Frank Galati News

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts (aka 'The Wallis') presents the return engagement of Love, Noel: The Letters and Songs of Noel Coward, devised and written by Coward authority Barry Day, and directed by Jeanie Hackett. Love, Noel transforms the Lovelace Studio Theater into an intimate lounge for cocktails, comedy and Coward.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre Artistic Director Eric Rosen today announced additions to KC Rep's artistic staff. Jason Chanos has been hired as the new Associate Artistic Director and Marissa Wolf in the newly created position as Director of New Work/Artistic Associate. Chanos will begin January 5, 2015 and Wolf will begin December 10, 2014.

San Francisco Playhouse opens its sixth season of the Sandbox Series of new plays with the world premiere of Rinne Groff's 77% (formerly titled Schooner). Marissa Wolf will direct.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre continues its 50th anniversary celebration with the Kansas City premiere of Ayad Akhtar's The Who & The What, directed by Kansas City Repertory Theatre's Artistic Director Eric Rosen. From the 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning writer of Disgraced, Ayad Akhtar's play, The Who & The What takes a passionate and searing look at a family divided by faith, bonded by love and searching for truth in contemporary America. A brilliant young Pakistani writer is focused on finishing a controversial novel that bridges the gulf between her modern life and her traditional heritage. But when her conservative father and sister discover her manuscript, they are all forced to confront the beliefs that define then. This production, at KC Rep's downtown Copaken Stage in the Power & Light District, will run tonight, October 17 through November 16.

San Francisco Playhouse opens its sixth season of the Sandbox Series of new plays with the world premiere of Rinne Groff's 77% (formerly titled Schooner). Marissa Wolf will direct.

The Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF) announces this season's Joe A. Callaway Award winners for Direction and Choreography from more than 200 eligible productions in the 2013-2014 New York City theatre season. This year's awards will be presented to John Rando for his direction of The Heir Apparent, produced by Classic Stage Company, and Martha Clarke for her choreography of Cheri, produced by Signature Theatre.

THE GRAPES OF WRATH runs now through October 26, 2014 at Sacramento Theatre Company. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Steppenwolf Theatre Company Artistic Director Martha Lavey engages in conversation with John Lahr about his latest book, Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh in a special one-night-only event, Monday, October 13 at 7pm in the Downstairs Theatre. Lahr, who served as senior drama critic for The New Yorker for more than two decades, recently released his twentieth book, an authoritative, extraordinary biography on Tennessee Williams that invites intimate access into the mind of a playwright whose work reshaped the American theater. The conversation will include a Q&A, followed by a book signing in the lobby. Tickets are $10 and are available through Audience Services (1650 N Halsted), at 312-335-1650 or at steppenwolf.org.

Quintessence Theatre Group launches its fifth season of progressive classic theatre with an all-male Shakespeare repertory: AS YOU LIKE IT presented in rotating repertory with RICHARD II. Bringing together the best professional actors and designers from Philadelphia and across the country, Artistic Director Alexander Burns leads this collective of artists on a mission to ignite the classics through visceral, actor-focused and text-driven productions. AS YOU LIKE IT will begin previews today, October 1 at 7pm and open on Saturday, October 4 at 8pm. RICHARD II will begin previews on Thursday, October 9 at 7pm and open on Saturday, October 18 at 8pm. All performances are at the Sedgwick Theater, 7137 Germantown Ave in Mt Airy, Philadelphia, PA.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre continues its 50th anniversary celebration with the Kansas City premiere of Ayad Akhtar's The Who & The What, directed by Kansas City Repertory Theatre's Artistic Director Eric Rosen. From the 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning writer of Disgraced, Ayad Akhtar's play, The Who & The What takes a passionate and searing look at a family divided by faith, bonded by love and searching for truth in contemporary America. A brilliant young Pakistani writer is focused on finishing a controversial novel that bridges the gulf between her modern life and her traditional heritage. But when her conservative father and sister discover her manuscript, they are all forced to confront the beliefs that define then. This production, at KC Rep's downtown Copaken Stage in the Power & Light District, will run October 17 through November 16. High resolution photos can be found here .

"The Laramie Project," a documentary-style drama set in Wyoming that recounts the brutal murder of an openly gay college student and named by Time magazine as 'one of the 10 best plays of the year" will launch Northwestern University's 2014-15 Mainstage season Oct. 24-Nov. 2. Directed by Rives Collins, single tickets are $5 to $25.

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF) has announced the 2014-2015 Committee for the Joe A. Callaway Award, the only peer-given award for excellence in direction and choreography. The Committee, which will oversee the award for the theatre season, is Sue Lawless, William Martin, Barry McNabb, Leslie (Hoban) Blake, Linda Burson, Jonathan Cerullo, Edie Cowan, Clinton Turner Davis, John Going, Richard Hamburger, Bruce Heath, Michael Montel, DJ Salisbury, and Amy Saltz. Sue Lawless will serve as Committee Chair.

Quintessence Theatre Group launches its fifth season of progressive classic theatre with an all-male Shakespeare repertory: AS YOU LIKE IT presented in rotating repertory with RICHARD II. Bringing together the best professional actors and designers from Philadelphia and across the country, Artistic Director Alexander Burns leads this collective of artists on a mission to ignite the classics through visceral, actor-focused and text-driven productions.

The 34th Mainstage season of plays and musicals at the Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts at Northwestern University features award-winning directors and playwrights, acclaimed alumnae and faculty, groundbreaking plays and musicals and The Waa-Mu Show. The season reflects on the evolving definitions of family and community and invites audiences to embrace the circumstances that unite and strengthen us.

Multi-award-winning stage and screen composer John Kander discusses the latest edition of his long-aborning musical adaptation of the classic Friedrich Durrenmatt play THE VISIT as part of a new interview.

A great, big Broadway season is on its way, with fourteen productions already slated to open in the next few months. With several weeks until the craziness begins, there is still plenty of time to catch up on what's been going on at Broadway's already occupied theaters . BroadwayWorld will be profiling the hits of the Great White Way that continue to draw crowds after months, years, and (in some cases) decades. Meet the current cast of Broadway's KINKY BOOTS below!

Founded in 2014, Bluebird Arts is a Non-Equity company established in Chicago by Luda Solomon, who will serve as Artistic Director. The nonprofit organization's purpose is to enrich, educate and entertain the community by sharing intimate stories, which focus on the genuine problems of real people. Dale Goulding, former Artistic Director of the European Repertory Company (ERC) will serve as Executive Director, and Jaimelyn Gray of TUTA Theatre Chicago will serve as Managing Director.

The Ogunquit Playhouse, America's Foremost Summer Theatre, is pleased to present the first installment of a new post-show discussion series featuring the dynamic creators of Billy Elliot the Musical following the Today matinee on June 28 at 6PM. The one-hour discussion from the stage, moderated by Associate Producer Jayme McDaniel, will shine the spotlight on director BT McNicholl and choreographer Adam Pelty.

BroadwayWorld has just learned that Phoenix Entertainment has on its agenda a touring revival of RAGTIME to commence in the Fall of 2015. It will be helmed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge, who received a Tony Nomination as Best Director for the 2009 Broadway revival. This new tour will be much in the spirit of that production which was nominated for 7 Tony Awards in 2010.

Asolo Rep's 2014-2015 season Historic Asolo Theater production will be Pulitzer and Greenfield Prize winning playwright Nilo Cruz's lyrical new play, Sotto Voce. This exquisitely observed metaphysical romance will be co-directed by Asolo Rep's Producing Artistic Director Michael Donald Edwards and playwright Nilo Cruz, who crafted the Spanish translation for Hamlet, Prince of Cuba at Asolo Rep in 2012. Sotto Voce, which had its world premiere at the Theater for the New City in February 2014, opens Thursday, April 2, 2015 in the Historic Asolo Theater and runs through Sunday, April 26, with previews on Tuesday, March 31 andWednesday, April 1. The title of this celebrated new work is an Italian musical term that means to speak in a soft manner with purpose.