Norman René News

TheatreWorks, the nationally acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley, has announced the appointment of Leslie Martinson, previously Casting Director/Associate Artist and director of many hit TheatreWorks productions, to the position of Associate Artistic Director. Martinson has served as a director and administrator at TheatreWorks since 1984

TheatreWorks, the nationally acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley, announces Jodye Friedman's appointment as TheatreWorks' new Director of Advancement. Having previously served as Director of Advancement for Brandeis Hillel Day School in San Francisco, Ms. Friedman has over 20 years of development and strategic fundraising experience, with positions in the arts and culture communities at One World Theatre in Austin, Texas and the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Drama League (Executive Director, Gabriel Shanks) has announced the 2013 Drama League Awards Nominees for Distinguished Play, Distinguished Revival of a Play, Distinguished Musical, Distinguished Revival of a Musical, and Distinguished Performance Award. The nominations were announced at a ceremony hosted by Patina Miller and Michael Urie this morning at Sardi's Restaurant which were streamed live online at www.BroadwayWorld.com.

An audience of theatre enthusiasts waited in anticipation at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts last night, when Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley and Managing Director Phil Santora of TheatreWorks, the nationally-acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley, unveiled the thrilling line-up for its 2013-2014 season. Opening with a groundbreaking World Premiere developed at last season's New Works Festival, the line-up will also give Bay Area audiences their first look at a Broadway hit by playwright Jon Robin Baitz (The Substance of Fire, A Fair Country, Three Hotels); an Off-Broadway smash by Kenneth Lin (Fallow, Po Boy Tango); and a historical drama from Lauren Gunderson (Exit, Pursued by a Bear). Also announced is an enchanting musical journey told through little-known Stephen Sondheim gems.

The concept of MARRY ME A LITTLE, an easy to take musical revue at New Repertory Theatre in Watertown, is a loosely-themed program of Stephen Sondheim rejects. Seventeen of the maestro's songs that have been cut from well-known shows or drawn from never-produced works are performed by a talented quartet of actor/singers, with direction and choreography by Ilyse Robbins and dual piano accompaniment by Musical Director David McGrory and Todd C. Gordon.

In musical theatre, it's not enough to write a good song.  You have to write the right song.  Character, plot, placement and various intangibles all go into making music, lyrics and performance all effectively fit into a moment and contribute to the piece as a whole.

Let's see what the critics had to say:

MARRY ME A LITTLE is an interesting little musical that cobbles together cut songs and lesser celebrated numbers composed by Stephen Sondheim. It's a clever idea, and even though some of the numbers don't really seem to fit perfectly with the 'story', they still provide an opportunity to hear a master songwriter at work, with even these castoffs showcasing his catchy, but challenging gift for melodic invention, as well as his considerable lyrical wit. Citilites Theatre is presenting a solid production of this brief, but engaging, work conceived and developed by Craig Lucas and Norman Rene.

Moving freely from film to television to theatre and back again, and from leading man to supporting character actor to taking the director's chair and penning the scripts himself, it is a pleasure to illustrate the illustrious film, television and - now, with PROMISES, PROMISES co-starring Kristin Chenoweth, Sean Hayes & Molly Shannon - stage career of famous GHOST villain and feature film CONVICTION director Tony Goldwyn! In this extensive interview we discuss writing and directing CONVICTION which opens in theaters tomorrow, as well as working with lead actors Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell, as well as developing the project from inception until now. Additionally, we take a glance back at his many film appearances in everything from GHOST to NIXON to RECKLESS to LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, plus directing episodes of Showtime's hit serial killer drama series DEXTER. If all that wasn't enough, there's also his thoughtful and insightful comments on his many leading ladies ranging from Hilary Swank on CONVICTION and Kristin Chenoweth and Molly Shannon on PROMISES, PROMISES on Broadway all the way to Scarlett Johansson, Faye Dunaway, Mia Farrow, Mary Louise Parker and many more starry co-stars from films passed! Be sure to catch CONVICTION in theaters nationwide starting this Friday and stay tuned to BWW for all PROMISES, PROMISES related news (including previous InDepth InterView with leading lady Kristin Chenoweth). Here are some convincing - if not convicting - confessions courtesy of Mr. Goldwyn.

Classic discussions with playwrights Arthur Miller, August Wilson, Wendy Wasserstein, Harvey Fierstein, John Guare, Alfred Uhry, and David Henry Hwang are among the newly added treasures available in the American Theatre Wing's online archive of the long-running 'Working in the Theatre' Seminars