The B Street Theatre presents Elemeno Pea, Molly Smith Metzler's sharply funny comedy. Elemeno Pea was first presented at the Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival on March 10, 2011.
Ars Nova kicks off 2014 with Game Play, this year's incarnation of Ars Nova's annual Play Group production. Game Play, set to play 10 performances from January 29 - February 8, features original short plays and live music inspired by classic board game titles.
Artistic Director Molly Smith tackles a unique, in-the-round staging of Bertolt Brecht's powerhouse anti-war play Mother Courage and Her Children at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Iconic stage and screen actress and Academy Award nominee Kathleen Turner returns to Arena Stage following her sold-out run of Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins to make her professional singing debut as the tough-as-nails matriarch Mother Courage-a single mother determined to keep her family alive and her business afloat during war. Using the David Hare translation, the show fuses politics and satire to paint an unforgettable and provocative portrait of war, incorporating more than 10 pieces of original music composed in a rollicking, gypsy-punk style and performed by cast members doubling as musicians. Mother Courage and Her Children runs January 31-March 9, 2014 in the Fichandler Stage.
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces its Voices of Now devised theater program has been selected from a competitive proposal process with the United States Department of State to send all nine members of the theater's community engagement department to Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad, India to create original plays, based on the lives of the local participants and inspired by the cities in which they take place. The three-week program, January 13-29, 2014, becomes the third international partnership with the U.S. Department of State and Arena Stage, following a successful two-and-a-half week program in India in October 2012 and a three-week residency in December 2013 in Zagreb, Croatia.
Larry Kaye and HOP Theatricals, and Van Dean and The Broadway Consortium just announced that the new American play THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN will begin previews Tuesday, April 1, 2014, at Broadway's Booth Theatre (222 West 45 Street) for a limited engagement, following a sold-out, critically acclaimed run at Washington DC's Arena Stage (Edgar Dobie, Executive Producer) in the Fall of 2013. THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN is a 90-minute powder keg dark comedy by Eric Coble that stars Academy Award winner Estelle Parsons (Bonnie and Clyde, 'Roseanne') and two-time Tony Award winner Stephen Spinella (Angels In America, Spring Awakening), is directed by Molly Smith and will open Monday, April 21, 2014. THE VELOCITY OF AUTUMN will mark the Broadway debuts of playwright Eric Coble and director Molly Smith.
Following the world premiere co-production at Kansas City Repertory Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse, playwright and performer Daniel Beaty brings The Tallest Tree in the Forest to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Beaty, whose work has been seen at Arena Stage as a playwright with his play Resurrection and as a performer in his award-winning solo play Emergency, channels close to 40 characters in The Tallest Tree in the Forest in a "tour de force" (San Diego Reader) performance, giving audiences an intimate look at one of the most dynamic and controversial figures in history-artist and activist Paul Robeson. Tony Award nominee Moises Kaufman (playwright and director for Broadway's 33 Variations, which received its world premiere at Arena Stage in 2007) directs this music-infused new play that features 14 songs and an onstage band. Developed and produced by Tectonic Theater Project, The Tallest Tree in the Forest runs January 10-February 16, 2014 in the Kreeger Theater and will play the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles following the Arena Stage run.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner makes his D.C.-area theater debut as Dr. John Prentice in Todd Kreidler's stage adaptation of GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER directed by David Esbjornson. Warner first rose to national prominence appearing as Theo in the television series THE COSBY SHOW. His work on the show garnered him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. He is not only a seasoned actor, but an accomplished musician, director and producer. GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER runs through January 5, 2014 in the Fichandler Stage. Below, check out a look back at the opening night festivities!
Elemeno Pea by Molly Smith Metzler opens tonight, Dec 5, at the Redtwist Theatre. Elemeno Pea is directed by Goodman Theatre Artistic Associate, Steve Scott. The play is a Humana Festival's runaway hit from 2011 and a hilarious, scathing satire on money and class in post-modern America.
Following an open submission process, six projects have been selected for the 2013/14 Kogod Cradle Series, as part of the American Voices New Play Institute at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater (1101 Sixth St., S.W.). Focused on the development of new and emerging work by artists from throughout Greater Washington and around the country, this series of workshops, readings and performances invites artists and audiences to actively explore the development process.
Nearly two dozen characters, spanning race, religion and class, come together on Christmas Eve in 1864 in Paula Vogel's work, "A Civil War Christmas"
Tony nominated Brad Oscar talks about replacing Nathan Lane, working with Susan Stroman and appearing the the new musical BIG FISH
Lifelong performer and Tony Award nominee Maurice Hines (Broadway's Sophisticated Ladies and Eubie!) captivates audiences with stories, songs and smooth choreography for his return to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater with Maurice Hines is Tappin' Thru Life. Scroll down for photos from the opening night reception, featuring Maurice Hines, cast members and brothers John & Leo Manzari and Max & Sam Heimowitz, director Jeff Calhoun, Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith, Italian Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton!
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater ushers in the 2013/14 Kogod Cradle Series with workshop performances of the local ensemble-driven company dog & pony dc's newest show Toast, a participatory theatrical performance that asks the question: how is devising a play like developing new technology? dog & pony dc returns to Arena Stage following the successful 2012 workshop of their critically acclaimed A Killing Game. The following week, the series continues with a special new cabaret presentation directed by Signature Theatre's Associate Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner entitled The Power of Two, which reunites Arena Stage favorites Nicholas Rodriguez and Eleasha Gamble, who were last seen performing together as Curley and Laurey in Arena Stage's hit production Oklahoma!. Toast runs December 5-8, 2013 and The Power of Two runs December 11-15, 2013 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle.
Lifelong performer and Tony Award nominee Maurice Hines (Broadway's Sophisticated Ladies and Eubie!) captivates audiences with stories, songs and smooth choreography for his return to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater with Maurice Hines is Tappin' Thru Life. Under the direction of Tony Award nominee Jeff Calhoun (Broadway's Newsies and Grey Gardens), Hines, who started performing at five years old, brings the history of American tap to life and pays tribute to his brother Gregory and the singers who inspired him, from Frank Sinatra to Lena Horne. A co-production with ALLIANCE THEATRE at the Woodruff and Cleveland Play House, Maurice Hines is Tappin' Thru Life runs tonight, November 15-December 29, 2013 in the Kreeger Theater.
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater in partnership with the United States Department of State will send four Arena Stage teaching artists to Zagreb, Croatia December 1-20, 2013 to work with students and young adults with physical disabilities to create a play entitled Disable(d) Prejudice and provide professional development training seminars, based on Arena Stage's Voices of Now devised theater program. Now in its 11th year, Voices of Now equips participants to write and perform autobiographical theater that poses questions about social, cultural and emotional issues, with a focus on creating projects that bring voice to issues of relevancy for the young artists involved.
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces the full company for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner starring Malcolm-Jamal Warner (The Cosby Show, Malcolm and Eddie) in his Washington, D.C. theatrical debut as Dr. John Prentice. Under the direction of David Esbjornson (Broadway's Driving Miss Daisy and Arena's Red Hot Patriot starring Kathleen Turner), this heart-warming comedy features many of the same actors who appeared in the world premiere of the play by True Colors Theatre Company in July 2012. Kenny Leon, who collaborated with playwright Todd Kreidler on the world premiere and was previously announced to direct for Arena Stage, withdrew from the project due to an unforeseen conflict. The play is adapted from William Rose's screenplay for the 1967 film of the same name starring Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy about a young white woman in the 1960s introducing her family to her charming, accomplished and African-American fiance. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner runs November 29, 2013-January 5, 2014 in the Fichandler Stage.
Lifelong performer and Tony Award nominee Maurice Hines (Broadway's Sophisticated Ladies and Eubie!) captivates audiences with stories, songs and smooth choreography for his return to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater with Maurice Hines is Tappin' Thru Life. Under the direction of Tony Award nominee Jeff Calhoun (Broadway's Newsies and Grey Gardens), Hines, who started performing at five years old, brings the history of American tap to life and pays tribute to his brother Gregory and the singers who inspired him, from Frank Sinatra to Lena Horne. A co-production with Alliance Theatre at the Woodruff and Cleveland Play House, Maurice Hines is Tappin' Thru Life runs November 15-December 29, 2013 in the Kreeger Theater.
Slate's Emily Yoffe, author of the advice column, 'Dear Prudence,' joins Laura Helmuth, Slate's science and health editor, as they take audience questions and discuss many of the personal and social implications presented in The Velocity of Autumn during Family Matters: A Conversation with Emily Yoffe and Laura Helmuth, tonight, October 12 following the 2:00 p.m. matinee, at approximately 3:45 p.m. in the Kreeger Theater at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater (1101 Sixth St, SW). The event is free and open to the public, but subject to availability.
Check out Arena Stage's new song for our 2013/14 Season!
Star of stage and screen Maurice Hines returns to D.C. to teach a free master class at Howard University and hold open dance auditions at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater to connect with the D.C.-area dance community and search for the next young tap star to appear in Arena Stage's Maurice Hines is Tappin' Thru Life, running November 15-December 29, 2013 in the Kreeger Theater.
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