Jerry Frankel News

The Gershwins' PORGY AND BESS opens on Thursday, January 12th, 2012 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre (226 West 46th Street, between 8th Avenue and Broadway). Tickets are now on sale at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 877-250-2929. In the video below, leading lady Audra McDonald chats about what it's like to take on the iconic character.

The Gershwins' PORGY AND BESS begins previews tonight and opens on Thursday, January 12th, 2012 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre (226 West 46th Street, between 8th Avenue and Broadway). Tickets are now on sale at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 877-250-2929.

According the the NY Times, Kelli O'Hara is set to lead a New York workshop for a musical version of THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY later this month. Featuring a a score by Jason Robert Brown, the workhop will feature direction by Tony winner Bartlett Sher.

The producers of The Gershwins' PORGY AND BESS have just announced the complete cast of the show, which begin previews on Saturday, December 17th, 2011 and opens on Thursday, January 12th, 2012 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre (226 West 46th Street, between 8th Avenue and Broadway). Tickets are now on sale at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 877-250-2929.

Jeffrey Richards and Jerry Frankel have just announced the design team for the upcoming Broadway revival of Gore Vidal's THE BEST MAN. Tony and Drama Desk Award winning scenic designer DEREK McLANE (33 Variations, Anything Goes), Tony and Drama Desk Award winning lighting designer KENNETH POSNER (The Coast of Utopia, Part 2 - Shipwreck) and five-time Tony Award nominated costume designer ANN ROTH (The Book of Mormon) will design the play about power, ambition, political secrets, ruthlessness and the race for the presidency.

THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS will receive Actors' Equity Association's Advisory Committee on Chorus Affairs (ACCA) Fifth Annual ACCA Award for Outstanding Broadway Chorus. The honor is the only industry accolade of its kind and honors the distinctive talents and contributions made by the original chorus members of a Broadway musical. The award will be presented in the Actors' Equity Association Council Room, overlooking Times Square, on Friday, November 18, 2011.

Producers Jeffrey Richards and Jerry Frankel announced that the American premiere of THE ANARCHIST, the new play about politics, money, religion and sex, written and directed by DAVID MAMET. The production will star two-time Tony Award winner PATTI LUPONE, who has previously appeared in Mamet's The Woods, All Men are Whores, The Blue Hour, The Water Engine, Edmond and The Old Neighborhood and three-time Emmy Award winner LAURIE METCALF, who was nominated for a 2008 Tony Award for her performance in Mamet's November. THE ANARCHIST, which marks the sixth collaboration between Richards, Frankel and Mamet, will open on Broadway in Fall 2012.

Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner CANDICE BERGEN, five-time Tony Award winner ANGELA LANSBURY, Tony and Emmy Award winner JOHN LARROQUETTE and Drama Desk Award winner and Academy Award nominee MICHAEL McKEAN will join the previously announced JAMES EARL JONES in the Spring 2012 Broadway revival of Gore Vidal's THE BEST MAN.

According to the Chinese Almanac, Tuesday, October 11th is a good day for starting a business. So the producers of CHINGLISH, the new comedy about an American businessman doing business in China by Tony Award-winning and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly), have decided to start performances today. Find out how well you know Chinglish below!

According to the Chinese Almanac, Tuesday, October 11th is a good day for starting a business. So the producers of CHINGLISH, the new comedy about an American businessman doing business in China by Tony Award-winning and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly), have decided to start performances today.

The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust today announced that Lisa D'Amour and Melissa James Gibson will each be presented with the Steinberg Playwright Award at the 4th Annual Steinberg Playwright 'Mimi' Awards. The Mimi Awards promote theater as a vital part of our culture by nurturing American playwrights and encouraging the development and production of new American plays.

The producers of CHINGLISH, the new comedy by Tony Award-winning and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly) are pleased to announce that Hwang, OBIE-Award winning director Leigh Silverman and cast members Jennifer Lim and Gary Wilmes will be making an appearance at Washington Post Live's Global China Summit in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, September 27th.

On August 31, American Repertory Theatre opened The Gershwins' PORGY AND BESS. Written by Ira Gershwin, George Gershwin, DuBose and Dorothy Heyward, the A.R.T. production features an adaptation by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks and Obie Award-winning composer Diedre L. Murray. It is directed by A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus, with choreography by Ronald K. Brown. The show began previews on August 17 and is planning a Broadway transfer this winter. The production is scheduled to begin previews at the Richard Rogers Theatre on December 17, 2011 in anticipation of a January 12, 2012 Broadway opening. The marquee is going up at the Richard Rogers, and BroadwayWorld brings you photos below!

Producers Jeffrey Richards and Jerry Frankel in association with the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) have announced that the estates of George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, and DuBose and Dorothy Herward have enthusiastically endorsed THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS, officially greenlighting the sold-out A.R.T. production to come to Broadway. Below are the full supporting letters from the estates.

On August 31, American Repertory Theatre opened The Gershwins' PORGY AND BESS. Written by Ira Gershwin, George Gershwin, DuBose and Dorothy Heyward, the A.R.T. production features an adaptation by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks and Obie Award-winning composer Diedre L. Murray. It is directed by A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus, with choreography by Ronald K. Brown. The show began previews on August 17 and is planning a Broadway transfer this winter. The production is scheduled to begin previews at the Richard Rogers Theatre on December 17, 2011 in anticipation of a January 12, 2012 Broadway opening. The first footage of the show has been released in a new commercial spot and BroadwayWorld brings you a first look below!

Producers Jeffrey Richards and Jerry Frankel previously announced that tickets for CHINGLISH would go on sale to the general public on Saturday, September 3rd, 2011 at 12:00am.

A.R.T. American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) will present The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, opening the A.R.T.'s 2011-2 season tonight, August 17 at the Loeb Drama Center. The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, by George Gershwin, DuBose and Dorothy Heyward, and Ira Gershwin, is adapted by Suzan-Lori Parks and Diedre Murray, and directed by A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus. Check out the first production shots below!

CHINGLISH, the new comedy by Tony Award-winning and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly), directed by OBIE Award winner Leigh Silverman (Well, In The Wake), will begin previews on Tuesday, October 11, 2011. The play will run at the Longacre Theatre (220 West 48th Street) making its Broadway premiere following its world premiere production at Goodman Theatre in Chicago this summer.

A.R.T. American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) will present The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, opening the A.R.T.'s 2011-2 season tonight, August 17 at the Loeb Drama Center. The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, by George Gershwin, DuBose and Dorothy Heyward, and Ira Gershwin, is adapted by Suzan-Lori Parks and Diedre Murray, and directed by A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus. Check out the first production shots below!

BONNIE & CLYDE will play at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, beginning previews on Friday, November 4th and opening on Thursday, December 1st. New artwork for the Broadway production has been released and BroadwayWorld brings you a first look below!