Second Stage Theatre News

The Huntington Theatre Company concludes its 28th season - a season of American stories - with the award-winning playwright Craig Lucas' modern classic Prelude to a Kiss. Peter and Rita are two young, happy lovers who are getting married. On their wedding day, an old man comes up to kiss the bride.

The American Repertory Theater (Diane Paulus, Artistic Director) continues its landmark season with its production of Johnny Baseball, a world premiere musical about the Red Sox, directed by Diane Paulus.

One of Orange County's newest theater companies, 3D Theatricals, will present THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE from May 21 thru June 13 at the O.C. Pavilion Theatre in the Arts district of downtown Santa Ana.

On Monday, May 24 at 8 pm, Tony-nominated actors Kate Burton and Michael Cumpsty will star in a reading of THE POETS' THEATRE: Elizabeth Bishop & Robert Lowell at the 92nd Street Y. Sixty-three years after they were supposed to meet at the 92nd Street Y, star-crossed poets and long-time pen pals Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell will get another chance. Burton and Cumpsty will read from Bishop and Lowell's letters and poetry, drawing on the 2008 book, Words in Air: The Complete Correspondence Between Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell (out by Faber and Faber).

Old Globe Executive Producer Lou Spisto today announced the cast and creative team for the West Coast Premiere of Matthew Lopez's The Whipping Man. The Civil War drama is directed by Giovanna Sardelli and will run in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre through June 13. Opening night is May 13 at 8:00 p.m. Single tickets are currently on sale andcan be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Box Office.

This spring, at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, romance unfolds in a new musical wound around the love songs of the landmark album Girlfriend.

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE (James Bundy, Artistic Director; Victoria Nolan, Managing Director) presents BATTLE OF BLACK AND DOGS by Bernard-Marie Koltès, translated by Michaël Attias, and directed by Robert Woodruff, at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street, at York), April 16-May 8. Opening Night is Thursday, April 22.

The American Repertory Theater is pleased to announce the cast for Johnny Baseball, a world premiere musical about the Red Sox, with music by Robert Reale, lyrics by Willie Reale, book by Richard Dresser, story by Richard Dresser and Willie Reale, with musical direction and vocal arrangements by Wendy Bobbitt Cavett; musical arrangements by Bruce Coughlin.

Following an acclaimed season which included the New York Premiere of Anna Deavere Smith's Let Me Down Easy and the Broadway transfer of the musical hit Everyday Rapture, Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) has announced three plays for its upcoming 32nd Season.

Lortel Statues for 14 categories and 2 special awards were handed out by celebrity presenters at the 2010 Lucille Lortel Awards at a live awards ceremony tonight at Terminal 5. Hosted by the Off-Broadway League, the live show was co-hosted by Bryan Batt and Bebe Neuwirth and featured performances by Alan Menken, STOMP, Seth Rudetsky, Edward Watts of The Fanasticks and LaChanze.

Ann Arbor is soon to welcome a new addition to the theatre scene. The New Theatre Project is a professional production company with the mission to create new plays, restore established plays for a new audience, explore newer and largely undiscovered texts and present plays that created new theatrical revolutions. TNTP is committed to ensemble work that uses non-traditional, non-hierarchical ways of organization to produce theatre.

Everyday Rapture is the story of a young woman's psycho-sexual-spiritual journey on the rocky path that separates her mostly Mennonite past from her mostly Manhattan future. With a cast led by Sherie Rene Scott, Everyday Rapture also features songs made famous by David Byrne, Roberta Flack, Mister Rogers, The Supremes, and Judy Garland.

American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) presents the world premiere of the musical Johnny Baseball by Richard Dresser, Robert Reale, and Willy Reale, directed by Diane Paulus. The production begins performances on May 16 and runs through June 27, 2010 at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Harvard Square, Cambridge.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) kicks off this summer's Second Stage Theatre Uptown Series with the New York premiere of Year Zero, written by Michael Golamco (Cowboy versus Samurai).

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) has announced that USMAN ALLY, TERENCE ARCHIE, DESMIN BORGES, CHRISTIAN LITKE, and MICHAEL T. WEISS (NBC's 'The Pretender') will star in the New York premiere of THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY, a new play written by Kristoffer Diaz and directed by Edward Torres.

Second Stage Theater presents The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity By Kristoffer Diaz. Directed by Edward Torres, the show runs APRIL 26 - JUNE 20 at the Second Stage Theatre, 305 W. 43rd St.

The Language Archive, written by Julia Cho will end its run April 25 at the South Coast Repertory Theatre. Recipient of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the show features Leo Marks, Betsy Brandt, Laura Heisler, Tony Amendola and Linda Gehringer.

The Indian Wells Theater will end its current production of THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED starring Greg Louganis and Teresa Ganzel on April 25. The production was presented as a part of their Broadway Series.

Rubicon Theatre Company continues its 2009-2010 Season with a revival of BETH HENLEY's Pulitzer Prize-winning play CRIMES OF THE HEART. Set in Mississippi in 1974 (five years after Hurricane Camille), this sweet, sexy comedy follows the travails of the three Magrath sisters, who come together at the family home in Hazelhurst when the youngest Babe is charged with shooting her husband 'cause she didn't like his looks.'

The Lucille Lortel Awards announced today the details for the 25th Anniversary Lortel Awards Reception & Ceremony. The Awards Reception will be held on May 2, 2010 at 6 PM EST with the Ceremony beginning at 8 PM EST at Terminal 5, 610 West 56th Street, between 11th & 12th Avenues. Members of the industry may purchase tickets through the Off-Broadway League while members of the public wishing to watch the show can purchase tickets at ticketcentral.com or via phone 212-279-4200.