Joe Brancato News

Lowell, MA - Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT) will be celebrating its 35th season with a black-tie gala onSaturday, June 21. Congresswoman Nicola Tsongas will present the Paul Tsongas Award to UMass Lowell Chancellor Marty Meehan in recognition of his long-time personal support and his continued work to build and expand MRT's partnership with UMass Lowell. The event will also feature the Reduced Shakespeare Company presenting 'The Complete History of MRT (abridged),' a 10-minute sketch created especially for this event.

Some of Broadway's brightest stars, including Tony Award nominees Howard McGillin ('Phantom of the Opera', 'Sunday in the Park With George') and Barbara Walsh ('Company', 'Falsettos'), along with Loni Ackerman ('Evita', 'Cats') and Penguin favorite Richard Kline ('Wicked', 'Three's Company'), headline a cast of more than 15 in A Salute to Sondheim tonight, October 5 at 8 p.m. at SUNY Rockland Community College in Suffern, New York.

People's Light & Theatre presents The Devil's Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith running October 16-November 24, 2013 on the Steinbright Stage. People's Light & Theatre is located at 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, PA 19355. For tickets call 610.644.3500 or visit PeoplesLight.org. People's Light & Theatre thanks the Lomax Family Foundation for their support of this production.

Some of Broadway's brightest stars, including Tony Award nominees Howard McGillin ('Phantom of the Opera', 'Sunday in the Park With George') and Barbara Walsh ('Company', 'Falsettos'), along with Loni Ackerman ('Evita', 'Cats') and Penguin favorite Richard Kline ('Wicked', 'Three's Company'), headline a cast of more than 15 in A Salute to Sondheim Saturday, October 5 at 8 p.m. at SUNY Rockland Community College in Suffern, New York.

Penguin Rep Theatre presents the world premiere of The Farm, a new play by Walter McGough, directed by Mark Shanahan, and starring Drama Desk Award winner Michael Cullen, beginning Friday, September 27, 2013 in Stony Point (Rockland County), New York.

Penguin Rep Theatre presents the world premiere of Drop Dead Perfect, a new comedy by Erasmus Fenn, directed by Penguin Rep founder and Artistic Director Joe Brancato, and starring Drama Desk Award winner and legendary Ridiculous Theatrical Company veteran Everett Quinton, beginning tonight, August 9 in Stony Point (Rockland County), New York.

Penguin Rep Theatre presents How the World Began, Catherine Trieschmann's thought-provoking new play examining contemporary America where religion, science and irreconcilable beliefs collide, beginning last night, June 28 in Stony Point (Rockland County), New York, directed by Penguin Rep founder and Artistic Director Joe Brancato will direct. Click below to watch interviews with the cast and creative team!

Penguin Rep Theatre will present How the World Began, Catherine Trieschmann's thought-provoking new play examining contemporary America where religion, science and irreconcilable beliefs collide, beginning Friday, June 28 in Stony Point (Rockland County), New York.

People's Light & Theatre announces its 39th season with eight productions that will stir emotions, warm hearts, and inspire the music lover in you. The season opens with Philadelphia native N. Richard Nash's breakthrough hit The Rainmaker, followed by The Devil's Music which has received raves throughout New York, Connecticut and Florida for Miche Braden's incredible performance as Bessie Smith. Highlights include a dance-filled adaptation of Jane Austen's romantic Pride & Prejudice, Itamar Moses' innovative comedy, Bach at Leipzig, and the revival of our multi award-winning holiday panto, Cinderella. Our season also includes Dear Elizabeth, Sarah Ruhl's lyrical and whimsical portrait of the relationship between acclaimed American poets, Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop and Henrik Ibsen's scandalous Ghosts.

After breaking box office records in the summer of 2012 with One Night With Janis Joplin, Cleveland Play House keeps right on rocking and resurrects The Empress of Blues in The Devil's Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith. Singer/actor/musician Miche (pronounced 'Mickey') Braden, nominated for a 2012 Drama Desk Award for the role, brings the defiant energy and musical brilliance of this Red Hot Mamma to life on the stage in this soulful musical.

After breaking box office records in the summer of 2012 with One Night With Janis Joplin, Cleveland Play House keeps right on rocking and resurrects The Empress of Blues in The Devil's Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith. Singer/actor/musician Miche (pronounced "Mickey") Braden, nominated for a 2012 Drama Desk Award for the role, brings the defiant energy and musical brilliance of this Red Hot Mamma to life on the stage in this soulful musical.

Penguin Rep Theatre presents The Kosher Comedy Tour featuring three of today's funniest Jewish comedians Peter Fogel, Cindy Miller and Stu Moss, for one performance only, tonight, September 22 at 8:30 pm at SUNY Rockland Community College's Cultural Arts Theatre in Suffern, New York.

Penguin Rep Theatre presents The Kosher Comedy Tour featuring three of today's funniest Jewish comedians Peter Fogel, Cindy Miller and Stu Moss, for one performance only, Saturday, September 22 at 8:30 pm at SUNY Rockland Community College's Cultural Arts Theatre in Suffern, New York.

When dowdy, painfully shy Adelaide Pinchin (Andrea Maulella) meets dashing, smooth-talking, George Love (Mark Shanahan) it's love at first sight -- for him! Or is it? All is not what it seems in Karoline Leach's play Tryst, a taut, brooding, romance thriller full of creepy twists and turns that make you squirm and keep you on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next and whether two very sad people can find happiness together.

Karoline Leach's Tryst, an Edwardian psychological thriller is a dark and dreamlike encounter between two intensely damaged souls. George Love (Mark Shanahan) is a con man that marries lonely women for their money. Adelaide Pinchin (Andrea Maulella) is a stifled milliner who sees through George's lies but thinks she might be content to stay with him.

Karoline Leach's Tryst, an Edwardian psychological thriller is a dark and dreamlike encounter between two intensely damaged souls. George Love (Mark Shanahan) is a con man that marries lonely women for their money. Adelaide Pinchin (Andrea Maulella) is a stifled milliner who sees through George's lies but thinks she might be content to stay with him.

The Last Days of Mickey and Jean, the newest work by playwright Richard Dresser, will be presented June 29th through July 22nd at Penguin Rep Theatre in Stony Point, New York.

The Last Days of Mickey and Jean, the newest work by playwright Richard Dresser, will be presented June 29th through July 22nd at Penguin Rep Theatre in Stony Point, New York.

The Hound of the Baskervilles, a comedy adapted by Steven Canny and John Nicholson from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's celebrated Sherlock Holmes mystery, opens Penguin Rep Theatre's 2012 season tonight, May 18.

Penguin Rep Theatre (Joe Brancato, Artistic Director, and Andrew M. Horn, Executive Director) and Morton Wolkowitz (Stomp,The Unexpected Man) present the Off-Broadway premiere of Miracle On South Division Street, by Tom Dudzick, directed by Joe Brancato. Performances began April 25th at St. Luke's Theatre (308 West 46th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues). Opening Night is tonight, Mother's Day, Sunday May 13th.