Joanne News

According to Variety, Judith Shekoni will join Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning in “Maleficent 2.” 

Dimo Kim Musical Theatre Factory, a new theatre company providing more roles for Asian American actors has announced that it will present the Off-Broadway revival of COMFORT WOMEN: A NEW MUSICAL written by South Korean Theater Director Dimo Hyun Jun Kim, Osker David Aguirre, and Joann Malory Miese with music by Bryan Michaels and TaeHo Park on Friday, July 20ththrough Sunday, September 2nd at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre (416 West 42nd Street). The official opening will be on Friday, July 27th. The production is supported by the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan.

More than twenty years after its opening on Broadway, RENT has been seen by millions of people and is a favorite among musical theatre lovers. Yet...until recently, I'd never seen it. I knew absolutely nothing about the musical except that it's based on the opera LA BOHEME. As I sat down, it occurred to me that I was probably the only person in the 2,700+ seat theatre that was more familiar with LA BOHEME than RENT. Nevertheless, I was ready to finally check out the musical my friends had been obsessing over for years.

The Huntington Theatre Company has added an extra performance of the world premiere play, Fall, on Sunday, June 17 at 2pm. The play reveals the story of Arthur Miller's secret son with third wife Inge Morath, the decision they made to cut him out of their life, and the impact it had on their relationship. Fall stars Josh Stamberg (TV's 'Parenthood' and 'The Affair') as the iconic American playwright and Joanne Kelly (TV's "The Disappearance," "Warehouse 13," and "Slings and Arrows") as Morath. It is written by Bernard Weinraub (The Accomplices, Above the Fold), and directed by Huntington Artistic Director Peter DuBois.

Westport Country Playhouse will open its 2018 Season with an uplifting tale of bravery, pride, and sisterhood, "Flyin' West," written by Pearl Cleage and directed by Seret Scott, playing May 29 through June 16.  This year marks the historic theater's 88th season.

Paper Mill Playhouse is currently hosting the East Coast premiere of Half Time, a new musical. Get a first look at the company in action below!

Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell is going full out these days. Not only is he directing and choreographing the original musical, Half Time, at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey, but he's also about to begin rehearsals as the director and choreographer for Broadway's Pretty Woman.

American Public Television (APT), the original home to public television's culinary experts and sponsor of the Create Cooking Challenge 2018, announced today that two new video stars have joined its ranks. Selected from a nationwide pool of entries by judges who are among public television's best known chefs, Kiya Schnorr from New York City, claims the Grand Prize, receiving $4,000 and production equipment valued at approximately $1,000 to finance and produce a web series of 10 two-minute videos to appear on CreateTV.com. Second Prize Winner, Kristina Vanni, also from New York City, was awarded $1,000 and production equipment valued at approximately $1,000 to finance and produce a web series of three, two-minute videos for CreateTV.com. Distributed and produced by APT, WNET New York and WGBH Boston, Create is a national channel carried by 238 local public television stations and features lifestyle content: cooking, travel, home improvement, gardening and arts & crafts.

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Arthur Miller was renowned and celebrated for his masterpiece DEATH OF A SALESMAN, as well as ALL MY SONS and THE CRUCIBLE, plays in which issues of morality took center stage. He refused to name names when called before the House Un-American Activities Committee, spoke out agains the Vietnam War, and was an activist in many social causes, allowing him to be seen as the moral conscience of the nation. However, Bernard Weinraub reveals Miller's feet of clay in the world premiere of his play FALL, directed by Peter DuBois at Huntington Theatre Company's Calderwood Pavilion.

ANDREW ROTHKIN, the producing artistic director of White Rabbit Productions has entered into a partnership with producer/publicist JAY MICHAELS.

Westport Country Playhouse will open its 2018 Season with an uplifting tale of bravery, pride, and sisterhood, "Flyin' West," written by Pearl Cleage and directed by Seret Scott, playing May 29 through June 16.  This year marks the historic theater's 88th season.

Dance to Unite raised more than $120,000 in support of the non-profit organization's expanding free after-school dance and education programs at their 5th Annual Benefit: Lead the Way on Tuesday, May 15, 2018 at 6:30pm at the Manny Cantor Center, located on the Lower East Side at 197 E Broadway, New York, NY 10002.

Paper Mill Playhouse presents the East Coast premiere of Half Time, a new musical, with book by Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin, music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Nell Benjamin and additional music by Marvin Hamlisch and Ester Dean. Half Time begins performances tomorrow, Thursday, May 31, 2018, for a limited engagement through Sunday, July 1

'Epic Duets' featured fabulous duets of Epic Theatre Ensemble's students alongside renowned Broadway stars like headliner Ariana DeBose (Summer: The Donna Summer Musical), Gizel Jimenez (Miss You Like Hell), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Rent), Jacob Ming-Trent (Shrek: The Musical), and Aaron Krohn (Summer: The Donna Summer Musical).

SRO Theatre Company's 2017-2018 season concludes with Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's groundbreaking musical Company. On the night of his 35th birthday, confirmed bachelor, Robert, contemplates his unmarried state. Over the course of a series of dinners, drinks and even a wedding, his friends - 'those good and crazy people [his] married friends' - explain the pros and cons of taking on a spouse. The habitually single Robert is forced to question his adamant retention of bachelorhood during a hilarious array of interactions. Performances run May 25th thru June 3rd, 2018 at the Columbus Performing Arts Center.  Fri-Sat at 8pm, Sun at 2pm *10:30am performance on June 1st.  549 Franklin Avenue, Columbus, OH 43215.  For more info visit http://www.srotheatre.org/

Actors' Equity Association, the union which represents more than 51,000 professional stage actors and stage managers, announced the results of the 2018 National Council election.  In total, 55 Council seats across all three regions and representing three (3) categories (principal actor, chorus actor and stage manager) were filled, effective immediately.   

Adventure Stage Chicago (ASC), the participatory arts program of Northwestern Settlement (the Settlement), announces its 15th season of programming for young audiences, exploring the challenges of 'hunger,' both literal and metaphorical, as the company applies its mission of telling heroic stories to the Settlement objective of disrupting generational poverty.

The Guthrie Theater (Joseph Haj, artistic director) proudly announced the cast and creative team for the theater's summer musical, West Side Story. Directed by Haj, this major revival of a timeless classic will play June 16 - August 26, 2018, on the Wurtele Thrust Stage. Single tickets for West Side Story start at $15 for preview performances (June 16-21) and are on sale now through the Box Office at 612.377.2224, 877.44.STAGE (toll-free), 612.225.6244 (group sales) and online at guthrietheater.org.

Sera los dias 25, 26 y 27 de junio en la Escuela Acting de Madrid. ¡Entra para conocer todos los detalles!

The Guthrie Theater (Joseph Haj, artistic director) announced it will present BAD NEWS! i was there… created and directed by JoAnne Akalaitis with Kate Atwell, Greg Taubman and Ashley Tata with original music and sound by Bruce Odland. Playing June 2-3, 2018, for four performances only, this unique theater experience will take place in the Guthrie lobbies in promenade style, which requires patrons to stand and walk during the performance. A limited number of chairs will be available for accessible seating.