New Group News

At the heart of Elsewhere, which receives its world premiere in this production, is a mother-son relationship set in an inner-ring suburb of Chicago in 1969. In the play, widowed single mother Monica squirrels away money to help her 16-year-old son Adam avoid the draft and considers an affair with her divorced boss. Meanwhile, Adam starts a romantic and physical relationship with his uninhibited girlfriend Dana, and resists the advice of the lonely high school counselor he used to trust. Monica's old high school friend Bonnie deals with the loss of affection from her alcoholic husband and her absent son who enlisted to fight in Vietnam. In this touching, insightful and frequently funny play, each of the five characters is dealing with the loss of a relationship and struggling to build new ones in the midst of a frighteningly changing world.

Zoe Lister Jones is abandoning Whitney for those with BETTER LIVES. According to Deadline, Jones has officially signed on to co-star alongside James Van Der Beek and Kevin Connolly in CBS' upcoming pilot FRIENDS WITH BETTER LIVES.

Following its run at The Public Theater, Detroit '67, the much buzzed-about play by two-time NAACP Image Award recipient, Dominique Morisseau, will open at the National Black Theatre tonight, March 23. Directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah, the powerful drama will run through Sunday, April 14, presented by Time Warner. Billed as 'Uptown Meets Downtown,' the production is a collaboration between the Classical Theatre of Harlem (Ty Jones, Producing Artistic Director), National Black Theatre (Sade Lythcott, CEO; Nabii Faison, General Manager and The Public Theater (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Patrick Willingham, Executive Director).

Lincoln Center Theater presents an LCT3 Special Event of Mr. Joy, a 90-minute one-man show written and performed by Daniel Beaty and directed by Sheryl Kaller. The workshop production will be performed April 8, April 9, April 12-15, and April 17-21 at 7:00 pm at the Claire Tow Theater (150 West 65 Street).

Hidden secrets are unearthed and family tensions fly high in Pulitzer Prize nominee Jon Robin Baitz's contemporary family drama Other Desert Cities. Helen Hayes Award winner and former Arena Stage Associate Artistic Director Kyle Donnelly returns to direct the D.C.-area premiere of the show with a cast that features Tony Award nominee and two-time Helen Hayes Award winner Helen Carey (Mary Tyrone in Arena Stage's Long Day's Journey into Night, Broadway's Hedda Gabler) as matriarch Polly Wyeth and two-time Tony Award nominee Larry Bryggman (Broadway's Harvey, CBS's As the World Turns) as patriarch Lyman Wyeth. Rounding out the cast are Emily Donahoe (Broadway's 33 Variations) as daughter Brooke Wyeth, Scott Drummond (Cherry Lane Theatre's A Perfect Future) as son Trip Wyeth and Martha Hackett (Pacific Resident Theatre's Nora) as their aunt Silda Grauman. Other Desert Cities runs April 26-May 26, 2013 in the Fichandler Stage.

Once a Bonnie, always a Bonnie. That's a commonplace phrase creeping into conversations around springtime on the Olean, N.Y. college campus, but it rings true for Alexandra Herryman, a 2004 Bonaventure graduate returning to her former home to bring her puppetry skills to SBU Theater's production of Robert and Willie Reale's musical A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD.

The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival will run today, March 20-24, 2013.

Syfy's critically-acclaimed hit reality competition series Face Off will return for a fifth season of mind-blowing special effects ingenuity, offering a new group of rising SFX make-up artists with the opportunity to compete and showcase their imagination and creativity. Production on the new season begins April 2013 in Los Angeles for a Summer 2013 premiere.

The 2013 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has been awarded to U.S. playwright Annie Baker for her play The Flick. On March 17, Houston's Alley Theatre hosted a special presentation and ceremony honoring the Winner and Finalists of the Prize and celebrating the 35th Anniversary of the international prize, which is based in Houston.

On Saturday March 16, 2013 The Irish Tenors performed at The State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ (www.statetheatrenj.org) and Broadwayworld.com was there for the show.

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize honors 10 Finalists for its prestigious playwriting award, now celebrating its thirty-fifth year.

Following its run at The Public Theater, Detroit '67, the much buzzed-about play by two-time NAACP Image Award recipient, Dominique Morisseau, will open at the National Black Theatre on Saturday, March 23. Directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah, the powerful drama will run through Sunday, April 14, presented by Time Warner. Billed as 'Uptown Meets Downtown,' the production is a collaboration between the Classical Theatre of Harlem (Ty Jones, Producing Artistic Director), National Black Theatre (Sade Lythcott, CEO; Nabii Faison, General Manager and The Public Theater (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Patrick Willingham, Executive Director).

Yale Repertory Theatre presents Paul Giamatti in HAMLET by William Shakespeare, directed by James Bundy, at the University Theatre (222 York Street), tonight, March 15-April 13. Opening Night is Thursday, March 21, at 7:30PM.

After selling it its initial run, award-winning Pipeline Theatre Company will extend its acclaimed World Premiere of CLOWN BAR through April 12. Written by Adam Szymkowicz with music & additional lyrics by Adam Overett. This environmental production is directed by Andrew Neisler, staged at Parkside Lounge, a Lower East Side 'dive' bar.

Chance Theater presents the second show of its 2013 season with the Orange County Premiere of THE LARAMIE PROJECT: TEN YEARS LATER by Moises Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris and Stephen Belber, playing in repertory with the award-winning masterwork, THE LARAMIE PROJECT, by Moises Kaufman and members of Tectonic Theater Project, both directed by Chance Theater's Artistic Director Oanh Nguyen. THE LARAMIE PROJECT will preview on Thursday, April 18 & Saturday, April 20 at 8pm and will open on Tuesday, April 23 at 8pm. THE LARAMIE PROJECT: 10 YEARS LATER will preview on Friday, April 19 at 8pm & Sunday, April 21 at 7pm and will open on Wednesday, April 24 at 8pm and both shows will continue playing in repertory through Sunday, May 19 at Chance Theater, 5552 E. La Palma Ave. in Anaheim Hills.

The New Group will present the world premiere of the new musical Bunty Berman Presents…with book & lyrics by Ayub Khan Din and music by Ayub Khan Din and Paul Bogaev. Directed by Scott Elliott, this production begins previews April 10 in advance of an Official Opening Night on Thursday, May 9 at 7:00pm. A limited Off-Broadway engagement is slated through June 1 at The New Group at Theatre Row (The Acorn Theatre / 410 West 42nd Street).

Get ready, 'cause here it comes- MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL that is! MOTOWN begins preview performances tonight, March 11 and will open on Broadway on April 14, 2013 at The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46 Street).Directed by Charles Randolph-Wright, MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL will feature a book by Berry Gordy and music and lyrics from the legendary Motown catalogue. Meet the company of the new musical with videos of them from past productions and roles below!

In association with the U.S. debut of Backa Theatre of Sweden at the Nordic Cool 2013 Festival at the Kennedy Center in D.C., Randy Gener, the Nathan Award-winning editor, writer, curator and artist, and the Embassy of Sweden in Washington, D.C., are collaborating on a lively seminar about the growing genre of documentary theater.

The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival will run March 20-24, 2013.

Broadway In Boston and Producers Broadway Across America - Beth Williams; Howard & Janet Kagan; and Barry Brown have announced that tickets for the upcoming Boston engagement of the highly anticipated Pre-Broadway World Premiere of TUCK EVERLASTING will go on sale to the public this Today, March 10th beginning at 10am. This limited three week engagement will play the historic Citi Performing Arts Center Emerson Colonial Theatre July 28-August 18, 2013 and is part of the Lexus Broadway In Boston Series.