George S. Kaufman News

The Spotlighters brings George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart's comedy, THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER. to their intimate stage just in time for the holidays.

Anna Chlumsky will take over for Rose Byrne in the hit Broadway revival of YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU. The two-time Emmy nominated actress will be joined by Richard Thomas, who will replace Mark Linn-Baker.

Roundabout Theatre Company welcomes four-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner Jim Parsons ('The Big Bang Theory,' Roundabout's Harvey) and Tony Award winner and four-time Emmy Award nominee Jane Krakowski ('30 Rock,' Roundabout's Nine) in tonight's reading of George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly's hilarious Merton of the Movies.

Today in 1981, Merrily We Roll Along closed at the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon Theatre), where it ran for 16 performances. Merrily We Roll Along is a musical with a book by George Furth and lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim. It is based on the 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. Furth and Sondheim retained the basic structure and overall theme of the play but updated it to encompass the period from 1957 to 1976. The story revolves around Franklin Shepard who, having once been a talented composer of Broadway musicals, has now abandoned his friends and his songwriting career to become a producer of Hollywood flicks. Like the play, the musical begins at the height of his Hollywood fame and moves backwards in time, showing snapshots of the most important moments in Frank's life that shaped the man that he is today.

Roundabout Theatre Company has announced that four-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner Jim Parsons ('The Big Bang Theory,' Roundabout's Harvey) will be joined by Tony Award winner and four-time Emmy Award nominee Jane Krakowski ('30 Rock,' Roundabout's Nine) in a one-night-only reading of George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly's hilarious Merton of the Movies. This rollicking evening will be helmed by Roundabout's Adams Associate Artistic Director, six-time Tony nominee Scott Ellis (Roundabout's Harvey, The Mystery of Edwin Drood), currently represented on Broadway with The Elephant Man and You Can't Take It With You. Final casting to be announced.

Spotlight Theatre presents The Man Who Came to Dinner, Nov. 21-Dec. 21.

Medicine Show Theatre Ensemble, one of New York's longest-running experimental theatres, is excited to announce the return of the 'lost' classic Broadway musical, Helen of Troy, New York. Medicine Show has reconstructed the lost 1923 show to bring it back to New York audiences. The production will run for just five weeks, opening Friday, January 16, 2015 and closing Sunday, February, 15, 2015.

This rollicking evening will be helmed by Roundabout's Adams Associate Artistic Director, six-time Tony nominee Scott Ellis (Roundabout's Harvey, The Mystery of Edwin Drood), currently represented on Broadway with The Elephant Man and You Can't Take It With You. Final casting to be announced.

Tony Award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell will star in The Band Wagon, an Encores! Special Event based on the classic MGM movie of the same title, from tonight, November 6, through November 16, 2014 at City Center. The Band Wagon will open on Sunday, November 8.

Abingdon Theatre Company presents a concert reading of MERTON OF THE MOVIES -- an uproarious new musical comedy set in the rollicking age of Keystone Cops, Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin, and Buster Keaton -- with book by Donald Brenner, music and lyrics by Doug Katsaros, on Monday, December 8 at 7pm at the June Havoc Theatre (312 West 36th Street) in Manhattan. Donald Brenner, whose directorial credits include MARCH MADNESS and the upcoming MALLORCA at Abingdon, will direct.

Producers of You Can't Take It With You, the Pulitzer Prize-winning revival by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, just announced the critically acclaimed show will extend its engagement throughSunday, February 22, 2015.

James Earl Jones and Kristine Nielsen appeared on this week's WPIX11 in New York to chat about their roles in the Broadway revival of Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU.

After six consecutive years, Disney's Beauty and the Beast has relinquished its place as the top musical in the annual survey of most-produced titles in United States high school theatres, unseated during the 2013-14 season by another adaptation of an animated anti-hero: Shrek the Musical. Returning to the list, and rounding out the top three, is Godspell, which has seen its popularity rise after a recent Broadway revival and subsequent national tour.

Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman's Pulitzer Prize-winning play YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU opened on September 28, 2014, at the Longacre Theatre (220 West 48th Street). The production is directed by six-time Tony Award-nominee and Drama Desk Award winner Scott Ellis (The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Twelve Angry Men, 1776). Scroll down to learn more about the full cast and watch interviews with the company below!

Tony Award nominee Tony Sheldon (Priscilla Queen of the Desert) has joined the cast of the Encores! Special Event The Band Wagon in the role of Jeffrey Cordova, an egotistical British director. (Roger Rees, previously announced in the role, is no longer available.) The Band Wagon cast stars Tony Award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell, seven-time Emmy Award winner Tracey Ullman, Academy Award nominee Michael McKean, Tony Award nominee Laura Osnes, Tony Award nominee Michael Berresse and Don Stephenson. The Band Wagon will open on Sunday, November 8.

John Steinbeck published the epic Of Mice and Men in 1937. It was an instant success and in the same year, the novel was picked up by George S Kaufman who immediately bought the stage rights. Steinbeck and Kaufman worked together to create the stage play and it was soon on Broadway where it played for a very respectable 207 performances. It also won the New York Drama Critics Circle award for 'Best Play' in 1938. Shortly after this, Of Mice and Men opened at London's Gate Theatre and the rest is history.

Lamb's Players Theatre announced their upcoming Season 2015.

Cirque Dreams triumphantly returns to Chicago with its critically acclaimed holiday stage extravaganza, Cirque Dreams Holidaze, December 17- 21 at the Chicago Theatre (175 North State St.)

Roundabout Theatre Company is thrilled to welcome back four-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner Jim Parsons ("The Big Bang Theory," Roundabout's Harvey) in a hilarious one-night-only reading of George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly's Merton of the Movies. This rollicking evening will be helmed by Roundabout's Adams Associate Artistic Director, six-time Tony nominee Scott Ellis (Roundabout's Harvey, The Mystery of Edwin Drood), currently represented on Broadway with You Can't Take It With You.