Norman Lear News

According to published reports, 'The Perfect Host,' starring stage and screen star David Hyde Pierce, is set for a theatrical release on July 1, 2011. The film, which premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, also stars Clayne Crawford, Nathaniel Parker, Helen Reddy, Megahn Perry and Joseph Will.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater today announced its roster of plays for 2011-12, the award-winning company's 17th season. The all world-premiere season will feature new works by Dan Klores, Dael Orlandersmith, Daniel Talbott, José Rivera, David Adjmi and a play written by Academy-Award nominee Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network).

The Judy Show, (www.JudyGold.com) a new comedy starring Judy Gold, will play The DR2 Theatre, (103 E 15th Street, just east of Union Square) beginning June 30th with the official opening scheduled for July 7th, it was announced today by producers Daryl Roth and Eva Price.

Yesterday, May 10, legendary actress Mia Farrow was honored with the 2011 Marian Anderson Award at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. Farrow accepted the Award at a Gala Concert produced in partnership with The Philadelphia Orchestra, which will take place on Tuesday, May 10, 2011, at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.

The Village Voice, the nation's largest alternative weekly newspaper, announced that the 56th Annual Obie Awards will take place on Monday, May 16, 2011 at Webster Hall in the East Village (125 East 11th Street). The awards will be co-hosted by S. Epatha Merkerson and David Hyde Pierce.

The Broadway community mourns the loss of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lanford Wilson who passed away on March 24th at age 73.

If Bill Clinton really was, as Toni Morrison put it, America's first black president, then perhaps it's about time we crowned David Lindsay-Abaire as America's leading female playwright.  Since first gaining major attention in 1999 with Fuddy Meers, and including major productions such as Kimberly Akimbo, Wonder of the World and the Pulitzer-winning Rabbit Hole, Lindsay-Abaire (whose surname is a hyphenated combination of his and his wife's last names) has been continually filling stages with unique and interesting women as his leading characters.

Arizona-based actress and Invisible Theatre's Managing Artistic Director, SUSAN CLAASSEN, most recently completed a sold-out 5 week run at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood.

Virginia's Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre, through its groundbreaking American Musical Voices Project (AMVP), announces the world premiere of the musical comedy And the Curtain Rises (formerly known as Wheatley's Folly). Beginning performances on Thursday, March 17, 2011, And the Curtain Rises marks the third production presented as part of Signature's AMVP, the largest commissioning program for new musicals in the country, following Michael John LaChiusa's Giant in 2009 and Ricky Ian Gordon's Sycamore Trees last year. The Washington Post has said that 'Signature's AMVP is the most ambitious embrace of new musical theater in the DC region.'

PURE Theatre is proud to present the regional premiere of Superior Donuts by Tracy Letts.

Arizona-based actress and Invisible Theatre's Managing Artistic Director, SUSAN CLAASSEN, most recently completed a sold-out 5 week run at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood.

The Guthrie Theater today announced that Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor David Hyde Pierce will appear for an In Conversation with Joe Dowling on Sunday, March 13, at 7:00 p.m. on the Wurtele Thrust Stage at the Guthrie. Tickets range in price from $25 to $50 and go on sale to the public on February 17 through the Guthrie Theater Box Office at 612.377.2224, toll-free 877.44.STAGE, and online at www.guthrietheater.org.

The Guthrie Theater today announced that Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor David Hyde Pierce will appear for an In Conversation with Joe Dowling on Sunday, March 13, at 7:00 p.m. on the Wurtele Thrust Stage at the Guthrie. Tickets range in price from $25 to $50 and go on sale to the public on February 17 through the Guthrie Theater Box Office at 612.377.2224, toll-free 877.44.STAGE, and online at www.guthrietheater.org.

Annie Potts (Designing Women) heads the cast in the World Premiere of AfterMath, Elliott Shoenman's comedic drama about a widow trying to help her children, and herself, deal with the mess her husband left behind when he jumped into the Hudson River. A guest production at the Odyssey directed by Mark L. Taylor.

Annie Potts (Designing Women) heads the cast in the World Premiere of AfterMath, Elliott Shoenman's comedic drama about a widow trying to help her children, and herself, deal with the mess her husband left behind when he jumped into the Hudson River. A guest production at the Odyssey directed by Mark L. Taylor.

convergence-continuum, continues its 2010 Season at the Liminis theatre with the Ohio premiere of Brainpeople, a surreal psychological drama, by Jose Rivera. Brainpeople opens Friday, Oct. 15 and runs at 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through Nov. 13 at the Liminis, 2438 Scranton Rd., Cleveland, OH 44113. Tickets are $15 general admission, $12 for students and seniors (65+). For reservations and information call 216-687-0074 or visit www.convergence-continuum.org on the web.

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) is pleased to announce the full company of The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore, by Tennessee Williams, directed by Michael Wilson. The cast will include Curtis Billings (Giulio), Elisa Bocanegra (Simonetta), Olympia Dukakis (Flora Goforth), Edward Hibbert (Witch of Capri), Maggie Lacey (Frances Black), Darren Pettie (Christopher Flanders).

convergence-continuum, continues its 2010 Season at the Liminis theatre with the Ohio premiere of Brainpeople, a surreal psychological drama, by Jose Rivera. Brainpeople opens Friday, Oct. 15 and runs at 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through Nov. 13 at the Liminis, 2438 Scranton Rd., Cleveland, OH 44113. Tickets are $15 general admission, $12 for students and seniors (65+). For reservations and information call 216-687-0074 or visit www.convergence-continuum.org on the web.

convergence-continuum, continues its 2010 Season at the Liminis theatre with the Ohio premiere of Brainpeople, a surreal psychological drama, by Jose Rivera. Brainpeople opens Friday, Oct. 15 and runs at 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through Nov. 13 at the Liminis, 2438 Scranton Rd., Cleveland, OH 44113. Tickets are $15 general admission, $12 for students and seniors (65+). For reservations and information call 216-687-0074 or visit www.convergence-continuum.org on the web.

Sundance Channel and GREY GOOSE ENTERTAINMENT® are set to debut the fifth season of Iconoclasts on Sundance Channel on Saturday, Oct. 2 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.