Laurence Fishburne News

On Memorial Day weekend, PBS will unite our nation with an evening that has become an American tradition. The multi award-winning National Memorial Day Concert honors the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, their families at home and all those who have given their lives for our country.

Samuel & Alasdair: A Personal History of the Robot War will play as part of The Antidepressant Festival, June 5 -J uly 4 at The Brick (575 Metropolitan Avenue between Union and Lorimer). Saturday June 6 @ 8:30pm, Saturday June 27 @ 2pm, Sunday June 28 @ 7:00pm, and Thursday July 2 @ 7:30pm. Tickets ($15) are available through www.theatermania.com or by calling 212-352-3101 or toll-free: 1-866-811-4111.

Nigel, a brindle-hair Cairn Terrier, will be making his professional stage debut as Toto in the Encores! Summer Stars production of The Wiz, starring Ashanti as Dorothy, June 12 - July 5 at New York City Center, 131 W. 55th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues).

Following a critically acclaimed season which included the Pulitzer Prize finalist Becky Shaw and the Broadway transfer of its musical hit Next to Normal, Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director; Ellen Richard, Executive Director) has announced three of the four plays scheduled for its upcoming 31st Season.

Orlando Jones will play The Wiz, and Tony Award-winning actress LaChanze will play Glinda, the good witch, in the Encores! Summer Stars production of The Wiz, starring Ashanti, June 12 July 5 at New York City Center. Glinda's sister-witches will include Tichina Arnold as Evillene and Dawnn Lewis as Addaperle. Easing down the road with Ashanti's Dorothy will be Joshua Henry as the Tinman, James Monroe Iglehart as the Lion and Christian White as the Scarecrow.

Pasadena Playhouse (Sheldon Epps, Artistic Director, Ken Novice, Interim Managing Director, Tom Ware, Producing Director) announced today that LAUGHING MATTERS, a world premiere musical featuring a book and lyrics by Iris Rainer Dart (author of the international best-selling novel 'Beaches'), music by Mike Stoller (Smokey Joe's Café) and Artie Butler (Feelin' Alright by Joe Cocker), and directed by Leonard Foglia (Broadway's Thurgood starring Laurence Fishburne), will be the final production of the 2009 Season entitled WOMEN: The Heart and Soul of Theatre.

Pasadena Playhouse announced today that LAUGHING MATTERS, a world premiere musical featuring a book and lyrics by Iris Rainer Dart (author of the international best-selling novel 'Beaches'), music by Mike Stoller (Smokey Joe's Café) and Artie Butler (Feelin' Alright by Joe Cocker), and directed by Leonard Foglia (Broadway's Thurgood starring Laurence Fishburne), will be the final production of the 2009 Season.

Katie Holmes, Diane Weist, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Laurence Fishburne will be featured in the annual National Day Memorial Concert, broadcast live from the Nation's Capital. The special will air on PBS stations around the country May 24 beginning at 8 PM ET.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director; Ellen Richard, Executive 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 in early October.

The Geffen Playhouse adds Bill Cain?s new play Equivocation to its 2009/2010 lineup as well as confirms director John Rando to helm Matthew Modine Saves the Alpacas. The Geffen Playhouse?s 2009 / 2010 season boasts award-winning actors (including Annette Bening, Laurence Fishburne and Matthew Modine), acclaimed directors (Randall Arney, Gil Cates, Leonard Foglia and John Rando) and contemporary new works, including two world premieres, a North American premiere and a West Coast premiere.

Signature Theatre Company (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director) will celebrate Douglas Turner Ward, founder of the Negro Ensemble Company, with their 2009 Annual Gala on Monday, March 30th at Espace (635 West 42nd Street). Cocktails will begin at 6:30pm with dinner at 7:30 PM and performance/tribute to follow. The evening will be hosted by Phylicia Rashad and Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Individual ticket prices range from $600-$1,200 with table prices ranging from $6,000-$25,000.

Signature Theatre Company (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director) will celebrate Douglas Turner Ward, founder of the Negro Ensemble Company, with their 2009 Annual Gala on Monday, March 30th at Espace (635 West 42nd Street). Cocktails will begin at 6:30pm with dinner at 7:30 PM and performance/tribute to follow. The evening will be hosted by Phylicia Rashad and Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Individual ticket prices range from $600-$1,200 with table prices ranging from $6,000-$25,000.

Signature Theatre Company celebrated the Opening Night performance of Charles Fuller's ZOOMAN AND THE SIGN on Tuesday March 24th, the play is the final production of Signature Theatre Company's (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director) 2008-2009 season celebrating the historic Negro Ensemble Company (NEC). BroadwayWorld's cameras were there to celebrate to opening of the production!

The Geffen Playhouse's 2009 / 2010 season boasts award-winning actors (including Annette Bening, Laurence Fishburne and Matthew Modine), acclaimed directors (including Geffen Playhouse's own Gil Cates and Randall Arney), and contemporary new works, including two world premieres, a North American premiere and a West Coast premiere.

Signature Theatre Company's (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director) production of ZOOMAN AND THE SIGN, written by Charles Fuller and directed by Stephen McKinley Henderson, opens tomorrow, Tuesday, March 24. ZOOMAN AND THE SIGN is the final production of Signature's 2008-2009 Season, celebrating the historic Negro Ensemble Company (NEC).

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced the Center and the National Symphony Orchestra's complete season for 2009- 2010. In wide ranging programming that covers theater, dance, classical music, jazz and productions for young people, the Center continues its commitment, as the nation's center for the performing arts, to producing and presenting the best of national and international arts.

Signature Theatre Company (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director) is proud to announce casting for ZOOMAN AND THE SIGN, by Charles Fuller and directed by Stephen McKinley Henderson. ZOOMAN AND THE SIGN is the final production of Signature's 2008-09 season celebrating the historic Negro Ensemble Company (NEC).

Signature Theatre Company's (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director) production of ZOOMAN AND THE SIGN, written by Charles Fuller and directed by Stephen McKinley Henderson, will begin previews tomorrow, Tuesday, March 3. ZOOMAN AND THE SIGN is the final production of Signature's 2008-2009 Season, celebrating the historic Negro Ensemble Company (NEC).