Monique News

The throw-everything-against-the-wall-and-pray-for-laughs approach to low comedy is a staple of live theater, and certainly, of William Shakespeare's plays. None play would seem to invite a shtick-fest - beg for one even - than the hugely ridiculous THE COMEDY OF ERRORS. At the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, alas, Kent Gash's free-for-all staging of Errors exposes the play's lameness rather than celebrates its lunacy. For ninety non-breezy minutes, every actor on that stage is mugging (or frugging) his or her collective buns off. Some of the players are quite deft and, indeed, the production has its share of laughs. Too often, though, the jokes don't land, the pace slows and the endeavor is dead in the water.

Dare Lab presents the new verse play 'May Violets Spring' in which James Parenti cleverly rewrites Hamlet to make Ophelia a central and active character.

Fresh from her triumph with last season's hit musical, Fiddler on the Roof, acclaimed director and choreographer Donna Feore returns for her 20th Festival season with an exciting new production of Crazy for You specially conceived for the Festival Theatre's thrust stage. The new Gershwin musical begins previews tonight, April 21, marking the first performance of the 2014 season.

Fresh from her triumph with last season's hit musical, Fiddler on the Roof, acclaimed director and choreographer Donna Feore returns for her 20th Festival season with an exciting new production of Crazy for You specially conceived for the Festival Theatre's thrust stage. The new Gershwin musical begins previews on Monday, April 21, marking the first performance of the 2014 season.

The 15th anniversary of the Midtown International Theatre Festival continues. Spend this weekend with John Chatterton and his venerable midtown festival series. Saturday & Sunday at Roy Arias Theatres will be the premiere of 20 new short plays as part of the on-going celebrated Short Play Lab series on April 26 and 27.

The New Group presents the New York premiere of Annapurna by Sharr White, directed by Bart DeLorenzo and featuring Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman, in a limited Off-Broadway engagement through June 1. The official opening night is set for Monday, April 21 at 7:00pm, at The New Group at Theatre Row (The Acorn Theatre, 410 West 42nd Street). Below, BroadwayWorld brings you a first look at the pair in the production!

New York City actor and musician James Parenti has nurtured a love of verse all his life, and May Violets Spring is his first outing as an adapter and playwright. In 2011, while preparing to play the title role in Shakespeare's Hamlet, Parenti became frustrated by Ophelia's limited place in the story. Dreaming of a production of Hamlet that gave Ophelia a voice, over the next three years Parenti adapted the material himself. The result is a love letter to classical heroines slighted by the narratives of our past and too often in productions of the present.

Paper Mill Playhouse continues its 75th Anniversary Season with the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific. With music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and book by Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan, South Pacific is directed by Rob Ruggiero and choreographed by Ralph Perkins. BroadwayWorld brings you photos from the opening night after party below!

Brad Bessey has been promoted to oversee both ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT and THE INSIDER effective immediately, it was announced today by Hilary Estey McLoughlin, President of Creative Affairs for CBS Television Distribution.

La Jolla Playhouse will host several local artists in residence in June, as part of its commitment to fostering artistic relationships and the development of new work.

John Patrick Shanley, playwright, screenwriter and director, Oscar, Tony, Writers' Guild and Pulitzer Prize winner, will be the Honoree of the 33rd Annual William Inge Theatre Festival in Independence, Kansas, at Independence Community College.

Blue Nile a leading online retailer of diamonds and fine jewelry, announced the launch of the Blue Nile Designer Collective, a showcase of established designers and emerging talent available at www.bluenile.com.

New York City actor and musician James Parenti has nurtured a love of verse all his life, and May Violets Spring is his first outing as an adapter and playwright. In 2011, while preparing to play the title role in Shakespeare's Hamlet, Parenti became frustrated by Ophelia's limited place in the story. Dreaming of a production of Hamlet that gave Ophelia a voice, over the next three years Parenti adapted the material himself. The result is a love letter to classical heroines slighted by the narratives of our past and too often in productions of the present.

Two superb productions, produced by the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town, have been awarded prestigious Fleur du Cap and Naledi Theatre Awards.

San Francisco's elegant Four Seasons hotel, its ballroom transformed into a mesmerizing swirl of vibrant, electric colors, provided the dramatic setting for California Shakespeare Theater's 19th annual gala, Raise the Roof, on Saturday, March 15, 2014. Led by Gala Co-Chairs Jean Simpson and Maureen Knight, and Honorary Co-Chair Annette Bening, the event was the most successful in Cal Shakes history, grossing more than $688,500 and welcoming 330 attendees.

The Crowded Fire Theater (CFT) 2014 season begins with the World Premiere of Amelia Roper's She Rode Horses Like the Stock Exchange, her first play to be produced in the Americas. She Rode Horses... opens with a press night on Monday March 24 (previews today, March 20-23) running through April 12 at the Thick House in San Francisco's Potrero Hill.

BLOOD BROTHERS, adapted and directed by David Kramer and produced by Eric Abraham and Pieter Toerien, has been extended its run at the Fugard Theatre until the end of April 2014 after bagging several nominations for Naledi and Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards.

In conjunction with Galerie Brun Leglise, Paris, we are happy to present the artwork of our Parisian contemporaries.

Passion. Love. Vengeance. African-American Shakespeare Company continues its 19th season with MEDEA, Euripides' infamous tragedy about a jilted wife exacting the ultimate revenge on a cheating husband. Dawn Monique Williams, a veteran of staging the classics, directs, with Leontyne Mbele-Mbong in the title role. MEDEA plays Saturdays and Sundays, today, March 8-30 at the Buriel Clay Theater at the African American Art and Culture Complex, 762 Fulton Street (at Webster) in San Francisco.

This was a wonderful toe-tapping evening of raw and raunchy blues and jazz, sung wonderfully by Jayne-Anne Power.