Linda Winer News

As theater-lovers look forward to the annual TONY Awards ceremony and the conclusion of the 2007-2008 theater season, television's long-running THEATER TALK series presents two original programs to fuel their anticipation.

Nation's Theater-Lovers Can Turn to PBS Stations or the Web for Wealth of Broadway Insiders' Opinions Beginning June 11.

Theatre World Awards for Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut performances during the 2007-2008 theatrical season will be presented by former Theatre World Award winners.

The 64th annual Theatre World Award winners for Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut performances during the 2007-2008 theatrical season are...

New York Drama Critics' Circle names 'August' best play and 'Passing Strange' best musical of 2007-08.

August: Osage County, by Tracy Letts, today won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award (NYDCC) for Best Play of the 2007-2008 season. The Best Musical award was given to Passing Strange (book and lyrics by Stew and music by Stew and Heidi Rodewald).

ALMOST AN EVENING, Academy Award® winning film maker Ethan Coen's trio of comic plays directed by Neil Pepe, will welcome Kate Blumberg and Peter Maloney to the cast of the hit Off-Broadway production on Tuesday, May 13, 2008.

Artistic Director Russ Tutterow announced Chicago Dramatists' 30th anniversary season, featuring three productions of world premiere plays, and the fourth annual Many Voices Project. Each year Chicago Dramatists, 'the playwrights' theatre,' produces three of the best new plays from the hundreds developed through its many developmental programs. This year, 'Ten Cent Night' by resident playwright Marisa Wegrzyn, 'How I Became an Interesting Person' by resident playwright Will Dunne, and 'Hope VI' by resident playwright Nambi E. Kelley, will make up its production season.

The 2008 Fred & Adele Astaire Awards recognizing excellence in dance on both stage and film have announced that nine time Tony Award & two time Astaire Award winner Tommy Tune will receive the 2008 Fred & Adele Astaire Lifetime Achievement at the awards gala slate for June 2, 2008

After a hiatus of 3 years, The Astaire Awards will once again recognize excellence in dance on both stage and film.

The 87th edition of 'The Best Plays Theater Yearbook' has been released by Limelight Editions ($49.95, 562 pages).

Continuing a tradition that dates back to 1920, when Burns Mantle founded the annual Best Plays Theater Yearbook, the Best Plays of 2006-2007 were announced today by editor Jeffrey Eric Jenkins.

The Theatre World Awards for Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut performances during the 2006-2007 theatrical season will be presented by a number of former Theatre World Award-winners.

The 63rd annual Theatre World Award winners for Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut performances during the 2006-2007 theatrical season areas follows:

'ShowBusiness' follows four hotly discussed musicals during the 2003-2004 Broadway season, 'Wicked,' 'Avenue Q,' 'Caroline, or Change' and 'Taboo,' as they develop from a fledgling workshop production into Tony Award contender...

The New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards have been announced

Adam Feldman, president of the New York Drama Critics' Circle (NYDCC), announced today that the Circle will meet at the offices of Time Out New York magazine on Monday, May 7, to select the winners of the 71st annual New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards, which will be announced at approximately 7pm, immediately following the meeting.

The American Theatre Wing's Producing and The Theatre Business: Working in the Theatre, a collection of advice and anecdotes from many of the most influential and successful producers working in theatre today, will be available in bookstores on May 14, 2007.

Tomorrow night on THEATER TALK, author NEAL GABLER discusses his impressive new biography, WALT DISNEY: THE TRIUMPH OF AMERICAN IMAGINATION.

Tonight on THEATER TALK at 12:30 AM on Thirteen, critics: Jacques le Sourd of Gannett and WCBS radio, John Simon of Bloomberg News and Linda Winer of Newsday review SPRING AWAKENING, THE VERTICAL HOUR, MARY POPPINS, and more.