Helen Hayes News

Ironbound made its premiere at the New Works Festival at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago. It was produced later at the Round House Theatre in Bethesda, Maryland and made its Off-Broadway debut at the Rattlestick Playwright's Theatre.

For more than 60 years, Athol Fugard has helped us explore South Africa through his complex, flawed, and empathetic characters. He is one of the most significant voices of our time. Fugard's most recent work, The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek, makes its DC-area premiere at MetroStage. When Producing Artistic Director Carolyn Griffin slated The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek as MetroStage's season opener, little did she know that an August tweet would thrust South African farm ownership and race relations firmly back into the world spotlight.

With the perfect combination of Synetic Theater veterans and first-timers, Paata Tsikurishvili is stacking the deck with his one-of-a-kind production of Washington Irving's Sleepy Hollow. Scott Turner will haunt the stage as the Headless Horseman tumbling and tussling with Vato Tsikurishvili's physically adept Ichabod Crane. Jesse McLean and Jordan Clark Halsey will make their Synetic Theater debuts as the beautiful Katrina Van Tassel and Crane's rival Brom, respectively. Synetic regulars Thomas Beheler (Van Tassel) and Justin Bell (Van Ripper) will return for this hauntingly beautiful Fall spectacle, and are joined by several Synetic alums and new-comers to fill out the cast in the ever-important and varied Ensemble roles.

Rampant ambition and minds unhinged. Shrieking owls and prophesies foretold. Folger Theatre begins its 2018/19 season with Macbeth, Shakespeare's murderous tragedy seen anew and here, set in London's famous Bedlam asylum for a groundbreaking production integrating period music into a famous variation of the play. The Restoration-era adaptation by Sir William Davenant, which mesmerized audiences from the re-opening of London theaters in the 1660's until well into the 18th century, blends music performed by Folger Consort and the seminal tragedy of the Scottish king.

Final casting for Berkeley Repertory Theatre's upcoming production of Fairview was announced today. Written by Jackie Sibblies Drury, directed bySarah Benson, with choreography by Raja Feather Kelly, the world premiere production comes straight to Berkeley Rep from a critically acclaimed New York run. Previews begin on Thursday, October 4 with regular run of the show opening on Thursday, October 11 and continuing through Sunday, November 4. Individual tickets begin at $30 ($15 if you're under 35) and can be purchased online at berkeleyrep.org or by phone at 510 647-2949.

The Keegan Theatre kicks off its 2018-19 season with John Strand's political comedy, Lincolnesque.  Set on Capitol Hill during a mid-term election, Strand's play examines the ways that language can unify and inspire, and the connections we seek - with our own better natures as well as with each other - as we strive to survive in a world that can feel chaotic and corrupt.

An all-star cast of leading Broadway women will lend their impassioned voices to a reading of the classic play, Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose

First Floor Theater is pleased to launch its seventh season with the Chicago premiere of Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm's wild, social commentary HOODED, OR BEING BLACK FOR DUMMIES

Ensemble for the Romantic Century announces that Angelica Page will star in the title role BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP: An Encounter with Emily Dickinson.

Broadway In Chicago and Emerald City Theatre are delighted to announce that KEN LUDWIG'S 'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS will return to Broadway In Chicago's Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place (175 E. Chestnut) by popular demand for a limited engagement that runs November 3 through December 30, 2018.  Individual tickets will go on-sale on September 6, 2018. 

ASU Gammage announced today that the Tony Award-winning musical set a new record for fastest sellout of a show at the historic Frank Lloyd Wright theater by selling out of all available tickets during the show's fan presale, leaving no tickets for the general public onsale. Demand for DEAR EVAN HANSEN and the Broadway season at ASU Gammage reached new levels this year and the show sold out in less than an hour of ASU Gammage and DEAR EVAN HANSEN fan presales.

Synetic Theater's adaptation of Sleepy Hollow pulls together all the elements that made Synetic famous: Gothic horror, iconic characters and imagery, an emphasis on surreal, wordless storytelling that transcends spoken language and makes our productions something akin to live-action dreams (or nightmares, depending on the story). This one's got everything from our 'greatest hits' and is also our first wholly American story-both written and set in the US. It's a story everyone knows-woven into our national soul, so to speak-but we're turning the tale on its head too, telling it from a different perspective than is usually done. By doing this, we're exploring and deconstructing the ideas of legend and myth, by showing that what we think we know about them-and about ourselves-is often far from the truth of what really happened.   

Cleveland Play House (CPH) kicks off its 2018-2019 Season with the spine tingling tale of Susan Hill's The Woman in Black.  Hill's gothic ghost story, adapted for the stage by Stephen Mallatratt, will star Bradley Armacost as Arthur Kipps and Adam Wesley Brown as the Actor in the show that Daily Mail called, "A nerve-shredding experience."  Director Robin Herford will recreate his original staging from the London West End.  The American premiere of the West End Production is produced by PW Productions and Pemberley Productions.  Previews begin on September 15th, with press opening on September 21st at the Allen Theatre in Playhouse Square. 

Theater Alliance launches Season 16 with the WORD BECOMES ACTION FESTIVAL. Building on the success of last year's inaugural festival, this second annual festival explores themes from upcoming productions and bringing together performances, readings, and workshops to illuminate divergent perspectives. The festival is made possible thanks to the support of The Revada Foundation and DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

Rep Stage, the professional regional theatre in residence at Howard Community College (HCC), opens its 26th season with 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,' directed and choreographed by Joseph W. Ritsch with music direction by Stacey Antoine. Set in modern-day East London, this production of the Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler Tony Award-winning musical thriller features an ensemble of eight and a chamber orchestra of keyboard, violin, and woodwinds.

Dear Evan Hansen fans can rejoice in the new studio version of Zoe Murphy's 'Requiem' performed by current cast member Mallory Bechtel. Watch below!

New Ohio Theatre and The Mill present the New York premiere of Mark Chrisler's WORSE THAN TIGERS, directed by Jaclyn Biskup. WORSE THAN TIGERS runs from August 24 - September 8, 2018 in a limited engagement at New Ohio Theatre, located at 154 Christopher Street between Greenwich and Washington Streets in New York City. Previews begin August 24 for an August 26 opening.

Award-winning actor and piano virtuoso Hershey Felder broke box office records this month at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts during his engagement of HERSHEY FELDER: BEETHOVEN. The show broke the theater's record as the highest grossing ticket sales for a multiple-week event with over 11,000 audience members attending BEETHOVEN during its four-week run. HERSHEY FELDER: BEETHOVEN had previously broken box office records during its World Premiere of this new adaptation at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley in June of 2017.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley continues its 2018/19 season with Native Gardens, a cutting-edge suburban comedy from America's hottest new playwright and National Latino Playwriting Award winner, Karen Zacarias. When an up-and-coming Latino couple purchases a home in a sought-after neighborhood beside the prize-winning garden of a prominent Washington D.C. family, conflicts over fences and flora spiral into an uproarious clash of cultures, exposing both couples' notions of race, taste, class, and privilege. Directed by Amy Gonzalez (Sunset and Margaritas, Anna in the Tropics), Native Gardens will be presented August 22 - September 16, 2018 (press opening: August 25) at Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro Street, Mountain View. For tickets ($40-$100) and more information the public may visit TheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

Now celebrating it's 10th Anniversary Season, Playhouse on Park opens its Mainstage Series with the wildly imaginative Peter and the Starcatcher, by Rick Elice and music by Wayne Barker.