Mark Lamos News

Westport Country Playhouse will stage the powerful, theatrical fable, a?oeMlima's Tale,a?? written by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage and directed by Playhouse artistic director Mark Lamos, from October 1 a?" 19.  This is the first production of the play since its world premiere Off-Broadway last year.

Westport Country Playhouse and The Westport Library are partnering to present a free-of-charge screening of the documentary, a?oeWhen Lambs Become Lions,a?? directed by Jon Kasbe, about the illicit ivory market in Kenya, on Monday, September 16, 7 to 8:30 p.m., in the Library's Komansky Room. The film is presented in conjunction with the Playhouse's October production of a?oeMlima's Tale,a?? a powerful, theatrical fable about a magnificent Kenyan elephant named Mlima hunted for his coveted ivory tusks.

After a sold-out WorldPride debut, Alexis Michelle, star of Drag Me Down the Aisle and Drag Race, makes her triumphant return to Club Cumming with this tribute to Judy Garland. Through songs that Judy made iconic, Alexis honors the memory of the starlet that became the World's Greatest Entertainer. Far from impersonation, Alexis's one of a kind tribute to Judy Garland runs one night only. 

Westport Country Playhouse's New Works Initiative continues its 2019 season with readings of a?oeThe Splittinga?? by Serena Berman, directed by Jake Beckhard, in July, and a?oeStarter Pistol,a?? written by Michael Gotch and directed by Mark Lamos, Playhouse artistic director, in August. 

Westport Country Playhouse, in association with Hershey Felder Presents, will stage a musical tribute to Irving Berlin, one of the most successful songwriters of the 20th Century, with "Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin," from July 16 - August 3. 

Westport Country Playhouse's New Works Initiative (NWI) continues in its fourth consecutive year of developing new plays and musicals with playwrights, directors, and other artists, culminating in readings before an invited audience. The NWI 2019 Season kicked off on Wednesday, June 12, with a private reading of the new play, "form of a girl unknown," written by Charly Evon Simpson, and directed by Melissa Crespo. 

The classic French farce "A Flea in Her Ear" at the Westport Country Playhouse and a nostalgic revival of "The Music Man" at Goodspeed Musicals took top honors at the Monday, June 3rd Connecticut Critics Circle Awards.

Tony Award-winning Broadway star Kelli O'Hara and Sirius/XM radio personality Seth Rudetsky will headline Westport Country Playhouse's 2019 Gala "Black & White Ball: A De-Lovely Evening," on Saturday evening, September 14.

Opera Theatre of St. Louis has opened its 44th festival season. This is St. Louis' prized centerpiece of opera, with a world-wide reputation. It is famous for its superb productions. The company's home is the beautiful and comfortable 763-seat Browning Theatre at Webster University. Gourmet picnic suppers may be enjoyed before the show on the lovely grounds of the theater. All operas are performed in English with super-titles.

Herb Boyd, an award-winning author and journalist, will be guest speaker at Westport Country Playhouse's Sunday Symposium on June 9, following a 3 p.m. performance of the gripping drama, "Skeleton Crew," about four factory workers in a Detroit export auto plant on the brink of closing. 

Westport Country Playhouse has been awarded a $20,000 Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for the autumn production of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage's "Mlima's Tale."  Directed by Mark Lamos, the drama will run from October 1 - 19. 

Westport Country Playhouse will stage the gripping drama, "Skeleton Crew," written by 2018 MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellow Dominique Morisseau and directed by LA Williams, from June 4 through June 22. 

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF), the not-for-profit foundation of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), has appointed Rebecca Hewett as its Executive Director beginning May 13, 2019.

The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music awarded $71,000 in prizemoney at the finals of 2019 Lotte Lenya Competition, which took place in a packed Kilbourn Hall at the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY, on April 13. The $20,000 First Prize went to Daniel Berryman, 28 of Seattle, WA. Andrea Wozniak, 28 of Boston, MA, won the $15,000 Second Prize, and Trevor Martin, 30 of Fayetteville, GA, received Third Prize of $10,000.

Kim H. Kowalke, President of the Kurt Weill Foundation, has announced the finalists for the 2019 Lotte Lenya Competition. Thirteen performers will compete for top prizes of $20,000, $15,000, and $10,000.

Gretchen T. Wright has joined Westport Country Playhouse as director of development, effective March 4, 2019.  She will be responsible for the professional, non-profit theater's annual sustaining support from public and private constituencies, including corporations, government agencies, foundations, and individual donors.

Twenty-eight performers selected to compete for a chance to win top prizes of $20,000, $15,000, and $10,000; total prizes to exceed $75,000; an all-star team of musical theater, opera, and Kurt Weill experts to adjudicate semifinals and finals.

Performances begin tomorrow, Tuesday February 26th, for the New York premiere of  Surely Goodness and Mercy, a truly Keen story about an exceptional boy living a troubled life in Newark, NJ who does a good deed for an often unnoticed person.   Sarita Covington, Jay Mazyck, Brenda Pressley, Courtney Thomas, and Cezar Williams star under Jessi D. Hill's direction.

Twenty-eight performers selected to compete for a chance to win top prizes of $20,000, $15,000, and $10,000; total prizes to exceed $75,000; an all-star team of musical theater, opera, and Kurt Weill experts to adjudicate semifinals and finals.