Marsha Norman News

MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) is pleased to announce another all-star line-up for the company's annual gala, to be held Monday, March 9, 2009 at The Hammerstein Ballroom (311 West 34th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues).

MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) is pleased to announce another all-star line-up for the company's annual gala, to be held Monday, March 9, 2009 at The Hammerstein Ballroom (311 West 34th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues).

MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) have announced that, in order to accommodate ticket demand, they will extend the New York Premiere of Charles Busch's The Third Story. Directed by Carl Andress. the six-character play will now continue through Sunday, March 6th (an additional week) at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC).

The producers of THE COLOR PURPLE are proud to announce that American Idol Season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino will reprise her starring role of Celie for the Washington, D.C. engagement. The Kennedy Center will host the first North American Touring production of THE COLOR PURPLE for five weeks, June 30 - August 2, 2009. Tickets are on sale now.

ShenanArts is pleased to announce its production of The Secret Garden. Directed by Hank Fitzgerald, with music direction by Anne Wick Manes, this Tony Award-winning musical adaptation of the classic book by Frances Hodgson Burnett opens March 12 at the Stage 4 theatre and will play 8 performances from March 12-15 & 19-22, 2009. The Secret Garden premiered on Broadway at the St. James Theatre on April 25, 1991 and ran for two years, closing after 709 performances. The production garnered the 1991 Tony Awards for Best Book of a Musical (Marsha Norman), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Daisy Eagan - the youngest person ever to win a Tony Award), and Best Scenic Design (Heidi Landesman).

The Cherry Lane Theatre will present the 11th season of its Obie Award-winning Cherry Lane Mentor Project with the new play HOUSEBREAKING - written by Jakob Holder, mentored by playwright Charles Mee - with performances set to run March 24-April 4 at The Cherry Lane Studio (38 Commerce Street) in Manhattan. Daniella Topol directs.

The Cherry Lane Theatre will present the 11th season of its Obie Award-winning Cherry Lane Mentor Project with the new play HOUSEBREAKING - written by Jakob Holder, mentored by playwright Charles Mee - with performances set to run March 24-April 4 at The Cherry Lane Studio (38 Commerce Street) in Manhattan. Daniella Topol directs.

Broadway's most talked about new musical and the biggest Tony Award-winner in years is coming to Cleveland. Spring Awakening, the 8-time Tony Award? winning Broadway musical, will open at PlayhouseSquare's PalaceTheatre and play for 16 performances, March 3-15. Spring Awakening is part of the KeyBank Broadway Series at PlayhouseSquare. Spring Awakening swept the 2007 Tony Awards? winning eight out of its eleven nominations, including Best Musical, Best Director (Michael Mayer), Best Book (Steven Sater), Best Choreography (Bill T. Jones), Best Orchestrations (Duncan Sheik), Best Lighting Design (Kevin Adams), Best Featured Actor (John Gallagher Jr.).

The Humana Festival of New American Plays, Actors Theatre of Louisville's main venue for producing new work, is an annual event held in February and March.

The Cherry Lane Theatre presents the world premiere production of Deirdre O'Connor's JAILBAIT--a new play about two teenaged girls and the men they meet when they pose as college students during a night out at a club in Boston--as the inaugural production at Cherry Lane's newest Off-Broadway theatre, the 90-seat Cherry Pit (155 Bank Street), with previews set to begin March 19 prior to its official press opening on March 25. Suzanne Agins directs.

The 2009 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has been awarded to British playwright and Liverpool native, Chloe Moss for her critically acclaimed play This Wide Night.

Oprah Winfrey, Scott Sanders and the producing team of the Broadway smash hit 'The Color Purple' are proud to announce that Ordway Center for the Performing Arts will host the first North American touring production of 'The Color Purple' from March 17 - 29, 2009. Tickets are on sale at ordway.org.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater (David Van Asselt, Artistic Director and Sandra Coudert, Managing Director) continues its 14th anniversary season with the World Premiere of That Pretty Pretty; or, The Rape Play, a new comedy by Sheila Callaghan, directed by Kip Fagan (Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom, Nelson). Performances begin Tuesday, February 10th. Opening night is Monday, February 23rd at 7pm. The show will run through Sunday, March 15th.

At a packed event last night at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, TheatreWorks, the nationally-acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley, announced its 2009-2010 season to a crowd of enthusiastic patrons and supporters. Under the direction of Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley, the company is celebrating 40 years of bringing quality theatre, including more than 50 world premieres, to the San Francisco Bay Area.

At a packed event last night at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, TheatreWorks, the nationally-acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley, announced its 2009-2010 season to a crowd of enthusiastic patrons and supporters. Under the direction of Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley, the company is celebrating 40 years of bringing quality theatre, including more than 50 world premieres, to the San Francisco Bay Area. The season announcement, which culminated a day of public activities launching the company's Ruby Anniversary, revealed that TheatreWorks will once again be presenting the area's first looks at several news-making productions, and deepening its commitment to presenting new works. The company announced a vibrant season leading off with an extensive New Works Festival that will draw national artists to the area; a World Premiere musical to be directed by the Tony Award-winning director of Les Miserables; two West Coast Premieres; two Regional Premieres, and two classics brought to the stage.

The show will go on, just not tonight and tomorrow as the February 19 and 20 performances of The MCC Theatre's THE THIRD STORY at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, have been canceled due to an off stage injury that Kathleen Turner has suffered. It is expected that Turner will resume performances starting with the February 21 matinee.

MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) is pleased to announce another all-star line-up for the company's annual gala, to be held Monday, March 9, 2009 at The Hammerstein Ballroom (311 West 34th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues).

MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) have announced that, in order to accommodate ticket demand, they will extend the New York Premiere of Charles Busch's The Third Story. Directed by Carl Andress. the six-character play will now continue through Sunday, March 15 (two additional weeks) at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC). The production, which opened on February 2, features Mr. Busch, Scott Parkinson, Sarah Rafferty, Jennifer Van Dyck, Jonathan Walker and Kathleen Turner (and marks Ms. Turner's return to Off Broadway in more than 30 years).

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) announced complete casting today for Christopher Durang's WHY TORTURE IS WRONG, AND THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM. Laura Benanti, Audrie Neenan, and Richard Poe will join the previously announced Amir Arison, David Aaron Baker, Kristine Nielsen, and John Pankow in this world premiere comedy, directed by Nicholas Martin. WHY TORTURE IS WRONG, AND THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM begins previews on March 24 and runs through April 26 with an official press opening on Monday, April 6 at 7 PM.

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has announced ten finalists for the prestigious playwriting award, now entering its fourth decade. The awards are given annually to recognize women from around the world who have written works of outstanding quality for the English-speaking theatre.