Eugene O'Neill News

One of the funniest comedies of the holiday season - The Twelve Dates of Christmas - opening tonight, Dec. 12, promises to be charming, amusing, witty and inspiring. It runs Thursdays through Sundays through Dec. 22 in the Fine Arts Center's intimate art-deco Music Room.

Now in its 10th year, Goodman Theatre's 2013 New Stages festival features five free new plays-two fully staged workshop productions performed in repertory plus three staged readings-in the Owen Theatre, now through December 22. All five plays celebrate Latino playwrights: The Upstairs Concierge, a contemporary farce about celebrity and baseball by Pulitzer Prize finalist (for The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity) Kristoffer Diaz; and The Solid Sand Below, an examination of the intoxicating nature of war which Martin Zimmerman developed during his time as a member of the Goodman's Playwrights Unit, and which was selected for the 2013 National Playwrights Conference at The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Connecticut. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the workshop productions below!

Today in 2006, Spring Awakening opened at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, where it ran for 859 performances. Spring Awakening is a rock musical with music by Duncan Sheik and a book and lyrics by Steven Sater. It is based on the controversial German play Spring Awakening (1891) by Frank Wedekind which was banned in Germany for some time due to its frank portrayal of abortion, homosexuality, rape, child abuse and suicide. Set in late-19th century Germany, the musical tells the story of teenagers discovering the inner and outer tumult of sexuality. In the musical, alternative rock is employed as part of the folk-infused rock score.The original Broadway production won 8 Tony Awards, including Tonys for Best Musical, Direction, Book, Score and Featured Actor. The production also garnered 4 Drama Desk Awards whilst its original cast album received a Grammy Award.

Welcome to this week's edition of our new WEEKLY GROSSES ANALYSIS, part of our new Industry Insights section that will feature insider industry information, commentary and insights! Read on for all the weekly grosses statistics for the movers and shakers from the latest grosses, 12/8/2013.

Now in its 10th year, Goodman Theatre's 2013 New Stages festival features five FREE new plays-two fully staged workshop productions performed in repertory plus three staged readings-in the Owen Theatre, today, December 7 - 22.

BroadwayWorld.com's SHOW BIZ: Rush, Lottery & Standing Room Only Ticketing Policies - updated on 12/6/2013.

Ruth Wilson (Saving Mr Banks, Anna Christie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Luther, The Lone Ranger) will star in the London premiere of The El. Train: three one-act plays by Eugene O'Neill (The Web, Before Breakfast and The Dreamy Kid). The plays, written between 1913 and 1918, are being presented together for the first time. Ruth will act in The Web and Before Breakfast, directed by Sam Yates, and will make her directorial debut with The Dreamy Kid. Combining live music with immersive design, all housed in the intimate setting of Grade II listed Hoxton Hall (built 1863, seating an audience of 125), The El. Train will run for a limited four-week season from tonight, 6 December - 30 December, with press nights on the 12 & 13 December. Design is by Richard Kent, with lighting by Neil Austin and original composition and sound design by Alex Baranowski. The El. Train is being produced by Found Productions.

There's a new Open Mic Night in town, and it's quite the place to be! Kenneth Gartman hosts the monthly Open Mic Night on the 3rd Saturday of every month at Unity Center in Norwalk, CT. The next concert is set for Saturday, December 21 from 7 to 9 p.m. $10 cover. The Unity Center is located at 3 Main Street, 2nd Floor, Norwalk, Conn.

After a sold-out run in September, The Sister Rosettas are back with five more performances. A revival of the rock/pop-punk/cabaret music of world touring MING DYNASTY, last seen on City Stages in 2009 alongside Diana Ross, Ben Harper, and Al Green, now brings new front woman Diana Oh and bassist/songwriter Philippe Arman to the stage. The story of how this new collaboration was formed fuses old songs and new and is led by veterans Eric Miranda, Kole Smith and Matt Harrington.

THE BOOK OF MORMON, winner of nine Tony Awards including Best Musical, has broken the house record in San Francisco, CA for the week ending December 1 at the Orpheum Theatre grossing $2,103,519.00.

In the video below, original Spring Awakening cast member and Atlantic Acting School veteran Brian Charles Johnson announces Atlantic Theater Company's ATC Uncovered- an inside look into the everyday life of a theater company through the artist perspective. He reveals: 'This month we'll be celebrating the 7th anniversary of Spring Awakening on Broadway when myself and a few friends of mine bring it all back home to where it all started with a live, special event.' BroadwayWorld has confirmed that additional detais on the celebration will be announced early next week.

Coyote StageWorks' Play Dates Reading Series presents the Antaeus Theater Ensemble's staged reading of "Hughie," a short two character play by Eugene O'Neill, at the Annenberg Theater in Palm Springs, Thursday,December 19, 2013 at 5:30 pm. The performance is free to the public. Coyote Stageworks was recently voted 'Best Live Theater' in The Desert Sun's Best of the Valley competition for the second year in a row.

Those heavenly voices are back! And they're better than ever! Cabrillo Music Theatre celebrates its 20th Anniversary Season by blending one of the original Plaids with four of musical theatre's top talents to create the definitive FOREVER PLAID especially for the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza! The fresh and funny FOREVER PLAID opens on Friday, January 31st, 2014, playing until Sunday, February 9th, at the 1,800-seat Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, located at 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks.

Welcome to this week's edition of our new WEEKLY GROSSES ANALYSIS, part of our new Industry Insights section that will feature insider industry information, commentary and insights! Read on for all the weekly grosses statistics for the movers and shakers from the latest grosses, 12/1/2013.

Hottest Articles on BroadwayWorld.com from this weekend Sunday, December 1, 2013 - Sunday, December 1, 2013.

BroadwayWorld.com's SHOW BIZ: Rush, Lottery & Standing Room Only Ticketing Policies - updated on 11/29/2013.

Variety reports exclusively that Oona Chaplin will star in the Spanish psychological chiller PURGATORIO from producer Apaches Entertainment.

Returning to the London stage for the first time in nearly 40 years the inimitable Angela Lansbury reunites with acclaimed director Michael Blakemore to reprise her Tony award-winning Broadway performance as Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit. Opening at the Gielgud Theatre on 18 March 2014, with previews from 1 March, this new production of Noel Coward's sharp comedy of social mores will also star Janie Dee and Charles Edwards.

The producers of The Book of Mormon, and The Nederlander Organization, announced today that due to popular demand, eight additional weeks of performances will be added through May 11, 2014 at Hollywood Pantages.

The full cast for The El. Train, joining the previously announced Ruth Wilson, is Simon Coombs, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Christian Edwards, Nicola Hughes, Adam Sopp, Ony Uhiara and Zubin Varla. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the team in rehearsal below!