Playbill News

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch's life is given a humorous presentation

Education Dramaturg Ted Sod spoke with Joe Masteroff, originalCabaret librettist, about his experience and journey with this musical.

Theater LaB Houston, known as Houston's premiere Off-Broadway Theater, is continuing its residency at Obsidian Art Space with with an exciting 2014 season. From March 26 - 30, the company is presenting the Regional Premiere of Dan LeFranc's SIXTY MILES TO SILVER LAKE. In anticipation of this new season, I recently spoke with director Linda Phenix about SIXTY MILES TO SILVER LAKE.

Urban Stages Frances Hill, Founding Artistic Director and producer Peter Napolitano present the World Premiere of Character Man. Jim Brochu's new musical memoir now at Urban Stages Theatre (259 West 30th Street), with opening night set for Today March 5th. This limited run will continue through March 30th only. Robert Bartley directs, with musical direction by Carl Haan.

Paul Gross, Steven Page and Hawksley Workman are headlining the Stratford Festival Forum's Shakespeare Slam on Wednesday, April 23, at Toronto's Koerner Hall. This celebration marking Shakespeare's 450th birthday will be hosted by Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino, and will showcase the Festival's 2014 season theme of Madness: Minds Pushed to the Edge.

Tony Award-winning Rupert Holmes will headline the second annual master class benefit event for the New York-based non-profit theatre company New York Theatre Barn called A Conversation with Rupert Holmes: From Platinum Piña Coladas to Tony-winning Playwright on Sunday, April 13, 2014 at 2pm at the SVA Theatre in New York City. All proceeds will support New York Theatre Barn's convention-defying process for new musical development and its ongoing operations. This event follows on the heels of 2013's sold-out benefit event starring living legend Barry Manilow, and will be hosted by The New York Post theater columnist Michael Riedel.

Yoouuuuu can taaaake the A-Train, yooooou can take it all the way to Haaarlem.

Urban Stages Frances Hill, Founding Artistic Director and producer Peter Napolitano present the World Premiere of Character Man. Jim Brochu's new musical memoir now at Urban Stages Theatre (259 West 30th Street), with opening night set for Wednesday March 5th. This limited run will continue through March 30th only. Robert Bartley directs, with musical direction by Carl Haan.

Last night at Opening Night of Carson Kreitzer's Lasso of Truth, Marin Theatre Company's artistic director Jasson Minadakis and managing director Michael Barker announced the company's 2014-15 season programming today. Featuring six new plays by living contemporary playwrights in MTC's intimate 231-seat mainstage Boyer Theatre, the season includes:

Theresa Rebeck is having her work produced at the Alley Theatre for the fifth time. She made her Broadway debut with MAURITIUS, and recently had her plays SEMINAR and DEAD ACCOUNTS produced on Broadway. However, I wouldn't expect to see FOOL playing the Great White Way in the near future. The script has it's own brand of light-hearted charm, and it makes for a decent comedy; yet, when the play is over, it just doesn't stick with you.

Recent Broadway co-stars will reunite for one night only this spring when two-time Tony Award winnerNorbert Leo Butz and Tony Award nominee Kate Baldwin headline a benefit concert of the acclaimed Neil Simon / Marvin Hamlisch / David Zippel musical THE GOODBYE GIRL onMonday, April 7, 2014.

Broadway leading man Christopher J. Hanke (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying) will begin performances as Alex More in the smash hit comedy Buyer & Cellar on Tuesday, March 18, 2014 at the Barrow Street Theatre(27 Barrow Street). BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge just chatted with Hanke about his new role and you can check out the full interview below!

The Shakespeare Theatre Company is proud to present Buyer & Cellar as a part of its STC Presentation Series. Written by Jonathan Tolins and directed by Stephen Brackett, Buyer & Cellar will launch its North American tour in Chicago in May before coming to D.C. Buyer & Cellar had its world premiere in April 2013 at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, where it received rave reviews and played a sold-out, extended run before transferring to the Barrow Street Theatre where it opened June 24, 2013. Buyer & Cellar stars Michael Urie (Ugly Betty) as a struggling (and recently fired) L.A. actor named Alex More, who finds himself taking an odd job working in the Malibu basement of a Hollywood mega-star (and though her name is not mentioned, there are numerous similarities to Barbara Streisand). When the A-lister makes a rare appearance one day, the comedy launches into an outrageous look at fame and the price that accompanies it. Buyer & Cellar will run from June 20-29, 2014, at STC's Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW).

Producers Darren Bagert, Dan Shaheen and Ted Snowdon just announced that Broadway leading man Christopher J. Hanke (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying) will begin performances as Alex More in the smash hit comedy Buyer & Cellar on Tuesday, March 18, 2014 at the Barrow Street Theatre (27 Barrow Street). Current star Michael Urie ("Ugly Betty") will launch the first national tour at Chicago's Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place beginning Tuesday, May 6, 2014, through Sunday, June 15, 2014, followed by an engagement at Washington D.C.'s Harman Center for the Arts from Friday, June 20, 2014 through Sunday, June 29, 2014. Buyer & Cellar, starring Michael Urie will then play Los Angeles' Mark Taper Forum for six weeks from Wednesday, July 9, 2014 through Sunday, August 17, 2014. Buyer & Cellar will play additional cities through December 2014 including a four-week engagement at Toronto's Panasonic Theatre from Wednesday, November 12, 2014 through Thursday, November 30, 2014 (Casting TBD). Buyer & Cellar, which recouped its initial investment faster than any Off-Broadway show in recent history and continues to break box office records, is written by Jonathan Tolins and directed by Stephen Brackett.

The Tony Award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival's 2014 preview performances begin tonight, February 14, and the season will open Friday night, February 21 in the Angus Bowmer Theatre with Shakespeare's The Tempest (director, Tony Taccone). On Saturday, Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window (Juliette Carrillo) takes the stage, as does the classic Marx Brothers musical The Cocoanuts (David Ivers), and Sunday afternoon Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors (Kent Gash) opens in the Thomas Theatre.

Chance Theater presents the first show of its 16th Anniversary Season - the hilarious modern musical adaptation of Aristophanes' classic comedy, Lysistrata Jones, with music by Tony Award nominee Douglas Carter Beane, music and lyrics by Lewis Flinn, and direction by Kari Hayter. Lysistrata Jones will preview through February 14, open February 15 and continue through March 9 at the new Chance Theater. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action!

Artists' Exchange is currently seeking play submissions and directors for the 9th Annual One Act Play Festival.

Michael Cumpsty's first appearance on a Roundabout stage was in 1987 as a "moonstruck poet" in the Off-Broadway production of George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman. Since then, he has appeared in 17 Broadway shows including five Roundabout productions and has been nominated for a Tony Award and two Outer Critics Circle awards. Cumpsty's most recent appearance on Broadway is in Machinal, now playing at the American Airlines Theatre through March 2.

Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Cincinnati presented by TriHealth announces its incredible 2014-2015 season which includes the long-awaited return of the Tony-winning Best Musical Disney's THE LION KING, Tony-winning Best Musical ONCE, and a family favorite revival of Tony Award winning RODGERS + HAMMERSTEIN'S CINDERELLA among others.

Beautiful Soup Theater will host a special talk-back discussing the play and its journey to Carousel following the Sunday, March 2nd 2:00pm performance of Liliom.