Commonwealth Shakespeare Company and Founding Artistic Director Steven Maler announced the cast of the second production of its 2018-19 Season: Birdy, adapted by Naomi Wallace from the novel by William Wharton, and directed by Steven Maler. The production runs February 27 through March 10 at the Carling-Sorenson Theater at Babson College in Wellesley.
The Play Company (PlayCo; Founding Producer Kate Loewald, Managing Director Robert Bradshaw) presents the New York premiere of Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas' Recent Alien Abductions (February 21-March 24), an acclaimed highlight of the 2017 Humana Festival for New American Plays, where it was hailed as a "dark and unsettling…shape-shifter, a mystery to be unfurled, and ultimately a very human story about what happens when you can no longer recognize your family as fellow humans" (WFPL News Louisville). In Cortiñas' play, small gestures and off-handed comments slowly reveal the colonial, racist, misogynist, and homophobic dynamics that constrain possibility in the lives of the characters. These power imbalances have been left to fester for so long that they create the alienating nightmare at the story's core. Rendered through magnetic characterization and playful yet shattering storytelling, Recent Alien Abductions explores how families-and societies-are haunted by their pasts. Performances take place February 21-March 24 at Walkerspace, 46 Walker Street, New York.
Austrian Stage presented the US and English-language premiere of Canned Meat, a staged reading of this funny, touching Austrian drama. The performance featured Tony Award Nominee Xanthe Elbrick, alongside Teresa Avia Lim, William DeMeritt and Vince Nappo.
The 2017 Tony Award nominee for Best Play and the most-produced play of the 2018-2019 season, A Doll's House, Part 2 makes its Boston debut at the Huntington Theatre Company at the Avenue of the Arts / Huntington Avenue Theatre (264 Huntington Avenue, Boston) in a co-production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Written by Tony Award nominee Lucas Hnath and directed by Obie Award winner Les Waters, performances will run January 4 through February 3. The press opening will be Wednesday, January 9 at 7pm.
After his hit production of King Charles III, David Muse returns to Shakespeare Theatre Company to direct Shakespeare's Richard the Third, a mesmerizing chronicle of the megalomaniac's rampage to the throne. The production will play at Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW) from February 5-March 10, 2019.
New Brooklyn Theatre, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2012 to democratize the American theatre, has announced Raja Feather Kelly as its new Artistic Director. Kelly currently serves as the Founding Artistic Director of the dance-theatre-media company the feath3r theory, which has formally merged with New Brooklyn Theatre. He is the recipient of two Princess Grace Foundation Awards and most recently, the Breakout Award from the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation and Dance Magazine's inaugural Harkness Promise Award. the feath3r theory shares the ethos of New Brooklyn Theatre in the mission to broaden space for unheard voices and repressed histories in theatre. Since 2009, the feath3r theory has been recognized as a unique cross-disciplinary theatre company that aims to challenge its audience and creators to interrogate and celebrate their shared relationship to human empathy and personal ethics as expressed in popular media.
BroadwayWorld has learned that Michelle Williams has been advised by her doctors to take a leave of absence from performing. Lea Salonga, who originated the role in this production will play Erzulie from December 27 through its final performance on January 6.
New year, new Kilroys! For the past five years The Kilroys, an LA-based collective of playwrights/producers continuing the fight to achieve gender balance in the American theater, have been advocating for equal representation on our American stages, and have released an annual list of under-produced plays by women, trans, and non-binary writers. Despite some measurable progress, we still have a long way to go before we strike that balance. So, as we approach 2019, we are beyond thrilled to introduce a fresh new gang of fearless badass leaders. These women will seize our reins and continue the fight for equality, creating random acts of disruption along the way, while the OG Kilroys will serve as an advisory board supporting the current class.
Playwrights Horizons presents the New York premiere of Noura, a new American drama from 9 Parts of Desire playwright and actor Heather Raffo, continuing her longtime collaboration with director Joanna Settle, November 27-December 30, in the Mainstage Theater at Playwrights Horizons. Let's see what the critics had to say.
Downtown Music Productions will present A Chamber Christmas Carol on Sunday, December 23 @ 7:00 PM at St. Marks Church-in-the-Bowery, 131 E. 10 St. (at 2nd Avenue) in New York, New York.
George Street Playhouse is now presenting 'A Doll's House, Part 2' written by Lucas Hnath and directed by Betsy Aidem. Broadwayworld.com had the pleasure of interviewing Kellie Overbey who plays Nora in the show.
Cherry Lane Theatre is proud to announce dates for its upcoming Off-Broadway presentation of Matt Williams' ACTUALLY, WE'RE F**KED, directed by John Pasquin. Performances will begin on February 26, the production will open on March 7, and run through April 7, 2019 at Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce Street). Tickets are $65-$95 and are available at www.CherryLaneTheatre.org
Taylor Mac's Holiday Sauce, the latest installment of the artist's award-winning A 24-Decade History of Popular Music project, will return to The Town Hall in New York City for another skewering of the sacred and the secular today, December 11th at 8pm. A follow-up to its debut at The Town Hall in December 2017, the show explores Christmas as calamity, upending our yuletide traditions and celebrating the holiday in all of its dysfunction with the families you choose to love.
The Dramatists Guild of America is the originator of the Dramatists Guild Fellows program, with a mission is to enhance the sense of community among developing American dramatists by offering a year-long workshop designed to augment their training with practical experience and career information resources.
The Comrades, a non-Equity theatre company, today announced its cast for DEAD MAN'S CELL PHONE, by Wilmette-born Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl. Ruhl's play premiered in 2007 at Washington D.C.'s Woolly Mammoth Theatre and enjoyed high-profile productions the following year at Playwrights Horizons in New York and Steppenwolf in Chicago. In this sometimes-surreal comedy, a young woman annoyedly answers the ringing cell of the man sitting next to her in a cafe, only to find the reason he failed to answer it himself is that he has just died. The woman becomes involved in the dead man's just-departed life and even in his afterlife. The SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE said, "It's a joyride through the absurdity of trying to make simple connections in a world overwhelmed with interconnectivity."
Tired of the same old Christmas Carol? Downtown Music Productions presents A Chamber Christmas Carol at the gorgeous St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery. Composer Ray Leslee (Avenue X, Standup Shakespeare) has created a brand-new take on the holiday season's most prolific tale. This ONE NIGHT ONLY event features a virtuoso company of five musicians and five actors who play 35 roles, telling the classic tale through Leslee's music and selections from Dickens' masterpiece. Tom Ligon (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo) stars as Scrooge. The cast includes Mark Boyett, Jack McCarthy, JD Mollison and Alex Sunderhaus. The musicians are Broadway veterans Jack Bashkow (woodwinds), Jeff Carney (bass), Marshall Coid (violin), Ron Hay (trombone) and Mimi Stern-Wolfe at the piano. Margarett Perry directs.
Crowded Fire Theater (CFT) Crowded Fire's Artistic Director Mina Morita unveiled the 2019 mainstage season lineup including two new plays that continue to uphold the company's long tradition of creating boundary-pushing theater.
Classic Stage Company devotes the beginning of 2019 to the timeless emotional and social resonance of August Strindberg, with new productions of two acclaimed adaptations-Yael Farber's Mies Julie and Conor McPherson's new version of The Dance of Death-presented in repertory.
San Diego Repertory Theatre announced today the cast and creative team for the fourth production in their 43rd season, Julia Cho's Aubergine. Directed by San Diego REP Associate Artistic Director Todd Salovey, Aubergine is an unforgettable story of love, family and the healing power of food. Performances run January 24 - February 17, 2019, in the Lyceum Space Theatre. Tickets start at $25 and are currently on sale to the general public. Previews are January 24 - 29, 2019. Press opening is Wednesday, January 30 at 7:00 p.m.
Philadelphia Theatre Company welcomes back everyone's favorite princesses for a heart-warming afternoon and evening concert for the entire family. During A Dream Is A Wish: Holiday Princess Concert audiences will sing-along with a gathering of princes and princesses from popular movie musicals and television shows in a one-day-only event on Sunday, December 16, at 3:00pm and 6:00pm. Children are encouraged to come dressed as their favorite prince or princess. After the show, the cast will host a meet-and-greet reception with holiday cookies, apple cider and photo opportunities. The Holiday Princess Concert will take place at Philadelphia Theatre Company at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre (480 S. Broad Street). Tickets are on sale for $35 at philatheatreco.org, at the box-office, or by calling 215-985-0420. Note: The 6:00pm show will feature a relaxed performance that welcomes children with autism or sensory or emotional sensitivities.