John Guare News

Director Christopher Bayes and comic actor Steven Epp - the duo behind the uproarious A Doctor in Spite of Himself - return to Berkeley Repertory Theatre with Accidental Death of an Anarchist, the explosive political farce by Nobel Prize-winning Italian playwright Dario Fo. A Berkeley Rep favorite, Epp delighted audiences in Figaro and The Miser - now the master comedian returns in a criminally funny production about corruption. Only one man can cut through massive bureaucratic duplicity and reveal what happened to the suspected anarchist who died from a fall out of a fourth-floor police station window. Did he jump? Or was he pushed? In this contemporary take on a beloved classic, Berkeley Rep hauls you down to the station for a hilarious interrogation of our culture. This madcap comedy starts previews in the Roda Theatre tonight, March 7, opens March 12, and runs through April 20.

TodayTix, New York's premiere mobile theater ticketing app, has partnered with Atlantic Theater Company to offer the best theater deal of all time with 3PennyTix, an unprecedented new lottery for the highly anticipated revival of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's musical The Threepenny Opera, directed and choreographed by Martha Clarke.

Sh-K-Boom Records will present the new album from Tony Award-nominee Sherie Rene Scott, All Will Be Well - The Piece of Meat Studio Sessions, as a digital exclusive on March 25. The stirring pop record combines contemporary rock, jazz and folk elements with revealing interpretations of songs by Joni Mitchell, Talking Heads and Noah and the Whale as well as skillful originals by Sherie and Todd Almond, who serves as producer arranger and Music Director. The recording, co-produced by Ms. Scott with Kurt Deutsch serving as executive producer, is now available for pre-order. An exclusive music video for the single 'Oh, Sean' is now available; customers who pre-order the album receive an immediate audio download of the song. A special online concert Lovestream will be broadcast on March 25 at www.sh-k-boom.com. The album will be available on iTunes, Amazon and wherever digital music is sold. To pre-order the album, please visit www.sh-k-boom.com/sherierenescott-allwillbewell.

La Jolla Playhouse is the recipient of three prestigious and highly-competitive grants to support its world-premiere production of The Who & The What, by 2013 Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar, directed by Kimberly Senior, running February 11 - March 9 in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre. The grants include the Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award, as well awards from The Laurents/Hatcher Foundation and The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation Theatre Visions Fund.

Molly Beach Murphy and Taylor Riccio will present LBJ'S GREATEST HITS + MOLLY MURPHY & NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON ON OUR LAST DAY ON EARTH, today, February 28-March 2, 2014, at Incubator Arts.

Coming up tonight, February 28 at 9:00PM EST, PBS will present the national, TV broadcast premiere of Jazz and the Philharmonic, a co-production by the National YoungArts Foundation-a national organization that identifies and supports the next generation of artists-the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, and JAZZ ROOTS Producer Larry Rosen. Jazz and the Philharmonic was presented and filmed at the John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center on January 11, 2013 and is a unique and wholly American concert experience which highlights two of the greatest musical art forms, classical and jazz. Scroll down to see a trailer for the broadcast!

The Johnny Mercer Foundation and the American Music Theatre Project (AMTP) at Northwestern University will present the 9th Annual Johnny Mercer Foundation Songwriters Project. The weeklong songwriting workshop for emerging songwriters and writing teams will take place from June 22 through 28, on Northwestern's Evanston campus.

The Dramatists Guild of America held their annual awards ceremony last night at The Lambs Club in New York. The ceremony was hosted by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson Lopez. Check out a look back at the festivities below!

For DIRECTOR'S CHOICE, the fourth program of Pacific Northwest Ballet's 2013-2014 season, Artistic Director Peter Boal selects from his roster of acquisitions and increases them by one: The captivating mixed-bill program will feature a much-anticipated world premiere by Alejandro Cerrudo, resident choreographer of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. The program also reprises audience favorites TAKE FIVE…More or Less, Broadway-darling Susan Stroman's sunny slice of jazz-infused Dave Brubeck fun; and Susan Marshall's distinctive aerial duet, Kiss. Rounding out the lineup is Molissa Fenley's State of Darkness, a tour-de-force solo performance set to Stravinsky's riot-inducing The Rite of Spring. DIRECTOR'S CHOICE runs for seven performances only, March 14 through 23 at Seattle Center's Marion Oliver McCaw Hall. Tickets start at just $28 and may be purchased by calling the PNB Box Office at 206.441.2424, online at PNB.org, or in person at the PNB Box Office, 301 Mercer Street.

Tony Estrella, artistic director of The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (The Gamm), has announced the theater's 30th anniversary season. A combination of classic and contemporary works, set over hundreds of years of world history, the 2014-2015 Season is an entertaining and evocative line-up that speaks as a whole to American society today.

Playing on Air, which presents readings of short plays by prominent, contemporary American playwrights for a national audience via public radio and the Internet, inaugurates a new initiative next month. On consecutive Mondays in March, Playing on Air presents its first plays for radio broadcast taped in front of live audiences.

Atlantic Theater Company will present their annual Gala on Monday, February 24, 2014 at The Pierre (2 East 61st Street). Directed by Neil Pepe with musical direction by Matt Gallagher, Writers' Choice will salute Atlantic's iconic playwrights with an evening of unexpected songs.

Molly Beach Murphy and Taylor Riccio will present LBJ'S GREATEST HITS + MOLLY MURPHY & NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON ON OUR LAST DAY ON EARTH, February 28-March 2, 2014, at Incubator Arts.

Happy Birthday Stockard Channing! In 1971, she made her Broadway debut in Two Gentlemen of Verona - The Musical, working with playwright John Guare. She also appeared on Broadway in 1973 in a supporting role in No Hard Feelings. In 1978, at the age of 33, she took on the role of high school teenager Betty Rizzo in the hit musical Grease. Additional Broadway credits include: They're Playing Our Song, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, The House of Blue Leaves, Six Degrees of Separation, Woman in Mind, Four Baboons Adoring the Sun, and The Lion in Winter. She is currently starrign on Broadway in Other Desert Cities at the Booth Theatre.

The Dramatists Guild of America has announced the recipients of their annual awards, which will be presented at an awards ceremony hosted by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson Lopez on Monday, February 24, 2014, at The Lambs Club in New York.

Director Christopher Bayes and comic actor Steven Epp - the duo behind the uproarious A Doctor in Spite of Himself - return to Berkeley Repertory Theatre with Accidental Death of an Anarchist, the explosive political farce by Nobel Prize-winning Italian playwright Dario Fo. A Berkeley Rep favorite, Epp delighted audiences in Figaro and The Miser - now the master comedian returns in a criminally funny production about corruption. Only one man can cut through massive bureaucratic duplicity and reveal what happened to the suspected anarchist who died from a fall out of a fourth-floor police station window. Did he jump? Or was he pushed? In this contemporary take on a beloved classic, Berkeley Rep hauls you down to the station for a hilarious interrogation of our culture. This madcap comedy starts previews in the Roda Theatre on March 7, opens March 12, and runs through April 20.

Happy Birthday, John Guare! He is best known as the author of The House of Blue Leaves, Six Degrees of Separation, and Landscape of the Body. Guare has also been involved with musical theatre. His libretto with Mel Shapiro for the musical Two Gentlemen of Verona was a success when it premiered in 1971 and was revived in 2005 at the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park. It won the two men the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical. He wrote the songs for Landscape of the Body. In 1999, he revised the book of the Cole Porter musical comedy, Kiss Me, Kate for its Broadway revival. He also wrote the book for the Broadway musical Sweet Smell of Success.

Coming up on Friday, February 28 at 9:00PM EST, PBS will present the national, TV broadcast premiere of Jazz and the Philharmonic, a co-production by the National YoungArts Foundation-a national organization that identifies and supports the next generation of artists-the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, and JAZZ ROOTS Producer Larry Rosen. Jazz and the Philharmonic was presented and filmed at the John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center on January 11, 2013 and is a unique and wholly American concert experience which highlights two of the greatest musical art forms, classical and jazz. Scroll down to see a trailer for the broadcast!

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has announced 10 Finalists for its prestigious playwriting award, now celebrating its thirty-sixth year. Chosen from over 100 submitted plays, the Finalists are

The Theatre School at DePaul University will present A FREE MAN OF COLOR, at the new Theatre School building, located at Racine and Fullerton on the Lincoln Park Campus. The Fullerton Stage Theatre is a 250-seat thrust theatre located on the first floor of the school. John Guare's A FREE MAN OF COLOR is directed by Phyllis E. Griffin, premieres on Friday, January 31, and runs through Sunday, February 9, 2014. Performances are Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 PM and Sundays at 2 PM. Previews are tonight, January 29 and the 30th, at 7:30 PM.