Phelps News

A Red Orchid Theatre presents a special summer engagement of Victims of Duty by Eugene Ionesco and directed by Shira Piven. Victims of Duty runs July 11 - August 5, 2018 at A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N Wells in Chicago. Press performances are scheduled for Saturday, July 14 at 3:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Pioneer Productions will present Hair - The American Tribal Love Musical directed by Daniel Peter Vissers July 6-8 and 13-15 at The George Fry Center for the Arts at the Fair Lawn Community Center. 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the show's debut on Broadway, and its themes of rebellion, activism and speaking truth to power have never resonated with audiences more.

SHARK WEEK dives deeper than ever before when television's longest-running and most anticipated summer event returns for its 30th anniversary on Sunday, July 22 and continues through Sunday, July 29. After three decades and hundreds of shows, SHARK WEEK 2018 celebrates this milestone with all-new jaw-dropping shark stories that take viewers to unexplored locations and give them extensive insight into the mysterious world of sharks.

During Intermission, a couple dances the Jitterbug and discovers they may have An OLFJKJJJLJTY Issue, so they take The Rental Car to see The Good Doctor in Room 217, who says Call Me Vinnie! and prescribes A Life Assembled to beat the heat. Nonsensical non-sequitur? No! It's time for The Studio's annual 10-minute play festival featuring new works written and directed by Studio members! This year's selections:

SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS is a new play from Drama Desk Award-winner Bess Wohl that looks at how we address life's biggest questions when you can't use words. Under the watchful eye of their unseen guru, six people (who are about as different from each other as one can get) have gathered for a week-long retreat in the woods. What makes this retreat unusual is the fact that it is a silent retreat. In the process of listening to their spiritual leader, they discover that silence is not only golden, but also more than a little passive-aggressive. As they confront their inner demons, they find their vows of silence colliding with the basic human need to connect. Rules have been laid out (including no cellphone use except in cars with the windows rolled up, no candles or incense, no food in the rooms), but over the course of the retreat, every rule gets broken. In the quiet of the woods, they attempt to abandon technology and observe their vow of silence. There are some remarkable moments of tenderness in this play, but SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS is also a wickedly satiric look at this comodified inner peace industry where nirvana is just a guru, mantra or self-help book away.

To conclude a highly successful inaugural season, Marietta Theatre Company is bringing audiences backstage with a musical about writing musicals with [title of show], running June 8 through June 23 at the Lyric Studio on the Square. Written by Hunter Bell with music and lyrics by Jeff Bowen, the Obie Award-winning, internationally acclaimed, one-act musical tributes famous musicals of Broadway's past and the magic of collaboration and determination.

Last seen at the Duplex a month and a half into the Trump presidency, No Evil: A Cabaret of Resistance, returns in 2018 older and wearier, but still here. This second incarnation of 2017's sold out run remains dedicated to creating musical space for rage and resistance.

Hope Mill Theatre's resident theatre company Play With Fire - who launched this award winning fringe theatre venue in 2014 with their acclaimed production of Orphans - is delighted to announce its 5th Production: the UK Premiere of Things We Want by Jonathan Marc Sherman.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company presents the Chicago premiere production of The Roommate by Jen Silverman, directed by Tony Award Winner Phylicia Rashad. A unique story that expresses how early-life choices can lead to mid-life challenges and the humorous, touching and unexpected rewards of bridging the divide, the Steppenwolf production will feature ensemble members Ora Jones as Robyn and Sandra Marquez as Sharon.

Nell Benjamin's comedy THE EXPLORERS CLUB is a spoof of all those bold Victorian adventurers who ravaged foreign lands and annihilated indigenous cultures in the name of science. It's London 1879 and the prestigious Explorers Club is in crisis: a brilliant, beautiful woman who has discovered a legendary Lost City wants to join, but letting her in might shake the very foundations of the British Empire! THE EXPLORERS CLUB, which enjoyed a successful run off-Broadway in 2013, was honored with awards including the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play, the Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award, and an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant.

Ten pianists have been chosen to advance to the Semifinals of Canada's Honens International Piano Competition. The pianists (aged 21 to 29) come from nine countries: Austria, Belgium, Georgia, Hong Kong, Italy, Romania, South Africa, Taiwan, and the United States. Only one pianist will be named Honens Prize Laureate and win the world's largest award of its kind—$100,000 (CAD) and an Artist Development Program valued at a half million dollars. The Semifinals and Finals of the Honens International Piano Competition take place during the 2018 Honens International Piano Competition & Festival in Calgary, August 30 to September 8, 2018.

Bill Kenwright's Classic Thriller Theatre Company present Edgar Wallace's murder mystery at the Belgrade Theatre

Composers Stacy Garrop, Robin Holcomb, and Andrea Reinkemeyer will each receive orchestral commissions of $15,000 as part of the League of American Orchestras' 2017 Women Composers Readings and Commissions program, which is administered by American Composers Orchestra (ACO) and supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.

Theatre Under The Stars' (TUTS) Humphreys School of Musical Theatre (HSMT)introduces the talented cast of students for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat!

The full cast and creative team have been assembled for Ozark Actors Theatre's upcoming production of the Broadway classic Hello, Dolly!

DRESS OF FIRE, a new play by Nina Kethevan, starring Austin Pendleton, is currently in previews with the Opening Night set for this Sunday, April 22nd at 7 pm at the 13th Street Theatre, 50 West 13 Street (just east of Sixth Ave.)

Chamber music aficionados will want to mark their calendars for the start of Music Mountain's 89th Season! America's longest running summer chamber music festival kicks off on June 10th with an extremely rare summer event – the Complete Beethoven String Quartet Cycle! The Chamber Music Series will also feature Music Mountain premieres and welcome first time guests and returning favorites! Concerts are scheduled through September 23rd.   

Concertmaster Frank Huang will lead the New York Philharmonic from his chair as Concertmaster in a program spotlighting the Orchestra's string section. The concerts will feature Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3, with Principal Associate Concertmaster Sheryl Staples as soloist; Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik; and Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings, and take place on Thursday, May 31, 2018, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, June 1 at 11:00 a.m.; Saturday, June 2 at 8:00 p.m.; Tuesday, June 5 at 7:30 p.m.; and Wednesday, June 6 at 7:30 p.m.

AT&T AUDIENCE Network announced today that the second season of its breakout show 'Mr. Mercedes' will premiere on Wednesday, Aug. 22 at 10pm ET/PT. The series, produced by Sonar Entertainment, will be available exclusively on DIRECTV, DIRECTV NOW and AT&T U-verse.

From Harry Houdini, to baseball, to Booker T. Washington, to the American Dream, Des Moines Playhouse's production of Ragtime covers a lot of ground - ten years to be exact. In presenting an encyclopedic glance of these ten years from 1902 - 1912, the musical, with book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and music by Stephen Flaherty, slowly becomes a big ball of dense nostalgia with glimpses of heart every now and then. But that seems to be a bigger problem with the intent of the show to nicely wrap up ten years of history in under three hours rather than The Des Moines Playhouse's production. Yes, The Des Moines Playhouse's production (directed by John W. Viars)  is grand, beautiful, heartfelt and absolutely delicious to listen to, which makes it an excellent season closer for the company as they head into their 100th season and a renovated theatre.