Mary Ellen News

The Greek National Opera’s first major summer production for 2022, Giuseppe Verdi’s darkly menacing masterpiece Rigoletto, conducted by Lukas Karytinos and directed by Katerina Evangelatos, is to be presented at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus on 2, 5, 8 and 11 June as part of the Athens Epidaurus Festival.

Westport Country Playhouse will present “Straight White Men: Dig Deeper,” a series of special events, free-of-charge and open to the community, surrounding the comedy, “Straight White Men,” playing May 24 – June 5. The events will enhance the community's insight on the production and its themes.

The award-winning short documentary film, Just a Broadway Baby: Mary Ellen Ashley will celebrate its New York City Premiere as part of The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival where award-winning filmmaker Brian Ratigan will serve as Guest Festival Director in this, the 12th year of the festival.

The Greek National Opera’s first major summer production for 2022, Giuseppe Verdi’s darkly menacing masterpiece Rigoletto, conducted by Lukas Karytinos and directed by Katerina Evangelatos, is to be presented at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus on 2, 5, 8 and 11 June as part of the Athens Epidaurus Festival.

Occasionally a show comes along that ignores all the established rules of what musical theatre is supposed to be and instead opts to poke fun at, well, the theatre itself. Something Rotten, the acclaimed Broadway hit which opened in 2015 and was nominated for ten Tony awards, including Best Musical, is one of those shows. Unapologetically silly and enthusiastically fun, the audience can't help but be charmed by its chaotic joyfulness.

The Greek National Opera will present four performances of a new production of Verdi's Rigoletto as part of the Athens Epidaurus Festival on June 2, 5, 8 and 11.

GatherNYC, the revolutionary weekly concert experience founded and directed by cellist Laura Metcalf and guitarist Rupert Boyd, announces the groundbreaking string quartet ETHEL as the second guest artist of its Spring 2022 season, held at the series’ new home at Museum of Arts and Design (MAD).

Westport Country Playhouse officially opened its production of the three-time Tony Award®-winning musical and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, “Next to Normal,” on Saturday, April 9. The musical runs through Sunday, April 24.

Robert Ramirez has been named the new head of the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama, effective August 1. Ramirez joins CMU from the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas at Austin (UT), where he served as professor and chair.

This weekend, Space Dogs officially closed at MCC Theatre. However, the final two performances this weekend were filmed! The production added a second show on Sunday, March 20, at 7:30pm. No further details were announced on any plans to release the recording at this time.

These ladies don't lunch; they launch, twist, lurch, pop and topple. Meet Lorca, Topo, Nivea and Pinny: the more-sweet-than-tart troupe in LEMON GIRLS OR ART FOR THE ARTLESS. The comedic performance-art-within-a-play follows a group of New York City senior (70ish) girlfriends, all alumnae of Lemon Elementary. As they find their footing in a youth-paced world, they step outside their comfort zones and onto the stage. Artistically in it together even if they’re not always sure what “it” is, the Lemon Girls show us that age is just a number: '5-6-7-8!'

MCC Theater (Bob LuPone, Bernie Telsey, Will Cantler, Co-Artistic Directors; Blake West, Executive Director) announced today that Oscar and Grammy Award-winning music and culture journalist Cameron Crowe (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Almost Famous) will moderate Behind the Lyrics, a special one-night event that will take a deep dive in to the songwriting process for Space Dogs. 

Rhode Island College celebrates Women's History Month with 'Women of Note,' a film and concert event from RIC Artist-in-Residence Judith Lynn Stillman, on Wednesday, March 16 from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. The event includes an encore presentation of Stillman's film 'Women Trailblazers in Music' and live performances, both of which will take place at Sapinsley Hall at the Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts.

MCC Theater announced today that Space Dogs, a new musical written by and starring Van Hughes (Burn All Night) and Nick Blaemire (Glory Days) has been extended for a second time. Directed by Ellie Heyman (amfAR’s Angels in America), Space Dogs will now play through Sunday March 20, 2022 at MCC Theater (511 W 52nd Street New York, NY 10019).

MCC Theater just celebrated opening night of Space Dogs, a new musical written by and starring Van Hughes (Burn All Night) and Nick Blaemire (Glory Days). Directed by Ellie Heyman (amfAR's Angels in America), Space Dogs will now run through Sunday March 13  at MCC Theater (511 W 52nd Street).

MCC Theater announced today a one-week extension for Space Dogs, a new musical written by and starring Van Hughes (Burn All Night) and Nick Blaemire (Glory Days).

La MaMa will present the world premiere of Lemon Girls or Art for the Artless. Written and composed by OBIE and Drama Desk Award winning playwright and composer Ellen Maddow, Lemon Girls or Art for Artless is a comedic and revelatory celebration of older women and the thrill of making unlikely art.

In an unprecedented season of five new works in its six-show subscription season, the third new work in the series, Senior Living, opens this Friday, January 28 at 7:30 pm. Initially slated for the 2020-21 season, the show was postponed due to the pandemic.

The life and career of Broadway veteran Mary Ellen Ashley was recently highlighted in a short documentary film, Just a Broadway Baby: Mary Ellen Ashley. The film celebrated its World Premiere as part of The Oregon Documentary Film Festival on January 22nd where it won Best Picture out of over sixty selected films.

The next program in the new Table Reading series presented by Gracewell Productions at the Palace Theater, is slated for Sunday, March 27 at 2:00pm. The theme of this reading, supported in part by Timothy W. and Mary Ellen Rourke, is Reflections on the Voices of African-American Women, presented through four one-act plays in celebration of Women's History Month.