Helen Hayes News

Signature Theatre, the recipient of the 2009 Tony Award® for Outstanding Regional Theatre, celebrates the best in musical theater and drama at its Target Open House on Saturday, August 8 from noon ? 9:30 pm. Free and open to the public, this fun-filled Signature event is 9½ hours of exciting performances, and fascinating master classes, demonstrations, and exhibits, plus kids? offerings, all offered in Signature?s swanky two-theater complex. Events begin every 15 minutes. Located in the Shirlington Village area of Arlington, VA just off I-395, Signature Theatre is approximately nine minutes from downtown Washington, D.C. Free parking is available in two adjacent public garages.

Rep Stage, the professional Equity theatre in residence at Howard Community College (HCC), begins its 17th season with David Davalos' comedy 'Wittenberg,' directed by Tony Tsendeas, opening August 26 and running through September 13, 2009 in the Smith Theatre of HCC's Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center (HVPA).

Eric Schaeffer, Artistic Director of the Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre, today announced casting for the world premiere theater event 'First You Dream': The Kander & Ebb Concert, September 10 through 27, 2009.

Alfred Hitchcock's THE 39 STEPS, Broadway's longest running comedy, continues its 'Hitchcock Meets Hilarious' Talkback Tuesday series on July 28 with Rachel Dratch (actress/comedian, 'Saturday Night Live,' Minsky's) joining cast members of the Tony Award-winning comedy for a post-show discussion.

With 'THE BROADWAY LOCAL', World MasterCard celebrates the creative theatre professionals who bring their talents to the city's Broadway stages and call the Big Apple home.

This summer the Tony Award®-winning Signature Theatre, one of the nation?s leading forces in musical theater, launches 21/24 Signature Lab, a new initiative for the creation of musical theatre works by emerging young composers which gives audiences a first look at new musicals.

The Lake Tahoe Music Festival's unforgettable 'Broadway Night' concert is back for another year, this season drawing from the vast catalog of songs from Broadway legends Rodgers and Hammerstein. Selections from the duo's stage hits, which include 'The Sound of Music,' 'Kiss Me, Kate' and 'Oklahoma!,' are brought to life by Broadway stars Rachel York and Sal Viviano backed by the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra.

MCC Theater (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) has announced casting for two productions of its 2009-10 season.

Adam Blanshay & Lyric Productions, in association with The Present Company, presents the U.S. Premiere of multi Award-winning playwright Daniel MacIvor's HIS GREATNESS - based on a potentially true story about two days in the last years of the life of playwright Tennessee Williams - as part of the 13th Annual New York International Fringe Festival with five performances only, between August 14-30 at the Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce Street) in Manhattan.

Alfred Hitchcock's THE 39 STEPS, Broadway's longest running comedy, continues its 'Hitchcock Meets Hilarious' Talkback Tuesday series tomorrow night with Liz Tuccillo (co-writer, He's Just Not That Into You) joining cast members of the Tony Award-winning comedy for a post-show discussion.

'Monty Python's Spamalot,' the popular musical lovingly ripped-off from the internationally famous comedy team's most popular motion picture, 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail,' openedCenter Theatre Group's 2009-2010 at the Ahmanson Theatre of the Los Angeles Music Center on July 7th. 'Monty Python's Spamalot' plays through September 6, 2009.

Eric Schaeffer, Artistic Director of the Tony Award®-winning Signature Theatre, today announced that Signature Theatre is expanding its American Musical Voices Project (AMVP) for a fourth year with the commission and production of a new musical by Adam Guettel for its 2011-2012 season. Also announced as part of The Next Generation segment of the AMVP were two additional musical commissions awarded to Peter Foley and Marisa Michelson as well as honoree grants given to Chris Miller and Scott Davenport Richards for the development of future musical ideas. Signature, with the support of The Shen Family Foundation, has awarded $595,000 to artists in honors and commissions in the past three years. The American Musical Voices Project is the largest single musical theater commissioning and producing initiative at any non-profit theater in America.

Small Pond Entertainment and Stephanie Rosenberg bring Broadway Meows: a benefit concert for the Humane Society of New York to Don't Tell Mama, one night only, Monday, July 20th at 7pm.

Broadway leading lady Rachel York, most recently seen in the world premiere musical Turn of the Century at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, has added several new engagements to her symphony concert schedule. Now through July, the versatile stage, screen, and recording artist will be a guest soloist performing the works of Bernstein, Sondheim, Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Andrew Lloyd Webber and more with major orchestras across the country.

Tickets will go on sale this Sunday, July 19, 2009 for the first-ever Broadway production of OLEANNA, the provocative drama by Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet. Direct from a smash hit engagement in Los Angeles, starring Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles and directed by Tony Award winner Doug Hughes, OLEANNA is a gripping account of a power struggle between a male university professor and one of his female students.

Sarah Rice, the original Johanna from the original Sweeney Todd and Elyse Beyer, recent star of the off-Broadway show, Judy and Me round out the cast of Broadway Meows this Monday night at Don't Tell Mama.

Signature Theatre, recipient of the 2009 Regional Theater Tony Award®, opens its 20th anniversary season on August 11 with the Broadway hit Dirty Blonde, a comedy with music about the notorious film legend Mae West.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director; Ellen Richard, Executive Director) concludes its 30th Anniversary mainstage season with the New York premiere of VANITIES, a new musical written by Jack Heifner, featuring music and lyrics by David Kirshenbaum, directed by Judith Ivey. With musical staging by Dan Knechtges, VANITIES features Lauren Kennedy, Sarah Stiles, and Anneliese van der Pol.

Alley Theatre will produce the Sherlock Holmes mystery The Crucifer of Blood during its popular ExxonMobil Summer Chills series. The perfect summer outing for Houstonians seeking a cool respite from the summer heat, ExxonMobil Summer Chills is a great way to introduce live theatre to first-timers, giving them an opportunity to thrill in suspenseful moments and unexpected revelations

Tickets will go on sale this Sunday, July 19, 2009 for the first-ever Broadway production of OLEANNA, the provocative drama by Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet. Direct from a smash hit engagement in Los Angeles, starring Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles and directed by Tony Award winner Doug Hughes, OLEANNA is a gripping account of a power struggle between a male university professor and one of his female students.