Jessica Ford News

Geva Theatre Center's 2017-2018 Season continues with the World Premiere of The Agitators, by Mat Smart and directed by Logan Vaughn in the Elaine P. Wilson Stage from October 17 through November 12.

Nikki Blonsky will depart the cast of Stuffed at the Westside Theatre. Due to an illness during a crucial stretch leading up to previews, Blonsky was not able to get sufficient rehearsal time and, as a result, she and the show's creative team have mutually decided to part ways.

Golden Globe Nominee Nikki Blonksy (New Line Cinema's Hairspray) will begin performances tonight in Stuffed, a new play by Lisa Lampanelli, after being out of the show ill this past weekend.

BroadwayWorld has confirmed that Nikki Blonsky will not be performing in the first preview of Lisa Lampanelli's Stuffed this evening, October 5, or tomorrow, October 6, due to illness. Her understudy, Lauren Ann Brickman, will play the role of 'Marty' for these performances.

Geva Theatre Center's 2017-2018 Season continues with the World Premiere of The Agitators, by Mat Smart and directed by Logan Vaughn in the Elaine P. Wilson Stage from October 17 through November 12.

Comedian Lisa Lampanelli  new play, Stuffed, opens Off-Broadway this fall in a new production at the Westside Theatre (Downstairs, 407 West 43rd Street), following a limited NYC run last fall at WP Theater.

Comedian Lisa Lampanelli and producer Rachel Karpf announced today complete casting for Lampanelli's new play, Stuffed, opening Off-Broadway this fall in a new production at the Westside Theatre (Downstairs, 407 West 43rd Street), following a limited NYC run last fall at WP Theater.

La Jolla Playhouse announces the cast and creative team for its world-premiere production of Kill Local, by UC San Diego MFA playwriting graduate Mat Smart, directed by Jackson Gay (Kingdom City), running August 1 - 27 (press opening: Sunday, August 6) in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre.

La Jolla Playhouse announces the cast and creative team for its world-premiere production of Kill Local, by UC San Diego MFA playwriting graduate Mat Smart, directed by Jackson Gay (Kingdom City), running August 1 - 27 (press opening: Sunday, August 6) in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre.

This gritty, gripping, and shockingly funny world premiere tosses audiences into a revolutionary Philadelphia court designed by a passionate group of women. Every day these lawyers, judges, parole officers and staff members work to transform the lives of women repeatedly convicted for prostitution. In her daring and vital new play Project Dawn, playwright Karen Hartman probes the thin lines between freedom and slavery, activism and obsession, for women on both sides of the law. Inspired by Hartman's extensive, first-hand research inside Philly's real-life court system, and cast with seven actresses who play multiple characters, this production represents the first world premiere to emerge from the acclaimed New Play Frontiers Residency & Commission program at People's Light. People's Light is located at 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, PA 19355. For tickets, call 610.644.3500 or visit peopleslight.org. This production is sponsored by PECO, and supported by grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Staged in tandem, playwright and director Aaron Posner's contemporary original No Sisters and Anton Chekhov's modern classic Three Sisters (1901) fuse the classic and the contemporary in a power move that is calculated to attract theatregoers of all persuasions.

Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT) starts off 2017 with "The Making of a Great Moment," the world premiere comedy by ATCA/Steinberg award-winning playwright Peter Sinn Nachtrieb.

Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT) starts off 2017 with "The Making of a Great Moment," the world premiere comedy by ATCA/Steinberg award-winning playwright Peter Sinn Nachtrieb.

David Sedaris' hilarious tale of a disgruntled elf working in Macy's holiday wonderland will open at The Armory on December 2 and run through December 24, with preview performances beginning November 26. The Santaland Diaries is directed by Wendy Knox and stars Portland-favorite Darius Pierce as Crumpet, a role he has performed for sold-out houses in the Ellyn Bye Studio for the past four seasons.

Stuffed began preview performances on Friday, September 23, 2016 and officially opened on Friday, October 7, 2016.  With additional material by Ashley Austin Morris, and direction by Jackson Gay (These Paper Bullets!), the new play stars the "Lovable Queen of Mean" Lampanelli, alongside Ann Harada (Cinderella, Avenue Q), Zainab Jah (Eclipsed) and Jessica Luck (The Digger). 

Drama Desk Award winner Michael Urie (Buyer and Cellar, 'Ugly Betty') will serve as host of the 61st Annual Drama Desk Awards tonight, June 5, 2016 at 8:00 PM at The Town Hall (123 W. 43rd Street).

The newly minted Drama Desk nominees met the press just yesterday and BroadwayWorld.com was there to meet all of them!

Drama Desk, Tony®, and Emmy® Award nominee and Theater World Award and NAACP Image Award winner Vanessa Williams (Into The Woods, The Trip to Bountiful, 'Ugly Betty') and Drama Desk, Tony®, Emmy, Golden Globe, and Drama League Award Nominee and SAG & TV Land Award winner Matthew Morrison (Finding Neverland, Hairspray, The Light in the Piazza, 'Glee') just announced the nominations for the 61st Annual Drama Desk Awards.

Step back from the craziness of the current election season and into the zaniness of a fictional farcical political campaign in Lila Rose Kaplan's HOME OF THE BRAVE. Sean Daniels directs an ensemble cast in this good old-fashioned comedy, featuring family values, a dollop of magic, and a potential nominee you can wholeheartedly support. Loosely inspired by Moliere's TARTUFFE, Kaplan's play is the perfect antidote to real presidential politics.

As the inaugural season of Merrimack Repertory Theatre's Patriot Program approaches its end, artistic director Sean Daniels has announced the addition of 14 new theatre artists to the company's network of collaborators. The new class of Patriots includes a mix of local and national artists who can now count MRT as one of their theatrical homes.