John Brown News

Woodie King Jr.'s New Federal Theatre, in association with Castillo Theatre, will revive Martin Duberman's IN WHITE AMERICA, one of the signature plays of the Civil Rights Era, in a Off-Broadway production October 15 to November 15 at Castillo Theatre, 543 West 42nd Street.

Jackalope's 8th season kicks off with THE RAID, written by Idris Goodwin, directed by founding company member and associate artistic director Kaiser Ahmed*, with the full cast and production team announced below. The show runs November 4 - December 12, 2015 at Broadway Armory Park, 5917 N. Broadway.

UPRISING, premiering at MetroStage, is a powerful and engaging work that asks what choices we make to ensure freedom and for what would we sacrifice it.

 Woodie King Jr.'s New Federal Theatre, in association with Castillo Theatre, will revive Martin Duberman's 'In White America,' one of the signature plays of the Civil Rights Era, in a Off-Broadway production October 15 to November 15 at Castillo Theatre, 543 West 42nd Street.  The famed documentary play traces the American quest for racial equality from the earliest days of the republic to the Little Rock crisis of 1957, with dialogue drawn from historical letters, speeches, journals, songs and other personal accounts including recordings of former slaves. Charles Maryan directs an ensemble of seven which includes actor-turned-newscaster-turned-actor Art McFarland.

Producing Artistic Director Carolyn Griffin is pleased to announce that MetroStage will open the 2015-16 season with the Rolling World Premiere of UPRISING by Atlanta playwright Gabrielle Fulton as part of the Women's Voices Theater Festival, Sept 17- Oct 25. Thomas W. Jones II will direct and choreograph, and William Knowles will music direct.  

The Plantation Project, under the direction of Claire Beckman (co-founder of Brooklyn's Brave New World Rep) presents an inaugural, site-specific staged reading of The Plantation, Beckman's adaptation of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard. This immersive production on-book will feature costumes, live music and an Equity cast.

These companion releases of Soldier's solo piano (In Black & White) and quartet music (In Four Color) dissect and explore the two classic forms of the classical tradition. Together they encompass five hours of compositions spanning thirty years.

In THOREAU, a world premiere play written by and starring Berkshire Theatre Group's David Adkins, the renowned author, philosopher and activist returns to Walden in search of peace but can't escape his own inner anguish over the horrors of slavery and the execution of abolitionist John Brown.

Berkshire Theatre Group presents Thoreau or, Return to Walden, a world premiere written and performed by David Adkins, at the Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge. Opening Night is Saturday, June 20 at 8pm. Preview performances begin tonight, June 18 at 7pm and the production closes Saturday, July 11 at 8pm.

As part of the New York Philharmonic's celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of its historic Concerts in the Parks, the Philharmonic will present Share the Stage in Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Staten Island, inviting local musicians to perform on the stage in their home boroughs before the Orchestra's performances.

"The Journals of Osborne P. Anderson" performs at Theatre/Theater, 5041 West Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90010 and runs thru June 28th. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm.

Jackalope Theatre Company, under the leadership of Interim Artistic Director Gus Menary and Managing Director Nate Silver, announces its 2015/16 season. The company's 8th season features three world premiere productions. The season begins with The Raid by Idris Goodwin, directed by Associate Artistic Director Kaiser Ahmed, continues with Rolling by Company Member Calamity West, directed by Nate Silver, and concludes with Prowess by Ike Holter, directed by Marti Lyons.

As part of the New York Philharmonic's celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of its historic Concerts in the Parks, the Philharmonic will present Share the Stage in Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Staten Island, inviting local musicians to perform on the stage in their home boroughs before the Orchestra's performances.

Berkshire Theatre Group presents Thoreau or, Return to Walden, a world premiere written and performed by David Adkins, at the Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge. Opening Night is Saturday, June 20 at 8pm. Preview performances begin on Thursday, June 18 at 7pm and the production closes Saturday, July 11 at 8pm.

The Atlanta Opera, in partnership with the Rialto Center for the Arts, brings Soldier Songs, a contemporary opera by American composer David T. Little, to Atlanta. The evening of theater will be a highly charged experience with arresting projections, eye-catching visuals and a thunderous score.  Not for the faint of heart, Soldier Songs follows the true journey of an army soldier – beyond what we might see on TV or at the movies.

The 6th annual California Roots Music and Arts Festival will take place at the historic Monterey County Fairgrounds this weekend, May 22-24, 2015. The top tier national festival has become the premier gathering for the progressive US Reggae movement, bringing in over 40,000 fans to the bay area over the Memorial Day weekend.

The creation of Arthur Miller's now classic The Crucible about the Salem witch trials of 1692 was influenced by the McCarthy era of the 50s. It provided an intensely ferocious perspective on the unjust distortion and destruction of human life. In Salem, Massachusetts it was a religious issue - did you believe in God or the Devil Incarnate? McCarthyism was about Americans and their supposed involvement with the Communist Party. Religion and politics should be private issues, but in a community riddled with guilt about morality, there is no such thing as personal. Your way of life is an open book for all to judge and condemn. Roberto Aguirre-Acasa has penned an imagined sequel to The Crucible entitled Abigail/1702 about protagonist/witch namer Abigail Williams (Jennifer Cannon), who escapes Salem and tries to find salvation after her crimes. The action picks up ten years later in 1702, and as a thought-provoking piece now onstage at ICT, Long Beach, it works quite well under the expert guidance of director Caryn Dasai and with the help of five outstanding performances.

The Guthrie Theater today announced the nine productions that will be included in the theater's 2015-2016 subscription season, including To Kill a Mockingbird, Pericles, Harvey and South Pacific on the Wurtele Thrust Stage and The Events, The Cocoanuts, The Real Inspector Hound/The Critic, Trouble in Mind and Disgraced on the McGuire Proscenium Stage.

The Edge Theater presents 'Jerusalem', running now through May 24 at 1560 Teller Street in Lakewood. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Cinnabar Theater is enjoying sold-out houses for its production of Tom Stoppard's masterpiece Arcadia, and critics are calling it "sparkling," "fascinating," and "tremendously powerful." So Sonoma County's beloved professional theater has extended the show for an extra week, adding performances on Saturday, April 25 at 8 PM and Sunday, April 26 at 2 PM.