Helen Hayes News

The Howard County Arts Council has announced the guest performers for the 20th annual Celebration of the Arts in Howard County gala.

Today, Vishal Vaidya speaks with BWW about making his Broadway debut alongside a cast and crew who 'exhibit the same spirit as the people of Punxsutawney.'

Long Wharf Theatre, under the director of Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein and Managing Director Joshua Borenstein, presents the world premiere of The Most Beautiful Room in New York, a new musical with book and lyrics by Adam Gopnik and music by David Shire, directed by Edelstein.

The best-selling Russian crime fiction writer Boris Akunin's new stage adaptation of Shakespeare's HAMLET will debut this spring Off-Broadway when Red Lab Productions and Roust Theatre Company present HAMLET. A VERSION, with previews beginning April 21, prior to the official press opening on April 25 at The Theater at St. Clement's (423 W. 46 St.) in New York City. HAMLET. A VERSION is directed by Irina Gachechiladze. The production features original music by Georgian composer Giya Kancheli.

Broadway at The National announces its 2017-18 season featuring the anticipated world premiere of the Broadway-bound new musical Mean Girls, with a book by nine-time Emmy Award winner Tina Fey based on her screenplay for the Paramount Pictures film, the return of Cameron Mackintosh's new production of Boublil and Schönberg's Tony Award-winning musical phenomenon Les Misérables, the only area appearance of the one-of-a-kind internet sensation The Piano Guys, the Washington premiere of the hilarious smash hit comedy Something Rotten! and the Washington premiere of Waitress with music by six-time Grammy nominee Sara Bareilles.

Founded and curated by Glory Kadigan, the annual Playwrights for a Cause benefit, hosted by Planet Connections Theatre Festivity, addresses powerful social and topical issues in our society through the works of prominent playwrights. This year, the event will be Sunday, July 23, and will benefit the New York Civil Liberties Union with 'The Protest Plays,' stories of standing up to injustice written by celebrated authors, CATHERINE FILLOUX, LYLE KESSLER, JOSE RIVERA, and REGINA TAYLOR.

???????For its fourth consecutive year, Adventure Theatre MTC Academy will award over $25,000+ in scholarships to young performing arts students in the Montgomery County and Washington, D.C. area for its Summer Musical Theater Training Program and Summer Musical Theater Camp.

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston has announced its cast and creative team for Barbecue by Robert O'Hara, directed by Summer L. Williams and running April 7 - May 7, 2017.

The Washington Stage Guild will celebrate the end of its 30th Anniversary Season with Back To Methuselah: As Far As Thought Can Reach, the final episode in its multi-year presentation of George Bernard Shaw's visionary cycle of plays about humanity's destiny.

Co-directed with precision by Christina A. Coakley and Susan Marie Rhea, Keegan's PARADE keeps the staging simple and imaginative, cutting away clutter and using only the barest of props and scenic elements to help the story unfold. No one who has seen previous Keegan musicals, such as HAIR, CABARET, or AMERICAN IDIOT could be surprised by the quality of this rendering of PARADE; I fully expect this production to be recognized multiple times when the next round of Helen Hayes Awards comes around.

The Old Globe today announced the complete cast and creative team of Skeleton Crew by Dominique Morisseau. The Globe is the first regional theatre in the country to mount the play, which was presented here as a reading in the 2014 Powers New Voices Festival before an acclaimed Off Broadway run. San Diego director Delicia Turner Sonnenberg makes her Globe debut to helm the award-winning drama, which is presented in association with San Diego's MOXIE Theatre, where Turner Sonnenberg is Founding Artistic Director.

The Hub Theatre will present THE LATE WEDDING by Christopher Chen. The production is a marriage of firsts! Hub's production marks the play's DC area premiere and the company's first collaboration with Helen Hayes Awards-Nominated Director Kate Bryer (Associate Artistic Director, Imagination Stage).

As the South Florida theater community prepares for the 41st annual Carbonell Awards, one of the most anticipated features of the April 3rd ceremony, the recipients of the prestigious George Abbott Award, and Ruth Foreman Award, have been announced.

The production will be conducted by MasterVoices' Artistic Director Ted Sperling and will feature previously announced stars Kelli O'Hara, Bill Irwin, Lauren Worsham, Christopher Fitzgerald - with Jonathan Freeman, Chris Sullivan, and Jeffrey Schecter just joining the lineup - alongside 130 singers of MasterVoices, with Orchestra of St. Luke's.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center announces that iconic stage and film actress Judith Light will receive the 17th Monte Cristo Award. An alumna of the O'Neill, Judith first performed at the O'Neill's 1977 National Playwrights Conference.

RAGTIME, currently playing at Ford's Theatre, hits a number of current, resonant themes across multiple notes with powerful ballads and a stellar cast. DC audiences, this is the show we need right now.

BroadwayWorld presents a comprehensive weekly roundup of regional stories around our Broadway World, which include videos, editor spotlights, regional reviews and more. This week, we feature RAGTIME at Ford's Theatre, SPAMILTON in Chicago, SWSX coverage in Austin and more. Check out our top features below!

The Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) will host a Shepherdstown Sneak Peek onFriday, March 24th at 8pm at the Frank Center of Shepherd University. The season preview will consist of readings from all six of CATF's 2017 plays. Founder and Producing Director Ed Herendeen will introduce and discuss the upcoming season. This event isfree and open to the public.

After paying tribute to artistic inspirations during Fall 2016's DEMO, Damian Woetzel continues to unite artists from across fields around a common theme in performance on April 3, 2017 at 8:00 p.m. in the Eisenhower Theater. This installment of the multi-genre series brings together acclaimed artists for a special one-night performance to celebrate the combination of song and dance.

The assassinations of Rome's great ruler of the Republic and revolutionary leader Malcolm X take to the stage when Tony Award-winning The Acting Company couples Shakespeare's Julius Caesar with X: Or, Betty Shabazz v. The Nation, a compelling new play by lauded playwright Marcus Gardley (The House that Will Not Stand, The Gospel of Lovingkindness, Every Tongue Confess, On The Levee). These two gripping dramas make their Off-Broadway debut at The New Victory Theater from March 17 - 26, 2017. Scroll down for a sneak peek at both productions!