Portia News

Freestyle Releasing and Freestyle Digital Media have announced today, April 24, 2015 as the theatrical and VOD release date for AFTER THE BALL, the hilarious and sweet romantic comedy that puts a fashionable twist on the classic Cinderella story.

Featuring an unprecedented cast of 100 celebrity narrators, the timely documentary Unity will be distributed by SpectiCast in select theatres worldwide beginning August 12.

The new musical comedy Something Rotten!, directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon, Aladdin), with music and lyrics by Grammy Award winner Wayne Kirkpatrick and Golden Globe Award nominee Karey Kirkpatrick and a book by Karey Kirkpatrick and best-selling author John O'Farrell, officially opens on Broadway tonight, April 22, 2015 at the St. James Theatre (246 West 44th Street). Scroll down to learn more about the company and watch interviews with the cast!

Men dressing as women is an art form as old as Shakespeare. In Elizabethan times, women were forbidden from appearing on the stage. Therefore, all of Shakespeare's greatest women, from Lady MacBeth to Portia to Juliet - all originally played by men.

Salt Lake Acting Company (SLAC) closes out its 20th season of the New Play Sounding Series (NPSS) with a free reading of HARBUR GATE by Kathleen Cahill, directed by Cohen Ambrose on Monday, April 27, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.

Today we are talking to a terrifically talented triple-threat who made a major mark on Broadway with her star turns in GYPSY and WICKED before appearing this season in the brand new Shakespeare-themed musical comedy SOMETHING ROTTEN!, the effortlessly cute and convivial Kate Reinders. Discussing her hilarious role in the fresh Broadway musical, Reinders praises her starry assortment of co-stars - including Brian D'Arcy James, Christian Borle and John Cariani - in addition to analyzing all the details about putting a brand new musical on its feet directly before the eyes of Broadway. Additionally, Reinders shares some of her favorite moments in the show and touches upon some of the changes that have been implemented to the new Shakespeare-themed musical as it was refined over the course of previews, having opened straight in NYC without an out-of-town tryout. Besides all about her fabulously jocular turn in SOMETHING ROTTEN!, Reinders also reflects on some of her most familiar performances to date on the Great White Way and beyond, including her star-making performance in the 2003 revival of GYPSY, starring Bernadette Peters and directed by Sam Mendes, in addition to her notable run in mega-hit Oz musical WICKED. All of that, INTO THE WOODS revival memories, A YEAR WITH FROG & TOAD and much, much more!

Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma announce the Writers Theatre production of Doubt: A Parable by John Patrick Shanley, directed by William Brown. The show runs April 28 - July 19, 2015 at Glencoe Union Church, 263 Park Ave, Glencoe. The Press Openings are Wednesday, May 6 and Thursday, May 7.

Michael Ricigliano Jr.'s A QUEEN FOR A DAY directed by John Gould Rubin will begin performances on April 14 and will open on May 3 running through July 26, 2015 at Theatre at St. Clement's (423 West 46 Street). Tickets are $49-$99 and can be purchased by visiting www.AQueenForADayPlay.com, or by calling Ovationtix (866) 811-4111.

Michael Ricigliano Jr.'s A QUEEN FOR A DAY directed by John Gould Rubin begins performances tonight, April 14 and will open on May 3 running through July 26, 2015 at Theatre at St. Clement's (423 West 46 Street).

Ars Nova has announced the lineup for Bridget Everett Gets F*cked by Ars Nova, a one-night-only blow-out concert celebrating everyone's favorite badass b*tch, alt-cabaret priestess and Ars Nova All Star, Bridget Everett. In addition to Everett herself, the benefit concert, directed by Scott Wittman (Hairspray, Rock Bottom), will feature tributes, roasts and send-up performances from Grammy and Tony Award-winner Patti LuPone and actor, comedian and Emmy-nominee Billy Eichner. Comedians, drag queens and entertainers aplenty round out the lineup, including Jim Andralis, DJ Jonjon Battles, Justin Vivian Bond, John Early, Cole Escola, Dan Finnerty, Murray Hill, Champagne Jerry, DJ Sammy Jo, Larry Krone, Erin Markey, Molly Pope, Marc Shaiman, Sweetie, The Tender Moments (Matt Ray, Mike Jackson, Carmine Covelli and Adam 'Ad-Rock' Horovitz), Chris Tyler, Varsity Interpretive Dance Squad (VIDS); plus a few fun surprises.

Netflix's chief content officer Ted Sarandos told USA Today that he is 'positive' its cult comedy ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT will be returning for a fifth season.

Aria Entertainment is proud to present a double-bill of Marina Carr's Portia Coughlan and a new musical The Verb, 'To Love' at The Old Red Lion Theatre over April and May.

William Shakespeare's classic THE MERCHANT OF VENICE will be performed in New York on June 10th at 3pm (Preview), 14th at 7pm (Opening), 22nd and 24th at 8pm 2015.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, National New Play Network, The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, and Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation jointly announce selections for the National Directors Fellowship.

After opening last week in Muskegon for several high school matinees and a one-night performance at the Beardsley Theater (in partnership with the Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts and a grant from Target Stores in support of projects combining the arts and education), Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company will take its spring production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar to venues in Grand Rapids and Spring Lake, opening April 2nd.

Betrayal lurks around every corner when a ruler's ability to rule comes into question. Whether real or imagined, its weighty presence stands as a cautionary phantom in A Noise Within's JULIUS CAESAR. Directors Julia Rodriguez-Elliot and Geoff Elliot have turned Shakespeare's thought-provoking political drama into a powerful expose on the less noble actions of men, anchored by two terrific performances and a commanding industrial design.

Michael Ricigliano Jr.'s A QUEEN FOR A DAY directed by John Gould Rubin will begin performances on April 14 and will open on May 3 running through July 26, 2015 at Theatre at St. Clement's (423 West 46 Street).

Baltimore Shakespeare Factory (BSF) is proud to announce Maryland Theatre Guide will produce a LIVE webcast of company's historic production of The Merchant of Venice tonight, March 28, 2015 at 8 p.m.

A Noise Within (ANW), the acclaimed classical repertory theatre company, continues its 2014-2015 REVOLUTIONary season with two new productions: William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar now through May 8 (press opening this weekend, March 28) and The Threepenny Opera, Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's groundbreaking theatrical work in Michael Feingold's translation now through May 17. While both plays spoke to the times in which they were first produced - Weimar Germany and Elizabethan England, respectively - they also speak to this season's theme of REVOLUTION, most especially from a socio-political point of view. Scroll down for a first look at JULIUS CAESAR onstage!

Baltimore Shakespeare Factory (BSF), in conjunction with British original pronunciation (OP) experts, the father and son team of David and Ben Crystal, opens its 2015 season with a historic production of The Merchant of Venice. The play opens tomorrow, March 27 and runs through April 25. There will be one performance on May 8 at Boordy Vineyards. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!