Kurt Hall News

Opening night for SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE-THE SONGS OF LEIBER AND STOLLER was last night (Thursday, May 8) at Arena Stage. Check out the full produciton photos below! The show runs April 25-June 8, 2014 in the Fichandler Stage.

Opening night for SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE-THE SONGS OF LEIBER AND STOLLER was last night (Thursday, May 8) at Arena Stage. Check out the photos below! The show runs April 25-June 8, 2014 in the Fichandler Stage.

Smokey Joe's Cafe-The Songs of Leiber and Stoller transports audiences to the golden age of rock, rhythm and blues this spring at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. The show runs tonight, April 25-June 8, 2014 in the Fichandler Stage, and BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast below!

Smokey Joe's Cafe-The Songs of Leiber and Stoller transports audiences to the golden age of rock, rhythm and blues this spring at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. The show runs April 25-June 8, 2014 in the Fichandler Stage, and BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast below!

Smokey Joe's Cafe-The Songs of Leiber and Stoller transports audiences to the golden age of rock, rhythm and blues this spring at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Director Randy Johnson returns to Arena Stage following the success of A Night with Janis Joplin (which enjoyed two runs at Arena Stage followed by a subsequent run on Broadway) to helm this Grammy Award-winning tribute to legendary songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, which originally opened on Broadway in 1995 and became the longest running musical revue, topping 2,000 performances. Bursting with hit tunes including 'Hound Dog,' 'Jailhouse Rock,' 'Stand by Me,' 'Love Potion #9' and 'On Broadway,' Smokey Joe's Cafe showcases choreography by Parker Esse (Arena Stage's The Music Man, Oklahoma!) and music direction by Victor Simonson (Center Stage's A Civil War Christmas, Arena Stage's 3 Mo' Divas) and runs April 25-June 8, 2014 in the Fichandler Stage. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in rehearsal below!

Smokey Joe's Cafe-The Songs of Leiber and Stoller transports audiences to the golden age of rock, rhythm and blues this spring at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Director Randy Johnson returns to Arena Stage following the success of A Night with Janis Joplin (which enjoyed two runs at Arena Stage followed by a subsequent run on Broadway) to helm this Grammy Award-winning tribute to legendary songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, which originally opened on Broadway in 1995 and became the longest running musical revue, topping 2,000 performances. Bursting with hit tunes including 'Hound Dog,' 'Jailhouse Rock,' 'Stand by Me,' 'Love Potion #9' and 'On Broadway,' Smokey Joe's Cafe showcases choreography by Parker Esse (Arena Stage's The Music Man, Oklahoma!) and music direction by Victor Simonson (Center Stage's A Civil War Christmas, Arena Stage's 3 Mo' Divas) and runs April 25-June 8, 2014 in the Fichandler Stage.

Artistic Director Molly Smith tackles a unique, in-the-round staging of Bertolt Brecht's powerhouse anti-war play Mother Courage and Her Children at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Iconic stage and screen actress and Academy Award nominee Kathleen Turner returns to Arena Stage following her sold-out run of Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins to make her professional singing debut as the tough-as-nails matriarch Mother Courage-a single mother determined to keep her family alive and her business afloat during war. Using the David Hare translation, the show fuses politics and satire to paint an unforgettable and provocative portrait of war, incorporating more than 10 pieces of original music composed in a rollicking, gypsy-punk style and performed by cast members doubling as musicians. Mother Courage and Her Children runs January 31-March 9, 2014 in the Fichandler Stage.

Lifelong performer and Tony Award nominee Maurice Hines (Broadway's Sophisticated Ladies and Eubie!) captivates audiences with stories, songs and smooth choreography for his return to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater with Maurice Hines is Tappin' Thru Life. Under the direction of Tony Award nominee Jeff Calhoun (Broadway's Newsies and Grey Gardens), Hines, who started performing at five years old, brings the history of American tap to life and pays tribute to his brother Gregory and the singers who inspired him, from Frank Sinatra to Lena Horne. A co-production with ALLIANCE THEATRE at the Woodruff and Cleveland Play House, Maurice Hines is Tappin' Thru Life runs tonight, November 15-December 29, 2013 in the Kreeger Theater.

Lifelong performer and Tony Award nominee Maurice Hines (Broadway's Sophisticated Ladies and Eubie!) captivates audiences with stories, songs and smooth choreography for his return to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater with Maurice Hines is Tappin' Thru Life. Under the direction of Tony Award nominee Jeff Calhoun (Broadway's Newsies and Grey Gardens), Hines, who started performing at five years old, brings the history of American tap to life and pays tribute to his brother Gregory and the singers who inspired him, from Frank Sinatra to Lena Horne. A co-production with Alliance Theatre at the Woodruff and Cleveland Play House, Maurice Hines is Tappin' Thru Life runs November 15-December 29, 2013 in the Kreeger Theater.

Hidden secrets are unearthed and family tensions fly high in Pulitzer Prize nominee Jon Robin Baitz's contemporary family drama Other Desert Cities. Helen Hayes Award winner and former Arena Stage Associate Artistic Director Kyle Donnelly returns to direct the D.C.-area premiere of the show with a cast that features Tony Award nominee and two-time Helen Hayes Award winner Helen Carey (Mary Tyrone in Arena Stage's Long Day's Journey into Night, Broadway's Hedda Gabler) as matriarch Polly Wyeth and two-time Tony Award nominee Larry Bryggman (Broadway's Harvey, CBS's As the World Turns) as patriarch Lyman Wyeth. Rounding out the cast are Emily Donahoe (Broadway's 33 Variations) as daughter Brooke Wyeth, Scott Drummond (Cherry Lane Theatre's A Perfect Future) as son Trip Wyeth and Martha Hackett (Pacific Resident Theatre's Nora) as their aunt Silda Grauman. Other Desert Cities runs April 26-May 26, 2013 in the Fichandler Stage.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater presents Good People, the humor-filled Broadway hit about class, fate and economic hardship from Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole). Esteemed Canadian director Jackie Maxwell, now in her 11th season as Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival, makes her D.C. directorial debut and returns to direct in the United States after five years. Named Best Play by the New York Drama Critics' Circle during its Broadway run, Good People runs February 1-March 10, 2013 in the Kreeger Theater. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the production below.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater presents Good People, the humor-filled Broadway hit about class, fate and economic hardship from Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole). Esteemed Canadian director Jackie Maxwell, now in her 11th season as Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival, makes her D.C. directorial debut and returns to direct in the United States after five years. Named Best Play by the New York Drama Critics' Circle during its Broadway run, Good People runs February 1-March 10, 2013 in the Kreeger Theater. BroadwayWorld has a video of highlights from the show below.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces the full company for Good People, the humor-filled Broadway hit about class, fate and economic hardship from Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole). Esteemed Canadian director Jackie Maxwell, now in her 11th season as Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival, makes her D.C. directorial debut and returns to direct in the United States after five years. Named Best Play by the New York Drama Critics' Circle during its Broadway run, Good People runs February 1-March 10, 2013 in the Kreeger Theater.

Iconic stage and screen actress Kathleen Turner returns to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater to star in Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins, as the feisty, unforgettable political journalist. Written by twin-sister journalists Margaret Engel and Allison Engel and directed by David Esbjornson (Broadway's The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? and Driving Miss Daisy), the D.C. premiere kicks off Arena Stage's 2012/13 season playing August 23 through October 28, 2012 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater produces the 2011 Tony Award-winning production of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart, directed by George C. Wolfe. Wolfe, who directed the show's sold-out Broadway engagement last season, mounts the professional D.C.-area premiere of this production, which features returning Broadway cast members Patrick Breen and Luke MacFarlane, among others. Presented by special arrangement with Daryl Roth, The Normal Heart runs tonight, June 8-July 29, 2012 in the Kreeger Theater.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater produces the 2011 Tony Award-winning production of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart, directed by George C. Wolfe. Wolfe, who directed the show's sold-out Broadway engagement last season, mounts the professional D.C.-area premiere of this production, which features returning Broadway cast members Patrick Breen and Luke MacFarlane, among others. Presented by special arrangement with Daryl Roth, The Normal Heart runs June 8-July 29, 2012 in the Kreeger Theater.

Edward Gero and Patrick Andrews star in Red at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, produced in association with Goodman Theatre.

Edward Gero and Patrick Andrews star in Red at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, produced in association with Goodman Theatre.