Maxwell Anderson News

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company is calling its 18th season 'Welcome to the Fun House,' and the fun will come in many forms, from political satire to deadly jokes to a world of laughter and revolutions with takes on The Importance of Being Earnest. The three plays look at very different aspects of life and comedy, each through its own fabulous Fun House mirror distortion.

The Collegiate Chorale announces the New York premiere of battle hymns on May 15, 2014 at 7:30pm at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, Pier 86, 12th Ave. & 46th Street in New York, NY.

Most of ESP's recent outings have been stories written directly for the stage. For our January 2014 reading (the last to be held at our beloved NSCC before we move to ACT), we turn to a master playwright's take on (apparently) undramatic material - John Van Druten's adaptation of Christopher Isherwood's Berlin Stories, I Am a Camera.

J. B. Priestley's 1938 farcical comedy, set in 1908, is about three couples who married on the same day in the same church, who learn on their twenty-fifth anniversaries that they aren't legally married at all, sending them into a tizzy of spousal re-evaluation. The play is full of funny lines, and is a first-rate screwball comedy - but this hilarious Yorkshire farce has more going on in it than this premise would indicate, because, after all, this is a play by J. B. Priestley!

J. B. Priestley's 1938 farcical comedy, set in 1908, is about three couples who married on the same day in the same church, who learn on their twenty-fifth anniversaries that they aren't legally married at all, sending them into a tizzy of spousal re-evaluation. The play is full of funny lines, and is a first-rate screwball comedy - but this hilarious Yorkshire farce has more going on in it than this premise would indicate, because, after all, this is a play by J. B. Priestley!

One Hundred and Twenty-Five years ago this New Year's Eve, America's most celebrated actor, Edwin Booth gave the Deed of 16 Gramercy Park South to The Players. The Players tradition has been to read the deed in front of the Great Hall fire place echoing back to Edwin Booth and the Founding Members. This year, this tradition continues along with live music, dancing, and more festivities as The Players kicks off a new era, sharing a toast to its founders and celebrating 125 years at 'A Certain Club.'

ESP presents the great American comedy by the otherwise unjustly forgotten Paul Osborn, Morning's at Seven. Originally produced on Broadway in 1939, and set the year before, it ran only 44 performances, even though directed by the young tyro Joshua Logan. It wasn't until 1980 that the play was widely produced, after enjoying a major Broadway revival directed by Vivian Matalon. This production starred - as the four sisters at the center of the story - Nancy Marchand, Maureen O'Sullivan, Elizabeth Wilson, and Teresa Wright. The revival ran 564 performances, and was later televised by Showtime and PBS, and suddenly people remembered Paul Osborn.

ESP presents the great American comedy by the otherwise unjustly forgotten Paul Osborn, Morning's at Seven. Originally produced on Broadway in 1939, and set the year before, it ran only 44 performances, even though directed by the young tyro Joshua Logan. It wasn't until 1980 that the play was widely produced, after enjoying a major Broadway revival directed by Vivian Matalon. This production starred - as the four sisters at the center of the story - Nancy Marchand, Maureen O'Sullivan, Elizabeth Wilson, and Teresa Wright. The revival ran 564 performances, and was later televised by Showtime and PBS, and suddenly people remembered Paul Osborn.

According to the Associated Press, The Dallas Museum of Art has agreed to return six looted antiquities to Italy. The items returned include E'truscan-era kraters — vases — and a pair of bronze shields.'

The Collegiate Chorale announces the addition of two new members of the company's executive team. Ted Sperling and Edward Barnes join Music Director James Bagwell and Executive Director Jennifer Collins as Artistic Director and Producing Director, respectively, effective immediately.

As Tony Awards host Neil Patrick Harris sang in the opening number of the 2013 ceremony: 'They're the reason that this season seems to look like Chucky Cheese!' This Broadway season is littered with child actors in major roles, and below BroadwayWorld salutes them all. Get to know the child stars of the 2013 Broadway season below!

Erica Herd and L.E. Swenson's comedic masterpiece with music, ALZEIMER'S BLUES, which had its World Premiere on Sunday, June 16 (then entitled THE YEAR OF DEAD CATS) at Stage Left Studio (214 West 30th Street - between Seventh & Eighth Avenues - Sixth Floor) has extended - AGAIN - through October 4th during which time the show will also participate in Cheryl King's acclaimed Women At Work Festival.

Endangered Species Project is tickled to once again blow the dust off an undeservedly dusty script - the astoundingly charming family comedy, THE REMARKABLE MR. PENNYPACKER. Playwright Liam O'Brien honors, by reference and imitation, the great George Bernard Shaw, who died two years before PENNYPACKER's premiere. The play, O'Brien's only work for the stage, was founded on a true story that occurred in O'Brien's family.

Erica Herd and L.E. Swenson's breakout comedic masterpiece, THE YEAR OF DEAD CATS, which had its World Premiere on Sunday, June 16 at Stage Left Studio (214 West 30th Street - between Seventh & Eighth Avenues - Sixth Floor) has extended through September during which time the show will also participate in Cheryl King's acclaimed Women At Work Festival.

The Old Globe today announced the cast and creative team for the Globe's revival of N. Richard Nash's classic romantic comedyThe Rainmaker. Directed by Maria Mileaf, The Rainmaker will run July 13 - August 11, 2013 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run July 13 - July 17. Opening night is Thursday, July 18 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.

Endangered Species Project is tickled to once again blow the dust off an undeservedly dusty script - the astoundingly charming family comedy, THE REMARKABLE MR. PENNYPACKER. Playwright Liam O'Brien honors, by reference and imitation, the great George Bernard Shaw, who died two years before PENNYPACKER's premiere. The play, O'Brien's only work for the stage, was founded on a true story that occurred in O'Brien's family.

Erica Herd and L.E. Swenson's breakout comedic masterpiece, THE YEAR OF DEAD CATS, will have its World Premiere today, June 16th at Stage Left Studio (214 West 30th Street - between Seventh & Eighth Avenues - Sixth Floor) where it will play through Sunday, June 30th with the option to continue through September.

By Disney standards the year and a half run of the original Broadway production of The Little Mermaid was a bit of a disappointment.  In theory, a competently created musical based on the hit animated film would probably run for a year and a half based on the title recognition alone.  My opinion of that show was higher than most of my colleagues.  I enjoyed it, but mostly for the vaudevillian pleasure of seeing a cast of terrific Broadway performers each getting a star turn or two.  But after some script revisions and a whole new visual concept, director Glenn Casale's production of the new Mermaid that just opened at Paper Mill is a well-crafted, delightfully designed and performed charmer.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, announces its finalized speaker line-up for the 23rd annual TCG National Conference in Dallas from tonight, June 6 to 8, 2013.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, announces its finalized speaker line-up for the 23rd annual TCG National Conference in Dallas from June 6 to 8, 2013. The line-up includes Ayad Akhtar, winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and national theatre legend Adrian Hall. This convening will bring hundreds of theater practitioners together from around the world for plenary speakers, breakout sessions, workshops and performances; as well as a chance to explore the Dallas-Fort Worth theatre community.