Second Stage Theatre News

The Colony Theatre is thrilled to present the first production of its 37th season of shows - its first ever with six productions instead of five. The production is the West Coast Premiere of YEAR ZERO, written by Michael Golamco and directed by David Rose.

Pulitzer Prize Winning Play by Lynn Nottage Ends June 5, 2011

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) has announced that DAVID WILSON BARNES (Second Stage's hit Becky Shaw), JUSTIN BARTHA (The Hangover, Broadway's Lend Me a Tenor), ANNA CAMP (Second Stage's The Scene, 'True Blood'), and KRYSTEN RITTER (Confessions of a Shopaholic, Second Stage's All This Intimacy) will appear in the world premiere comedy, ALL NEW PEOPLE, written by ZACH BRAFF and directed by PETER DuBOIS. ALL NEW PEOPLE will begin previews on Tuesday, June 28 and officially open on Monday, July 25 at 7:00pm at Second Stage's Tony Kiser Theatre (305 West 43rd street). For tickets or more information, please visit www.2ST.com.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Executive Director Ellen Richard announced the appointment of Don-Scott Cooper as general manager.

Passage Theatre, Trenton's only professional theater company, is pleased to announce the New Jersey premiere of Mat Smart's two-person drama Samuel J. and K., a play which traces the complex bond between two brothers as they travel to the homeland of the younger. Directed by Jade King Carroll, performances end May 22 at the Mill Hill Playhouse, which is located 205 E. Front Street in Trenton's Historic Mill Hill district.

The Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize Award-winning rock musical "Next to Normal" is coming to the Ordway for a two-week run from May 10-22.

Winners of the 2010-11 Drama League Awards, presented at the 77th Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon on Friday, May 20, 2011 (1 p.m.) at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square..

In 1994, Anna Deavere Smith set the Bay Area ablaze with her solo show Fires in the Mirror, the first production in Berkeley Repertory Theatre's history to sell every ticket before it opened.

Now through May 28, 2011, the Melbourne Theatre Company will present the Australian premiere of the 2010 Pulitzer-Prize winning Broadway hit, Next To Normal. The production, which is being directed by Dean Bryant and musical directed by Matthew Frank, will star Matt Hetherington and Kate Kendall.

The Drama League has announced the rosters of stars who will appear as presenters at The 77th Annual Drama League Awards Ceremony and Luncheon on Friday, May 20, 2011 (noon) in the Grand Ballroom of the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square (1535 Broadway at 46th Street). The ceremony will be hosted by Kathleen Turner (High).

Philadelphia Theatre Company concludes its 35th Anniversary Mainstage Season with the Philadelphia premiere of Ruined by Lynn Nottage, running May 20 through June 12, 2011 at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre (Broad and Lombard Streets).

The Perry-Mansfield New Works Festival (Andrew Leynse, Artistic Director; Emily Tarquin, Festival Producer), with sponsorship from The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, has announced the line-up for the 2011 summer season of theatre and dance at the venerable performing arts camp and school in Steamboat Springs, CO.

The 2011 Planet Connections Theatre Festivity will feature a quite dark and twisted pairing this year.

Every Tony Needs a Tina! BestofOffBroadway.com announced the first annual Tina Award nominations today, honoring the top Off-Broadway productions of the 2010-2011 season.

Lynn Nottage's critically acclaimed world premiere comedy, BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK, has extended a second time, for two weeks through June 12 at Second Stage Theatre (305 West 43rd street). Directed by Jo Bonney, BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK is Ms. Nottage's first play to be produced in New York since she won the Pulitzer Prize for Ruined in 2009. For ticket information, please call the Second Stage Box Office at 212-246-4422 or visit the company's website, www.2ST.com. BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK opened to critical acclaim on Monday, May 9th. Elisabeth Vincentelli of the New York Post called the play, "A DAZZLING, WILDLY ENTERTAINING COMEDY ABOUT RACIAL IDENTITY IN HOLLYWOOD" and Joe Dziemianowicz of the New York Daily News dubbed it, "AN ENORMOUSLY ENTERTAINING COMEDY." Terry Teachout of the Wall Street Journal called Vera Stark, "A SHARP-TOOTHED, INGENIOUSLY CONSTRUCTED COMEDY," while Roma Torre of New York 1 News raved, "BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK IS AN INCREDIBLE PIECE OF WORK - A LAUGH RIOT IN THE FIRST HALF FOLLOWED BY SCINTILLATING SOCIAL COMMENTARY IN THE SECOND -- IT ALL ADDS UP TO AN INCOMPORABLE GEM!" BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK features Stephanie J. Block, Tony Award-nominee Daniel Breaker, Tony Award-nominee David Garrison, Kimberly Hebert Gregory, Kevin Isola, Tony Award nominee Sanaa Lathan, and Tony Award-winner Karen Olivo. In this new comedy, Lynn Nottage draws upon the screwball films of the 1930's to take a funny and irreverent look at racial stereotypes in Hollywood. BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK is a seventy year journey through the life of Vera Stark (Sanaa Lathan), a headstrong African-American maid and budding actress, and her tangled relationship with her boss, a white Hollywood star (Stephanie J. Block) desperately grasping to hold on to her career. When circumstances collide and both women land roles in the same Southern epic, the story behind the cameras leaves Vera with a surprising and controversial legacy scholars will debate for years to come.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Executive Director Ellen Richard announced the appointment of Don-Scott Cooper as general manager.

Lynn Nottage's world premiere comedy, BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK, already extended one week through May 29 at Second Stage Theatre, opens tonight, May 9. Directed by Jo Bonney, BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK is Ms. Nottage's first play to be produced in New York since she won the Pulitzer Prize for Ruined in 2009. For ticket information, please call the Second Stage Box Office at 212-246-4422 or visit the company's website, www.2ST.com. BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK features Stephanie J. Block, Tony Award-nominee Daniel Breaker, Tony Award-nominee David Garrison, Kimberly Hébert Gregory, Kevin Isola, Tony Award nominee Sanaa Lathan, and Tony Award-winner Karen Olivo. Let's see what the critics had to say!