Sarah Ruhl News

Actors Bridge Ensemble presents DEAD MAN'S CELL PHONE by Sarah Ruhl (a Nashville Premiere)

An Inspector Calls by JB Priestley at The Vortex, 2307 Manor Rd, dates: July 3 - 25 Performances: Thur - Sun, Time: Thur - Sat 8 PM, Sun 7 PM

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director; Ellen Richard, Executive Director) will conclude its 30th Anniversary mainstage season with the New York premiere of VANITIES, a new musical written by Jack Heifner, featuring music and lyrics by David Kirshenbaum, directed by Judith Ivey. With musical staging by Dan Knechtges, VANITIES will feature Lauren Kennedy, Sarah Stiles, and Anneliese van der Pol and will begin preview performances on Thursday, July 2. Opening night is Thursday, July 16 at 6:30pm

Primary Stages, one of New York's preeminent theater companies, has announced the addition of two special playwriting workshops to their School of Theater Summer 2009 schedule: 'Stage Directions and The Visual Life of the Stage' with Sarah Ruhl, and 'Get The Party Started' with Cusi Cram.

LCT3, Lincoln Center Theater's new initiative devoted to producing work of emerging playwrights, directors and designers, will present the world premiere of WHAT ONCE WE FELT, a new play by Ann Marie Healy, directed by Ken Rus Schmoll, as the first of three productions during the 2009-2010 season. WHAT ONCE WE FELT will be presented Monday, October 26 through Saturday, November 21 at The Duke on 42nd Street, a New 42nd Street® project, (229 W. 42 Street). The second and third LCT3 productions, to be announced, are scheduled for Spring 2010 and will also be presented at The Duke on 42nd Street.

ArtsWest starts the 2009-10 season with DEAD MAN'S CELL PHONE, a wildly imaginative new work from Sarah Ruhl, the playwright behind The Clean House and Eurydice. When Jean answers the cell phone of the corpse at the next table, she unwittingly embarks on a quirky odyssey that takes her from grief to the black market to the afterlife. With unfailing empathy, she sets the dead man's bizarre life to rights and on the way resurrects her own. ArtsWest favorite Carol Roscoe returns to direct this Seattle Premiere.

New York's OBIE Award-winning Epic TheatreEnsemble (Zak Berkman, Melissa Friedman, Ron Russell, Founding Executive Directors) has announced its 9 th Anniversary Season of new works: the world premiere of Mahida's Extra Key To Heaven by Russell Davis, and the New York Premiere of Passion Play by Sarah Ruhl. Also scheduled is Shakespeare Remix MacBeth a collaboration with Epic's unrivaled After School Shakespeare Program at Chelsea High School.

13P (Thirteen Playwrights, Inc), the OBIE Award-winning theater company made up of 13 playwrights, will present Lucy Thurber's (P#8) 'MONSTROSITY,' directed by Lear deBessonet. 'MONSTROSITY' will be performed at The Connelly Theatre, 220 East 4th Street (between Avenues A and B), with performances running from July 9 through 19, 2009 for a total of twelve performances.

Variety reports that Lincoln Center Theater's Broadway production of Sarah Ruhl's IN THE NEXT ROOM, or the Vibrator Play' has booked the Lyceum Theater for its fall run.

13P (Thirteen Playwrights, Inc), the OBIE Award-winning theater company made up of 13 playwrights, will present Lucy Thurber's (P#8) 'MONSTROSITY,' directed by Lear deBessonet. 'MONSTROSITY,' featuring a cast of 21, will be performed at The Connelly Theatre, 220 East 4th Street (between Avenues A and B), with performances running from July 9 through 19, 2009 for a total of twelve performances.

Carrie Fisher set box-office records at Berkeley Repertory Theatre with her hilarious solo show, Wishful Drinking. Then it became a New York Times bestseller and played to sold-out crowds on a six-city national tour. Now Fisher returns to Berkeley Rep's Roda Theatre, her last stop before the show bursts onto Broadway! This limited run - 15 performances only - begins July 9 and ends July 23.

Stageworks Theatre's 2009-2010 season features MY CHILDREN! MY AFRICA!, GOLDA'S BALCONY, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, EURYDICE, A PERFECT GANESH, and BAD DATES.

Lincoln Center Theater (under the direction of Andre Bishop, Artistic Director, and Bernard Gersten, Executive Producer) has announced that Francois Battiste, Crystal A. Dickinson, Alano Miller and Wendell Pierce will be featured in its upcoming production of BROKE-OLOGY, a new play by Nathan Louis Jackson, directed by Thomas Kail.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director; Ellen Richard, Executive Director) will conclude its 30th Anniversary mainstage season with the New York premiere of VANITIES, a new musical written by Jack Heifner, featuring music and lyrics by David Kirshenbaum, directed by Judith Ivey. With musical staging by Dan Knechtges, VANITIES will feature Lauren Kennedy, Sarah Stiles, and Anneliese van der Pol and will begin preview performances on Thursday, July 2. Opening night is Thursday, July 16 at 6:30pm

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director; Ellen Richard, Executive Director) will conclude its 30th Anniversary mainstage season with the New York premiere of VANITIES, a new musical written by Jack Heifner, featuring music and lyrics by David Kirshenbaum, directed by Judith Ivey.

Award winning Steppenwolf playwright Lisa Dillman has chosen ROGUE MACHINE to present the West Coast premiere of her play HALF OF PLENTY, for their season opener of 2009. This hilarious and chilling take on lean times and family values in America uncovers some all too familiar anxieties in modern living.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival will open its summer season with one of Shakespeare's rarely produced history plays, Henry VIII. Last produced at OSF in 1984, the play will be staged with all the spectacle of the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Some tickets remain available for previews and openings. To purchase tickets go to www.osfashland.org or call the Box Office at (541) 482-4331.

13P (Thirteen Playwrights, Inc), the OBIE Award-winning theater company made up of 13 playwrights, will present Lucy Thurber's (P#8) 'MONSTROSITY,' directed by Lear deBessonet. 'MONSTROSITY,' featuring a cast of 21, will be performed at The Connelly Theatre, 220 East 4th Street (between Avenues A and B), with performances running from July 9 through 19, 2009 for a total of twelve performances.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director; Ellen Richard, Executive Director) will conclude its 30th Anniversary mainstage season with the New York premiere of VANITIES, a new musical written by Jack Heifner, featuring music and lyrics by David Kirshenbaum, directed by Judith Ivey. With musical staging by Dan Knechtges, VANITIES will feature Lauren Kennedy, Sarah Stiles, and Anneliese van der Pol and will begin preview performances on Thursday, July 2. Opening night is Thursday, July 16 at 6:30pm

Berkeley Repertory Theatre, which has earned a national reputation for developing provocative new plays, has received two prestigious grants of $50,000 each to fund upcoming world premieres.