Kenneth Lonergan News

Just last night, Second Stage Theater celebrated its annual All-Star Bowling Classic on Monday, February 12th.  For over 30 years, stars of stage and screen have come out to bowl in support of Second Stage's award-winning seasons and to assist the theatre in its fund-raising efforts.

This morning, Monday, February 5, 2018 at 10:00am, Second Stage Theater (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director; Casey Reitz, Executive Director) hosted the official lighting ceremony for its new Broadway home, The Hayes Theater (240 West 44th street). Designed by David Rockwell of Rockwell Group, this landmarked, newly renovated venue has become, under Second Stage's ownership, the first Broadway theater dedicated exclusively to living American Playwrights.

The box office for LOBBY HERO at Second Stage's Hayes Theater (240 West 44th street) will officially open on Tuesday, February 13 at 12pm (EST). The first 10 ticket buyers in line will receive a special sneak peek of the newly renovated landmark Theater. The Hayes Theater box office will be open Tuesdays - Sundays from 12:00pm to 6:00pmor until curtain. It is closed Mondays.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley presents the Tony Award-winning musical The Bridges of Madison County, based on the 1992 bestselling novel by Robert James Waller about love both lost and found. Set amidst the cornfields of Iowa in 1965, this passionate musical follows the unexpected affair of a devoted Italian-born housewife and a roving National Geographic photographer set over four sensual, heart-stirring days. Brilliantly adapted by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright Marsha Norman ('night Mother, The Secret Garden, The Color Purple) with music and lyrics by Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown (Parade), it captured the 2014 Tony Award for Best Musical Score. The Bridges of Madison County, directed by TheatreWorks Artistic Director and founder Robert Kelley will be presented April 4 - 29, 2018 (opening night: April 7) at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. For tickets ($40-$100) and more information the public may visit TheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

This morning, Monday, February 5, 2018 at 10:00am, Second Stage Theater (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director; Casey Reitz, Executive Director) hosted the official lighting ceremony for its new Broadway home, The Hayes Theater (240 West 44th street). Designed by David Rockwell of Rockwell Group, this landmarked, newly renovated venue has become, under Second Stage's ownership, the first Broadway theater dedicated exclusively to living American playwrights.

In response to popular demand, Soho Rep. (Sarah Benson, Artistic Director; Cynthia Flowers, Executive Director) extends the world premiere of Aleshea Harris's Relentless Award-winning Is God Is, directed by Taibi Magar by two weeks, through March 25. In this play, which dauntlessly cracks jokes as it eviscerates, twin sisters Anaia (Alfie Fuller) and Racine (Dame-Jasmine Hughes) undertake a murderous journey from the Dirty South to the California desert, seeking payback for a horrendous act. Is God Is treats both morality and genre as notions to be exploded, drawing on the ancient, the modern, the tragic, the Spaghetti Western, hip-hop and Afropunk in its subversion of theatrical constructs.

Second Stage Theater's Broadway premiere of Kenneth Lonergan's Lobby Hero, directed by Trip Cullman and starring Michael Cera, Chris Evans, Brian Tyree Henry, and Bel Powley, begin previews on Thursday, March 1 at the Hayes Theater (240 West 44th Street) and will officially open on Monday, March 26.

Signature Theatre (Paige Evans, Artistic Director; James Houghton, Founder) will host several special events at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues) this winter, the company announced today.

Gingold Theatrical Group (David Staller, Artistic Director) is proud to announce the 2018 Golden Shamrock Gala will be held on Saturday, March 17 at 3 West Club (3 West 51st Street), and will honor actress and activist Martha Plimpton and actor, producer, and long-time Executive Director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Tom Viola. This year's gala will be geared toward raising funds for GTG's full production of Shaw's masterpiece, Heartbreak House, which will run in New York's Theatre Row on 42nd Street from August 28 through September 29th.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival announced today that Christopher Nolan, Greta Gerwig, Guillermo del Toro, Jordan Peele, and Paul Thomas Anderson will receive the 2018 Outstanding Directors of the Year Award. The Oscar® nominated directors will be celebrated individually for their filmsDunkirk, Lady Bird, The Shape of Water, Get Out, and Phantom Thread respectively.

Second Stage Theater's Broadway premiere of Kenneth Lonergan's Lobby Hero, directed by Trip Cullman and starring Michael Cera, Chris Evans, Brian Tyree Henry, and Bel Powley, begin previews on Thursday, March 1 at the Hayes Theater (240 West 44th Street) and will officially open on Monday, March 26.

Soho Rep. (Sarah Benson, Artistic Director; Cynthia Flowers, Executive Director) today announces the complete cast and creative team for the world premiere of Aleshea Harris's Relentless Award-winning Is God Is, directed by Taibi Magar (Ars Nova's Underground Railroad Game), February 6 - March 11, 2018. The play, with which Soho Rep. reopens its longtime Tribeca theater, dauntlessly cracks jokes as it eviscerates. Alfie Fuller and Dame-Jasmine Hughes play Anaia and Racine, twin sisters who undertake a murderous journey from the Dirty South to the California desert, seeking payback for a horrendous act. Is God Is treats both morality and genre as notions to be exploded, drawing on the ancient, the modern, the tragic, the Spaghetti Western, hip-hop and Afropunk in its subversion of theatrical constructs.

Today at the Television Critics Association (TCA) Winter 2018 Press Tour, Starz President of Programming Carmi Zlotnik announced premiere dates for three new originals including the eagerly-awaited STARZ Original Limited Series Howards End, premiering on Sunday, April 8. Half-hour dramas Vida and Sweetbitter will premiere on Sunday, May 6.

After a smash run last fall, Playwrights Horizons will present MILES FOR MARY, a new play by The Mad Ones. Directed by Lila Neugebauer, MILES FOR MARY received critical acclaim during its fall 2016 run at The Bushwick Starr.

Second Stage Theater has announced complete casting for the world premiere of GREG PIERCE's play, Cardinal, directed by KATE WHORISKEY.

Casting is confirmed and tickets are now on sale for the Signature Theatre (Paige Evans, Artistic Director; James Houghton, Founder) production of Edward Albee's At Home at the Zoo: Homelife & The Zoo Story. This new production, directed by Drama Desk Award-winner Lila Neugebauer (Signature Plays, Everybody), honors Legacy Playwright Edward Albee, who was in residence at Signature during the 1993-94 Season and returned to the company for four more productions. Albee passed away in 2016.

Cleveland Play House (CPH) is proud to bring George Brant's Marie and Rosetta to the Allen Theatre stage. Marie and Rosetta chronicles the story of 2018 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Early Influence Inductee Sister Rosetta Tharpe and her counterpart Marie Knight as they changed the landscape of modern music. Miche Braden will make her return to Cleveland Play House as Sister Rosetta Tharpe alongside CPH newcomer Chaz Hodges as Marie Knight. Directed by Neil Pepe, Marie and Rosetta runs January 20 through February 11, 2018 in the Allen Theatre at Playhouse Square.

Playwrights Horizons presents Mankind, the world premiere of a new play written and directed by two-time Obie Award winner Robert O'Hara (Bootycandy, Bella: An American Tall Tale at Playwrights; Barbecue, In the Continuum, The Brother/Sister Plays).

A friendly reminder that previews begin tomorrow, Friday, December 15 at 8PM for the Playwrights Horizons world premiere production of Mankind, a new play written and directed by two-time Obie Award winner Robert O'Hara (Bootycandy, Bella: An American Tall Tale at Playwrights; Barbecue, In the Continuum, The Brother/Sister Plays).

Tickets go on sale to the general public today, Wednesday, December 13 at 1 PM ET for Second Stage Theater's Broadway premiere of KENNETH LONERGAN's LOBBY HERO, directed by TRIP CULLMAN and starring MICHAEL CERA, CHRIS EVANS, BRIAN TYREE HENRY, and BEL POWLEY.