Joe Orton News

Westport Country Playhouse will host a "2013 Season Kick-off Block Party," on Saturday, April 13, 4 to 7 p.m., offering a fun, party-like atmosphere with food trucks, special ticket offers, and a look at the Playhouse's "backstage experience." Admission is free and open to the public.

Casting is announced for Westport Country Playhouse's Script in Hand playreading of the romantic comedy 'Beau Jest' by James Sherman, a former actor/writer for Chicago's Second City, on one-night-only, Monday, March 18, 7 p.m. Tickets are $15.

Graham Linehan's hilarious adaptation of the classic Ealing comedy The Ladykillers returns to London at The Vaudeville Theatre this summer following its record breaking debut West End season at the Gielgud Theatre in 2011/12 and subsequent UK tour.

With less than two months before the curtain goes up on Westport Country Playhouse's 2013 season, single tickets are now on sale, beginning Tuesday, March 5, at noon. Single tickets may be purchased by phone at 203-227-4177, in person at 25 Powers Court, Westport, 24/7 online at westportplayhouse.org, or by using the new Playhouse App or mobile website.

Lucas Hnath's new play, Isaac's Eye directed by Linsay Firman, has had its world premiere run extended through March 10, Ensemble Studio Theatre Artistic Director William Carden announced today (2/19).

Westport Country Playhouse's next Script in Hand playreading will be the romantic comedy, 'Beau Jest' by James Sherman, a former actor/writer for Chicago's Second City, on one-night-only, Monday, March 18, 7 p.m. Director is Anne Keefe, Playhouse artistic advisor. Casting will be announced soon.

Oscar-winner Stefan Ruzowitzky (THE COUNTERFEITERS, DEADFALL) is in late negotiations to direct Alec Baldwin and Patrick Wilson in CAUGHT STEALING, Myriad Pictures announced today. The film, based on the first novel of Charlie Huston's The Henry Thompson Triology, was scripted by David Hayter.

Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired all North American rights to Woody Allen's next film, BLUE JASMINE from Gravier Productions.

According to In Touch, Broadway veteran and wife Hilaria are expecting their first child together. A close friend revealed: 'Hilaria has told only really close friends and family she is pregnant, only a close circle she trusts." Baldwin, who is Broadway bound in Orphans, has a duaghter from his previous marriage with Kim Basinger.

Amphibian Stage Productions previously announced casting for its first staged reading of the 2013 season, On the Ceiling by Nigel Planer. Patrick Bynane and Michael Muller will star in this two-performance event today, January 27 and Monday, January 28 at Amphibian's theater at 120 S. Main Street. Longtime Amphibian collaborator David A. Miller will direct the reading.

Westport Country Playhouse has received a $20,000 grant from the Fairfield County Community Foundation for general operating support of the non-profit organization's 2013 season. The nationally recognized professional theater serves an estimated annual audience of 60,000.

Amphibian Stage Productions today announced casting for its first staged reading of the 2013 season, On the Ceiling by Nigel Planer. Patrick Bynane and Michael Muller will star in this two-performance event on Sunday, January 27 and Monday, January 28 at Amphibian's theater at 120 S. Main Street. Longtime Amphibian collaborator David A. Miller will direct the reading.

And memories from the past.

Rehearsals begin this week for the world premiere of Isaac's Eye by Lucas Hnath, directed by Linsay Firman. Isaac's Eye, an Ensemble Studio Theatre/Alfred P. Sloan Project for New Plays on Science and Technology presentation, is the tale of an emotionally immature, 25-year-old Isaac Newton, his drive to become a fellow of The Royal Society and the great scientist Robert Hooke who, in Mr. Hnath's play, is the nemesis standing in his way. Iaaac's Eye begins previews Wednesday, January 30, at 7:00pm for an opening on Saturday, February 9, at 7:00p.m at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, 549 West 52nd Street.

Members of the Naughton Family - two-time Tony Award winner and Weston, Connecticut resident James Naughton, daughter Keira Naughton, son Greg Naughton, and Greg's wife Tony Award nominee Kelli O'Hara - plus Blythe Danner, Jordan Coughtry, Edward Herrmann, Chad Kinsman, Jake Robards, Mark Shanahan, and Dana Steingold are cast in Westport Country Playhouse's Script in Hand playreading of "The Philadelphia Story," the romantic comedy classic by Philip Barry, set for one-night-only tonight, December 10, 7 p.m. Director is Anne Keefe, Playhouse artistic advisor.

Westport Country Playhouse will provide a special offer on Cyber Monday on Monday, November 26, and participate in #GivingTuesday™ on Tuesday, November 27.

According to published reports, One Man, Two Guvnors' Fred Ridgeway passed away on November 12, 2012, at the age of 59 after being diagnosed with a motor neuron disease.

Members of the Naughton Family - two-time Tony Award winner and Weston, Connecticut resident James Naughton, daughter Keira Naughton, son Greg Naughton, and Greg's wife Tony Award nominee Kelli O'Hara - plus Blythe Danner, Jordan Coughtry, Edward Herrmann, Chad Kinsman, Jake Robards, Mark Shanahan, and Dana Steingold are cast in Westport Country Playhouse's Script in Hand playreading of "The Philadelphia Story," the romantic comedy classic by Philip Barry, set for one-night-only on Monday, December 10, 7 p.m. Director is Anne Keefe, Playhouse artistic advisor.

The New Yorker has just announced that after twenty years as the publication's chief theatre critic, John Lahr will give up regular reviewing to focus on the profiles he also contributes to the magazine, as well as book projects.

Albert Schultz, Founding Artistic Director of Soulpepper Theatre Company and General Director of the Young Centre for the Performing Arts today announced a full year's slate of artistic and community-based activity for Soulpepper and the Young Centre in 2013. Over 700 performances representing the remarkable artistic and cultural diversity of the city will happen under the Young Centre's roof next year, including festivals, cabarets, and community partnerships. Soulpepper Theatre Company's repertory season features fifteen plays including two marathon-style theatrical events to be staged in their entirety: Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning Angels in America (Part One: Millennium Approaches & Part Two: Perestroika) and Alan Ayckbourn's The Norman Conquests (Table Manners, Living Together & Round and Round the Garden). Soulpepper's season includes adaptations of plays from the classical canon (Beaumarchais/Rossini's The Barber of Seville, Schnitzler's La Ronde, and Dickens' Great Expectations) alongside twentieth-century gems by Tom Stoppard, Joe Orton, Sam Shepard and Canada's John Murrell.