Ron May News

Centenary Stage Company's first professional theatrical production of the 2017 18 season, Freyda Thomas' hilarious adaptation of Moliere's pen-ultimate play The Learned Ladies features a variety of special offerings and events to accompany the production running October 6 through 22 in the Lackland Performing Arts Center. There is comic mayhem in Chrysale's household as the women of the house rabidly pursue the new intellectual movement of the era. Add a meek husband, a pretentious poet, a loony sister a couple of sassy servants completes what some reviewers have called a giddy evening of theatre!

Tickets for the Broadway premiere of Mean Girls, the new musical produced by Lorne Michaels, Stuart Thompson and Paramount Pictures based on the hit film, go on sale to the general public today, October 3, at 10:00 AM EST.

Mean Girls will open on Broadway this spring at the August Wilson Theatre (245 West 52nd Street). Previews begin Monday, March 12, 2018 in advance of an official opening night of Sunday, April 8, 2018.

Opera Santa Barbara will present a series of free noontime concerts at Santa Barbara and Ventura County libraries through mid-April.

Tickets for the Broadway premiere of Mean Girls, the new musical produced by Lorne Michaels, Stuart Thompson and Paramount Pictures based on the hit film, go on sale to the general public next Tuesday, October 3 at 10:00 AM EST.

As political theatre goes, Guillermo Calder n's KISS, Stray Cat Theatre's 16th Season opener, directed by Ron May, occupies the terrain between parody and reality, melodrama and documentary, laughter and catharsis. It is a play that works on a number of levels: startling an audience out of its comfort zone, engaging it in the shared discovery of uncomfortable and inconvenient truths, revealing the barriers that must be surmounted to achieve cross-cultural understanding. KISS runs through September 30th at Tempe Center for the Arts.

???????The Musical Stage Company (formerly Acting Up Stage Company) & Canadian Stage present the Toronto premiere of Sharron Matthews' dynamite cabaret GIRL CRUSH, fresh off its highly acclaimed runs in New York City and Calgary. GIRL CRUSH will play for one night only at Toronto's High Park Amphitheatre on July 24, 2017 at 8 PM.

Blue Note Napa has announced its nightclub lineup from tonight, May 22 to May 28, 2017. Scroll down for details, and visit www.bluenotenapa.com for more information!

Change can be jarring. The contemporary worldwide rise of populism demonstrates the backlash of the older generations against the new social current. Stray Cat Theatre's Hir showcases this social metamorphosis through the implosion of a nuclear family and its identity politics.

Now & Then Creative Company is a culmination of perceived needs in the valley, coupled with opportunities for learning and growth with students at Metropolitan Arts Institute. The 'now' focuses on new play development and film production-working with local artists on the development of plays, screenplays, workshop productions, and film productions. The 'then' produces theatre classics that speak to our present time-plays that tackle large issues to provoke conversation around social concerns. Further, I imagine the classics to be interpreted with a strong vision from directors. We are interested in producing classics with strong concepts-we are not interested in producing classics in ways that feel familiar. More to that point sometimes classics begin to feel like museum pieces-once you've seen them, you've seen them. We want to nurture an exciting, vibrant, and meaningful approach to the classics.

Stray Cat Theatre presents Hir by Taylor Mac, directed by Ron May. 

Check out the top stories from Phoenix you might have missed this week and more!

In the directorial hands of Ron May, Stray Cat Theatre's current production of Nambi E Kelley's adaptation of Richard Wright's NATIVE SON offers an unnerving and intense portrayal of Bigger Thomas's downward spiral and the price inflicted on the soul by racism.

See what's going on this week at Blue Note Napa!

I was attracted to Peter and the Starcatcher because of the script. It is an extremely well-crafted and an exceptionally inventive grown-up's prequel to Peter Pan where twelve actors play over 100 assorted characters, through the use animated characterization and the boundless limits of imagination. The actors enter a sparse stage and create a world for us where we face high adventure, big dreams, tough choices and flying; and the audience is asked to employ their imaginations immediately. The script is smart, tight, heartwarming and hilarious.

Mike Daisey's pre-Election monologue, THE TRUMP CARD, is a no holds barred diatribe to the choir about the 2016 celebrity candidate for the Presidency. Stray Cat Theatre's Ron May channels the author's snark and sarcasm with an intensity that is raw and visceral and engaging.

AstonRep Theatre Company is pleased to present its 8th annual WRITER'S SERIES, a daylong festival of staged readings of developmental works by local and regional writers. This year's series showcases three productions on Saturday, November 12, 2016 from 12 pm - 5 pm at The Edge Theatre, 5451 N. Broadway in Chicago. Patrons are invited to attend individual readings - or stay for the entire event. Reservations ($5 suggested donation) can be made at www.astonrep.com or by calling (773) 828-9129.

Mike Daisey takes on the reigning world heavyweight of self-mythologizing, the short-fingered vulgarian who captured a nation's heart through bullying, charm, one-syllable explosions, and occasionally telling the brutal truth: Donald J. Trump.

Stray Cat Theatre unleashes its 2016-2017 Season!

Executive Chef Rodolfo Cuadros of Carnivale, the global Latin-Fusion restaurant located in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood, will accompany a group of culinary masters to Cuba for The Havana Culinary Exchange from September 24 through October 1. Hosted by James Beard Award-winning Chef and Godfather of Nuevo Latino Cuisine Doug Rodriguez (who also mentored Chef Cuadros), The Havana Culinary Exchange features leading chefs from the United States and Canada, including John Mooney, Susur Lee, Kevin Sbraga, Fernando Martinez, Dean Corbett, Bernie Matz, Aaron May, Michael Isabella and Bradley Killgore.