New York Shakespeare Festival News

Katori Hall's The Mountaintop will hit Broadway this fall, however, with only one of it's previously announced stars. Samuel L. Jackson will open the play as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his Broadway debut, however the team is in search of a new Camae, as Halle Berry has departed the piece due to child custody issues.'

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center announced today eight plays to be developed at the 2011 National Playwrights Conference (NPC) under the leadership of Artistic Director Wendy C. Goldberg. The selected playwrights will spend the month of July at the O'Neill's campus developing and presenting staged readings of their work during the NPC's 47th season. Tickets for these readings go on sale Wednesday, June 8. Advanced ticket sales for O'Neill Members will be available Monday, May 16

Classic Stage Company (CSC), under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Jessica R. Jenen, will present David Ives' new comedy, THE SCHOOL FOR LIES, adapted from the Molière classic The Misanthrope, directed by Tony Award winner Walter Bobbie, beginning performances Wednesday, April 13 at CSC (136 East 13th Street) for a limited engagement through Sunday, May 22

Broadway's Rex Smith (Grease, The Pirates of Penzance) and Kamilah Marshall (Hairspray, Rent) join Carol Channing and the previously announced Eric Kunze (Miss Saigon, Les Miserables), Krysta Rodriguez (The Addams Family, In The Heights) and Tony-Nominated Jonelle Allen (Two Gentlemen of Verona) in BACK WHERE YOU BELONG - a benefit concert celebrating Carol Channing's 90th Birthday, April 16 at The Heritage Forum Theatre of Anaheim.

Some things get better with age, and that's especially true for the Houston Shakespeare Festival (HSF). This year, the Bayou City's oldest celebration of the Bard becomes bigger with national guest artists, pre-show festivities and a two-week workshop for high school students.

Affinity Company Theater and 3-Legged Dog will present the world premiere of Sheila Schwartz's 'SPY GARBO,' directed by Kevin Cunningham, in a multi-media production. This Off Broadway engagement will be performed at 3LD Art & Technology Center, 80 Greenwich Street (just south of Rector). Performances will end April 10.

Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, DRIVING MISS DAISY will end its extended Broadway premiere engagement April 9 at the John Golden Theatre with its three original stars: Tony Award winners James Earl Jones, Vanessa Redgrave and Boyd Gaines.

Making its Midwest premiere in the birthplace of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill W. and Dr. Bob is an inspirational, gripping and timely story about the men and their wives whose relationships pioneered the beginning of Alcoholics Anonymous and the creation of Al-Anon.

Amas Musical Theatre (Donna Trinkoff, Producing Artistic Director), will celebrate the Centennial Year of its late founder Rosetta LeNoire at a Gala evening on Monday, April 4th, featuring a special 'Blast from the Past' concert of William Finn's songs from the celebrated Romance in Hard Times, starring Tony-Winner Lillias White and a veteran cast of Broadway professionals. The event takes place at the Baruch Performing Arts Center, East 25th Street between Lexington and 3rd Avenues, at 7pm.

Asolo Repertory Theatre today announced its selections and details for the 2011 Unplugged festival of new plays. Playwrights include Jeff Baron, one of the world's most-produced playwrights in the past decade; Jamie Pachino, winner of this year's Francesca Primus Prize from the American Theatre Critics Association; Bill Rosenfeld, who was nominated for 30 Grammy Awards and won 4 times; and Mat Smart, winner of two Jerome Fellowships and the San Diego Playbill Award for Best New Play.

Closing African-American Shakespeare Company's 16th season is a spellbinding take on Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT. Acclaimed actor and African-American Shakespeare Company Artistic Director L. Peter Callender directs TWELFTH NIGHT, featuring an original jazz score by renowned Bay Area jazz musician and composer Marcus Shelby.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater will produce the first in-the-round staging of Ruined, the 2009 Pulitzer Prize winner for drama by Arena Stage Project Resident Lynn Nottage and directed by Resident Playwright Charles Randolph-Wright (Director of Arena Stage's Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies). Ruined is the stirring tale of Mama Nadi, a mother figure loosely based on Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children, who provides refuge for women affected by civil war ravaging the Democratic Republic of Congo. The production features an expanded company with cast members playing live music and additional ensemble roles featuring University of Maryland students. Ruined runs April 22-June 5, 2011 in the Fichandler Stage.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Interim Executive Director Joey Parnes) announced casting today for the 2011 Shakespeare in the Park summer season featuring MEASURE FOR MEASURE, directed by David Esbjornson, and ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, directed by Daniel Sullivan, running in repertory June 6 - July 30 at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. Bank of America returns as lead sponsor of Shakespeare in the Park 2011, supporting The Public's mission to keep Shakespeare in the Park free.

The Hermitage Artist Retreat is pleased to announce a variety of events surrounding the upcoming dinner celebration for the presentation of the 2011 Greenfield Prize, being awarded this year in Drama to renowned American playwright John Guare. The weekend celebration includes events taking place Saturday, March 26 and Sunday, March 27. All are open to the public.

Making its Midwest premiere in the birthplace of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill W. and Dr. Bob is an inspirational, gripping and timely story about the men and their wives whose relationships pioneered the beginning of Alcoholics Anonymous and the creation of Al-Anon.

Kenny Leon and True Colors Theatre Company announce the satirical comedy The Colored Museum by George C. Wolfe directed by True Colors Producing Director, Jasmine Guy. Tickets and information can be found at http://www.truecolorstheatre.org/thecoloredmuseum.

The sound of Carnival carousing and swordfights will fill the World Financial Center this March when it hosts Aphra Behn's seminal play The Rover, the prototypical bawdy feminist romp that was written by the first professional female playwright in the English language.

Broadway's Carol Channing, Eric Kunze (Miss Saigon, Les Miserables), Krysta Rodriguez (The Addams Family, In The Heights) and Tony-Nominated Jonelle Allen (Two Gentlemen of Verona) join Musical Theatre University's "Kids Next Door" in BACK WHERE YOU BELONG - a benefit concert celebrating Carol Channing's 90th Birthday, April 16 at The Heritage Forum Theatre of Anaheim.

The American Repertory Theater is pleased to welcome actress Amy Brenneman back onto the Loeb Stage, with her autobiographical show Mouth Wide Open, created with longtime collaborator Sabrina Peck.

According to Deadline.com, Broadway veterans Jimmy Smits and Donald Sutherland are both set to star in television pilots this season. Smits will appear in NBC's untitled crime drama, while Sutherland is set for NBC's My Life As an Experiment.