Nicholas Pelczar News

After 16 years, George Bernard Shaw returns to the American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) stage in a sumptuous production of one of his most witty and richly invigorating works - Major Barbara. Salvation Army officer Major Barbara gets in an intriguing tangle of morality and religion when her church accepts money from her estranged father-a wealthy armaments manufacturer. If the price of supporting the poor is complicity with the country's most successful gun factory, who has the right to be righteous about saving the poor? Timely and topical, Major Barbara is a devilishly funny satire exploring themes of business, faith, family, and philanthropy. In the wake of highly successful Canadian productions, including No Exit, The Overcoat and Vigil, Major Barbara is co-produced with one of A.C.T.'s favorite Canadian collaborators, Theatre Calgary, which hosted A.C.T.'s visionary Tosca Project during its 2011 tour. Directed by Theatre Calgary Artistic Director Dennis Garnhum, Major Barbara features an international cast of both Canadian and American actors. This is the first staging of Major Barbara during A.C.T.'s tenure at The Geary Theater. Major Barbara runs January 8-February 2, 2014, at A.C.T.'s Geary Theater (415 Geary Street, San Francisco). Press night is Wednesday, January 15, 2014. Tickets ($20 -$140) are on sale now and may be purchased online at act-sf.org or by calling 415.749.2228.

Marin Theatre Company continues its 2013-14 Season with a holiday production of Jacob Marley's Christmas Carolby Tom Mula, who was inspired to rehab A Christmas Carol, the annual theatrical standby, after performing the role of Scrooge onChicago stages for nearly a decade. Due to brisk ticket sales, MTC has extended this "thoroughly charming holiday treat" (Daily Herald) by eight performances. Directed by Jon Tracy, who helmed last year's hit It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, and featuring actorsKhris Lewin (A Steady Rain), Rami Margron (debut), Nicholas Pelczar (The Whipping Man) and Stacy Ross (God of Carnage), the production will run during the holiday season for 36 performances, from November 21 through December 22. Opening night is Tuesday, November 26. Based in Mill Valley, MTC is a 47-year old professional nonprofit theater that is a destination for exhilarating performances, inspired new American plays and powerful theatrical experiences.

Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol by Tom Mula will be presented by Marin Theatre Company, directed by Jon Tracy (It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play) and featuring Khris Lewin (A Steady Rain), Rami Margron (debut), Nicholas Pelczar (The Whipping Man) and Stacy Ross (God of Carnage), November 21 - December 15, 2013.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Artistic Director Carey Perloff announced today that due to popular demand, A.C.T.'s 'dazzling' (Bay Area News Group) production of Tom Stoppard's masterwork, Arcadia, has extended through Sunday, June 16, 2013. The production was originally scheduled to close on Sunday, June 9. Tickets for all performances are on sale now and may be purchased online at www.act-sf.org or by calling 415.749.2228.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) closes its 2012-13 season with a dazzling new production of Tom Stoppard's masterwork, Arcadia. Directed by A.C.T. Artistic Director Carey Perloff, Arcadia unfolds in a beautiful English country house and moves between the nineteenth century and the present through a series of love stories, as characters from both eras discover connections, unearth mysteries, and unravel hidden truths about the nature of heat and desire. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the production below.

Marin Theatre Company announced today that, due to enthusiastic audience response, strong ticket sales and unanimous critical acclaim, the company will extend Matthew Lopez's The Whipping Man by eight performances. Bay Area audiences now have the opportunity to experience this top rated Civil War drama through Sunday, April 28, at the 47-year-old professional nonprofit theater located in Mill Valley.

Marin Theatre Company, in a co-production with Virginia Stage Company, stages the regional premiere of Matthew Lopez's Civil War drama The Whipping Man in Mill Valley from March 28 to April 21, 2013. MTC's artistic director Jasson Minadakis directs the production. Featuring popular Bay Area actors L. Peter Callender, Nicholas Pelczar and Tobie Windham, as well as the design team from MTC's 2011 San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award nominated production of Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie, this co-production rehearsed and ran at VSC in Norfolk, Virginia, from February 26 to March 17, 2013, before tonight's move to MTC. Opening night at MTC is tonight, April 2.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) will close its 2012-13 season with a dazzling new production of Tom Stoppard's masterwork, Arcadia. Directed by A.C.T. Artistic Director Carey Perloff, Arcadia unfolds in a beautiful English country house and moves between the nineteenth century and the present through a series of love stories, as characters from both eras discover connections, unearth mysteries, and unravel hidden truths about the nature of heat and desire.

Marin Theatre Company, in a co-production with Virginia Stage Company, will stage the regional premiere of Matthew Lopez's Civil War drama The Whipping Man in Mill Valley from March 28 to April 21, 2013. MTC's artistic director Jasson Minadakis directs the production. Featuring popular Bay Area actors L. Peter Callender, Nicholas Pelczar and Tobie Windham, as well as the design team from MTC's 2011 San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award nominated production of Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie, this co-production will rehearse and run at VSC in Norfolk, Virginia, from February 26 to March 17, 2013, before moving to MTC. Opening night at MTC is on Tuesday, April 2.

The Whipping Man by Matthew Lopez will make its Bay Area premiere with the Marin Theatre Company in a production co-produced by Virgina Stage Company, in association with Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. Directed by Jasson Minadakis, the show will feature L. Peter Callender,* Nicholas Pelczar* and Tobie Windham* and will run March 28 - April 21.

Playing now through December 24, the message and the magic of A.C.T.'s 'A Christmas Carol,' will delight and inspire children of all ages.

Heartfelt, honest and peppered with humor, the TheatreWorks premiere of The Pitmen Painters will leave you with a desire to pick up a paintbrush yourself.

TheatreWorks of Silicon Valley is set to present the West Coast Premiere of THE PITMEN PAINTERS, from the writer of the hit film and musical Billy Elliot and the co-writer of the period drama screenplay War Horse.

In Tennessee Williams' classic play, "The Glass Menagerie," a main character describes an encounter he has with a magician. Tom watched as the magician had audience members nail him into a coffin, but then escaped from the coffin without removing one single nail. Such a trick seems impossible in real life, and Tom feels trapped in his own coffin, unable to move on. Marin Theatre Company's production conveys this solemn situation with solid acting, bare sets and a lone trumpet player who plays music with the feel of a private-eye detective movie and that represents the ghostly memories of Tom, as well as a portrait of his deserting father. The trumpet, played by Andrew Wilke, is original to this production, added to help with scene transitions, as well as to create a symbol without having a full portrait of the father. Wilke stays in the background for the entire play, which lasts about two hours and fifteen minutes plus a fifteen minute intermission. His music, composed by MTC regular Chris Houston, amplifies the depression setting, but also adds a bit of hope when it wafts through Tom's small apartment, coming from a neighboring dance hall.

The discourse surrounding new play development continues within the American Voices New Play Institute at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, as the company presents the #NewPlay Festival.

The discourse surrounding new play development continues within the American Voices New Play Institute at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, as the company presents the #NewPlay Festival.

American Conservatory Theater presents the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, adapted by Carey Perloff and Paul Walsh and directed by acclaimed Bay Area director and actor Domenique Lozano. A.C.T.'s annual production of this beloved family-friendly gem has been called "a Carol built to banish 'bah humbugs' for years to come" (The Oakland Tribune) and "a holiday treat for the entire family" (KGO Radio).

American Conservatory Theater presents the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, adapted by Carey Perloff and Paul Walsh and directed by acclaimed Bay Area director and actor Domenique Lozano. A.C.T.'s annual production of this beloved family-friendly gem has been called "a Carol built to banish 'bah humbugs' for years to come" (The Oakland Tribune) and "a holiday treat for the entire family" (KGO Radio).

American Conservatory Theater presents the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, adapted by Carey Perloff and Paul Walsh and directed by acclaimed Bay Area director and actor Domenique Lozano. A.C.T.'s annual production of this beloved family-friendly gem has been called "a Carol built to banish 'bah humbugs' for years to come" (The Oakland Tribune) and "a holiday treat for the entire family" (KGO Radio).