Royal Shakespeare Company News

Guillermo del Toro has abandoned his role as director on the upcoming film versions of 'The Hobbit,' based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, www.deadline.com reports. However, he will continue to participate in the writing of the screenplay.

The greatest family musical of all time, The Wizard of Oz, is touching down at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center as NETworks Presentations brings this national treasure to the Fox Cities June 25 through June 27, 2010.

'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' Shakespeare's rollicking fantasy of ardent lovers, bumbling actors and conjuring fairies, will be recreated against the backdrop of social revolution and sensuality in 1959 New Orleans by the Theatre and Interpretation Center (TIC) of Northwestern University.

Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, under the leadership of Executive Director Stacie Burgua, presents Ernest Thompson's love story On Golden Pond, at 565 Camano Avenue, Langley, WA, on Friday, June 11, 2010 (with performances continuing through June 26).

Tickets go on sale to the general public tomorrow, Tuesday 18 May at 12 noon, for the first major London revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black and Charles Hart's Aspects of Love, directed by Trevor Nunn at the Menier Chocolate Factory. Aspects of Love previews from 07 July with press night on 15 July and is running until 26 September. Designs are by David Farley with choreography by Lynne Page, lighting by Paul Pyant, musical supervision by Caroline Humphris, orchestrations by David Cullen and sound by Gareth Owen. Trevor Nunn previously directed the world premiere of Aspects of Love and returns to the piece to direct this new intimate version.

The cast for the Tricycle's Women, Power and Politics - a season exploring the history and current role of women in politics in Great Britain - will comprise Simon Chandler, Oliver Chris, Claire Cox, Heather Craney, Niamh Cusack, Stella Gonet, John Hollingworth, Amy Loughton, Tom Mannion, Kika Markham, Lara Rossi and Felix Scott.

Ian Talbot will direct Peter Sham and Brad Carroll's new musical comedy, Lend Me A Tenor The Musical, based on the award-winning West End and Broadway hit comedy by Ken Ludwig. A riotous, unpredictable explosion of mistaken identities and unexpected romance, Lend Me A Tenor The Musical will run at the Theatre Royal Plymouth from 24 September - 6 October 2010, prior to an anticipated West End run in the Autumn which will be produced by Martin Platt and David Elliott in association with Eileen and Allen Anes.

The eighth annual Bard SummerScape presents Judgment Day ('Der jüngste Tag'), a gripping 1937 drama by Austro-Hungarian Ödön von Horváth, one of the most talented playwrights of his generation. A runaway hit of last fall's theater season in London, Judgment Day implicitly investigates the roots of Nazism among Austria-Hungary's ordinary working people.

Shakespeare on the Sound, Connecticut's premier outdoor summer theater company presenting free Shakespeare in the park, today announced complete casting for their upcoming production of Othello, under the direction of Joanna Settle.

Bob Boyett and NETworks Presentations announce casting for the national tour of the Lincoln Center Theater production of Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein's prize-winning musical 'South Pacific,' directed by Bartlett Sher, opening June 2 at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre and playing through July 17, 2010. Previews begin May 27.

Zoe Wanamaker and David Suchet will star in the Apollo Theatre's production of ALL MY SONS. The play, by Arthur Miller, will begin May 27th, 2010 and is directed by Olivier award winner Howard Davies. Davies won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director for his work on ALL MY SONS on the West End. Wanamaker will play Kate Keller, while Suchet will play the husband, Joe Keller. Additional casting is yet to be announced.

Boeing-Boeing, the high-flying, Tony award-winning comedy that had Broadway and West End audiences airborne with laughter, is taking off on the Alley's Hubbard Stage, June 4 - June 27, 2010. Marc Camoletti's comedy, translated by Beverly Cross and Francis Evans is the final production of the Alley Theatre's 2009-2010 season.

Meeting Point Productions Ltd in association with Neil McPherson for the Finborough Theatre presents THE EUROPEAN PREMIERE Dream of the Dog by Craig Higginson. Directed by Katie McAleese. Designed by Alex Marker. Lighting Design by Michael Nabarro. Sound Design by Andrew Pontzen. Costume Design by Penn O'Gara. Cast: Ariyon Bakare. Gracy Goldman. Bernard Kay. Janet Suzman.

The upcoming Broadway premiere of David Mamet's A LIFE IN THE THEATRE, which will star award winning actor PATRICK STEWART, will play THE GERALD SCHOENFELD THEATRE (236 West 45th Street). Rehearsals start on August 23rd, 2010, with performances beginning on September 17th, 2010.

The Finborough Theatre presents VIBRANT - An Anniversary Festival of Finborough Playwrights. 30 NEW PLAYS TO CELEBRATE, 30 YEARS IN JUST UNDER 30 DAYS from 25 May - 19 June 2010

The eighth annual Bard SummerScape presents Judgment Day ('Der jüngste Tag'), a gripping 1937 drama by Austro-Hungarian Ödön von Horváth, one of the most talented playwrights of his generation. A runaway hit of last fall's theater season in London, Judgment Day implicitly investigates the roots of Nazism among Austria-Hungary's ordinary working people.

FEINSTEIN'S AT LOEWS REGENCY, the nightclub proclaimed 'Best of New York' by New York Magazine and 'an invaluable New York institution' by The New York Post, will continue its Spring 2010 season with the debut of SIMON GREEN and musical director and longtime collaborator DAVID SHRUBSOLE in their 2010 Drama Desk Award nominated show, 'Traveling Light.'

Sonnet Repertory Theatre and Matchbook Productions will end its run of Richard II at The Tank on May 24, bringing an uncommon aspect to this classic: flight. Re-imagined as a tale told by Nineteenth Century artists railing against Imperialism, eight actors, four low-flying trapezes and live music combine to raise the language of Shakespeare to new heights.

The Hypocrites, in association with Chicago DCA Theater, will close their run of the Broadway classic Cabaret on May 23. The production, directed by Matt Hawkins, played Chicago DCA Theater's Storefront Theater at 66 E. Randolph Street.

TACA and Dallas Theater Center proudly present Arthur Miller's Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning classic Death of a Salesman, directed by Amanda Dehnert and starring stage and screen star Jeffrey DeMunn, April 16 - May 22 at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre at the AT&T Performing Arts Center.