Michael Levin News

Boston Ballet Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen and Executive Director Meredith (Max) Hodges announce the success of the 2015-2016 season, which enjoyed the highest attendance in more than a decade and the most ticket revenue in Boston Ballet's 53-year history. At $13.8 million net, it is the best box office year by a margin of $1.4 million. With fuller houses, the organization also hit a best-ever milestone in capacity sold at 75 percent and a record number of 33 sold out shows (35 percent of this season's performances). An especially mission-critical achievement, the two mixed repertory programs, entitled Kaleidoscope and Mirrors, saw record-breaking revenue and high attendance. Both programs finished in the top five for attendance of mixed repertory programs. Mirrors is the highest-grossing mixed repertory program in Boston Ballet's history.

The 37th Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards for the 2015-2016 season were handed out in a star-studded ceremony in Toronto on the evening of Monday, June 27 at Harbourfront Centre's Concert Stage, hosted by two-time Dora Award winner and leading actor, Bruce Dow. Scroll down for the full list of winners!

Direct from London and an international tour, Complicite's acclaimed production of The Encounter, conceived, directed and performed by Simon McBurney, will play a limited engagement at Broadway's John Golden Theatre (252 West 45th Street), opening on Thursday, September 29 and closing on January 8 2017. Previews begin on September 20.

NEW YORK, NY -

Acorn Productions, a non-profit organization dedicated to nurturing and developing Southern Maine's community of performing artists, announces the final performance schedule for this year's Maine Playwrights Festival. The MPF opens with an evening of dramatic readings on Saturday, April 30, in the Ballroom at Mechanics Hall, and continues with a weekend of performances at the St. Lawrence Arts Center from May 4 to 7. The event wraps up with the 24-Hour Portland Theater Project on Sunday, May 8th, a popular presentation of 6 new plays that all share the same line of dialogue, prop, and setting, all of which have been written, rehearsed and presented within a single day. Tickets for the MPF are available on Acorn's website at www.acorn-productions.org and cost $16 for the general public and $14 for students and seniors.

Acorn Productions, a non-profit organization dedicated to nurturing and developing the Southern Maine community of performing artists, has finalized plans for this year's annual Maine Playwrights Festival (MPF). This year's MPF is co-directed by MPF Founder Michael Levine and Daniel Burson, former Education and Literary Director at Portland Stage Company, joined by Playwright-in-Residence William Donnelly. This year, six scripts by Delvyn Case, Carolyn Gage, Jennifer Jensen, Richard Sewell, David Susman, and Bess Welden will be brought to life at the St. Lawrence Arts Center from May 4 to 7, 2016, with the latest installment of the 24-Hour Portland Theaer Project on Sunday, May 8th. Additionally, Burson and Donnelly will be offering a 3-hour Master Playwrighting Workshop on March 19 from 1 to 4pm at the Maine College of Art. More information about this year's MPF, including a sign-up form for the Master Playwrighting Class, is available on Acorn's website at www.acorn-productions.org.

The International Opera Awards are pleased to announce the shortlist for this year's Awards. These were selected by the jury chaired by John Allison, editor of Opera magazine and classical music critic with The Daily Telegraph.

Naked Shakespeare, Acorn Productions' performance series dedicated to presenting the works of the Bard in accessible ways for contemporary audiences, continues their popular series of First Friday performances next month with two performances of 'Seven Deadly Sins,' a series of seven highly-abridged stories from seven different plays, each of which highlights a different vice. Naked Shakespeare Artistic Director abridged the scripts and directs the show, which features a cast of twelve actors, with several company members joined by a few guest artists. Unlike previous First Friday shows, 'Seven Deadly Sins' will be a series of self-contained short pieces, allowing audience members to experience both extremely well-known selections from Othello and The Tempest as well as lesser known plays including Timon of Athens and Coriolanus. Naked Shakespeare's First Friday shows begin a month of Shakespeare performances by various companies designed to coincidence with the visit of a copy of the First Folio at the Portland Public Library. The performances are free with a $10 suggested donation. For more information, audience members are encouraged to visit Acorn's website at www.acorn-productions.org.

Naked Shakespeare, Acorn Productions' performance series dedicated to presenting the works of the Bard in accessible ways for contemporary audiences, expands their popular series of First Friday performances next month with three performances of 'Cupid's Arrow,' a compilation of the stories of five Shakespearean romances.

Canada's greatest achievement in music, LOUIS RIEL, is returning to the Canadian Opera Company stage in a new production to help mark the 150th anniversary of the country's confederation. LOUIS RIEL is one of six landmark operas unveiled today at the public launch of the COC's 2016/2017 season at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

Who hasn't wanted to run away with the circus at some point in their lives? The ephemeral world created under the big top has always managed to entice with the glamour of its imaginary delights. Acrobats and elephants, beautiful people flying through the air, and the side show of unimaginable curiosities - they are all part of the ultimate escape from an otherwise ordinary world to a place where the extraordinary exists.

The hilarious, interactive dinner theater experience WE GOTTA BINGO at the new Chicago Theater Works (1113 W. Belmont), is happy to announce Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's performance schedules. Hailed by the Chicago Tribune as 'interactive fun,' the company is thrilled to share the holidays with all of Chicagoland.

Naked Shakespeare, Acorn Productions' performance series dedicated to presenting the works of the Bard in accessible ways for contemporary audiences, continues the company's popular First Friday performances with a December performance in The Ballroom at Mechanics Hall.

The hilarious, interactive dinner theater experience WE GOTTA BINGO at the new Chicago Theater Works (1113 W. Belmont), is happy to announce Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's performance schedules. Hailed by the Chicago Tribune as "interactive fun," the company is thrilled to share the holidays with all of Chicagoland.

Naked Shakespeare, Acorn Productions' performance series dedicated to presenting the works of the Bard in accessible ways for contemporary audiences, announces the first in a new series of First Friday performances in The Ballroom at Mechanics Hall.

The Stratford Festival comes to CBC-TV this September with spectacular performances of KING LEAR, ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA and KING JOHN, captured live in HD and presented uninterrupted. These productions are the first in the Stratford Festival HD initiative, which will see all of Shakespeare's plays filmed over the next 10 years, making them available to audiences nationwide and around the world.

For Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award winner Alan Menken - his musical based on the book and film The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz is what he calls 'a passion project, definitely.' Menken's version of Duddy Kravitz as a musical, which he co-wrote with David Spencer, was originally produced in the 1980's in Philadelphia. 'We did it in Philadelphia and we had a provision in the contract where we had to have a first class production (which Philadelphian wasn't) in order for the rights to merge, and when that didn't happen nobody could do (license) this musical…' Menken told me from inside the Segal Centre in Montreal while on break from rehearsals.

Naked Shakespeare, Acorn Productions' performance series dedicated to presenting the works of the Bard in accessible ways for contemporary audiences, presents the company's latest installment of their new First Today performance series tonight, May 1st at 7pm in The Ballroom at Mechanics Hall.

Naked Shakespeare, Acorn Productions' performance series dedicated to presenting the works of the Bard in accessible ways for contemporary audiences, presents the company's latest installment of their new First Friday performance series on Friday, May 1st at 7pm in The Ballroom at Mechanics Hall.

Acorn Productions, a non-profit organization dedicated to nurturing and developing the Southern Maine community of performing artists, announces the final schedule of performances for this year's fourteenth edition of the annual Maine Playwrights Festival (MPF), which takes place from May 13 to 17 at the St. Lawrence Arts Center in Portland. This year's MPF is co-directed by MPF Founder Michael Levine and Daniel Burson, former Education and Literary Director at Portland Stage Company, and features three guest directors as well as a residency by Boston-based playwright Melinda Lopez. The festival also includes the fifth installment of the 24-Hour Portland Theater Project, in which six plays are written, rehearsed and performed in the span of twenty-four hours. Tickets for the MPF range from $10 to $15, and a complete performance schedule, as well as more information about the plays and on-line ticket ordering, is available on Acorn's website at www.acorn-productions.org.