Ensemble Studio Theatre News

San Francisco's cutting-edge Cutting Ball Theater today announced that due to overwhelming popular response, the company will extend its Bay Area Premiere of Will Eno's London and Off-Broadway hit THOM PAIN (based on nothing) a second time; the company has added three weeks of shows in addition to the previously announced extension to April 19. THOM PAIN (based on nothing) plays now through May 9.

LIVING IMAGE ARTS THEATER COMPANY Celebrates 5 YEARS WITH 5 NEW PLAYS LIA'S 5TH ANNIVERSARY NEW PLAY FESTIVAL April 16th though May 9th, 2009

Woodie King Jr's New Federal Theatre will present Kernel of Sanity by Kermit Frazier at their home at Henry Street Settlement's Abrons Arts Center/Recital Hall (466 Grand Street). Performances begin April 9th with Opening Night set for Thursday, April 16th. Performances continue through May 3rd only. Petronia Paley directs a cast that features Madeleine James, Joel Nagle*, and Chaz Reuben*.

Ars Nova (Jason Eagan, Artistic Director; Jon Steingart and Jenny Wiener Steingart, Executive Producers) presents the World Premiere of MEL & EL: SHOW AND TELL. This new comedy with original music, best described as a musical Laverne & Shirley-meets-Sex and the City, is written and performed by Melanie Adelman and Ellie Dvorkin, with music by Patrick Spencer Bodd, and developed with and directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel. Previews begin May 6 at Ars Nova, with an official press opening on May 15.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey kicks off its 2009 Season with a world premiere stage adaptation of Around the World in Eighty Days. Adapted for the stage by Bonnie J. Monte from the beloved novel by Jules Verne, this inventive production is an exhilarating treat for people of all ages. Around the World in Eighty Days begins performances on April 29 and continues through May 24 at the Shakespeare Theatre's Main Stage - The F. M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, 36 Madison Avenue at Lancaster Road in Madison.

Flying Machine Productions today announced that the Off-Broadway premiere of BLOOD TYPE: RAGU, a new play written and performed by Frank Ingrasciotta, and directed by Ted Sod, will conclude its run at the newly restored Actors' Playhouse (100 Seventh Avenue South) after the matinee on Sunday April 5th. At that point it will have played thirty performances and fourteen previews.

Huntington Theatre Company Artistic Director Peter DuBois makes his Boston directorial debut with the world premiere of David Grimm's outrageous comedy, 'The Miracle at Naples.' Tony and Drama Desk Award-winner Dick Latessa ('Hairspray') returns to the Huntington to play Don Bertolino Fortunato, the leader of a troupe of commedia players who are down on their luck. Lucy DeVito, daughter of acclaimed actors/comedians Danny DeVito and Rhea Pearlman, makes her Huntington debut as La Piccola, Don Bertolino's long-suffering daughter and member of the troupe. 'The Miracle at Naples' is for mature audiences.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) and LAByrinth Theater Company (Artistic Director John Ortiz; Co-Artistic Director Philip Seymour Hoffman; Co-Artistic and Executive Director John Gould Rubin) will begin previews on Friday, March 27 for Knives and Other Sharp Objects, the third play of the 2008-2009 Public LAB season. Written by Raúl Castillo and directed by Felix Solis, Knives and Other Sharp Objects will run through Sunday, April 19 with an official press opening on Sunday, April 12. Tickets are $10 for all performances and are on-sale now.

The Cleveland Play House Artistic Director Michael Bloom announces the world premiere production of Thornton Wilder's novel Heaven's My Destination, adapted by award-winning playwright Lee Blessing. The play is the centerpiece of the fourth annual FusionFest, a multidisciplinary performing arts festival.

MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) has announced the line-up for their spring 2009 PlayLab play readings of new plays by members of the company's Playwrights' Coalition.

Producer Allision Ferrier has announced the upcoming Off-Broadway production of BRANDT REITER's new drama END OF PLAY, which will begin performances on April 17th, 2009. END OF PLAY is a thirteen-character drama about Theatre, Hollywood and the cost of dreams. When industry outcast Jack Wells abandons his NYU teaching post for Los Angeles to support his young girlfriend's fledgling career, he finds himself caught between the depth of her ambition and his own tarnished soul.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) continues its 2008-09 season Koret Visiting Artist Series with a conversation with Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and OBIE Award-winning playwright José Rivera (The Motorcycle Diaries, Marisol, and A.C.T.'s Brainpeople), whose Boleros for the Disenchanted will take the A.C.T. stage in May.

Two Obie Award-winning theater companies -- The Play Company and Ma-Yi Theater -- will collaborate this spring to present the New York premiere of Lloyd Suh's new play AMERICAN HWANGAP, with previews to begin May 9, prior to an official press opening May 17 Off-Broadway at The Wild Project (195 East 3rd Street) in Manhattan. Trip Cullman directs an ensemble cast featuring some of the country's most accomplished Asian American actors, including James Saito (TV's 'Eli Stone' and Obie winner for DURANGO), Michi Barall (Charles Mee's QUEENS BOULEVARD), Mia Katigbak (DOGEATERS), Peter Kim (THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE), and Hoon Lee (YELLOWFACE).

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) and LAByrinth Theater Company (Artistic Director John Ortiz; Co-Artistic Director Philip Seymour Hoffman; Co-Artistic and Executive Director John Gould Rubin) announced complete casting and creative team today for KNIVES AND OTHER SHARP OBJECTS, the third play of the 2008-2009 Public LAB season. Written by Ra?l Castillo and directed by Felix Solis, KNIVES AND OTHER SHARP OBJECTS will begin performances on Friday, March 27 and run through Sunday, April 19 with an official press opening on Sunday, April 12. Tickets are $10 for all performances and are on-sale now.

The Cleveland Play House is excited to announce that Mimi Kennedy, best known for playing Dharma's hippie mom Abby on ABC's 'Dharma & Greg,' will star as Ann Landers in The Lady With All the Answers by David Rambo (God's Man In Texas, The Ice-Breaker). Seth Gordon, Associate Artistic Director for The Play House, will direct this hilarious and touching sneak-peek into the inner-life of famed columnist Ann Landers.

Woodie King Jr's New Federal Theatre will present Kernel of Sanity by Kermit Frazier at their home at Henry Street Settlement's Abrons Arts Center/Recital Hall (466 Grand Street). Performances begin April 9th with Opening Night set for Thursday, April 16th. Performances continue through May 3rd only. Petronia Paley directs a cast that features Madeleine James, Joel Nagle*, and Chaz Reuben*.

ENSEMBLE STUDIO THEATRE (William Carden, Artistic Director, Paul Alexander Slee, Executive Director) proudly announces the premiere of Emily at the Edge of Chaos, a new play written and performed by Emily Levine*, directed by Marcia Jean Kurtz*. Performances begin March 26th, and continue through April 11th at E.S.T. (549 West 52nd Street), on the 6th Floor.

ENSEMBLE STUDIO THEATRE ((William Carden, Artistic Director, Paul Alexander Slee, Executive Director) and THE ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION (Doron Weber, Program Director) presents the Off-Broadway premiere of END DAYS, a new play by Deborah Zoe Laufer, directed by Lisa Peterson (Shipwrecked!)*. Performances begin March 25th, and continue through April 19th at E.S.T. (549 West 52nd Street).

ENSEMBLE STUDIO THEATRE ((William Carden, Artistic Director, Paul Alexander Slee, Executive Director) and THE ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION (Doron Weber, Program Director) proudly announce the Off-Broadway premiere of END DAYS, a new play by Deborah Zoe Laufer, directed by Lisa Peterson*. Performances begin March 25th, and continue through April 19th at E.S.T. (549 West 52nd Street). Lisa Peterson* directs a cast that includes Molly Ephraim, Dane DeHaan, Peter Friedman, Deidre O'Connell, and Paco Tolson*. End Days will have set design by Lee Savage, lighting design by Raquel Davis, costume design by Suzanne Chesney, and sound design & original composition by Ryan Rumery.

San Francisco's cutting-edge Cutting Ball Theater today announced a two-week extension of its Bay Area Premiere of Will Eno's London and Off-Broadway hit THOM PAIN (based on nothing). Crowded Fire Artistic Director Marissa Wolf helms this Pulitzer Prize-nominated one-man meditation on the empty promises that life makes, starring Jonathan Bock.