Second Stage Theatre News

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. 'tick...tick...BOOM!,' 'A Little Night Music,' a local 'Avenue Q?,' Kevin Earley and Nathan Lane are in town, 'Sexy Baby,' the High School Musical Theater Awards and more....

Awards season is in full swing and to celebrate all of the 2011-2012 nominees, we've dug deep into our archives to bring you vintage photos of all of the talent during special moments in their careers. Check out the 2011-2012 Tony-nominated men below!

The production officially opened on Monday, May 7 and BroadwayWorld was there to bring you the stars as they arrived on the opening night red carpet!

The production officially opened on Monday, May 7 and BroadwayWorld was there to bring you photos of the cast at the opening night party!

'I'm so excited for the show! 10 nominations is a really nice round number. My husband and I were watching NY1 this morning and simultaneously trying to get our twins out the door to go to music class. So, we were wrangling them and watching the nominations at the same time. My husband Scott Landis is a producer for NICE WORK and for VENUS IN FUR so we were especially thrilled. We're a quadruple nomination household! The cast is performing on David Letterman on Thursday so we have a rehearsal for that. I'm thrilled that i'll get to see them!'

Judith Light, Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play for Other Desert Cities 'I'm really excited, and I'm really honored and thrilled! I got a text first from our company manager from Lombardi, and my manager at got up at 4 this morning in California and called me right away. I spoke to both first! Today I'm going to a memorial service for Ted Mann- one of the founders of Circle in the Square who passed a way a little while ago. We were very close. I know he would be very happy right now. I'm happy I get to honor him today. I'm so thrilled that we got so many nominations- Jon Robin Baitz, and sets and lighting and Stockard! It's so extraordinary! It's the second year in a row for me and to be welcomed back is really special. It's all about the honor.'

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) kicks off the 10th anniversary of its Uptown Series with the world premiere of The Bad Guys, written by Alena Smith and directed by Hal Brooks. The Bad Guys will feature Michael Braun (War Horse), Roe Hartrampf (Unnatural Acts), James McMenamin (Suicide, Incorporated), Tobias Segal (The Miracle Worker) and Raviv Ullman (Russian Transport). Previews begin on May 22nd and opening night is Monday, June 4th.

Second Stage Theatre will kick off the 10th anniversary of its Uptown Series with the world premiere of The Bad Guys, written by Alena Smith and directed by Hal Brooks. The Bad Guys will feature Michael Braun (War Horse), Roe Hartrampf (Unnatural Acts), James McMenamin (Suicide, Incorporated), Tobias Segal (The Miracle Worker) and Raviv Ullman (Russian Transport). Previews begin on May 22nd and opening night is Monday, June 4th.

The Broadway play Red at to Berkeley Repertory Theatre, is staged as a valedictory by Obie Award-winner Les Waters as he departs the Bay Area to take the reins at Actors Theatre of Louisville. John Logan, the Oscar-nominated author of Aviator and Gladiator, won Tony and Drama Desk Awards for this feverish 90-minute drama. Now Waters and two exceptional actors bring this powerful play to local audiences. Red runs through tonight, April 29.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director and Casey Reitz, Executive Director) has been chosen as one of the 40 finalists in this year's Partners in Preservation program, which awards up to $250,000 to the cultural institutions that receive the most votes from its supporters. If selected, Second Stage Theatre will use the grant money to restore the facade of the company's future home, the 100-year old Helen Hayes Theatre on Broadway. The finalists were presented by celebrity guest Katharine McPhee of NBC's hit "Smash" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on Thursday, April 26. Second Stage at the Helen Hayes Theatre is the only Broadway theatre selected as a finalist.

When you think of vibrators, the Victorian era generally doesn't come to mind. Most people would probably find the sexual revolution of the 1960s a far more appropriate time frame … and yet Sarah Ruhl's IN THE NEXT ROOM, or the vibrator play, takes place in 1880s post-Civil War America when vibrators were regularly used as a medical tool.

Topher Grace and Olivia Thirlby co-star in Second Stage Theatre's production of Paul Weitz's world premiere comedy, LONELY, I'M NOT, directed by Trip Cullman. Preview performances began Tuesday, April 10 at Second Stage's Tony Kiser Theatre (305 West 43rd street). The production will officially open on Monday, May 7. For tickets or more information, please visit www.2ST.com. BroadwayWorld brings you just-released production shots below!

Profiles Theatre announces an additional four weeks of performances of the Midwest premiere of Bachelorette by Leslye Headland, directed by Profiles Co-Artistic Director Darrell W. Cox. The full cast, Eric Burgher (A Behanding in Spokane, Kid Sister), Hillary Marren, Linda Augusta Orr, Rakisha Pollard, Amanda Powell and Adam Soule will continue with the production through the extension. The production will run through May 27, 2012, at Profiles Theatre, 4147 N. Broadway in Chicago.

Laura Osnes will play Cinderella and Santino Fontana will portray the Prince in the new Broadway-bound production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's CINDERELLA, it has been announced by the musical's producers. CINDERELLA -- which is aiming for a Broadway opening during the 2012-13 season -- is produced by Robyn Goodman, Stephen Kocis and Jill Furman in association with Center Theatre Group.

The Tony Award®-winning Hartford Stage, under the leadership of Darko Tresnjak, Artistic Director, and Michael Stotts, Managing Director, today announced that David Henderson has been appointed Director of Marketing, Sales and Communications, beginning April 9, 2012.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Patrick Willingham) presents Ethan Lipton's NO PLACE TO GO for a limited engagement at Joe's Pub, closing tonight April 8th. Directed by Leigh Silverman and written by Ethan Lipton with music composed by Ethan Lipton and His Orchestra, NO PLACE TO GO is the first Joe's Pub commission, as part of its New York Voices Series, to become part of The Public Theater's season.

Check out what's playing Cleveland and Akron for the month of April!

The Broadway play Red comes to Berkeley Repertory Theatre in March, staged as a valedictory by Obie Award-winner Les Waters as he departs the Bay Area to take the reins at Actors Theatre of Louisville. John Logan, the Oscar-nominated author of Aviator and Gladiator, won Tony and Drama Desk Awards for this feverish 90-minute drama. Now Waters and two exceptional actors bring this powerful play to local audiences. Red begins previews on the intimate Thrust Stage on March 16, opens March 22, and runs through April 29.

"The Masters Series" at Pace is dedicated to providing the new generation of students/artists with the opportunity of interacting with well-established, outstanding professionals that have developed new voices and ideas. The goal is to reinvigorate the theater's ancient role as a public forum by focusing on the social and cultural context for the works of the American Theatre of today and tomorrow. The evening's guests engage in discussions of their unique practices and bodies of work, followed by a Q&A session with Pace BFA and BA Performing Arts students.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company welcomes former STC Associate Director PJ Paparelli who will direct and put a new twist on Shakespeare's earliest romantic comedy, The Two Gentlemen of Verona.