Playbill News

Surfside Players has announced the winner of our Thirteenth Annual Playwriting Contest: Seniorella, a farce by Judy Bate, directed by Joan Dunn.

Theatre World Award Alumni Courtney B. Vance, Anika Noni Rose, Ben Vereen, Christine Lahti, Tony Sheldon, Lea Salonga, Isabel Keating, Phillip Boykin, Jessie Mueller, Jackie Hoffman, Wesley Taylor, Patricia Elliott, Meg Bussert, Crystal A. Dickinson, with special guest Nathan Lane, have been announced as presenters and performers at the 69th Annual Theatre World Awards Ceremony on Monday evening, June 3, 2013 beginning at 6:45 p.m. at the Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th Street), home of the current Broadway revival of Pippin. Mother and daughter, Rosemary Harris and Jennifer Ehle, both Theatre World Award Alumni, are 2013 Honorary Co-Chairs.

New York City Ballet's Art Series is off to a great start thanks to the fun and provocative work of Faile, an art duo based in Brooklyn. NYCB is once again asserting its place as a leading Arts organization thanks to the forward thinking leadership of Peter Martins.

This Wednesday, May 29th at 5:00 p.m. in conjunction with the publication of Peter Filichia's new book STRIPPERS, SHOWGIRLS, AND SHARKS, the Drama Book Shop, 250 West 40th Street (between 8th Ave & Broadway) will host a presentation. Peter's book looks at Best Musical Tony Losers. He will be interviewed by Ken Bloom, author of Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest. They'll discuss the logical choices, outrages, close races and upsets that have occurred in musical categories in the 66-year history of the Tony Awards.

High school vocalists from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri will compete on Saturday, June 1 at a regional for the Great American Songbook Vocal Academy & Competition. Sponsored by the Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Initiative, the annual endeavor is the only U.S. competition dedicated solely to the music from Broadway, Hollywood musicals and the Tin Pan Alley era of the early to mid-twentieth century.

It has been a year since Mercury – The Orchestra Redefined rebranded its image in the public, increasing the scope of the orchestra's repertoire and expanding accessibility to music for audiences across Houston.

The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh will play Marin Theatre Company, directed by Mark Jackson and featuring Joy Carlin,* Rod Gnapp,* Joseph Salazar and Beth Wilmurt (* member, Actor's Equity Association), from May 23 to June 16, 2013. Opening night is Tuesday, May 28, with previews tonight, May 23 - Sunday, May 26.

Utah County may be nestled in a mountain desert, but don't tell that to Shawn Mortensen, who is directing "Tarzan: The Musical" at the SCERA Shell Outdoor Theatre beginning June 6.

BroadwayWorld.com, the largest theatre site on the Internet, is excited to announce a new feature to its comprehensive regional coverage - the Featured Regional Theater of the Week! Each week, BWW will introduce its readers to a regional theater located in one of our (over 130!) coverage cities. By exploring these different venues, their history and showcasing the production seasons, BWW continues its commitment to expand our presence in communities and cities across the United States. This Week's Featured Regional Theater: Bunbury Theatre at the Henry Clay in Louisville, KY

Cornelia Street Cafe presents CCi's Serial Underground featuring The Life I'm Leading: Music of Daniel Felsenfeld including several premieres on Sunday, June 2nd at 6pm. Guest Artists include flutists Meerenai Shim (California based), Jessica Schmitz and Sarah Carrier, pianists Blair McMillen and Mila Henry, cellist Rose Bellini, soprano Marcy Richardson and violist Stephanie Griffin.

Kristine Nielsen and Lewis J. Stadlen have been named to receive the annual Richard Seff Award presented by the Actors' Equity Foundation. The award honors a veteran female and male character actor for the best performance in a supporting role in a Broadway or Off-Broadway production. The announcement was made by Arne Gundersen, president of the Actors' Equity Foundation, which administers the Award.

Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra present Tchaikovsky's mighty Fifth Symphony on a concert program that features the East Coast premiere of Steven Mackey's Stumble to Grace Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with pianist Orli Shaham. The Orchestra performs the Princeton University professor's concerto as part of the New Jersey Roots Project, which celebrates the music of composers whose artistic identity has been influenced by their time in the Garden State.

Ruth Kraft (nee Nathanson) died peacefully in her sleep May 9, 2013 surrounded by her family. Mrs. Kraft had been battling cancer for many years.

Mark Nadler is one of those cabaret performers who serves up his entertaining antics with healthy portions of art education and history lessons.  In I'm A Stranger Here Myself, now transplanted from its nightclub roots to the York Theatre stage, Nadler gives a frequently fascinating overview of the pre-Hitler period known as the Weimar Republic; Germany's first democracy and a haven for individualists and eroticists who gleefully indulged in a period of artistic freedom.

The 2013 Honorees for Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut Performance, the 5th Annual Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theater for an Outstanding Performance in a Broadway or Off-Broadway Production, and the newly established John Willis Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, were announced today. The winners will be celebrated at the 69th Annual Theatre World Awards Ceremony set for a new day and time, representing a change from past years, on Monday evening, June 3, 2013 beginning at 6:45 p.m. at the Music Box Theater (239 West 45th Street), home of the current Broadway revival of Pippin.

To meet the demand for tickets, the Stratford Festival is adding two performances of Taking Shakespeare, the John Murrell play featuring Martha Henry and Luke Humphrey, directed by Diana Leblanc.

One of Britain's leading directors, Tim Carroll, returns to the Stratford Festival to present the most famous love story ever told. Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare's timeless tragedy of star-crossed lovers who risk everything to be together, begins previews on Wednesday, May 1, at the Festival Theatre.

Do I have to spell it out for you? This show is fun!

Virginia Repertory Theatre announces the opening of Red by John Logan on Friday, April 26, 2013 with a preview on April 25. The show will run through June 16 at Theatre Gym at Virginia Rep Center, 114 West Broad Street.