Linda Winer News

Brendan Fraser and Denis O'Hare star in ELLING on Broadway with Jennifer Coolidge in ELLING, new comedy from London, directed by Tony Award-winner Doug Hughes. ELLING began performances Tuesday, November 2, opened Sunday, November 21 on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre 243 West 47th Street and will play a strictly limited engagement through March 20, 2011. ELLING is based on the popular original novels by Ingvar Ambjørnsen and adapted for the Oscar nominated film and the stage by Axel Hellstenius and Petter Næss, in a new English adaptation by critically hailed writer Simon Bent. ELLING played the West End and was nominated for the Lawrence Olivier Award for Comedy of the Year.

Encores! presents Bells Are Ringing through November 20 at New York City Center. Bells Are Ringing is directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall with music direction by Rob Berman, has music by Jule Styne and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and stars Kelli O'Hara and Will Chase.

The Lincoln Center Theater production of John Guare's new play, A FREE MAN OF COLOR, directed by George C. Wolfe, opened tonight (Thursday, November 18) at 6:45pm at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. The cast features Yao Ababio, Peter Bartlett, Nicole Beharie, Arnie Burton, Rosal Colón, Veanne Cox, Paul Dano, Sara Gettelfinger, Derric Harris, Justina Machado, Joseph Marcell, John McMartin, Nick Mennell, Mos, Teyonnah Parris, Postell Pringle, Esau Pritchett, Brian Reddy, Reg Rogers, Triney Sandoval, Robert Stanton, Wendy Rich Stetson, Jerome Stigler, Senfaub Stoney, David Emerson Toney and Jeffrey Wright.

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE is one of Shakespeare's most thrilling and controversial plays, rich with love and betrayal, forgiveness and revenge. The Jewish moneylender Shylock makes a loan to Antonio, a Christian merchant. Their loan contract, steeped in prejudice and centered on the play's infamous 'pound of flesh,' sweeps the two men and everyone in their worlds into chaos. Only the insightful Portia can imagine a way forward, but for her and those she loves, even 'the quality of mercy' has its limits. Al Pacino (Shylock), Lily Rabe (Portia), Byron Jennings (Antonio), Jesse L. Martin (Gratiano), Gerry Bamman (Duke of Venice), Heather Lind (Jessica), Matthew Rauch (Solanio), and Richard Topol (Tubal) reprise their roles in this acclaimed production. New cast members who have joined the Broadway company include Marsha Stephanie Blake (Nerissa), Christopher Fitzgerald (Launcelot Gobbo), David Harbour (Bassanio), Peter Francis James (Salerio), Isaiah Johnson (Prince of Morocco), Charles Kimbrough (Prince of Arragon), and Seth Numrich (Lorenzo).

Based on Reubens' 1981 cult classic stage production, The Pee-Wee Herman Show, with new elements from the ground-breaking CBS show 'Pee-wee's Playhouse' added generously, this new production is written by Paul Reubens and Bill Steinkellner, with additional material by John Paragon. Directed by Alex Timbers (Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson), The Pee-Wee Herman Show will feature music by Jay Cotton and the work of renowned puppetry artist Basil Twist. Direct from its acclaimed, sold-out run in Los Angeles, The Pee-Wee Herman Show began its 48-performance limited run on Tuesday, October 26, 2010 and officially opened on Thursday, November 11 at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre (124 West 43rd street). The engagement will run through January 2.

Laura Linney, who is currently playing photojournalist Sarah Goodwin in the acclaimed Tony Award nominated play, TIME STANDS STILL, will appear on the Friday, November 12 episode of "The Nate Berkus Show."

Former 'Saturday Night Live' and Comedy Central star Colin Quinn moves his one-man show Colin Quinn Long Story Short, directed by Jerry Seinfeld, to Broadway's Helen Hayes Theatre for an 11-week limited engagement. Preview performances began on Friday, October 22nd and will officially open on Tuesday, November 9th. The production will play through Saturday, January 8th. Colin Quinn Long Story Short proves that throughout human history, the joke has always been on us.??The New York Post says of this summer's critically acclaimed Bleecker Street Theatre production that it's 'historical and hysterical. While he dutifully traces his saga from the caveman era to the present, Quinn happens to be very, very funny. Clearly benefited from Seinfeld's influence, with tight pacing and a procession of hilarious one-liners,' while NY1 says, 'The humor is infused with plenty of witty insights...even wisdom.

Having opened to a host of positive reviews and strong ticket sales, Vineyard Theatre's world-premiere production of Will Eno's play MIDDLETOWN will extend its run an additional two weeks - through December 5 - it has been announced by Douglas Aibel, artistic director of The Vineyard (108 E. 15 St.).

Based on Pedro Almodóvar's internationally acclaimed 1988 film, WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN is set in late 20th-century Madrid and tells the story of the intertwining lives of a group of women whose relationships with men lead to a tumultuous 48 hours of love, confusion and passion and now it's come to Broadway!

THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, the exhilarating new Kander & Ebb musical, opens Sunday, October 31 at the Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street). THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS is the final collaboration by musical theatre giants John Kander and Fred Ebb (Chicago, Cabaret). Based on the notorious 'Scottsboro' case in the 1930s (in which nine African-American men were unjustly accused of a terrible crime) this musical explores a fascinating chapter in American history. This production is directed and choreographed by five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman (The Producers) and features a book by David Thompson (who adapted the script for Chicago's record-breaking revival).

Laura Linney, who is currently playing photojournalist Sarah Goodwin in the acclaimed Tony Award nominated play, TIME STANDS STILL, will appear on the Friday, October 29 episode of 'Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.'

Signature Theatre Company presents the first New York revival of Tony Kushner's ANGELS IN AMERICA: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, directed by Michael Greif. ANGELS IN AMERICA opens Thursday, October 28 at the Peter Norton Space (555 West 42nd Street). The play began previews on September 14. Millennium Approaches and Perestroika, the two parts of ANGELS IN AMERICA, alternate in repertory.

RAIN performs the full range of The Beatles' discography live onstage, including the most complex and challenging songs that The Beatles themselves recorded in the studio but never performed for an audience. From the early days of their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 through Sgt. Pepper and on to the Abbey Road years, RAIN performs it all. The multi-media concert recaptures the era through all phases of The Beatles astounding musical career including Shea Stadium, the psychedelic late 60s and the long-haired hippie, hard-rocking rooftop days. A fusion of historical footage and hilarious television commercials lights up video screens and live cameras zoom in for close-ups.

American playwright David Hirson's rollicking 1991 play, LA BÊTE, is a comic tour de force about Elomire (David Hyde Pierce), a high-minded classical dramatist who loves only the theater, and Valere (Mark Rylance), a low-brow street clown who loves only himself. When the fickle princess (Joanna Lumley) decides she's grown weary of Elomire's royal theatre troupe, he and Valere are left fighting for survival as art squares off with ego in a literary showdown for the ages.

This week, Christina Ricci, who is making her Broadway debut in TIME STANDS STILL, appeared on episodes of "The Today Show."

In BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON, rising star BENJAMIN WALKER reprises his role as America's first political maverick. A.J. kicked British butt, shafted the Indians and smacked down the Spaniards all in the name of these United States-who cares if he didn't have permission? An exhilarating and white-knuckled look at one of our nation's founding rock stars, BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON recreates and reinvents the life of 'Old Hickory,' from his humble beginnings on the Tennessee frontier to his days as our seventh Commander-in-Chief. It also asks the question, is wanting to have a beer with someone reason enough to elect him? What if he's really, really hot?

Today's Broadway Blogs on BroadwayWorld.com from Friday, October 8, 2010.

Today's Broadway Blogs on BroadwayWorld.com from Wednesday, September 29, 2010.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) opened it's latest production, TRUST, starring Zach Braff, Bobby Cannavale, Sutton Foster, and Ari Graynor, on August 12.

Continuing a tradition that dates back to 1920, when Burns Mantle founded the annual Best Plays Theater Yearbook, the Best Plays of 2009-2010 were announced today by editor Jeffrey Eric Jenkins.