Lucille Lortel News

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced it will produce the world premiere original musical production of Little Dancer featuring book and lyrics by Tony Award winner Lynn Ahrens, music by Tony Award winner Stephen Flaherty, and direction and choreography by five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman. The musical will begin performances in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater in October 2014. Casting and additional details about Little Dancer will be announced at a later date.

La Jolla Playhouse announces the cast and creative team for His Girl Friday, adapted by John Guare (Six Degrees of Separation, House of Blue Leaves) from the Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur play The Front Page and the Columbia Pictures film His Girl Friday. Directed by Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley (Glengarry Glen Ross, Memphis), the production will kick off the 2013/2014 season, running May 28 - June 30 in the Playhouse's Mandell Weiss Theatre.

Atlantic Theater Company has announced that Olivier and two time Tony Award winning playwright John Guare will make his Off Broadway acting debut in the world premiere production of his new play 3 KINDS OF EXILE, directed by Atlantic artistic director Neil Pepe, featuring Atlantic ensemble members Peter Maloney and David Pittu and guest artists Alison Cimmet, Jeffrey Kuhn, Jacquelyn Landgraf, Martin Moran, Kate Rigg, Omar Sangare and Timothy Splain.

Brooke Shields has been announced as the director of the Hollywood Bowl's upcoming production of CHICAGO, which holds the record as the third longest running show in Broadway history. Rob Fisher has also been announced as the conductor of the production. Shields starred in CHICAGO both on Broadway and in London's West End and this marks her directing debut. Fisher's association with the show began with the 1996 Broadway revival and he continues to be supervising music director of CHICAGO productions around the globe.

Irish Repertory Theatre continues its 25th Anniversary Season with The Weir by Conor McPherson, author of SHINING CITY and THE SEAFARER - with previews set to begin May 15, prior to an official Off-Broadway opening May 23 on the Irish Repertory's Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage (132 West 22nd Street). Directed by Ciaran O'Reilly, performances are set to run through July 7.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater's Artistic Director David Van Asselt and Managing Director Brian Long have announced that because of rave notices and sell-out houses, the world premiere of Buyer & Cellar, written by Jonathan Tolins, directed by Stephen Brackett, and starring Michael Urie, will extend for one week, through Sunday, May 12, at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 224 Waverly Place, west of Seventh Avenue South.

Westport Country Playhouse will present a Sunday Symposium, "A Conversation with Playwright A. R. Gurney," following the Sunday, May 5, 3 p.m. matinee performance of Gurney's witty and heartfelt story of the American family and its vanishing traditions, "The Dining Room," directed by Mark Lamos. David Kennedy, Westport Country Playhouse associate artistic director, will moderate.

The Award-Winning Epic Theatre Ensemble, now in their 12th year presents William Shakespeare's RICHARD III: Born With Teeth, part of Shakespeare for a New Generation, a national program of the National Endowment for the Arts in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The production, directed by Ron Russell, begins previews Off-Broadway tonight, Tuesday, April 16th and opens Saturday, April 20th at 8:00 PM at the Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street). The play will run through May 4th.

Ghostlight Records has announced the digital release of THE JOE ICONIS ROCK AND ROLL JAMBOREE today, April 16, 2013. The new album is a collection of songs performed by Joe and his merry band of musical theater misfits. Epic theater ballads, simple folk songs, heavy rock rave-ups and bar room sing-alongs coexist in this eclectic, borderline-insane line up of tunes. The album will be available through all digital music outlets.

Tickets go on sale today for New York City Center Encores! Off-Center, a new series featuring seminal Off-Broadway musicals filtered through the lens of today's most innovative artists, opening on July 10. In keeping with City Center's founding mission to make the arts accessible to all, the majority of tickets will be $25.

Christine Baranski, Kelli Barrett, Walter Bobbie, Jeremy Cohen, Dalton Harrod, Randy Skinner, Shonn Wiley, Karen Ziemba,New York City Ballet Principaldancer Joaquin De Luz and American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Irina Dvorovenkowill star in Rodgers and Hart's On Your Toes, the final Encores! presentation of the 2012-13 New York City Center season. Directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle, On Your Toes will have guest music direction by Encores! founding music director Rob Fisher and will play seven performances, from May 8 - 12 at New York City Center, W. 55th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues). The "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" ballet, originally choreographed by George Balanchine, will be staged by Susan Pilarre, who served as a Ballet Mistress of the show's 1983 Broadway Revival.

On Monday evening, April 8th at the finale of Marty Richards' star-studded-sold-out Memorial to benefit his beloved New York Center For Children, which he co-founded with his wife Mary Lea Johnson Richards, Chita Rivera quieted the crowd to make an important announcement regarding the future of the American Theatre and the New York centric film and television's East Coast community. Dan Gallagher and Michael Milton, Mr. Richards' co-workers and right-hand visionaries for over fifteen years, have power-teamed with Producer/General Manager, Cheryl Dennis, to form the new Producer Circle Co. with offices in Manhattan.

The Award winning Epic Theatre Ensemble announces post performance forums lead by scholars, authors, and entertainers, immediately following several performances of RICHARD III: BORN WITH TEETH at the Pershing Square Signature Center. The production, directed by Ron Russell, begins performances Tuesday, April 16, opens on Saturday, April 20th and continues through Saturday, May 4th. RICHARD III: BORN WITH TEETH begins previews Tuesday, April 16th. The Forum's are presented as part of Epic's goal to inspire vital dialogue about social, ethical, and political issues and to build thoughtful citizenship in local communities.

Tonight, April 12, 2013, The New York Pops continues its 30th season with an evening celebrating the 65th birthday of Stephen Schwartz and the 10th anniversary of his hit musical Wicked with The Wizard and I: The Musical Journey of Stephen Schwartz. Music Director and Conductor Steven Reineke will lead the orchestra as they perform highlights from some of the composer-lyricist's most beloved works. The concert features Tony Award nominee Jeremy Jordan (Newsies), Tony Award nominee Norm Lewis (The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess), Drama Desk Award nominee Julia Murney (The Wild Party), Tony Award nominee Jennifer Laura Thompson (Urinetown), and Judith Clurman's Essential Voices USA.

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment present an all-new revival of one of the greatest musicals of all time, SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS, book by Lawrence Kasha and David Landay, lyrics, music and new songs by Johnny Mercer, Gene De Paul, Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn, based on the MGM Film 'The Sobbin' Women' by Stephen Vincent Benet, originally directed for Broadway by Lawrence Kasha and originally produced on Broadway by Kaslan Productions, Inc., SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS will feature musical direction by Dennis Castellano, choreography by Patti Colombo and will be directed by Glenn Casale.