Laurence Olivier News

Gary Griffin is directing Chicago Shakespeare Theatre's first production of the 2011-12 season, FOLLIES. The production will play today through November 6. For additional information, visit: www.chicagoshakes.com.

Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Working Title Films and Old Vic Productions in association with Weinstein Live Entertainment announced today that the 2009 Tony Award-winning Best Musical, Billy Elliot the Musical, will play its final performance on Broadway on Sunday, January 8, 2012 at the Imperial Theatre (246 West 45th Street). The show that Time Magazine called 'the best musical of the decade,' Billy Elliot will have played 40 preview and 1,304 regular performances. The production recouped its $18 million investment in only 14 months over 492 performances and on Broadway, the show has been seen by 1,659,867 theatergoers to date. Featuring music by Elton John, book and lyrics by Lee Hall, choreographed by Peter Darling and directed by Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot began previews Wednesday, October 1 and opened to critical acclaim on November 13, 2008.

The OBIE Award-winning NAATCO, The National Asian American Theater Company, presents Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter, which will kick off their 22nd season.

Tonight was the night that Phantom Phans the world over have been waiting for as Cameron Mackintosh and Andrew Lloyd Webber's production of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA AT THE ROYAL Albert Hall was streamed live to cinemas in the United States and the UK. Additional screenings are coming soon - click here for details and to find a theatre near you.

It's not often that one playwright gets so much stage time in a single season, let alone in a single locale. This season, though, three Valley theatre companies will present four of Yasmina Reza's most recognized plays: Life X 3, God of Carnage, The Unexpected Man and ART.

Today is the day that Phantom Phans the world over have been waiting for as Cameron Mackintosh and Andrew Lloyd Webber's production of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL will be streamed live to cinemas in the United States and the UK. Click here for details and to find a theatre near you. The cast will feature Hadley Fraser as 'Raoul', Kiera Duffy as 'Carlotta', Sergei Polunin as 'Slave Master' and Daisy Maywood as 'Meg Giry', Ramin Karimloo as 'The Phantom', Sierra Boggess as 'Christine', Barry James as 'Monsieur Firmin', Gareth Snook as 'Monsieur Andre', Liz Robertson as 'Madame Giry' and Wynne Evans as 'Piangi', together with a cast and orchestra of over 200 and some special guest appearances.

The Syracuse premiere of Disney's THE LION KING opens tonight, Friday, September 9 at 8pm at The Oncenter Crouse-Hinds Theater for a limited engagement of four weeks through Sunday, October 2, 2011.

Cameron Mackintosh presents Andrew Lloyd Webber's THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA at the Royal Albert Hall today at 7.30pm and Sunday 2nd October at 1.30pm and 7.00pm.

Theatre veterans Kenneth Branagh and Rob Brydon are set to star in The Painkiller at the Lyric Theatre. The production will be a new adaptation of the Francis Veber work by Sean Foley. The show will open on September 29.

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly will open the 2011-2012 Printing Partners Pops Series season with the world premiere of a new symphonic concert stage production titled Do You Hear The People Sing - The Dream Concert! featuring music from renowned Broadway lyricist Alain Boublil and Broadway composer Claude-Michel Schönberg, the creators of the hit musicals Les Misérables and Miss Saigon, in concerts Friday and Saturday, October 7 and 8, at the Hilbert Circle Theatre and Sunday, October 9, at The Palladium at the Center for Performing Arts in Carmel, Ind.

Full casting has been announced for Trevor Nunn's Royal Theatre's Haymarket production of James Goldman's Lion in Winter.

After having performed in over 70 cities through the world, internationally acclaimed ENNIO: The Living Paper Cartoon, returns to New York for the first time in over a decade. For nine performances only, today - October 12th, The New York Musical Theatre Festival presents the Jonathan Reinis (two-time Tony Award-winner for Dame Edna: The Royal Tour and Russell Simmon's Def Poetry Jam) and Glynis Henderson (international producer of Stomp) production featuring international sensation Ennio Marchetto at the 47th Street Theatre (304 West 47th Street). ENNIO: The Living Paper Cartoon is directed and designed by Ennio Marchetto and Sosthen Hennekam.

Shirley Valentine opens at The Laguna Playhouse.

The Laguna Playhouse presents Shirley Valentine running September 27 - October 23, 2011. The play is directed by Andrew Barnicle, who most recently directed The Laguna Playhouse's acclaimed production of Private Lives. Shirley Valentine stars Dee Dee Rescher, who has previously performed at The Playhouse in productions such as Red Herring, The Underpants and The Pursuit of Happiness.

The cast will feature Hadley Fraser as ‘Raoul', Kiera Duffy as ‘Carlotta', Sergei Polunin as ‘Slave Master' and Daisy Maywood as ‘Meg Giry'. They join the previously announced Ramin Karimloo as ‘The Phantom', Sierra Boggess as ‘Christine', Barry James as ‘Monsieur Firmin', Gareth Snook as ‘Monsieur André', Liz Robertson as ‘Madame Giry' and Wynne Evans as ‘Piangi', together with a cast and orchestra of over 200 and some special guest appearances.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (The Rep) presents God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza and translated by Christopher Hampton.

To mark its 25th Anniversary year, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh present 'The Phantom of the Opera' in a fully-staged, lavish production, set in the sumptuous Victorian splendour of the Royal Albert Hall with a cast and orchestra of over 200. Now audiences around the world are invited to join the celebration on Sunday October 2nd when the event is beamed live via satellite to cinemas across the globe.

Based on true events, ORSON'S SHADOW is an ingenious tale of two Hollywood giants-Orson Welles and Laurence Olivier. The time is 1960; the place is a West End theatre. Legendary critic Kenneth Tynan has made a startling proposal: Welles should direct Olivier and the young Joan Plowright in Rhinoceros, Ionesco's absurdist masterpiece. But it is the rehearsal process that brims with absurdity as titanic personalities, including Vivien Leigh, wrestle the muse in this witty and incisive depiction of the drama of theatre.

The OBIE Award-winning NAATCO, The National Asian American Theater Company, will kick off their 22nd season with Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter.

As part of Crossing the Line 2011, its annual transdisciplinary festival of contemporary arts, the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) presents the Lecture/Performance Series: information as performance, and vice-versa.