James Jennings News

Penobscot Theatre Company, the country's northeastern most regional, professional theatre company, has announced their Dramatic Academy's production of Squatch, the World Premiere of a new play by Travis Baker, Zane Baker & Isaac Miller. Performed at the Historic Bangor Opera House, Squatch will run from November 1-3.

Penobscot Theatre Company's Dramatic Academy will stage two 1950s-era shows to round out a season of successful youth programming.  REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, made famous by the 1955 film starring legendary Hollywood bad boy James Dean, will play August 15, 16, and 17 at 7pm, and August 18 at 3pm. THE MAN FROM PLANET 52, a campy love letter to B-movies, will be performed on August 15, 16, and 17 at 4pm and on August 18 at 11am.  The performances will be at the historic Bangor Opera House, 131 Main Street, Bangor.

Sometime in the 13th century, an anonymous author wrote a short play detailing the events of the Harrowing of Hell, when, after dying, Jesus went to Hell to rescue all the prophets imprisoned there.  This play, one of the first ever written in English, was so popular it survives in multiple sources, but has never been performed in the United States.  Newly translated into modern English, you may see this play in April at the American Theatre of Actors.  In it, Jesus, vanquishes Satan, and then goes on to release Adam, Eve, and others from their hellish imprisonment.  

GREAT EXPECTATIONS is Charles Dickens' thirteenth novel and depicts the personal growth and development of an orphan nicknamed Pip. It is Dickens's second novel, after David Copperfield, to be fully narrated in the first person. The novel was first published as a serial in Dickens's weekly periodical All the Year Round, from 1 December 1860 to August 1861. In October 1861, Chapman and Hall published the novel in three volumes. It has been adapted into a multitude of films, television programs and stage productions. The adaptation by Barbara Field is currently on stage at The Vortex as produced by Different Stages.

In 1815, just months after the decisive Battle of Waterloo, in which the United Kingdom and Germany overthrew Napoleon Bonaparte, the great Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott made a pilgrimage to the battlefield.

Different Stages has a reputation for bringing excellent theatre to the Austin stage and THE BOOK OF LIZ is no different. Supreme silliness and laughs galore fill the performance space at Trinity Street Theatre for the space 90 minutes of great, quirky entertainment.

YANKEE TAVERN by prolific playwright Steven Deitz, is a labyrinthine journey through the mind of conspiracy theorist Ray (Bill Karnovsky). Through all the crazy scenarios Ray spouts, there may just be a kernel of truth.

One stormy night in the 8th century, a solitary monk had a terrifying dream - He saw the crucifixion of Jesus firsthand and then the cross itself began to talk to him. Based on his vision, he composed a lengthy poem, now called The Dream of the Rood, one of the earliest pieces of poetry in English to survive, and one of the most amazing.

 James Jennings announced that American Theatre of Actors will present An Evening of Three One-Act Plays by Phil Paradis opens Valentine's Day, and continues February14-18, 2018 at the Beckman Theater, 2nd floor, 314 West 54th Street, New York, NY. Tickets are $15 at the door. Reservations can be made by calling 212-581-3044.

Miller-Coffman Productions Proudly Presents - The Cover of Life The Cover of Life to make way to the Gene Frankel Theater in 2018! Directed by Stephen S. Miller

THE WORLD GOES 'ROUND is an award winning musical revue showcasing the songs of John Kander and Fred Ebb. It won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical Revue. The revue takes its title from a tune the songwriting team wrote for Liza Minnelli to sing in the film New York, New York. The revue features a combination of upbeat, unfamiliar songs from the team's lesser known musicals: The Happy Time, The Rink, The Act, Flora the Red Menace, Kiss of the Spider Woman, 70 Girls 70, and others as well as their two blockbuster hits Cabaret and Chicago. The show is an eclectic collection of love songs, ballads, and witty comedic numbers.

The American Theatre of Actors presents two plays by John Bale: 'John Baptist's Preaching in the Wilderness' and 'The Temptation of Our Lord.'

The American Theatre of Actors presents two plays by John Bale: 'John Baptist's Preaching in the Wilderness' and 'The Temptation of Our Lord.'

Do you want to grow things or kill things? As a teenage goddess, Seph lives in her family's in-between. With her mom, she makes grass grow and flowers bloom.

The American Theatre of Actors presents two plays by John Bale: 'John Baptist's Preaching in the Wilderness' and 'The Temptation of Our Lord.'

Do you want to grow things or kill things? As a teenage goddess, Seph lives in her family's in-between. With her mom, she makes grass grow and flowers bloom.

A PERFECT LIFE is presented by Austin Theatre Project as part of its 2017 season. This world premiere is based on the musical, One Man Band by Tony and Emmy Award winner Larry Hochman, Marc Elliot, and James Lecesne. The original One Man Band enjoyed a well-received New York run in 1985. Original composers Larry Hochman and Marc Elliot, who is also the show's lyricist, have teamed up with playwright Laurie Hochman, to tell this bittersweet, but ultimately hopeful story of life, love, and loss.

Austin Theatre Project's current production BARE, playing at the Trinity Street Theatre, is a work of love and stunning beauty.

James Jennings opens a series of dark works presented this summer at the American Theater of Actors with his production of Richard III.

MRS. MANNERLY, a memory play by Jeffrey Hatcher, takes inspiration from the playwright's memories of a childhood etiquette class that he took at the tender young age of ten. Walking with an etiquette book balanced on your head, learning complex table settings with a confounding array of flatware and stemware, and dropping a quarter in a jar each time you interrupt...those were the ways of Mrs. Mannerly's classes in 1967. Mrs. Mannerly (Jennifer Underwood) has high standards; so high, in fact, that not one student in her thirty-six years of teaching proper deportment has ever achieved perfection. Young Jeffrey (Suzanne Balling) wants to be the first and he has a trick up his sleeve that he thinks makes him a shoe-in to achieve that sought after goal... he has discovered Mrs. Mannerly has a secret past.