Mark Twain News

Since its inception, television has served as a lens on American society, and in the expansive world of modern TV, today's heroes and villains have come a long way from their predecessors.

PLAY DEAD, the 'sensationally entertaining' (The Wall Street Journal) Off-Broadway comic thriller co-written and directed by Teller (of Penn & Teller) and co-written & performed by Todd Robbins, will close its current run in NYC on Sunday, July 24 at 7pm. This 'wild, wicked show' (The New York Times) has been making audiences shriek with laughter since its first performance on October 21, 2010 at The Players Theater (115 MacDougal Street at Minetta Lane).

The West Coast premiere of Good People by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire will open at the Geffen Playhouse in April of 2011 as part of the theater's 11/12 season. The 2010 Tony Award nominee for Best Play joins the following previously announced productions in the Gil Cates Theater at the Geffen Playhouse: Pulitzer Prize nominee The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity by Kristoffer Diaz, Tony Award nominee Next Fall by Geoffrey Nauffts, Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins featuring Kathleen Turner and the world premiere of The Exorcist by Edgar Award winner John Pielmeier.

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director) and Barry Grove (Executive Producer), announced that Manhattan Theatre Club, by special arrangement with Jon B. Platt and Scott Landis, will produce the Broadway premiere of VENUS IN FUR, the play by David Ives directed by Tony Award winner Walter Bobbie featuring Tony Award nominee Nina Arianda reprising her acclaimed breakthrough performance. VENUS IN FUR will begin performances Thursday, October 13 at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street) in a limited engagement. A November opening night for the production will be announced shortly.

The livin' is easy but the work is coming fast and furious for Hartford's favorite comedy improv troupe, Sea Tea Improv.

The Indiana University Department of Theatre and Drama in the College of Arts and Sciences announced the inaugural Indiana Festival Theatre season Jan. 13 at the department's new academic and rehearsal space in the newly renovated west wing of the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center.

Framed by a theatrical and musical celebration of Americana, this Tony award-winning musical follows the adventures of Huck Finn and his friend Jim as they search for the promise of freedom along the Mississippi River.

Acclaimed author and humorist Mark Twain is being honored by the U.S. Postal Service with the issuance of a commemorative Forever postage stamp in the city that served as the setting for two of his most famous works.

For its 31st season, the Saint Sebastian Players presents a moving drama, an original adaptation of a well-known author's works and a farcical comedy.

Rob Ruggiero returns to Goodspeed Musicals to steer SHOW BOAT, the granddaddy of all musicals, through safe waters.

Gingold Theatrical Group's PROJECT SHAW presents GETTING MARRIED Monday, June 20 7pm @THE PLAYERS 16 Gramercy Park South (20th St. east of Park Av)

Gingold Theatrical Group's PROJECT SHAW presents GETTING MARRIED Monday, June 20 7pm @THE PLAYERS 16 Gramercy Park South (20th St. east of Park Av)

Gingold Theatrical Group's PROJECT SHAW presents GETTING MARRIED Monday, June 20 7pm @THE PLAYERS 16 Gramercy Park South (20th St. east of Park Av)

National Theatre of the Deaf President Aaron Kubey parts ways with Tony Award-winning company after 3-plus years tenure.

The Candlelight Dinner Playhouse is proud to present Broadway's 'Best Musical', Big River, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, June 18 through August 21, 2011.

PLAY DEAD, the 'sensationally entertaining' (The Wall Street Journal) Off-Broadway comic thriller co-written and directed by Teller (of Penn & Teller) and co-written & performed by Todd Robbins, will close its current run in NYC on Sunday, July 24 at 7pm.

'Who would have thought that a young boy from Weymouth would become part of such a large family of vagabonds,' remarked Hal Holbrook about the actors and industry professionals that gathered to honor him at the 15th annual TONY Award party in Los Angeles. 'Not all of us have been lucky enough to make a steady income from this profession we love so much. It's nice to know an organization such as the Actors Fund exists to watch our backs, while we concentrate on using our craft to make the world a richer place to live,' added Holbrook just after friend and colleague, Sean Penn, presented the accomplished thespian with the Julie Harris Award. Penn, who directed Holbrook in 'Into The Wild,' said 'Hal always got it in the first take, but you wanted him to do it again, just so you could watch him work.'

On Sunday, June 12, BroadwayWorld.com brought you special and exclusive coverage throughout the night of the 65th Annual Tony Awards, airing on CBS live from the Beacon Theatre in New York City, including backstage videos, photos, speech transcriptions, winners stories, blogs and all the latest from the after parties. The night's big winner was The Book of Mormon, which took home nine prizes, including Best Musical. War Horse and Anything Goes were also evening standouts.

From July 15-23, the Independent Drama Society will celebrate the end of its three-year tenure with THE GOOD DOCTOR, directed by Marketing Director Christine Toohey. This Neil Simon comedy, inspired by the short stories of Anton Chekhov, will be the final production of this young company.

Charles J. Bright, 74, a co-founder of American Players Theatre in Spring Green, WI and one of the standard bearers of the classical theatre movement in America, died May 17, 2011 of complications following an 18 month battle with bladder cancer at his home in Great Meadow, NJ, according to classical theatre actor Randall Duk Kim and stage director Anne Occhiogrosso, Bright's life partners of four decades.