Lillian Gish News

Westport Country Playhouse announces playwright-in-residence David Wiltse's 'tour de farce' office comedy, 'Scramble!, will be staged July 9 through 26.

Westport Country Playhouse announces playwright-in-residence David Wiltse's 'tour de farce' office comedy, 'Scramble!, will be staged July 9 through 26.

Ruth & Stephen Hendel and Roy Gabay present the world premiere of Fela!, a new musical based on the life of groundbreaking African composer, performer and activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Directed and choreographed by Tony® Award winner Bill T. Jones (Spring Awakening) with a book by Jim Lewis and Bill T. Jones, Fela! will feature Kuti's rousing music performed live onstage by Antibalas and other members of the New York Afrobeat community.

Westport Country Playhouse and Westport Arts Center will co-present two award-winning legends - playwright Edward Albee and film and theatre actor Kathleen Turner in 'Artists in Conversation,' a casual, intimate talk between two theatre professionals who also happen to be good friends, on Monday, June 23, 8 p.m., at the Playhouse.

Westport Country Playhouse and Westport Arts Center will co-present two award-winning legends - playwright Edward Albee and film and theatre actor Kathleen Turner in 'Artists in Conversation,' a casual, intimate talk between two theatre professionals who also happen to be good friends, on Monday, June 23, 8 p.m., at the Playhouse.

Westport Country Playhouse (Joanne Woodward and Anne Keefe, Artistic Directors, Jodi Schoenbrun Carter, Managing Director) announced that distinguished actor and director Paul Newman, who was slated to direct the fall production, 'Of Mice and Men' by John Steinbeck, will step down from making his directorial debut at the Playhouse due to health issues.

Westport Country Playhouse (Joanne Woodward and Anne Keefe, artistic directors, and Jodi Schoenbrun Carter, managing director) will launch 'The Classical Series,' bringing together professional actors to read works by master playwrights. The series premiere will feature Emmy Award winner Jane Curtin, Tony Award winner Joanna Gleason, Obie Award winner Kristine Nielsen and stage, film and television actor Chris Sarandon.

Westport Country Playhouse announces its summer roster of shows, featuring Tony Award winner James Naughton directing a Cole Porter musical revue; 'Saturday Night Live's' Rachel Dratch appearing in David Wiltse's 'tour de farce' office comedy; and Playhouse favorite Mark Shanahan ('Sedition,' 'David Copperfield,' 'Journey's End') performing in a thriller.

Julia Roberts will host the annual gala for Westport Country Playhouse, Westport, CT (Joanne Woodward and Anne Keefe, artistic directors, Jodi Schoenbrun Carter, managing director) on Monday, September 15.

Westport Country Playhouse (Joanne Woodward and Anne Keefe, artistic directors, Jodi Schoenbrun Carter, managing director) will stage a masterful blend of comedy and drama, 'The Pavilion,' by Craig Wright, award-winning playwright and Emmy-nominated writer/producer of television's 'Lost,' 'Six Feet Under' and 'Dirty Sexy Money.' Directed by Chad Rabinovitz, Playhouse artistic associate, the production will run from May 13 through May 31.

Foote also received an Academy Award for Writing the Adapted Screenplay for To Kill a Mockingbird in 1962. His original screenplay Tender Mercies won an Academy Award for Writing of Original Screenplay, as well as the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay. Foote's screenplay for The Trip to Bountiful (1985) garnered him another Academy Award nomination.

Campbell Scott, Isaiah Sheffer and B. D. Wong will read short stories at 'Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story,' the live performance version of the renowned public radio show of the same name, on Monday, May 19, 8 p.m., at Westport Country Playhouse.

Ravinia Festival has commissioned award-winning choreographer Bill T. Jones, who most recently won a Tony for his choreography for Spring Awakening, to create a new full-evening work, tentatively titled A Good Man, inspired by Abraham Lincoln and celebrating the slain president's 2009 bicentennial.

For over half a century, Stuart Vaughan has been - in every sense of the phrase - a true Renaissance man of the theatre. Vaughan's latest project is a new stage version of The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic 1850 novel about the conflict between Puritanism and passion. With honesty, eloquence and insight, Vaughan recently answered some questions about his incredible life in the theatre - and about a career that shows no signs at all of slowing down!

Spring Awakening choreographer Bill T. Jones chats with BroadwayWorld in our Tony Award nominee interview series!

MEL MILLER, Producer and Artistic Director of MUSICALS TONIGHT! has announced casting for THE HAPPY TIME, running March 6th through March 18th.

Shows include Kander & Ebb's THE HAPPY TIME, running March 6th through March 18th, ERNEST IN LOVE, based on the Oscar Wilde classic THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST running March 20th through April 1st and IRENE running April 17th through April 29th which features the song ALICE BLUE GOWN.

A memorial service for Tony Award-winning actor Barnard Hughes will be held on Tuesday, December 12th at 2pm at the Walter Kerr Theatre

Director Peter DuBois (Measure for Pleasure) and Choreographer Bill T. Jones (Spring Awakening) are the winners of the 2006 Stage Directors and Choreographers FoundationCallaway Awards for 'Excellence in the craft of Direction and Choreography.'

A memorial service for Tony Award-winning actor Barnard Hughes will be held on Tuesday, December 12th at 2pm at the Walter Kerr Theatre