Jonathan Larson News

The American Music Theatre Project at Northwestern University and The Johnny Mercer Foundation will celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Johnny Mercer Foundation Songwriters Project with 15 emerging professional songwriters from across the country, three award-winning master teachers and Mercer Songwriters Project alumni guests.

George Street Playhouse and Artistic Director David Saint are pleased to present Tony and Emmy Award winners DAVID HYDE PIERCE and DEBRA MONK in A.R. Gurney's classic love story, Love Letters, on the New Brunswick stage for one night only tonight, June 3 at 8pm. The modern classic two-hander will be helmed by GSP Artistic Director DAVID SAINT.

Theo Ubique's 2015-16 season will have a decidedly Anglo-American flavor, featuring two of the longest-running musicals from each side of the Atlantic along with cabarets saluting America's all-time favorite crooner and one of England's most successful songwriting teams for theatre and film.

Some great musicals are great because they take us to another time, another place, perhaps another world entirely, one unrecognizable and filled with magic and fantasy. Others are great because they offer us a realistic and recognizable image of our own lives, a mirror in which we see our struggles, hopes, joys, failures and successes. The really great ones do so while offering an audience a captivating story, deeply developed and universally human characters, stunning music and unforgettable songs with amazing lyrics. One such musical is Next To Normal, now playing as the final show in The Wilbury Group's current season.

Musical theatre favourite Julie Atherton has recorded an exclusive teaser video about this year's Onstage Acts summer course, and it features a very special cameo: from her cat, Missfit. Catch the teaser video below!

An invitation-only reading of the new musical Amandine, featuring a book and lyrics by Winter Miller and music and lyrics by Lance Horne, will be presented on May 28, directed by Outer Critics Circle Award nominee Markus Potter.  The evening will feature the talents of Tony Award nominees Daphne Rubin-Vega (Rent) and Elizabeth A. Davis (Once), along with Nick Blaemire (Found), Erin Markey (Erin Markey at Joe's Pub with Kenny Mellman), John Kelly (James Joyce's The Dead), and Romain Fruge (Threepenny Opera).

What's more exciting than the Tony Awards? Your wedding day, perhaps? The birth of your first child, you say? WRONG! The answer is, in fact, nothing. The Tonys are the most exciting thing ever to happen in life, and they are just weeks away! So, to celebrate Tonys season and to help get you pumped for the big day, I've comprised an official list of the Greatest Tony Awards Moments Ever, according to me (and therefore according to you, too.)

Kathy Evans, Founding Executive Director of Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, announced the 17 writers and 8 new musicals selected for the fifth summer of weeklong retreats. For eight consecutive weeks beginning July 5th, each writing team will have a residency in Rhinebeck, New York. Writers are provided a private home, transportation, food, and a $400 stipend. This year's writers include Obie winner Kirsten Childs, Tony nominee Elizabeth Davis, and 2015 Jonathan Larson award-winners Charlie Sohne, Tim Rosser, and Sam Willmott, who also just won the Kleban Prize. 

The American Music Theatre Project (AMTP) at Northwestern University will workshop and present a staged reading of the new musical "The Enlightenment of Percival von Schmootz" written by the Fred Ebb Award, Jonathan Larson Grant and Lorenz Hart Award-winning team Michael Kooman and Christopher Dimond. 

Paper Mill Playhouse presents the world-premiere musical Ever After, directed and choreographed by three-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall (Anything Goes, Nice Work If You Can Get It), featuring a book and lyrics by Marcy Heisler and music by Zina Goldrich. Ever After begins performances tonight, May 21, 2015, and runs through Sunday, June 21, 2015.

George Street Playhouse and Artistic Director David Saint are pleased to present Tony and Emmy Award winners DAVID HYDE PIERCE and DEBRA MONK in A.R. Gurney's classic love story, Love Letters, on the New Brunswick stage for one night only Wednesday, June 3 at 8pm.  The modern classic two-hander will be helmed by GSP Artistic Director DAVID SAINT. 

The American Theatre Wing and the Village Voice just announced the winners of the 60th Annual OBIE Awards.

The American Theatre Wing and the Village Voice welcome a star-studded line-up of presenters at the 60th Annual OBIE Awards. As previously announced, OBIE Award-winning actress Lea DeLaria ('Orange is the New Black') will host this year's OBIE Awards ceremony, being held tonight, May 18, 2015 at Webster Hall (125 East 11th Street).

The American Theatre Wing and the Village Voice are thrilled to announce that the star-studded line-up of presenters at the 60th Annual OBIE Awards will include Sting, Jesse Eisenberg, OBIE Award-winner Stockard Channing, Billy Crudup, two-time OBIE Award-winner Tommy Tune, T.R. Knight, three-time OBIE Award-winner Tony Kushner, OBIE Award-winner LaChanze, two-time OBIE Award-winner Lisa Kron, artist Bradley Theodore, OBIE Award-winner William Ivey Long, and Village Voice editor-in-chief Tom Finkel. The evening will include special performances by 2015 Tony Award nominee Michael Cerveris and Natalie Cortez.

The American Theatre Wing and the Village Voice are thrilled to announce that James Houghton, the Founding Artistic Director of Signature Theatre, will receive a special OBIE Award for Sustained Achievement at the 60th Annual OBIE Awards, which will be held on Monday, May 18, 2015 at Webster Hall (125 East 11th Street).

This summer Theatreworks USA, the nation's leading not-for-profit professional theatre for young audiences, will present the Off-Broadway Premiere of Skippyjon Jones Snow What (& the 7 Chihuahuas).

The Program Launch for the second half of 2015 shows that the Independent Music Theatre team comprising Luckiest Productions (David Campbell, Lisa Campbell and Richard Carroll), Neglected Musicals (Michelle Guthrie), and Neil Gooding Productions, the driving force behind Hayes Theatre Company, have no intention of slowing down are staying true to their vision to provide a permanent home for small-scale musical theatre and cabaret.

Community and collaboration are the watchwords of Bristol Riverside Theatre's production of Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People, running tonight, May 12-May 31. Co-directed by Susan D. Atkinson and Amy Kaissar, the high-voltage drama, which concludes BRT's Mainstage Season, features an ensemble of professional actors Keith Baker, Kevin Bergen, Mark Collmer, Brian Brillinger, Laura Giknis, Marc LeVasseur, Shamus Hunter McCarty, P. Brendan Mulvey and Sabrina Proffitt performing alongside Bucks County community members. The production is supported in part by a generous grant from PECO.

From October 8 this year, Highway Run Productions in association with Hayes Theatre Co will declare squatter's rights on Hayes Theatre Co's 111-seat theatre and present a production in the spirit of those small beginnings. Musical theatre star Shaun Rennie (Cats, Mamma Mia, LOVEBiTES) makes his directorial debut and Andrew Worboys (Truth Beauty and a Picture of You, Love and Death and an American Guitar, Helpmann Award nominee for Best Musical Direction of Sweet Charity) will return to Hayes Theatre Co to musically direct.

Two River Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director John Dias and Managing Director Michael Hurst, concludes its 2014/15 Season with Be More Chill, a new musical with music and lyrics by Joe Iconis and book by Joe Tracz, based on the acclaimed 2004 novel by Ned Vizzini. The production is directed by Stephen Brackett, with orchestrations by Charlie Rosen, music direction by Nathan Dame, and choreography by Chase Brock. The production will run May 30-June 21, 2015, with the opening night on Friday, June 5. Tickets starting at $20 are available from 732.345.1400 or www.tworivertheater.org. Be More Chill is supported by lead production sponsor Durso Wealth Management Group at Morgan Stanley.