Leo Tolstoy News

'Happy families are all alike,' Leo Tolstoy famously wrote in the opening line of Anna Karenina. 'Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.'

NYC & Company, New York City's official destination marketing organization, announced NYC Off-Broadway Week tickets are on sale to the public today beginning at 10:30am EST.

Lantern Theater Company announces its upcoming 2017/18 season, which will include an ambitious and eclectic mix of classical, contemporary, and new work for the stage.

The producers of The Parisian Woman, the electrifying new play by 'House of Cards' creator Beau Willimon, announced today that Marton Csokas (Loving, The Lord of the Rings) and Tony Award nominee Phillipa Soo (Hamilton, Amelie) will join Uma Thurman, Josh Lucas and Blair Brown to complete the cast, playing the characters of 'Peter' and 'Rebecca' respectively. Mr. Csokas will be making his Broadway debut.

The League of Chicago Theatres announces the Theatre Today event line-up for the 2017-2018 Chicago theatre season, featuring one World Premiere per month. The Theatre Today events include works created and performed by a diverse range of playwrights and artists at theatres located in nine Chicago neighborhoods.

Primary Stages announced today that the Primary Stages 2017 Gala will take place on Monday, October 16, 2017 at 6:30 pm. The event, which will be held at Tribeca 360º (10 Desbrosses Street), will honor Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty, the Tony-winning songwriting team of Ragtime, Once on This Island, and Anastasia (Artistic Honorees); Janet B. Rosen and Marvin Rosen, producers of In Transit on Broadway (Producer Honorees); and Jose Mendez and Katie Graziano of The Excel Group and MIC Floor Covering, LLC (Corporate Honorees).

The League of Chicago Theatres announces the Theatre Thursday event line-up for the 2017-2018 Chicago theatre season, featuring one World Premiere per month. The Theatre Thursday events include works created and performed by a diverse range of playwrights and artists at theatres located in nine Chicago neighborhoods.

Primary Stages has announced the lineup of guests for talkbacks that will happen after select shows of their first production of the 2017/18 season, the New York Premiere of THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THOMAS JEFFERSON, CHARLES DICKENS AND COUNT LEO TOLSTOY: DISCORD written by Scott Carter and directed by Kimberly Senior.

The Australian Ballet has just announced that it has partnered with Chicago's Joffrey Ballet to create a new joint production of Tolstoy's timeless masterpiece, Anna Karenina. In an all-Russian partnership, prolific and award-winning Russian choreographer, Yuri Possokhov will collaborate with award-winning Russian composer, Ilya Demutsky who has been commissioned to create a new score for this production.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) has announced the publication of the two-play volume Moliere, or The Cabal of Hypocrites and Don Quixote by audacious Russian political writer Mikhail Bulgakov.

The Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival continues with INDEPENDENT SHAKESPEARE CO.'s riotous rock & roll production of THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. Directed by Independent Shakespeare Co.'s Managing Director, David Melville, THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA will begin previews at THE GRIFFITH PARK FREE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL on Saturday, July 29 at 7pm and will open on Saturday, August 5 at 7:00pm and perform through Sunday, September 3 at the Old Zoo in Griffith Park.

Chester Theatre Company (CTC) is proud to present Tom Wells's Folk in the historic Chester Town Hall, 15 Middlefield Road in Chester, MA, from August 17 - 27, 2017. The production is directed by James Warwick, staging his eighth production for the company.

Leo Tolstoy's ANNA KARENINA adapted by Helen Edmundson (currently represented on The West End with Queen Anne) was presented as a developmental reading at The Arcola Theatre on July 23 in London. The 'electrifying' adaptation was devised by Jaclyn Bethany with company members James Barnes, Jasmine Blackborow, Peta Cornish, Aisha Fabienne Ross, Will Haddington, Kate Handford, Blake Kubena, William Sebag-Montefiore and produced by Joanne Williams.

PRIMARY STAGES (Andrew Leynse, Artistic Director; Shane D. Hudson, Executive Director; Casey Childs, Founder) is proud to announce complete casting today for the first two productions of their 2017/18 season.

BKE Productions presents a rehearsed reading of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, adapted by Helen Edmundson Sunday July 23rd at the Arcola Theatre at 4 PM. Admission is free

The Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival continues with INDEPENDENT SHAKESPEARE CO.'s riotous rock & roll production of THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. Directed by Independent Shakespeare Co.'s Managing Director, David Melville, THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA will begin previews at THE GRIFFITH PARK FREE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL on Saturday, July 29 at 7pm and will open on Saturday, August 5 at 7:00pm and perform through Sunday, September 3 at the Old Zoo in Griffith Park. 

Lantern Theater Company announced today that its record-breaking 2016/17 season closing production of The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord will extend its run to meet audience demand and will now close on Sunday, July 9, 2017. The following performances have been added:

Primary Stages announced today that the world premiere of A WALK WITH MR. HEIFETZ, written by James Inverne (Wrestling with Elephants) and directed by Benjamin Kamine (Washer/Dryer), will now play on the Primary Stages Mainstage in January of 2018 at the Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce St, New York, NY, 10014).

Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric sat down with the Tony nominated stars Josh Groban, Denee Benton, and Lucas Steele as well as Tony nominated director Rachel Chavkin and creator Dave Malloy to talk about the show, the Tonys and diversity on Broadway.

As part of its ongoing In Conversation Series of fascinating discussions with theater artists and special guests,  Lantern Theater Company will host noted historians and scholars Dr. John C. Van Horne and Dr. Charles T. Cullen for In Conversation: Thomas Jefferson's Religious Beliefs on Tuesday, June 13, 2017, at approximately 8:15 p.m. These two eminent historians of the late colonial and Federal period of American history will explore what Founding Father Thomas Jefferson really thought about God, religion, and religious freedom. The hour-long discussion will focus on Jefferson's views on Christianity, freedom of conscience, and the establishment of religions, especially his authorship of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Presented in conjunction with the Lantern's production of Scott Carter's The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord, the program will also respond to the play, exploring the extent to which Jefferson lived up to the principles espoused in his own "gospels," The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth and The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. The conversation immediately follows the 6:30 p.m. performance on Tuesday, June 13, and is free to the general public with ticket purchase. Members of the press are invited to attend; advance reservations are required.