John Steinbeck News

There are some stories you never forget. You cannot forget because they are seared into your memory like a brand. One of those is John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Omaha Community Playhouse has brought that story of loneliness, love, and hope to life with a brilliance you won't want to miss.

Migrant ranch workers in California during the Great Depression, George-an intelligent but uneducated man-and Lennie-a large man with the mind of a child-dream of making enough money to buy their own land. When a crime is accidentally committed, the two men are faced with a moral predicament in one of the most powerful and devastating stories of the 20th century.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company announced today the addition of longtime stage managerMalcolm Ewen into the world-renowned Steppenwolf ensemble. Ewen has worked at Steppenwolf since 1987 and has stage managed more than 40 shows and taken four Steppenwolf productions to Broadway-including The Grapes of Wrath and Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? both of which won Tony Awards.

Tickets for the upcoming production Of Mice and Men at the Omaha Community Playhouse (OCP) are now on sale to the public. Of Mice and Men will be performed in the Howard Drew Theatre at OCP Wednesdays through Sundays from Feb. 15 through March 17, 2019.

Madison Lyric Stage, a professional theater company serving the Connecticut Shoreline, announced that its 2019 mainstage season will include: Carlisle Floyd's opera Of Mice and Men, based on the John Steinbeck classic, in May/June; the Stephen Sondheim fairy tale musical Into the Woods in July; and, for Halloween, Engelbert Humperdinck's enchanted opera Hansel and Gretel in October. All three productions will be directed by Marc Deaton.

Of Mice and Men will open Friday, Feb. 15 at the Omaha Community Playhouse. The show will run in the Howard Drew Theatre from Feb. 15 through March 17, 2019. Performances will be held Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Book-It Repertory Theatre [Book-It] announces that Founder and Founding Co-Artistic Director Jane Jones and Founding Co-Artistic Director Myra Platt will step down from their roles at the end of Book-It's 30th season, in the summer of 2020. Over the next year, Book-It plans to hire a new artistic director through a local and national search.

The Frist Art Museum presents Dorothea Lange: Politics of Seeing, an exhibition that examines a broad range of the artist's work through the lens of social and political activism. The Frist is the only U.S. venue that is hosting this exhibition after its 2017 debut in California. In addition to presenting Lange's iconic photographs from the Great Depression, the exhibition will feature works from her early years as a studio portraitist in San Francisco, along with images of the grim conditions of incarcerated Japanese Americans during World War II, naval shipyard workers of different sexes and races contributing to the patriotic cause, and inequity in our judicial system in the 1950s. Organized by the Oakland Museum of California, which houses Lange's personal archive, the exhibition will be on view in the Frist's Upper-Level Galleries from March 15 through May 27, 2019.

Tickets for the upcoming production Of Mice and Men at the Omaha Community Playhouse (OCP) are now on sale to the public. Of Mice and Men will be performed in the Howard Drew Theatre at OCP Wednesdays through Sundays from Feb. 15 through March 17, 2019.

Last night, in front of a packed house, Artistic Director Louise Fischer announced New Theatre's 2019 Season.

I'm not sure how many have read Mary Shelley's classic novel, so familiar is the creature from countless generations of the story that have moved further and further from the source. It seems likely that there might be a good number of people who have never read or seen any of these, and only know the Frankenstein 'monster' as a cartoonish icon. But it is in the theatre that we tend to find iterations that hew closer to the original tale.

JOHN MELLENCAMP announced today additional dates to the 2019 tour of "The John Mellencamp Show" which will feature the rock icon's classics plus some new material. Being hailed by critics and fans alike as one of music's most authentic and crowd pleasing concert performers, Mellencamp has added an additional 13 dates to his 2019 tour. The news follows his previously announced dates, which will kick off with a sold out show in his home state of Indiana on February 7, 2019 and continue through April 30, 2019 in Albuquerque, NM. Produced by AEG Presents, "The John Mellencamp Show" will start promptly at 8pm and will not have an opening act.  Every ticket purchased online will receive a physical copy of Mellencamp's forthcoming album "Other People's Stuff" set for release this December by Republic Records. 

JOHN MELLENCAMP announced today additional dates to the 2019 tour of “The John Mellencamp Show” which will feature the rock icon's classics plus some new material. Being hailed by critics and fans alike as one of music's most authentic and crowd pleasing concert performers, Mellencamp has added an additional 13 dates to his 2019 tour. The news follows his previously announced dates, which will kick off with a sold out show in his home state of Indiana on February 7, 2019 and continue through April 30, 2019 in Albuquerque, NM. Produced by AEG Presents, “The John Mellencamp Show” will start promptly at 8pm and will not have an opening act.  Every ticket purchased online will receive a physical copy of Mellencamp's forthcoming album “Other People's Stuff” set for release this December by Republic Records. 

'Of Mice and Men' transports us to Steinbeck's world on the Monterey Peninsula of California during the Great Depression prior to World War II.  It was (and still is) mainly an agricultural breadbasket area.  As the play opens, two of these men approach a ranch in Soledad California. They are George Milton (Jake Walker) and Lennie Small (Rusty Sneary).  George is a bright if uneducated man.  Lennie is a giant, but agonizingly slow.   

Now directing his first major show for the Kansas City Repertory Theatre is Interim Artistic Director Jason Chanos.   Chanos has been the Associate Artistic Director at the Rep since 2015 in addition to teaching acting at UMKC.  He holds a BA from the University of Northern Colorado and an MFA from UMKC.      Opening on Friday, October 26 (after a week in previews) is the UMKC/KCRep co-production of Steinbeck's 1937 "Of Mice And Men" at the Copaken Theatre inside the H&R Block Building in downtown Kansas City.

John Steinbeck's American literature classic, Of Mice and Men has been brought to life in a dramatic stage play opening soon at The Firehouse Theatre. Set in California during the Great Depression, the story follows two migrant workers George, a sharp but uneducated, short-tempered man, and Lennie, a large but simple-minded man. Together they hope to one day acquire their own piece of land. But when Lennie stirs up trouble on the job, George must choose between protecting his friend or staying the course towards his version of the American dream.

The Actor's Charitable Theatre (ACT) presents Of Mice and Menin The ACT Studio Theatre in Northport, October 5-14.

The William Inge Center for the Arts is pleased to announce playwright Octavio Solis will be the recipient of the 2019 Distinguished Achievement in the American Theater Award for his outstanding contributions to the national theater landscape. Solis will be presented the award at the 38th annual William Inge Theater Festival, the Official Theatre Festival of the State of Kansas, at Independence Community College, in Independence, Kansas. The festival will be held May 22-25, 2019.

The William Inge Center for the Arts is pleased to announce playwright Octavio Solis will be the recipient of the 2019 Distinguished Achievement in the American Theater Award for his outstanding contributions to the national theater landscape. Solis will be presented the award at the 38th annual William Inge Theater Festival, the Official Theatre Festival of the State of Kansas, at Independence Community College, in Independence, Kansas. The festival will be held May 22-25, 2019.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) opens its 2018-19 season with Frank Galati's award-winning adaptation of John Steinbeck's, "The Grapes of Wrath." Gary English will direct.