John Updike News

Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd announces the cast and creative team for Dracula, the Original Vampire Play, the second production in the 'Alley Theatre @ UH' season. Featuring iconic costume and set designs by Edward Gorey, the Alley's production is based on the original 1927 adaptation of the classic thriller that marvelously balances the menace of the horror tale with sophisticated satire.

Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd announces the cast and creative team for Dracula, the Original Vampire Play, the second production in the 'Alley Theatre @ UH' season. Featuring iconic costume and set designs by Edward Gorey, the Alley's production is based on the original 1927 adaptation of the classic thriller that marvelously balances the menace of the horror tale with sophisticated satire.

Ogunquit continues its 'high-flying' 82nd season with the American Northeast premiere of Cameron Mackintosh's THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK, a musical adaptation based on John Updike's novel and the 1987 Warner Brothers hit motion picture.

What happens when you get the life you aim for and it hurts like hell? The Johns family is unraveling. Hollis, a retired Ohio banker, isolates himself in esoteric hobbies and a dangerous flirtation with a colleague's daughter. Susan, his wife of forty years, risks everything for a second chance at who she might have become. David, their eldest, thrashes to stay afloat as his teaching career capsizes in a storm of accusations involving a missing student and the legacy of Christopher Columbus. And young Tilly, the black sheep, having traded literary promise for an improbable career as a Hollywood starlet, struggles to define herself amid salacious scandal, the demands of a powerful director, and the judgments of an uncompromising writer. By turns comical and poignant, the Johns family is tumbling toward the discovery that sometimes you have to let go of your identity to find out who you are. Recent Praise for The Lion Trees: '[A] cerebral page turner...a powerful and promising debut.'-Kirkus Reviews '[Four Stars]... In its structure and nature, [The Lion Trees] reminds me above all of John Updike's wonderful Harry Rabbit novels and their ability to summarize the essence of change in American society across a decade at a time.' - BookIdeas.com '[Five Stars]... [A] powerful, gripping and realistic story...Wonderful... The Lion Trees does what so very few great novels can: it will take a lot out of you, but leave you with much more than you had when you began.'-Pacific Book Reviews. Book Details: The Lion Trees By Owen Thomas Publisher: OTF Literary Published: August 2014 Part One: Unraveling ISBN: 978-0692235904 Part Two: Awakening ISBN: 978-0692248379 Genre: Literary Fiction About The Author: Owen Thomas lives and writes in Anchorage, Alaska. His novel 'The Lion Trees' is available in paper and electrons at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. He is also the author of a collection of short stories and novellas entitled 'Signs of Passing: Letters from Winchester County' winner of the 2014 Pacific Book Awards for short fiction. His story 'Everything Stops' is being published in September 2014 by Fiction Attic Press as part of an anthology of short fiction called 'Modern Shorts' and is available on Amazon. He maintains an active fiction and photography blog at www.owenthomasfiction.com. Owen has come to understand that there is a strange disquiet in referring to oneself in the third person. He is seriously afraid he will not be able to stop. For more information http://www.owenthomasfiction.com

Trinity Rep announced today that Jeffrey Osborne will be honored with the 2014 New England Pell Award for Artistic Excellence, acknowledging his artistic achievements and philanthropic work throughout Rhode Island.

Trinity Rep announced today that former artistic director and Academy-award nominated film, stage and TV actor Richard Jenkins and his wife Director/Choreographer Sharon Jenkins will be honored with the 2014 Pell Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts. The theater also announced that nationally known dance educator and choreographer Mary Paula Hunter will receive the 2014 Charles Sullivan Award for Distinguished Service in the Arts. The 18th annual Pell Awards will be held on Monday, June 9, 2014 at Trinity Rep with a reception to follow next door at the Providence Public Library.

In celebration of Pinter's long friendship with 92Y's Poetry Center and the centenary of Swann's Way, 92Y presents a staged reading of the play (Remembrance of Things Past), affording us "the pleasure of providing yet another angle of perception upon a work so elaborate and many-faceted it never fails to give back new light," wrote John Updike.

HIT Productions, Australia's Premier Theatre Touring Company, presents The Book Club by Rodney Fisher from the play by Roger Hall, starring Amanda Muggleton.

Amas Musical Theatre (Donna Trinkoff/Artistic Producer) will present three free staged readings of "FRIDA" a new musical by Michael Aman and Dana P. Rowe, directed by Maria Torres. The readings will take place on Friday, October 25th at 6:00pm, and Saturday, October 26th at 3:00pm and 7:00pm at The Theatre at the 14th Street Y, 314 East 14th Street. Tickets are free and reservations are available via email at boxoffice@amasmusical.org or by calling 212-563-2565.

HIT Productions, Australia's Premier Theatre Touring Company, presents The Book Club by Rodney Fisher from the play by Roger Hall, starring Amanda Muggleton.

As yet another summer comes to a close, back-to-school preparations have begun to migrate back to the top of many-a to-do list. In this hectic time peppered with carpool schedules, lunch-packing, and homework help, cultural pursuits may tend to fall by the wayside. BroadwayWorld Pittsburgh has thus distilled Pittsburgh's cultural offerings into a comprehensive list perfect for those on-the-go during the fast-approaching autumn season!

Now in its 35th year of diverse multidisciplinary arts programming, and under the artistic leadership of Laura Kaminsky, Symphony Space announces its 2013/2014 season of inventive works by renowned musical artists, authors, and performers. Primary to Kaminsky's artistic vision are a commitment to new and innovative work, and the fostering of an atmosphere of intimacy and access between artists and audience. This 35th season at Symphony Space promises just that with staple series and programs such asSelected Shorts hosted by BD Wong, Bloomsday on Broadway, Wall to Wall, and weekly family performances with Just Kidding, as well as newer series and inaugural partnerships such as Thalia Film Club hosted by Marshall Fine, Royal Opera House Cinema in HD presented in partnership with WQXR and the Royal Opera House, and the critically-acclaimed comedy debate series Uptown Showdown.

THE BOOK CLUB runs 7:30pm Wed 6 November, 7:30pm Thur 7 November, 7:30pm Fri 8 November, 2pm & 7:30pm Sat 9 November at Subiaco Arts Centre, 180 Hamersley Rd, Subiaco. Tickets are $39.50 - $49.50, and available by calling 132 849 or visiting www.ticketek.com.au.

Many of country music's most impactful artists, from early musical architects to contemporary superstars, will perform together on the Ford Theater stage this summer-in a manner of speaking: The world premiere of String City: Nashville's Tradition of Music and Puppetry, a colorful telling of the history of country music in Nashville, will take place tonight, June 20 at 8 p.m. at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Trinity Repertory Company previously announced that three local Rhode Island residents would be receiving Pell Awards this year in addition to Kate Burton, the recipient of the 2013 Pell Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts. The 17th annual Pell Awards will be held tonight, June 10, 2013 at Trinity Rep with a reception to follow next door at the Providence Public Library.

Tonight, May 31 at Carnegie Hall, actress and arts advocate Sarah Jessica Parker and fashion designer Zac Posen will share the spotlight with the talented teens who received national honors in the 90 th annual Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. More than 800 teens from 47 states, along with their families and teachers, are expected to attend the celebration. There, 15 graduating seniors will receive Portfolio Gold Medals, the Awards' highest honor, which includes a $10,000 scholarship. For the first time in the Awards' 90-year history, the ceremony will be webcast live so people across the nation can share in the celebration.

On Friday, May 31 at Carnegie Hall, actress and arts advocate Sarah Jessica Parker and fashion designer Zac Posen will share the spotlight with the talented teens who received national honors in the 90 th annual Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. More than 800 teens from 47 states, along with their families and teachers, are expected to attend the celebration. There, 15 graduating seniors will receive Portfolio Gold Medals, the Awards' highest honor, which includes a $10,000 scholarship. For the first time in the Awards' 90-year history, the ceremony will be webcast live so people across the nation can share in the celebration.

Many of country music's most impactful artists, from early musical architects to contemporary superstars, will perform together on the Ford Theater stage this summer—in a manner of speaking: The world premiere of String City: Nashville's Tradition of Music and Puppetry, a colorful telling of the history of country music in Nashville, will take place June 20 at 8 p.m. at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Theater critics worldwide have praised Bill W. and Dr. Bob, Samuel Shem and Janet Surrey's play about the founding of AA, as an expertly told, universally compelling story about the triumph of the human spirit. The show continues to break box office records and brings a whole new community into the theater-the broad diversity of people in recovery, and their families and friends. After being mounted more than 100 times in 35 states as well as Australia, Canada and England, the play comes to New York City's 199-seat Soho Playhouse (200 Vandam Street), beginning July 8, in a new production directed by Seth Gordon (Associate Artistic Director, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis; Producer/Director Primary Stages, NYC; director of the acclaimed production of Bill W. and Dr. Bob at the Cleveland Play House in 2010). Critics are welcome as of the 3pm matinee on Saturday, July 13 for an official opening on Tuesday, July 16.

Trinity Repertory Company announced today that three local Rhode Island residents will be receiving Pell Awards this year in addition to Kate Burton, who had previously been announced as the recipient of the 2013 Pell Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts. The 17th annual Pell Awards will be held on Monday, June 10, 2013 at Trinity Rep with a reception to follow next door at the Providence Public Library.