Frances News

This December, Live Girls! Theater will present the first episode in its new science fiction series, The Secret and Impossible League of the No spherein the Baltimore Plot. The series follows the adventures of a secret league of extraordinary historical figures with access to a sphere of reality that grows with the power of human cognition.

We're just about to start the third week of rehearsal for our in-house Christmas show Miracle on 34th Street: A Live Musical Radio Play. This marks the sixth European premiere we have staged here at the Bridge House Theatre in Penge. What really distinguishes this show from the others is that we're only the second company to perform it in the world, so it's particularly exciting to be producing seasonal work that's so new.

The Traverse Theatre can reveal that Gut will be the centrepiece of its Spring/Summer 2018 season, produced in association with the National Theatre of Scotland. Written by Fringe First award-winning playwright Frances Poet (Adam), and directed by Traverse Associate Director Zinnie Harris herself Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland's 'Best Director' 2016-17, and winner of a Herald Angel for her trio of productions at Edinburgh Festival 2017 (Meet Me at Dawn, Rhinoceros and This Restless House).

Combining music and spoken word in the splendor of Shove Chapel by candlelight, this award-winning event has become a cherished holiday tradition. The eclectic programming honors old and new in the choral art, featuring music from medieval to modern, both sacred and secular. Through the interweaving of poetry, story, and song, Wintersong explores mystery, timelessness, the juxtaposition of light and dark, and our spiritual connection to the natural world. Featured on this year's program:

Wish is a celebration of songwriting team Anderson & Petty's second studio album 'Wish: The Anderson & Petty Holiday Songbook'. All profits from the sales of the album will benefit Housing Works, a local organization supporting those living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. The concert will be held on Monday, December 4th at The Laurie Beechman Theatre in The West Bank Caf , 407 W 42nd Street (at 9th Avenue), New York, NY 10036, two shows at 7:00 & 9:30pm.

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI is a darkly comedic drama from Oscarwinning director Martin McDonagh. In the film, Mildred Hayes -- played by Oscar winner Frances McDormand - frustrated by the lack of results in police investigation of her daughter's murder, commissions roadside billboards directed at the local chief of police William Willoughby, played by Woody Harrelson. Just hitting theaters now, Three Billboard Outside Ebbing, Missouri is already being critically acclaimed by the New York Times, Washington Post and the New Yorker among other outlets.

Seven time Emmy Award-winner Ed Asner and three time Emmy Award and Tony Award-nominee Kate Burton will star in a two-week East Coast tour of concert readings of Jeff Cohen's play The Soap Myth. The readings, which will be directed by Pam Berlin and will also feature Ned Eisenberg & Blair Baker, will serve as a tribute to International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The tour will begin on Monday, January 22, 2018 in Miami Beach Florida, and will conclude on Thursday, February 1 at Hofstra University on Long Island.

San Jose Stage Company continues their Season 35 honoring an American Theatre icon who shaped the very core of their organization with their presentation of Sam Shepard's Fool for Love. This cowboy romance dissects the poignant causes and effects of love lost through the retrospective eyes of two past lovers.

Festival Ballet Theatre (FBT), Orange County's resident professional ballet company, will present the family favorite production of The Nutcracker, December 9 - 24, 2017 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre in Irvine, California.

The Acting Company presents their acclaimed production of playwright/poet Marcus Gardley's X: Or, Betty Shabazz v. the Nation in a full Off-Broadway run, January 14-February 18, 2018, at the Theatre at St. Clement's.

Wish is a celebration of songwriting team Anderson & Petty's second studio album 'Wish: The Anderson & Petty Holiday Songbook'. All profits from the sales of the album will benefit Housing Works, a local organization supporting those living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. The concert will be held on Monday, December 4th at The Laurie Beechman Theatre in The West Bank Caf , 407 W 42nd Street (at 9th Avenue), New York, NY 10036, two shows at 7:00 & 9:30pm.

Seasonal Rep will return to The Leatherhead Theatre after almost 30 years, with a series of three professional plays presented by Hordern Ciani, the team behind the hugely successful Swanage Rep season which launched at the Mowlem Theatre, Swanage in August this year.

Yale Repertory Theatre presents NATIVE SON, the critically acclaimed new play by Nambi E. Kelley adapted from the iconic American novel by Richard Wright, directed by Seret Scott, November 24 December 16 at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street). Opening Night is Thursday, November 30.

Urban Stages, Frances Hill, Founding Artistic Director, will kick-off its 34th season with the World Premiere of Zhu Yi's A DEAL, directed by John Giampietro. This limited engagement at Urban Stages (259 West 30th Street), begins performances on November 15, opens on Monday, November 20 and will run through December 10, 2017. Tickets for are $35 ($25 during previews; $50 on opening and $15 student rush) and may be purchased via OvationTix at www.urbanstages.org or by phone at 1.866.811.4111.

The 52nd Street Project makes a difference in the lives of countless Hell's Kitchen (Clinton) kids by pairing them with theater professionals who mentor them through the creation of original theater.

Terrorist plots, underfunded government departments, unjustifiable military action - all very modern worries, I'm sure you'll agree. However, playwright Anders Lustgarten and director Matthew Dunster beg to differ. The second production of The Winter Selection is a new play, The Secret Theatre, ostensibly about Sir Francis Walsingham and his Elizabethan intelligence network (after which the play is named), yet actually telling a very familiar tale for the 21st century.

Art-In-Relation (A.I.R.), Children's Theater of Long Beach (CTLB), and The Scottish Rite Cathedral announce a wonderful partnering of resources and talent for a 2017 holiday musical production of 'The Christmas Carol.' Plays Dec. 15, 16, 21, 22, 23 at 8 p.m. and Dec. 17 at 2 p.m. at the Ernest Borgnine Theatre, 855 Elm Avenue, Long Beach, CA.

The New Group presents New Group Now: Where Art Meets Our Present Culture, an ongoing series of public discussions locating New Group productions within the larger context of American and/or global society, continuing on Monday, December 11 with a conversation on 'Confronting Racial Bias in Our Communities.'

Urban Stages is kicking off its 34th season with the World Premiere of Zhu Yi's A DEAL, directed by John Giampietro. This limited engagement at Urban Stages (259 West 30th Street), opened last night, November 20, and will run through December 10, 2017. BroadwayWorld has photos from the opening festivities below!

The 33rd Film Independent Spirit Award Nominations were announced live today by Tessa Thompson and Lily Collins. The ceremony will air live on IFC on March 3rd. Nick Kroll and John Mulaney will return to host the event.