning July 14th and Opening Tuesday, July 19th. It is directed by Jeff Calhoun, with set and costume design by Clint Ramos; lighting by Ryan O'Gara and sound by Jill BC Du Boff.

From August 4 through August 27, 2011, as part of the Charlestown Working Theater's Resident Artists Program, Orfeo Group will present the Boston premiere of John Kolvenbach's 2007 Olivier Award-winning play Love Song.

Norm Lewis, Audra McDonald, and David Alan Grier will star as Porgy, Bess, and Sportin' Life in A.R.T.'s new production of The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess. Performances will begin August 17 at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge, where it will run until October 2. The show's next stop will be on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theater, where it will begin previews on December 17th and will open on January 12th, 2012.

Following a critically acclaimed season which included the World Premiere of Lynn Nottage's hit comedy, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, Second Stage Theatre has announced three of the four mainstage productions in the company's upcoming 33rd season.

Boston Playwrights' Theatre continues its 30th Anniversary season by presenting, in collaboration with Suffolk University, Robert Brustein's Mortal Terror at the newly re-opened Modern Theatre at Suffolk University.

MANIPULATION, a world-premiere play by Victoria E. Calderon about one woman's struggle for freedom and self-discovery, begins previews on June 21, prior to an official Off-Broadway press opening on June 28 at the Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce Street) in Manhattan. Will Pomerantz directs.

Tickets are now on sale for the World Premiere production of DARK SISTERS, composed by Nico Muhly with libretto by Stephen Karam, conducted by Neal Goren, directed by Rebecca Taichman, and co-commissioned and co-produced by Gotham Chamber Opera, Music-Theatre Group and the Opera Company of Philadelphia. DARK SISTERS will premiere from November 9-19,2011 at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, 899 Tenth Avenue, NYC. Tickets are $30-125 and are available at www.ticketcentral.com or by phone at 212-279-4200.

Comedian Colin Quinn will bring his incisive one-man exploration of world history, Long Story Short from Broadway to Long Wharf Theatre.

The American Theatre Wing's 64th Annual Antoinette Perry 'Tony' Awards were held at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 13, 2011 and broadcast on the CBS Television Network. For more information visit tonyawards.com.

Central Square Theater presents the gender-bending, Off-Broadway hit about our own hometown boys' rise to fame, MATT & BEN by Mindy Kaling (of NBC's The Office) and Brenda Withers, featuring Marianna Bassham and Philana Mia. M. Bevin O'Gara directs.