Second Stage Theatre News

Meet gossip columnists MR. & MRS. FITCH. When the social circuit no longer provides any scandalous news, they find that great celebrity can appear out of thin air. Tony Award nominee Douglas Carter Beane's wicked new comedy is a scathing look at who is in, who is out and who may not even exist at all.

The producers of the critically acclaimed Off-Broadway production of' Thornton Wilder's Our Town, have announced that Obie Award-winner Jason Butler Harner will assume the central role of 'Stage Manager' in David Cromer's staging of Wilder's timeless play. Beginning Tuesday, August 25th, Mr. Harner will succeed Mr. Cromer who departs the company to begin rehearsals for his Broadway directorial debut this fall with Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound.

Barrington Stage Company, under the leadership of Julianne Boyd, Artistic Director, and Richard M. Parison, Jr., Producing Director, announce the theatre?s 15th Anniversary Season. Opening on the Mainstage will be Rodgers and Hammerstein?s musical masterpiece Carousel from June 17 through July 11. BSC will present its first thriller, the Tony Award-winning play Sleuth by Anthony Shaffer, from July 16 through August 1. Tennessee Williams? landmark play A Streetcar Named Desire will conclude the Mainstage summer season from August 6 through 29. The Mainstage fall show will be announced at a later date. On Stage 2, receiving its world premiere is Mark St. Germain?s Freud?s Last Session from June 10 through 28. Glen Berger?s hit Off-Broadway play Underneath the Lintel will play on Stage 2 from July 8 though 26.

Partial Comfort Productions (nami, Battle of the Bards) presents the World Premiere of THE BEREAVED by Thomas Bradshaw, directed by May Adrales. Previews begin September 2nd at The Wild Project where Partial Comfort is in its 1st season as a resident company. Opening night is scheduled for Wednesday, September 9th.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) will launch its 31st season this fall with the New York premiere of Anna Deavere Smith's LET ME DOWN EASY. Conceived, written, and performed by Ms. Smith and directed by Leonard Foglia, LET ME DOWN EASY will begin preview performances on Tuesday, September 15 and will officially open on Wednesday, October 7 at 6:45pm.

The New School for Drama has announced that the award-winning playwright Jon Robin Baitz will be the distinguished artist-in-residence for the 2009-2010 academic year. Baitz is a Pulitzer finalist, a Guggenheim and NEA fellow, and winner of an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award. A founding member and former artistic director of New York's Naked Angels theater company, Baitz has written a number of acclaimed plays, including The Film Society, The Substance of Fire, Three Hotels, A Fair Country, Ten Unknowns, Mizlansky/Zilinsky, a new version of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler (produced on Broadway in 2001), and The Paris Letter. Playwrights Horizons, the Roundabout Theatre Company, Lincoln Center Theater, and the Second Stage Theatre have produced Baitz's work in New York. His new play, Love and Mercy, will be produced next season on Broadway.

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

Partial Comfort Productions (nami, Battle of the Bards) presents the World Premiere of THE BEREAVED by Thomas Bradshaw, directed by May Adrales. Previews begin September 2nd at The Wild Project where Partial Comfort is in its 1st season as a resident company. Opening night is scheduled for Wednesday, September 9th.

Today Berkeley Repertory Theatre announced the creative team for its world premiere of American Idiot. Based on the Grammy Award-winning album of the same name, the show features the music of Green Day and the lyrics of its frontman Billie Joe Armstrong. American Idiot is being staged by Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer, who also collaborated with Armstrong on the story. It features the work of Olivier Award-winning choreographer Steven Hoggett and music supervisor Tom Kitt, the Tony-winning composer who provided string arrangements for the band's latest album, 21st Century Breakdown.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director, Ellen Richard, Executive Director) continues this summer's Second Stage Theatre Uptown Series with the world premiere of Lila Rose Kaplan's Wildflower. Directed by Giovanna Sardelli, Wildflower features Nadia Bowers, Ron Cephas Jones, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Jake O'Connor and Renée Felice Smith. Previews began Monday, July 13 and opening night is this evening, Monday, July 27 at 7:00pm.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director, Ellen Richard, Executive Director) continues this summer's Second Stage Theatre Uptown Series with the world premiere of Lila Rose Kaplan's Wildflower. Directed by Giovanna Sardelli, Wildflower features Nadia Bowers, Ron Cephas Jones, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Jake O'Connor and Renée Felice Smith. Previews begin Monday, July 13 and opening night is Monday, July 27 at 7:00pm.

Josh Young presents Cutting-Edge Composers, A New Generation of Musical Theater Songwriters

The Playwrights Realm - under the leadership of Co-Artistic Directors John Dias and Katherine Kovner and Producing Director Stephanie Ybarra - and the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts present the 2009 WRITERS JAM SESSION - a week of readings by emerging artists, featuring such acting talents as Tovah Feldshuh (IRENA'S VOW, GOLDA'S BALCONY), Michael Cumpsty (DEMOCRACY, COPENHAGEN), Mather Zickel ('Rachel Getting Married,' 'I Love You, Man'), etc. free and open to the public - at the NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program Center (113 2nd Avenue, between 6th and 7th Streets). For reservations please email jd1429@nyu.edu.

The Playwrights Realm - under the leadership of Co-Artistic Directors John Dias and Katherine Kovner and Producing Director Stephanie Ybarra - and the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts present the 2009 WRITERS JAM SESSION - a week of readings by emerging artists, featuring such acting talents as Tovah Feldshuh (IRENA'S VOW, GOLDA'S BALCONY), Michael Cumpsty (DEMOCRACY, COPENHAGEN), Mather Zickel ('Rachel Getting Married,' 'I Love You, Man'), etc. free and open to the public - at the NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program Center (113 2nd Avenue, between 6th and 7th Streets). For reservations please email jd1429@nyu.edu.

From the genius who created the smash hit, 'Rent,' comes 'tick, tick...BOOM!,' a vital American musical about a young artist on the verge in New York City. Westport Country Playhouse, Westport, Connecticut, stages this lesser-known work by Jonathan Larson through July 18.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director; Ellen Richard, Executive Director) concludes 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 features Lauren Kennedy, Sarah Stiles, and Anneliese van der Pol.

Partial Comfort Productions (nami, Battle of the Bards) presents the World Premiere of THE BEREAVED by Thomas Bradshaw, directed by May Adrales. Previews begin September 2nd at The Wild Project where Partial Comfort is in its 1st season as a resident company. Opening night is scheduled for Wednesday, September 9th.

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) presents 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 features Lauren Kennedy, Sarah Stiles, and Anneliese van der Pol and will officially open on Thursday, July 16 at 6:45pm.