Kenneth Lonergan News

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE (James Bundy, Artistic Director; Victoria Nolan, Managing Director) will present the world premiere of POP!, a new musical with book and lyrics by Maggie-Kate Coleman and music by Anna K. Jacobs, directed by Mark Brokaw, at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street), November 27-December 19, 2009. Opening Night is December 3.

Due to popular demand, the critically acclaimed production of Anna Deavere Smith's LET ME DOWN EASY, now playing at Second Stage Theatre, has extended a second time and will now close on January 3, 2010. The show, which is currently extended through December 6, will not be performed December 14 - 20 due to Smith's previous commitment to perform Hymn with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at City Center.

InViolet Repertory Theater will present the World Premiere of KISS ME ON THE MOUTH by Melanie Angelina Maras. This new romantic tragicomedy will be directed by Stephen Adly Guirgis at Center Stage (where several of Guirgis' plays were originally staged by LAByrinth Theater Company). Performances of this limited engagement begin previews on November 3rd with opening night slated for Thursday, November 5th.

Second Stage Theatre will host a post performance discussion with Anna Deavere Smith and three of her interview subjects from Let Me Down Easy following the Friday, November 20 performance.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) will launch its 31st season this fall with the New York premiere of Anna Deavere Smith's LET ME DOWN EASY. Conceived, written, and performed by Ms. Smith and directed by Leonard Foglia, LET ME DOWN EASY will begin preview performances on Tuesday, September 15 and will officially open on Wednesday, October 7 at 6:45pm.

The New Group is presenting the world premiere of The Starry Messenger written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan as the first production in its 2009-2010 season. This production plays a limited Off-Broadway engagement from October 26 - December 12 at The New Group @ Theatre Row, with Official Opening Night now set for Monday, November 23 at 8:00 PM.

Julia Cho's The Language Archive, the story of a brilliant linguist who finds himself at a loss for words when he learns his wife is leaving him, will fill the final slot in South Coast Repertory's 2009-10 season.

Concert: Latitude 37 - Dance and the Art of War 23 November Drinks from 7pm, concert begins 7.30pm

Fortyfive Downstairs Theatre: Progress and Melancholy 18 - 29 November. A poetic physical theatre work based on Chekov's The Cherry Orchard.

According to a report in Variety, screen star and London stage vet Jake Gyllenhaal is in talks to star in Source Code, a new sci-fi thriller for Vendome Pictures and the Mark Gordon Company.

Acclaimed theater company Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) has announced nine initial performers who will participate in the return of its unique benefit evening STORIES ON 5 STORIES on Monday, November 9. Among those taking part in the special event will be two-time Academy Award winner and two-time Obie Award winner Diane Wiest (Memory House at Playwrights Horizons/PH, Hannah and Her Sisters, Bullets Over Broadway), Tony Award winner Debra Monk (Assassins at PH, Redwood Curtain, Curtains), Obie Award winner Jason Butler Harner (current Stage Manager in Our Town, Hedda Gabler, The Coast of Utopia), Clarence Derwent Award winner Zoe Kazan (100 Saints You Should Know at PH; Come Back, Little Sheba; Things We Want), Theatre World Award winner Cassie Beck (The Drunken City and Prayer for My Enemy at PH), Cristin Milioti (The Retributionists at PH, the upcoming The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter), Sue Jean Kim (The Drunken City and BFE at PH, 365 Days/365 Plays), Carmen M. Herlihy (The Thugs, Crooked) and Greg Keller (Broadway's Uncle Vanya, The Rainmaker). Additional performers will be announced in the coming weeks.

Acclaimed theater company Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) has announced it will present the return of its popular benefit evening STORIES ON 5 STORIES on Monday, November 9.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) will launch its 31st season this fall with the New York premiere of Anna Deavere Smith's LET ME DOWN EASY. Conceived, written, and performed by Ms. Smith and directed by Leonard Foglia, LET ME DOWN EASY will begin preview performances on Tuesday, September 15 and will officially open on Wednesday, October 7 at 6:45pm.

Barbara Manocherian, Richard Willis and Anthony Barrile in association with Naked Angels (Geoffrey Nauffts, Artistic Director; John Alexander, Managing Director; Andy Donald, Associate Artistic Director; Brittany O'Neill, Producer) are pleased to announce that the critically acclaimed original cast will return for the Broadway run of NEXT FALL, the new American play by Geoffrey Nauffts and directed by Sheryl Kaller. The production will open on Broadway on Thursday, March 11, 2010 with preview performances beginning Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at the Helen Hayes Theatre (240 West 44th Street).

InViolet Repertory Theater will present the World Premiere of KISS ME ON THE MOUTH by Melanie Angelina Maras. This new romantic tragicomedy will be directed by Stephen Adly Guirgis at Center Stage (where several of Guirgis' plays were originally staged by LAByrinth Theater Company). Performances of this limited engagement begin previews on November 3rd with opening night slated for Thursday, November 5th.

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) has announced the New York premiere of Theresa Rebeck's new comedy The Understudy, directed by Scott Ellis with Tony Award winner Julie White as 'Roxanne'.

InViolet Repertory Theater will present the World Premiere of KISS ME ON THE MOUTH by Melanie Angelina Maras. This new romantic tragicomedy will be directed by Stephen Adly Guirgis at Center Stage (where several of Guirgis' plays were originally staged by LAByrinth Theater Company). Performances of this limited engagement begin previews on November 3rd with opening night slated for Thursday, November 5th.

InViolet Repertory Theater will present the World Premiere of KISS ME ON THE MOUTH by Melanie Angelina Maras. This new romantic tragicomedy will be directed by Stephen Adly Guirgis at Center Stage (where several of Guirgis' plays were originally staged by LAByrinth Theater Company). Performances of this limited engagement begin previews on November 3rd with opening night slated for Thursday, November 5th.

The Yale Institute for Music Theatre (Mark Brokaw, Artistic Director; Beth Morrison, Producer) will select three original music theatre works to receive two-week workshops in New Haven June 13-27, 2010. Submissions will be accepted November 1, 2009 through January 11, 2010.

The YALE INSTITUTE FOR MUSIC THEATRE (Mark Brokaw, Artistic Director; Beth Morrison, Producer) will select three original music theatre works to receive two-week workshops in New Haven June 13-27, 2010. Submissions will be accepted November 1, 2009 through January 11, 2010.