Helen Hayes News

the american vicarious is proud to return to Chicago with DOUGLASS, a world premiere drama from Thomas Klingenstein, directed by Jeff Award nominee Christopher McElroen (Invisible Man). DOUGLASS will play July 21 - August 14, 2016 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. The press opening is Sunday, July 24 at 3 pm.

A stunning new production of Honolulu Theatre for Youth's award-winning Anime Momotaro will kick off the company's 2016-17 season, themed 'Stories of Home.' Authored by Alvin Chan, Eric Johnson and the HTY Company, this modern adaptation of the Japanese children's classic, Momotaro: Peach Boy, opens Friday, August 12 at 7 p.m., then plays Saturdays, August 13, 20, 27, September 3, 10 & 17 at 4:30 p.m. A sensory-friendly performance will be held Sept. 17 at 11 a.m.; a Japanese language performance will be staged on Sept. 24 at 7 p.m.

This summer Theatreworks USA, the nation's leading not-for-profit professional theatre for young audiences, will present the Off-Broadway Premiere of Junie B.'s Essential Survival Guide to School.

Everything is changing at the St. James Theatre! As BroadwayWorld previously announced, the smash hit musical comedy Something Rotten! has recently welcomed a slew of new principal cast members for its second year on Broadway.  The production now stars  Will Chase (Shakespeare), Catherine Brunell (Portia), Josh Grisetti (Nigel Bottom) and Leslie Kritzer (Bea), who were welcomed to the Renaissance yesterday July 18, and Rob McClure (Nick Bottom), who joined the cast just last month. Get to know the new cast below!

You are cordially invited to go to hell … with Rorschach! As summer gives way to autumn, follow the goddess Persephone on her descent into the underworld and celebrate her crowning as Queen of the Dead. An immersive performance experience created by the artists of Rorschach Theatre. This one-night only benefit performance and party opens its doors at 7pm on August 13 and the performance begins as the sun begins to set.

This winter, thirty years after it first premiered at Circle Repertory Company, producers Stacey Mindich and Jessica R. Jenen will present the first-ever Broadway revival of Lanford Wilson's acclaimed play, Burn This, directed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer, and starring Academy Award nominee Jake Gyllenhaal. The play will re-open Ambassador Theatre Group's historic Hudson Theatre (139-141 West 44th St) on Broadway. Performances begin February 2017, with an opening night set for Monday, March 6, 2017.

The May Queen, the sassy, new office comedy, has its Cape Playhouse premiere as the fourth play in in the historic theatre's 90th anniversary season. Directed by Amanda Charlton, it plays a two week engagement, July 26 - August 6; press night is set for Tuesday, July 26 at 7:30 pm.

This summer Theatreworks USA, the nation's leading not-for-profit professional theatre for young audiences, will present the Off-Broadway Premiere of Junie B.'s Essential Survival Guide to School.

Originally earning 11 Helen Hayes nominations and audience acclaim in 2014, Synetic Theater's silent 1920s-style take on TWELFTH NIGHT is re-staged this season - which is not a moment too soon. In a winning blend of quirky vintage comedy and surprising emotional depth, this production manages to reinvent Shakespeare in a way that's so energetic, it could never be called tired.

Virginia Repertory Theatre's DREAMGIRLS opened June 24 at the Sara Belle and Neil November Theatre, 114 West Broad Street. The production runs through August 7, 2016. With music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book byTom Eyen, this megawatt Broadway crowd-pleaser electrifies the stage with Motown dreams and powerhouse voices. Loosely based on Diana Ross and the Supremes, the story follows the turbo-charged rise to fame of the Dreams. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Feinstein's/54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club, presented Every Little Step star and two-time Helen Hayes Award winner Natascia Diaz in her New York City solo debut one month ago today, following her acclaimed and nominated performance as Anita in Signature Theatre's sold out run of West Side Story in Washington, D.C. Click below to watch Diaz perform 'I Miss The Mountains,' 'Happy Birthday, Darling', 'Autumn Leaves' and more on the 54 Below stage!

Hershey Felder channels the great composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein in Maestro, a new play with music written and performed by award-winning actor and musician Hershey Felder, and directed by Joel Zwick at 59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer; Brian Beirne, Managing Director). Maestro plays August 31 - October 16. The show opens Sunday, September 11 at 3PM.

Wanna see the mother-daughter duo in action? Check out some of their past performances below!

Heidi Blickenstaff (Broadway's Something Rotten!) and Emma Hunton (Broadway's Spring Awakening) are set to star as mother and daughter in the world premiere production of the new musical Freaky Friday at Signature Theatre. The musical, based on the beloved 1972 novel by Mary Rodgers and hit Disney films and developed by Disney Theatrical Productions expressly for licensing to theatres, features a book byBridget Carpenter, music by Tom Kitt and lyrics by Brian Yorkey. This premiere production will be directed byChristopher Ashley with choreography by Sergio Trujillo. Freaky Friday will run from October 4 - November 13 in Signature Theatre's MAX Theatre. Further casting and creative team members will be announced in the coming months.

A gripping tragedy of love that transcends all, Elton John and Tim Rice's AIDA follows a courageous Nubian princess as she is forced to choose between passion and allegiance.  This poignant musical features HAMILTON's own Emmy Raver-Lampman as Aida and Broadway's Mark Evans as Radames.

Theatre for a New Audience, Founding Artistic Director Jeffrey Horowitz, announces its 2016-17 season at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place, featuring four productions of Shakespeare alongside major American and European authors.

On September 19, 2016, The New York Pops will return to Feinstein's/54 Below in Manhattan, NY, for a cabaret performance starring Tony nominees Montego Glover and Joshua Henry. The night will be an intimate evening of dining and entertainment led by Music Director Steven Reineke as two of Broadway's most talented stars perform some of their favorite tunes.

Additional casting has been announced for Charlie and Algernon: In Concert at Feinstein's/54 Below. As previously reported, the 1980 musical based on the beloved novel Flowers For Algernon will come to life again for one night only, with the show's original star, P.J. Benjamin (Wicked, Chicago, Sophisticated Ladies and more).

Kennedy Center, in partnership with the Dizzy Feet Foundation and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, invites everyone to celebrate the art of dance as it hosts the Northeast's installment of National Dance Day on Saturday, July 30, 2016 from 1:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. This free, day-long celebration takes place on the Kennedy Center's North Plaza also includes a 6:00 p.m. performance on the Millennium Stage in the Grand Foyer, which will be streamed live on the Kennedy Center website and archived for future viewings; features interactive dances, lessons, outdoor performances, live music, and more including the return of the summer night social "Dancing Under the Stars."