Playbill News

No matter how much you think you know about musical theatre, this book will delight and enlighten you. It might also make you scream.

The Theatre School at DePaul University proudly presents LIZZIE BRIGHT AND THE BUCKMINSTER BOY, based on the book by Gary D. Schmidt, adapted by Cheryl L. West, and directed by John Jenkins, as the second piece in the 2012-2013 Chicago Playworks for Families and Young Audiences Series. This production opens today, January 19, and runs through Saturday, March 2, 2013, at DePaul's historic Merle Reskin Theatre.

The Whipping Man by Matthew Lopez will make its Bay Area premiere with the Marin Theatre Company in a production co-produced by Virgina Stage Company, in association with Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. Directed by Jasson Minadakis, the show will feature L. Peter Callender,* Nicholas Pelczar* and Tobie Windham* and will run March 28 - April 21.

The former Rockette has done everything from Berlin to Sondheim to Wildhorn on Bway, as well as 'Rock of Ages' and 'Chorus Line'.

OPERA America, the national service organization for opera, is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2013 National Opera Trustee Recognition Award. In its sixth year, this award honors outstanding trustees of U.S. opera companies for exemplary leadership, generosity and audience-building efforts on behalf of their respective opera companies.

The Only Musical Theatre Competition of its Kind on the West Coast. Don' t miss your chance to cast your vote along with a panel of LA's most elite, Creative MusicalTheatre Forces as 20 Contestants compete for the Title of LA's Next Great Stage Star 2013, an Award of $1000 cash, a Professional Theatre Career, and their own Headlining Concert Engagement at Sterling's Upstairs at The Federal during 2013.

In a culture of fear and exhibitionism, who preys upon whom? The world premiere production of Susan Mach's The Lost Boy will explore the true story of the Charlie Ross kidnapping of 1874 that became a media circus. The play runs tonight, January 8 through February 10 and is a part of the Fertile Ground Festival of New Work.

Oscar and Tony Award-winning composer Alan Menken, director Jeff Calhoun and producer Thomas Schumacher will join Kara Lindsay, Andrew Keenan-Bolger and Mike Faist, stars of the Tony award-winning Broadway musical, Newsies, for a special presentation to 4,000 students and teachers representing 82 groups from 23 states at the 2013 Junior Theater Festival, it was announced today by Theater of the Stars President Nick Manos and Timothy Allen McDonald, founding Chairman of iTheatrics. The Junior Theater Festival is being held January 18, 19 and 20 at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta.

A beautifully framed Star Wars poster, autographed by the major stars of the first movie in the series, has just been added as one of the featured items. The poster joins the Springsteen autographed guitar & the Ali autographed boxing glove up for auction at Chenango River Theatre's annual Winter Gala to be held at the Silo Restaurant on Jan. 19, 6:00-9:30pm.

There's always room for one more in Children's Theatre Company's production of The Biggest Little House in the Forest adapted by Rosanna Staffa from the book by Djemma Bider. CTC Acting Company Member Autumn Ness skillfully creates a wonderful collection of characters and brings each of them to vivid life. The imaginative set and puppets are designed by Eric J. Van Wyk. The Cargill Stage will be magically converted to an intimate, preschool-sized forest, gently welcoming toddlers into the performance space to play. The Biggest Little House in the Forest runs January 24 through March 17.

For nearly four decades (1957-1994), Martha Swope was America's pre-eminent photographer of theater and dance, her discerning eye chronicling hundreds of classical ballets, modern dance, and Broadway performances and performers. But she also went behind-the-scenes, documenting what audiences never get to experience-the creative collaborations that make the magic on stage possible: rehearsals.

The Stratford Festival's box office opens to the public this Saturday, January 5, at 9 a.m., with an online advance sale beginning at noon on Friday. Facebook fans, who want to use the Festival's new social ticketing app will be able to purchase tickets as of 9 a.m. today. Tickets are being offered at up to 25% off until January 31, with an opportunity to exchange dates with no added expense.

Do not miss this concert/drama featuring the likes of Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley.

A writer, traveler & political activist, Gavin was also in the last show at the Palace prior to 'Annie', 'Priscilla Queen of the Desert'.

It's been a busy year in Nashville theater in 2012, with audiences treated to a whole slate of theatrical offerings spanning multiple genres-from productions of time-honored classics to new and original contemporary works, from dramas to comedies, from straight plays to musicals-and giving local theater-goers more opportunities than ever before to be challenged by the onstage magic created by some of Tennessee's most talented and gifted artists.

BroadwayWorld brings you the Best of Portland in the year 2012. Check out the Top Theatre Stories from each month during in the year 2012. We look forward to another exciting year of theatre in 2013!

A projection design artist isn't necessarily a commonplace credit under a technical crew listing in a playbill, but a handful of designers have joined this fresh new approach to technology in theater. Jared Mezzocchi, a pioneer of the new design field and recent addition to the faculty of the School of Theater, Dance & Performance Studies at the University of Maryland (UMD), had plenty of insights about the emerging art form and its various capacities.

In a culture of fear and exhibitionism, who preys upon whom? The world premiere production of Susan Mach's The Lost Boy will explore the true story of the Charlie Ross kidnapping of 1874 that became a media circus. The play runs January 8 through February 10 and is a part of the Fertile Ground Festival of New Work.

The holiday season totally snuck up on me this year. I'm writing this on December 11, just TWO WEEKS before Christmas (and already three nights into Hannukah), and I'm more than a little bit panicked!! Two weeks to do all of my shopping? EEK to say the least. Luckily I have the BC/EFA Catalogue of Giving, which offers hundreds of Broadway-themed gifts, my favorite of which I'll share with you below. Proceeds to the wonderful causes supported by Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS, which this year includes help for victims of Hurricane Sandy and similar disasters.

It's Saturday, and that means it's time for BroadwayWorld's 'Saturday Intermission Pics' round-up! Today's photos feature the casts of NEWSIES and EVITA reaching out to the families of the Newtown, Conn., shooting victims, plus SantaCon-themed photos from A CHRISTMAS STORY, NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT, SPIDER-MAN, WICKED, and FORBIDDEN BROADWAY, as well as images from THE BOOK OF MORMON, MARY POPPINS, CHAPLIN, THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD, BRING IT ON, GOLDEN BOY, ELF, the UK tour of AMERICAN IDIOT and the US tours of JERSEY BOYS, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and ANYTHING GOES.