Manhattan Class Company News

Tony Award winner NORBERT LEO BUTZ will begin performances in the acclaimed production of DAVID MAMET's SPEED-THE-PLOW tomorrow night, Tuesday December 23 at 7 pm. BUTZ will be playing the role of Bobby Gould through Sunday, January 11, 2009.

Chicago-Profiles Theatre, currently celebrating its 20th Anniversary Season, will host a benefit evening with acclaimed playwright and filmmaker Neil LaBute on Saturday, January 3, at Profiles Theatre, 4147 N. Broadway. The event will include a pre-show reception at 6:30 p.m., selected readings of LaBute's work at 7:30 p.m. and a post-show audience talkback and discussion with LaBute. Proceeds from the evening will benefit Profiles Theatre.

Tony Award winner Norbert Leo Butz and Emmy Award winner and Academy Award nominee William H. Macy have come to the rescue of the acclaimed production of David Mamet's SPEED-THE-PLOW, in the wake of the unexpected departure of Jeremy Piven.

Profiles Theatre, currently celebrating its 20th Anniversary Season, will host a benefit evening with acclaimed playwright and filmmaker Neil LaBute on Saturday, January 3, at Profiles Theatre, 4147 N. Broadway. The event will include a pre-show reception at 6:30 p.m., selected readings of LaBute's work at 7:30 p.m. and a post-show audience talkback and discussion with LaBute. Proceeds from the evening will benefit Profiles Theatre.

Acclaimed film and stage actors Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard have joined the cast of Classic Stage Company's upcoming new production of Anton Chekhov's UNCLE VANYA, starring Tony Award winner Denis O'Hare as Vanya, and directed by Austin Pendleton, it was announced today by CSC Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Jessica R. Jenen. UNCLE VANYA will begin previews on Saturday, January 17 at Classic Stage Company at 136 East 13th Street. An official press opening date will be announced in the coming weeks. UNCLE VANYA will play a limited engagement through March 1, 2009.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) continues its 2008-09 season with John Guare's Rich & Famous, directed by John Rando (Urinetown, The Musical and Wedding Singer on Broadway) in its first major revival since its 1976 New York debut. From the ingenious mind of John Guare, who brought Six Degrees of Separation and The House of Blue Leaves to the American stage, this delicious dark comedy springs to life with twisted humor, rapid-fire dialogue, and outrageous plot twists. The revival script includes significant rewrites to the original text, as well as hilarious songs freshly scribed by Guare himself. In Rich and Famous, playwright Bing Ringling yearns to savor the sweet taste of celebrity, and he's hoping play number 844 will be his lucky break. But on opening night, he slips into a nightmarish phantasmagoria that shows him just how wrong things can go.

MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) today announced that their heretofore private PlayLab new play readings by members of the company's Playwrights' Coalition are going public.

La MaMa will present Lillian Yuralia on the First Floor Theatre from November 13 - 30, 2008, Thursday - Saturday at 8:00pm, Sunday at 2:30pm & 8:00pm. Tickets are $18

The Flea Theater announces the World Premiere of THE FOOTAGE. Written by Joshua Scher and directed by Claudia Zelevansky, previews of this online gaming drama begin October 23 with opening night scheduled for Saturday, November 8.

South Coast Repertory will present the Southern California premiere of Dead Man's Cell Phone, Sarah Ruhl's fantastical new play about a woman who answers a dead man's cell phone and finds her life turned upside down. Directed by Bart DeLorenzo, Dead Man's Cell Phone runs Sept. 21 - Oct. 12 on the Julianne Argyros Stage.

South Coast Repertory will present the Southern California premiere of Dead Man's Cell Phone, Sarah Ruhl's fantastical new play about a woman who answers a dead man's cell phone and finds her life turned upside down. Directed by Bart DeLorenzo, Dead Man's Cell Phone runs Sept. 21 - Oct. 12 on the Julianne Argyros Stage.

Transport Group's heart-tugging musical 'Crossing Brooklyn' deals with post 9/11 stress while MCC's 'Spain' is a whimsical tale of a modern day woman and a Spanish conquistador

Urban Stages has announced the schedule for their upcoming season, which will include two world premieres and one New York premiere at their space on 259 West 30th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues.

The Guthrie Theater has announced the complete cast for The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, directed by Joe Dowling, featuring Tony Award-winning actress Harriet Harris and 'Queer as Folk' star Randy Harrison

Playwright Mark Schultz is the recipient of The National Arts Club's 2006 Kesselring Prize for Playwriting. The $15,000 prize is awarded annually to a playwright of exceptional promise.

Five new plays will be presented as part of Primary Stage's Dorothy Strelsin Fresh Ink Readings series from May 16th through 20th

The Vineyard Theatre offers its first online charity auction -- featuring rare, autographed theatre, film and television collectibles; opening night and film premiere tickets; backstage tours of Broadway's biggest shows; lunches with celebrities; and much more -- on eBay.com, now through May 3rd. Proceeds benefit the not-for-profit Vineyard Theatre

On April 4th, Alison Pill will replace Kerry Condon in the Atlantic Theatre Company's The Lieutenant of Inishmore, which will soon be receiving a Broadway transfer