Michael Rogers News

What did our critic think of TROUBLE IN MIND at Hartford Stage?

Hartford Stage has announced the cast and creative team of the relevant revival of Alice Childress' watershed play Trouble in Mind. A powerful backstage drama-comedy that's sure to resonate with audiences today as it did in the 1950s, Trouble in Mind will run May 25 through June 18 at Hartford Stage in downtown Hartford, CT.

Theatre for a New Audience  presents EXPERIMENTAL WORKSHOPS/EXPLORING THE HISTORIES.  Performances run January 26-February 5, 2023.

The Winter Park Playhouse announces the winning selections for the 5th Annual Florida Festival of New Musicals. This popular festival, which showcases new musical theatre works, is one of very few in the nation and the only one of its kind in the Southeastern region. 

From February 27 to April 5, Woodie King, Jr.'s New Federal Theatre will celebrate both Black History Month and Women's History Month with an Off-Broadway production of 'Two Can Play' by Trevor Rhone, directed by Clinton Turner Davis, at Castillo Theater, 543 West 42nd Street. 

From February 27 to March 29, Woodie King, Jr.'s New Federal Theatre will celebrate both Black History Month and Women's History Month with an Off-Broadway production of 'Two Can Play' by Trevor Rhone, directed by Clinton Turner Davis, at Castillo Theater, 543 West 42nd Street. In this two-act comedy, Gloria and Jim, a lower middle-class couple in Kingston, try their wildest schemes to escape gun crime and establish residence in the United States. They survive because they learn to communicate and rediscover each other. Playwright Trevor Rhone was the artistic giant of Jamaican theater. The play celebrates the pent-up need for self-discovery and personal development in Jamaican women, a theme which is also universal. Director is Clinton Turner Davis, who helmed the comedy's New York premiere in 1985.

Then the government, represented by its functionary Lucius (Michael Rogers), brings in Shimeus (Wade McCollum), a derelict of another sort, whimpering and traumatized by an arson that killed everyone else in his family. Lucius orders the Browns to harbor Shimeus as a guest. Almost immediately, however, Shimeus stops whimpering, and, more importantly, stops behaving like a guest, and more like an invader - well maybe not a declared invader but a lot like a space alien whose intentions toward neighbors aren't entirely clear but don't seem encouraging, a la the plant in Little Shop of Horrors.

Compagnia de' Colombari, an international collective of performing artists founded and directed by Karin Coonrod, presents More Or Less I Am, a music-theater piece drawn entirely from Walt Whitman's revolutionary free verse long poem, 'Song of Myself,'one of the original twelve pieces that comprise his 1855 collection Leaves of Grass. The first performance in this series, spanning multiple venues throughout the five boroughs, will take place on Saturday, May 18, 2019, at 2:30pm at Brooklyn Public Library, 10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn. The event is free and open to the public.

Compagnia de' Colombari, an international collective of performing artists founded and directed by Karin Coonrod,celebrates the bicentennial of the birth of America's most influential poet, Walt Whitman, with a revival of their acclaimed production More Or Less I Am. Performances begin May 18, 2019 at multiple venues throughout the five boroughs, with most performances being free and open to the public. More information can be found at www.colombari.org.

A star-studded cast led by Becky Ann Baker (HBO's "Girls."), 5-Time Tony nominee Dana Ivy (off-Broadway's original "Driving Miss Daisy"), 4-Time Oscar nominee Marsha Mason ("The Goodbye Girl") and Tony winner John Rubinstein ("Children of a Lesser God") will perform in a benefit reading of "The Torch-Bearers" for Bucks County Playhouse. Performances will be held in New York at the Westside Theatre on Monday, March 11 at 7:00 p.m. and then two days later at Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope on Wednesday, March 13 at 7:00 pm. The reading is the first of three benefit readings that will mark the Playhouse's 80th anniversary.

A star-studded cast led by Becky Ann Baker (HBO's 'Girls.'), 5-Time Tony nominee Dana Ivey (off-Broadway's original 'Driving Miss Daisy'), 4-Time Oscar nominee Marsha Mason ('The Goodbye Girl') and Tony winner John Rubinstein ('Children of a Lesser God') will star in a benefit reading of 'The Torch-Bearers' for Bucks County Playhouse. Performances will be held in New York at the Westside Theatre on Monday, March 11 at 7:00 p.m. and then two days later at Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope on Wednesday, March 13 at 7:00 pm.  The reading is the first of three benefit readings that will mark the Playhouse's 80th anniversary.

Woodie King's New Federal Theatre has dedicated its November Readings Series to the memory of the late playwright Ntozake Shange, who died October 27.  The series, now in progress, has been retitled 'Ntozake Shange November Reading Series 2018.'  It runs from November 8 to 18, with readings of eight plays at Castillo Theatre, 543 W 42nd Street. 

From November 8 to 18, Woodie King Jr.'s New Federal Theatre will present 'The November Readings Series,' with readings of eight plays at Castillo Theatre, 543 W 42nd Street.  This series is devoted to brilliant one- and two-character plays, a dramatic form that most theaters neglect.  It will be used to develop African-American writers and to select plays that New Federal Theatre may present as full productions in its 2019-20 season.  The lineup includes works by Trevor Rhone, Howard Craft, Edgar Nkosi White, J.E. Franklin, Ivy Omere, Larry Muhammad, Richie McCall and Reginald T. Jackson.  Suggested donation is $10 and tickets can be purchased at www.castillo.org. The box office number is 212-941-1234.  For complete info, visit:  www.newfederaltheatre.org.

8ROJO is a Calgary-based, award-winning visual performance ensemble. The group has developed a unique style with its interdisciplinary performances for intimate spaces, which combine imaginative artistry and innovative creations.

8ROJO is a Calgary-based, award-winning visual performance ensemble. The group has developed a unique style with its interdisciplinary performances for intimate spaces, which combine imaginative artistry and innovative creations.

Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA; Jeffrey Horowitz, Founding Artistic Director) announces the full cast and creative team for William Shakespeare's tragicomedy The Winter's Tale, directed by OBIE Award-winner Arin Arbus. The production plays March 13-April 15, 2018, at Polonsky Shakespeare Center (262 Ashland Place), TFANA's home in the Brooklyn Cultural District.

Mountain Fever Records is pleased to announce the release of a new album from international artist Kristy Cox. Ricochet is available to radio programmers and consumers today!

Peak Performances will kick off its 2017-18 season-which consists entirely of works by women-with a visionary production of The Merchant of Venice from director Karin Coonrod and her Compagnia de' Colombari.

Back by popular demand Millbrook Playhouse's Artistic Director, David E. Leidholdt has announced the return of Fancy Nancy The Musical.