Michael Levine News

Acorn Productions announces that the company will kick off their 2009/2010 season of dramatic readings of new scripts by Maine playwrights with AN ARMY OF ONE, by Laura Emack. This full-length play follows the story of booksmart high school senior Joan, who poses as a potential enlistee to expose hardball recruiting, but ends up responding to her country's call by a committed emissary she cannot dismiss. The script will be brought to life by actors from Acorn's 'Naked Shakespeare' Ensemble as well as students studying their craft in the Acorn Academy Academy. This reading is the first of a series of five events that will take place over the next few months to assist Acorn's staff in choosing the one play that will be given a full production at the St. Lawrence Arts Center next spring as part of the Maine Playwrights Festival.

Tony Award winning writers and composers William Finn, James Lapine and Ted Sperling, and Tony nominees Quiara Alegría Hudes and Jonathan Butterell are among the participants who will develop new musical projects at the White Oak Lab in Yulee, FL, in October.

Acorn Productions and the Wine Bar collaborate on an evening of 'Sonnets and Soliloquies: Greatest Hits'

Acorn Productions announces that the 2009/10 season of Naked Shakespeare events begins on Monday, September 21 at 6 p.m. with a 'Sonnet and Soliloquies' performance in Monument Square in Portland.

Acorn Productions announces an expanded schedule of free 'Intro to Acting' workshops for kids and adults this September. The company will offer two sessions for adults and three for kids grades K - 12. Acorn's Producing Director Michael Levine conducts both sessions, which are designed to provide beginning and continuing actors with an introduction to the actor's craft as well as a sense of what transpires during a full-length acting class.

The Acorn Acting Academy kicks off a fall series of events in the new Acorn Studio Theater with a free night of improvisational comedy featuring members of Acorn?s Shakespeare Ensemble showcasing another side of their talents. The evening begins at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 17th with a ½ hour set of traditional favorites performed by Acorn?s Producing Director Michael Levine and actors Keith Anctil, Stephanie Ross and Laura Graham. Following this set, audience members will be invited to replace members of the company on stage during the next hour of material, providing for a constantly changing repertoire of performers. This participation, however, will be purely voluntary as no one will be asked to come up on stage unless they volunteer. The event is designed to provide a fun forum for interested members of the community to see Acorn?s new theater space and meet members of Acorn's teaching faculty, as three out of the company?s four teachers will be performing. Seating is first-come, first-serve and no reservations will be taken.

Acorn Productions and the Wine Bar collaborate on an evening of 'Sonnets and Soliloquies: Greatest Hits'

Acorn Productions 12th annual Phyzgig festival, a celebration of physical comedy and variety entertainment for the family, will take place in downtown Portland between Christmas and New Year's Eve 2009.

Acorn Productions announces that the 2009/10 season of Naked Shakespeare events begins on Monday, September 21 at 6 p.m. with a 'Sonnet and Soliloquies' performance in Monument Square in Portland.

The Acorn Acting Academy kicks off a fall series of events in the new Acorn Studio Theater with a free night of improvisational comedy featuring members of Acorn?s Shakespeare Ensemble showcasing another side of their talents. The evening begins at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 17th with a ½ hour set of traditional favorites performed by Acorn?s Producing Director Michael Levine and actors Keith Anctil, Stephanie Ross and Laura Graham. Following this set, audience members will be invited to replace members of the company on stage during the next hour of material, providing for a constantly changing repertoire of performers. This participation, however, will be purely voluntary as no one will be asked to come up on stage unless they volunteer. The event is designed to provide a fun forum for interested members of the community to see Acorn?s new theater space and meet members of Acorn's teaching faculty, as three out of the company?s four teachers will be performing. Seating is first-come, first-serve and no reservations will be taken.

Acorn Productions announces an expanded schedule of free 'Intro to Acting' workshops for kids and adults this September. The company will offer two sessions for adults and three for kids grades K - 12. Acorn's Producing Director Michael Levine conducts both sessions, which are designed to provide beginning and continuing actors with an introduction to the actor's craft as well as a sense of what transpires during a full-length acting class.

The Acorn Shakespeare Ensemble, producers of the environmentally-staged 'Naked Shakespeare' series, announces plans for an ambitious mounting of Shakespeare's Richard II in the Great Hall of the Portland Museum of Art (PMA). The performance represents the culmination of 9 months of text work by the Westbrook-based company, which performs regularly at the Wine Bar on Wharf Street and SPACE Gallery.

The Acorn Shakespeare Ensemble, producers of the environmentally-staged 'Naked Shakespeare' series, announces plans for an ambitious mounting of Shakespeare's Richard II in the Great Hall of the Portland Museum of Art (PMA). The performance represents the culmination of 9 months of text work by the Westbrook-based company, which performs regularly at the Wine Bar on Wharf Street and SPACE Gallery.

Tchaikovsky's romantic masterpiece Eugene Onegin, based on the Pushkin poem, returns to the Met on Friday, January 30, with a superb international cast. American baritone Thomas Hampson returns to the role of Onegin, the haughty aristocrat who acknowledges love too late, opposite the Finnish soprano Karita Mattila making her Met role debut as Tatiana, who grows from a love-struck young girl to an aristocratic woman. Russian mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk is her sister, Olga; Polish tenor Piotr Beczala is Lenski, Onegin's doomed friend; and Russian bass Sergei Aleksashkin is Gremin, the elderly prince who marries Tatiana. Aleksashkin will sing the first two performances and American bass James Morris, taking on the role for the first time at the Met, does the remainder of the run. Czech maestro Jiř? Bĕlohl?vek conducts all performances, through February 21. The production is by Robert Carsen, sets and costumes are by Michael Levine, Jean Kalman is the lighting designer, and the choreographer is Serge Bennathan.

A fantastical epic follows a young girl's amazing pregnancy and kaleidoscopic journey through history: Circle X Theatre Co. presents the World Premiere production of Battle Hymn, by multiple award-winning playwright Jim Leonard (The Diviners, CBS's Close to Home), directed by John Langs. Battle Hymn runs January 17 through February 21 at the 87-seat [Inside] the Ford. This is the second production (following Song of Extinction) in the adventurous 2008-09 season of new plays that is part of the Ford Theatres' partnership program with L.A. County-based performing arts organizations.

A fantastical epic follows a young girl's amazing pregnancy and kaleidoscopic journey through history: Circle X Theatre Co. presents the World Premiere production of Battle Hymn, by multiple award-winning playwright Jim Leonard (The Diviners, CBS's Close to Home), directed by John Langs. Battle Hymn runs January 17 through February 21 at the 87-seat [Inside] the Ford. This is the second production (following Song of Extinction) in the adventurous 2008-09 season of new plays that is part of the Ford Theatres' partnership program with L.A. County-based performing arts organizations.

Multi-talented, multi-award winning song and dance man Jon Peterson brings his brand new show, Song Man, Dance Man to The Triad Theater for a one night only performance on Tuesday, November 25th at 9:00 pm. If theater is your thrill, then the rush that you get from that rare creature, the all-round entertainer, thrills you to bits! You are invited to join us for this very special one night only event that features one of today's most talented and dynamic forces -- Jon Peterson.

Just announced! Multi-talented, multi-award winning song and dance man Jon Peterson brings his brand new show, Song Man, Dance Man to The Triad Theater for a one night only performance on Tuesday, November 25th at 9:00 pm. If theater is your thrill, then the rush that you get from that rare creature, the all-round entertainer, thrills you to bits! You are invited to join us for this very special one night only event that features one of today's most talented and dynamic forces -- Jon Peterson.

The Met's acclaimed production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, directed by the late Academy Award-winning film director Anthony Minghella, returns to the stage for twelve performances beginning Friday, October 24, 2008. Reprising their portrayals in the production this season are sopranos Patricia Racette and Cristina Gallardo-Domâs in the title role, tenors Roberto Aronica and Marcello Giordani as Pinkerton, and baritone Dwayne Croft as Sharpless. Patrick Summers conducts the opera for the first time at Met.

The Met's acclaimed production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, directed by the late Academy Award-winning film director Anthony Minghella, returns to the stage for twelve performances beginning Friday, October 24, 2008. Reprising their portrayals in the production this season are sopranos Patricia Racette and Cristina Gallardo-Domâs in the title role, tenors Roberto Aronica and Marcello Giordani as Pinkerton, and baritone Dwayne Croft as Sharpless. Patrick Summers conducts the opera for the first time at Met.