Helen Hayes News

Theater Alliance kicks off 2018 with Idris Goodwin's The Raid, an imagined debate between two American icons. On the eve of the raid on the federal armory in Harpers Ferry, John Brown and Frederick Douglass argue the merits of violence and pacifism, order and chaos, and the possibility of a nation free of the scourge of slavery.

Andrew Hinderaker's stunning theatrical hybrid The Magic Play begins preview performances at The Armory on March 3, opens on March 9 and runs through April 1 on the U.S. Bank Main Stage. The Armory's production brings together the artistic team from the celebrated world premiere at Goodman Theatre/Olney Theatre Center, including director Halena Kays; magic creator/actor Brett Schneider; actor Sean Parris; master illusionist Jim Steinmeyer; scenic designer Lizzie Bracken, costume designer Alison Siple; aerial choreographer Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi; and flying effects by ZFX, Inc. Portland Center State at The Armory's run of The Magic Play is a co-production with Actors Theatre of Louisville and Syracuse Stage.

Long Wharf Theatre, under the direction of Managing Director Joshua Borenstein, presents Ken Ludwig's Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Comic Mystery, directed by Brendon Fox.

The "Bad Boys of Abridgment" are back! Uproarious and rapid-fire, the Reduced Shakespeare Company makes sharp, short comedy in their latest sendup, William Shakespeare's Long Lost First Play (abridged). Discovered in a treasure-filled parking lot in Leicester, England (next to a pile of bones that didn't look that important), an ancient manuscript proves to be the literary holy grail-the long-lost first play written by none other than seventeen-year-old William Shakespeare! William Shakespeare's Long Lost First Play (abridged) makes its off-Broadway premiere at The New Victory Theater, opening on March 2 and playing through March 11, 2018, as part of a 20-city tour throughout the United States.

Goodwill Cultural Ambassador Ronald Rand has been invited to represent the United States in the Theatre Olympics, performing as Harold Clurman in his celebrated one-man show, 'LET IT BE ART! Harold Clurman's Life of Passion' in Delhi at the prestigious Kamani Auditorium on February 25th, and at the Kalagram Theatre in Bangalore, India on February 27th, 2018.

It was announced today that the hilarious new Broadway musical comedy THE PROM will star Tony Award Nominee Brooks Ashmanskas (Something Rotten!), Tony Award Winner Beth Leavel (The Drowsy Chaperone), two-time Tony Award Nominee Christopher Sieber (Shrek the Musical), Caitlin Kinnunen (Bridges of Madison County), Isabelle McCalla (Aladdin), Michael Potts (Jitney), Angie Schworer (The Producers), Courtenay Collins (Broadway Debut) and Josh Lamon (Groundhog Day) and will officially open on Broadway on Thursday, November 15, 2018 at a Shubert theater to be announced.

The Hermitage Artist Retreat along with its partner the Philadelphia-based Greenfield Foundation announce that Playwright Martyna Majok has won the 2018 Greenfield Prize, given this year in Drama.

Moderated by Theatre Forward Executive Director Bruce E. Whitacre, the exclusive luncheon will explore the current Broadway landscape with some of Broadway's leading players and stars, with a panel that includes Heather A. Hitchens, President and CEO of the American Theatre Wing; Keegan-Michael Key, Emmy-winning actor, comedian, writer and producer (Meteor Shower, Hamlet, "Key and Peele"); John Leguizamo, Emmy and Obie Award-winning actor and playwright (Latin History for Morons, Freak, Mambo Mouth); Daryl Roth, award-winning Broadway producer (Kinky Boots, Indecent); Lea Salonga, Tony Award-winning actor (Once On This Island, Miss Saigon, Les Miserables) and Irene Sankoff and David Hein, the Tony-nominated and Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Award-winning songwriting and book-writing team behind Come From Away.

Lauren Molina joins the cast of WOMEN OF THE WINGS: A CELEBRATION OF FEMALE MUSICAL THEATRE WRITERS Volume II at Feinstein's/54 Below on March 2! 

Dallas Summer Musicals, Inc. (DSM) and Broadway Across American (BAA) are pleased to announce that the Dallas engagement of the hit Broadway musical ON YOUR FEET! based on the life story of seven-time GRAMMY winning international superstar Gloria Estefan and her husband, 19-time GRAMMY winning producer-musician-entrepreneur Emilio Estefan is on sale now.

The Ziegfeld Club, one of the first New York City performing arts charities to benefit women, is thrilled to announce that for the third year in a row the Liz Swados Inspiration Grant will be awarded. Created in 2016 and underwritten by actress Diane Lane, The Liz Swados Inspiration Grant serves to honor an influential female music educator in New York City through a $5,000.00 cash grant.

Theater Program presents its fourth annual production, Anything Goes, directed by 5th Avenue Theatre Casting Director Kelsey Thorgalsen. The show runs March 9th though 18th, with previews March 7th and 8th, at the Floyd and Delores Jones Playhouse at 4045 University Way NE.

Following an extensive nationwide search,American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Board of Trustees and Executive Director Peter Pastreich today named Tony, OBIE, and Drama Desk Award winner Pam MacKinnon the new artistic director of San Francisco's premier nonprofit theater organization. MacKinnon succeeds Carey Perloff who will depart from American Conservatory Theater at the end of the 2017-18 season after 25 years at the helm. MacKinnon will begin planning the 2018-19 season alongside Perloff effective immediately. In addition, she will begin partnering with the leaders of A.C.T.'s world-class actor training programs and ever-expanding community programs, ensuring A.C.T. continues its role as the Bay Area's leading theater arts educational organization.

Matthew Weaver of Media Weaver Entertainment, announced today plans for a 2018 Los Angeles sit - down production of the critically - acclaimed, international Broadway hit ROCK OF AGES by Chris D'Arienzo.

An Evening of Classic Broadway will be back on Monday, February 12th at 8PM (doors 6:30) at Rockwell Table and Stage, LA's most popular live music venue on Vermont Ave. in Los Feliz. BroadwayWorld.com says, the singers are incredibly talented the 90-minute show could have gone on another hour. Music Director/Master of Ceremonies Brad Ellis (Glee, Forbidden Broadway) and (producer/Cabaret artist) Dianne Fraser present a different line-up of singers with each performance of Fraser Entertainment Group's long-running concert series.

For the first time in Israel and in celebration of Israel's 70th Anniversary, International theater and concert headliner Isaac Sutton will welcome Broadway Star Carrie St. Louis (Wicked and Rock of Ages) when they perform together in Israel in March 2018 with the show Broadway-Israel.

FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents Award-winning songwriters Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich as they celebrate their 25th year of romantic comedy writing with a one-night only, all-original show.

Producers Darlene Kaplan, Laura Janik Cronin and Scott J. Newsome, have announced, today, the cast and creative team for the Off-Broadway premiere of The Stone Witch, a play by Shem Bitterman (A Death in Colombia, Influence). Performances begin Monday, March 12, 2018 for an open-ended engagement at The Westside Theatre - Upstairs (407 West 43rd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues). Opening Night is set for Sunday evening, March 25, 2018 at 6:30PM.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) announced the line-up today for the 2018 Free Shakespeare in the Park season, continuing a 56-year tradition of free theater in Central Park.

BroadwayWorld has teamed up with Broadway alum Ilana Levine, who makes her entrance onto the podcast stage with her new show Little Known Facts. Ilana's unique brand of celebrity interview, 'Podcast Verite,' is unfiltered, raw, honest and uniquely funny.