Michael Russo News

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts hosts more than 150 outstanding theater students from colleges and universities across the nation as part of the 48th annual Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF), which runs April 12-16, 2016 in multiple locations throughout the Center. Thousands of student artists from eight regions across the country presented their work at regional festivals from January 5 through February 27, 2016 and more than 150 were selected to travel to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., for an all-expenses-paid trip to participate in the national festival.

Siri, the electronic personal assistant installed on every iPhone, can be helpful in very many areas, but has heretofore has yet to be recognized for theater criticism.

? Theater J announces that its 2016 Annual Benefit will celebrate the arrival of Artistic Director Adam Immerwahr and honor Marion Ein Lewin. An event unlike any other at Theater J, this party to benefit the nation's most distinctive and progressive Jewish theater will provide an exclusive look at Immerwahr's first season as artistic director, which begins in September 2016. During the event, Adam and a team of Theater J's favorite artists will announce the 2016-2017 Season. Scenes from the upcoming season will be performed by actors including, Joshua Adams (The Sisters Rosensweig and The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide…), Kimberly Gilbert (Life Sucks and The Religion Thing), Naomi Jacobson (Life Sucks and The Disputation), Erika Rose (Falling Out of Time and In Darfur), Michael Russotto (Falling Out of Time and The Sisters Rosensweig), and others.

? The world premiere adaptation of the 2014 Israeli novel, Falling Out of Time, written by esteemed Israeli author David Grossman, plays at Theater J March 17 through April 17, 2016.

Tonight, before a gathering of theatre artists and patrons, theatreWashington announced the nominees for the 2016 Helen Hayes Awards, drawn from 202 eligible productions presented in the 2015 calendar year. Scroll down for the full list of nominees!

While aspects of Wendy Wasserstein's play come off as dated, it nevertheless brings comfort to those wrestling with societal expectations and struggling to discover their true identity and purpose.

On the next episode of The CW's THE ORIGINALS titled "The Axeman's Letter", as the war among the sire lines continues to grow, Klaus (Joseph Morgan) receives an unexpected visit

Olney Theatre Center, a Mid-Atlantic destination for extraordinary theater performance and education, opens its 2015-2016 season with Noel Coward's Hay Fever, running September 2 - September 27, 2015 on the Mainstage, directed by Artistic Associate Eleanor Holdridge.  Check out a first look below!

Noel Coward classic play is an homage to British comedy.

Olney Theatre Center, a Mid-Atlantic destination for extraordinary theater performance and education, opens its 2015-2016 season with Noel Coward's Hay Fever, running September 2 - September 27, 2015 on the Mainstage, directed by Artistic Associate Eleanor Holdridge.

After much anticipation, Donna Pope Vincler was named the winner of the 11th Annual Toilet Paper Wedding Dress Contest presented by Cheap Chic Weddings and Charmin at today's design showcase. For the first time in the contest's history, the winning design will inspire a ready-to-wear dress to be created by Kleinfeld Bridal.

MetroStage is pleased to announce that Janet Langhart Cohen's Anne & Emmett, directed by Thomas W. Jones II, with original music by Joshua Coyne and for this production addition original music by William Knowles, will be in performance at MetroStage May 7, 8, and 9.

Returning for its fifth year, The Theatre Lab's Dramathon, May 15 at 10:30 p.m. at Theater J, once again joins together the talents of some of the DC area's most well-known actors and accomplished playwrights - along with Theatre Lab students and alumni - in world premiere staged readings of short plays written for that night. All proceeds generated by the event go toward The Theatre Lab's scholarship fund.

Olney Theatre Center, a mid-Atlantic destination for professional theater performance and education, proudly announces two world premieres, two legendary musicals, a classic thriller, and a rotating rep of Gilbert & Sullivan as part of its 10-play 78th season, the company's largest. Headlining the season is Carmen: An Afro-Cuban Jazz Musical, set in the waning days of Batista's regime in Cuba, written and directed by Tony® Award-nominee Moises Kaufman (The Laramie Project Cycle) with music from two-time Grammy Award-winner Arturo O'Farrill. Previously on an annual calendar, the 78thseason standardizes the schedule, running September 2015 through August 2016.

Cheap-Chic-Weddings.com, an online company specializing in providing brides with fiscally savvy tips for a fabulous wedding, has teamed up with Charmin for the fifth time as they host the 11th Annual Toilet Paper Wedding Dress Contest. For the first time ever, the winning dress will inspire a real-life design to be created by a Kleinfeld Bridal designer to be announced at the contest's conclusion.

Rep Stage, the regional theatre in residence at Howard Community College (HCC), continues its 22nd season with Samuel D. Hunter's 'The Whale', directed by Helen Hayesaward winner and Rep Stage veteran Kasi Campbell. Check out a first look at the production below!

Kasi Campbell directs superb cast in a story you will long remember.

Trust me: you will become absorbed with these characters. You will care about who these people are and what they're going to do next. In the end the Whale's heroism matters; the motivations the dramatist tenders for that heroism don't much. It's just an interesting story touchingly told

Olney Theatre Center, a Mid-Atlantic destination for extraordinary theater performance and education, announces the addition of four new Board Members, twenty-five Artistic Associates, and the launch of a new-play development program with Ben Kingsland's world premiere adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities.

Rep Stage, the regional theatre in residence at Howard Community College (HCC), continues its 22nd season with Samuel D. Hunter's 'The Whale', directed by Helen Hayes award winner and Rep Stage veteran Kasi Campbell.