Kara Harmon News

Brookline playwright and former Huntington Playwriting Fellow Eleanor Burgess captures the zeitgeist in her fast-paced and intense new play, THE NICETIES, now receiving its world premiere by the Huntington Theatre Company at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. Inspired by a 2015 firestorm at Yale University, her alma mater, Burgess dives head first into the deep end of racial politics in academia, and tackles difficult questions that are most often avoided in discourse in America today. She employs a millennial black student and a 60-year old white professor to effectively argue opposing sides of the debate, but Burgess is smart enough not to choose sides, leaving it up to the audience to contemplate their own thoughts and feelings.

After developmental productions that drew high praise from prominent theatre critics, and left audiences alternately speechless and effusive, engaged and enraged, the Huntington Theatre Company presents the world premiere of Eleanor Burgess's explosive new play, The Niceties, running August 31 to October 6 at the South End/Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. The Huntington is pleased to produce the play in association with two other leading theatre companies. The production will move Off Broadway to Manhattan Theatre Club immediately following the Boston run, and then continue on to Princeton, NJ for performances at McCarter Theatre Center.  

MTC announces casting for the first two 2018-2019 New York City Center productions: India Pale Ale, the world premiere by Jaclyn Backhaus, and The Niceties, the New York premiere by Eleanor Burgess, in association with Huntington Theatre Company and McCarter Theatre Center.

Portland Center Stage at The Armory's 2018-2019 season launches with the Tony Award-winning musical The Color Purple, adapted from Alice Walker's classic novel about the sisterhood, resilience and self-empowerment found in a community of black women living in rural Georgia in the early 20th century. The Color Purple begins preview performances on September 15, opens on September 21, and runs through October 28 on the U.S. Bank Main Stage. Timothy Douglas directs the production, joined by music director Darius Smith, who will bring the Grammy Award-winning score to life.

After developmental productions that drew high praise from prominent theatre critics, and left audiences alternately speechless and effusive, engaged and enraged, the Huntington Theatre Company presents the world premiere of Eleanor Burgess's explosive new play, The Niceties, running August 31 to October 6 at the South End/Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. The Huntington is pleased to produce the play in association with two other leading theatre companies. The production will move Off Broadway to Manhattan Theatre Club immediately following the Boston run, and then continue on to Princeton, NJ for performances at McCarter Theatre Center.  

Trinity Repertory Company (TRC) punctuates the conclusion of its 2017-18 performance calendar with a definite exclamation mark. RAGTIME, now playing at TRC's upstairs Chace Theatre, is a season's best production both for the company and for the arts community statewide.

Trinity Rep closes out its 2017-18 Season with the Tony Award-winning musical Ragtime, which was written by Terrence McNally (book), Stephen Flaherty (music), and Lynn Ahrens (lyrics). Under the direction of Artistic Director Curt Columbus, Trinity Rep's production examines how the musical, which is set in 1906, reflects the country's current political and social climate. Based on the celebrated 1975 novel of the same name by E.L. Doctorow, the musical tackles race, women's rights, immigration, and workers' rights. Ragtime runs April 26 - May 27 in Trinity Rep's Elizabeth and Malcom Chace Theater, with press opening on Monday, April 30 at 7:30 pm. Tickets start at $25. More information can be found at www.trinityrep.com/ragtime.

Trinity Rep closes out its 2017-18 Season with the Tony Award-winning musical Ragtime, which was written by Terrence McNally (book), Stephen Flaherty (music), and Lynn Ahrens (lyrics). Under the direction of Artistic Director Curt Columbus, Trinity Rep's production examines how the musical, which is set in 1906, reflects the country's current political and social climate. Based on the celebrated 1975 novel of the same name by E.L. Doctorow, the musical tackles race, women's rights, immigration, and workers' rights.

Documentary-style theater is not a genre I am well-versed in. It very well may be that I have missed out on a preponderance of strong examples, but the only play that springs to mind readily is Moises Kaufman's The Laramie Project. Like that play, Stanton's we, the invisibles employs personal anecdote, newspaper articles, interviews and creative nonfiction devices to educate on and proliferate the significance of important social issues. In the case of invisibles, the anchor is the real-life alleged rape of a maid named Nafissatou Diallo by infamous former International Monetary Fund Leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

As if there weren't enough scary things in the world right now, I've come to realize that I have been going to live theatrical productions for over 43 years. That means I have been sitting in the dark for a long time (no jokes please).

Syracuse Stage has once again brought an intense and gripping production to the local stage. This time around it is Lorraine Hansberry's American classic play A Raisin in the Sun (in a co-production with Indiana Repertory Theatre) captivating audiences.

Syracuse Stage continues its critically acclaimed season with a sterling production of Lorraine Hansberry's classic American play "A Raisin in the Sun," Feb. 21 - March 11, at the Syracuse Stage/Syracuse University Drama Complex in the Archbold Theatre, 820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse.

Ford's Theatre Society announced full casting and design team for The Wiz directed by Kent Gash, choreographed by Dell Howlett and withMusic Direction and Orchestration by Darius Smith. The production features Ines Nassara as Dorothy, Hasani Allen as Scarecrow, Kevin McAllister as Tinman,Christopher Michael Richardson as Lion and Jobari Parker-Namdar as The Wiz. The musical plays March 9 to May 12, 2018, at historic Ford's Theatre. The production is recommended for ages eight and older.

Celebrating the life and music of Nina Simone, one of America's most iconic singers and civil rights activists, Christina Ham's provocative musical journey Nina Simone: Four Women makes its East Coast debut at Arena Stage. Nina Simone: Four Women runs November 10-December 24, 2017 in the Kreeger Theater. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the company at their first rehearsal below!

Celebrating the life and music of Nina Simone, one of America's most iconic singers and civil rights activists, Christina Ham's provocative musical journey Nina Simone: Four Women makes its East Coast debut at Arena Stage. Nina Simone: Four Women runs now through December 24, 2017 in the Kreeger Theater. BroadwayWorld has photos from the opening night festivities below!

NINA SIMONE: FOUR WOMEN runs through December 21 at Arena Stage. FOUR WOMEN has a book by Christina Ham, and is directed by Timothy Douglas. Watch the cast and director Douglas in rehearsals in this video!

Celebrating the life and music of Nina Simone, one of America's most iconic singers and civil rights activists, Christina Ham's provocative musical journey Nina Simone: Four Women makes its East Coast debut at Arena Stage. Set in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, in which four little girls lost their lives in 1963, Ham uses Simone's song 'Four Women' as the framework to explore the songstress' shift from artist to artist-activist.

Playwright Ken Urban was commissioned by Epic Theatre Ensemble to write a play about international aid workers, and his interviews with volunteers for Doctors Without Borders inform his new thought-provoking drama, A GUIDE FOR THE HOMESICK, now receiving its world premiere by the Huntington Theatre Company at the Boston Center for the Arts. Flawlessly directed by Colman Domingo, the two-hander features a pair of remarkable, synchronized performances by McKinley Belcher III and Samuel H. Levine.

Celebrating the life and music of Nina Simone, one of America's most iconic singers and civil rights activists, Christina Ham's provocative musical journey Nina Simone: Four Women makes its East Coast debut at Arena Stage. Nina Simone: Four Women runs November 10-December 24, 2017 in the Kreeger Theater. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the company at their first rehearsal below!

The Huntington Theatre Company presents a provocative new drama A Guide for the Homesick, by Huntington Playwriting Fellow Ken Urban and directed by Tony Award nominee Colman Domingo (Dragon King in Journey to the West and Jim in Well at the Huntington, Mr. Bones in The Scottsboro Boys on Broadway, and Victor Strand in AMC's "Fear the Walking Dead").