Second Stage Theatre News

Broadway heats up this summer now that three-time Emmy Award nominee and 'Grey's Anatomy' star Chandra Wilson has stepped into the celebrated role of Matron 'Mama' Morton, the reigning cellblock diva of the smash hit musical CHICAGO. Chandra Wilson joins the production for a four-week limited engagement which began last night, Monday, June 8 through Sunday, July 5, 2009 at the Ambassador Theatre (219 W. 49th St.). BroadwayWorld.com's cameras were there as she took her first bows as 'Mama' Morton!

Broadway heats up this summer when three-time Emmy Award nominee and 'Grey's Anatomy' star Chandra Wilson steps into the celebrated role of Matron 'Mama' Morton, the reigning cellblock diva of the smash hit musical CHICAGO, for a four-week limited engagement, Monday, June 8 through Sunday, July 5, 2009 at the Ambassador Theatre (219 W. 49th St.).

BroadwayWorld Congratulates Geoffrey Rush, 2009 Tony Award Winner, 'Best Leading Actor in a Play'

BroadwayWorld Congratulates Billy Elliot, 2009 Tony Award Winner, 'Best Musical'

Playwrights Horizons, under the leadership of Artistic Director Tim Sanford and Managing Director Leslie Marcus, proudly announces the sixth and final production of its upcoming 2009/2010 Season, as well as additional casting. Presented at the theater company's home at 416 West 42nd Street, the new production will be: A COOL DIP IN THE BARREN SAHARAN CRICK - the World Premiere of a new play by Playwrights Horizons alumna Kia Corthron (Breath, Boom at Playwrights Horizons, Force Continuum), directed by Obie Award winner Chay Yew (Durango at The Public). A co-production with The Play Company (Kate Loewald, Founding Producer) and Culture Project (Allan Buchman, Artistic Director).

Marin Theatre Company presents the final show of its highly successful 2008-09 season with a seminal work of modern comedy, Joe Orton's uproarious farce What the Butler Saw in MTC's Boyer Theatre beginning June 4.

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, will stage this lesser-known work by Jonathan Larson, June 23 through July 18.

Launched in 2006, the Edgerton Foundation New American Play Awards have a growing track record for success, with 24 out of 46 plays living on in subsequent productions, many of which are nominated for prestigious awards. ?That?s a remarkable outcome,? said Teresa Eyring, Executive Director of Theatre Communications Group (TCG). ?Dr. Brad Edgerton and his wife Louise are clearly making a contribution to play development that has an impact on the continuing life of new plays.?

Today's Broadway Blogs on BroadwayWorld.com from Friday, May 29, 2009.

'Oh, I get it. That one's Blanche and that one's Stella.' 'No, wait that one's Blanche and that one's... Maggie The cat? 'Hold on... I think they're both Blanche.' These are some of the random thoughts that whizzed through my head while trying to see through the clutter of Zakiyyah Alexander's 10 Things to Do Before I Die, a game effort but a frustratingly unfocused piece receiving a well-acted premiere production via Second Stage Theatre Uptown.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director; Ellen Richard, Executive Director) will kick off this summer's Second Stage Theatre Uptown Series with the world premiere of Zakiyyah Alexander's 10 Things To Do Before I Die. Directed by Jackson Gay, 10 Things To Do Before I Die will feature Francois Battiste, Natalie Venetia Belcon, Kyle Beltran, Dion Graham, and Tracie Thoms. Opening night is Thursday, May 28 at 7:00pm.

Playwright Zakiyyah Alexander has been named ACT's 2009 New Play Award winner for her play Sweet Maladies. Two FREE staged readings will be presented by The Hansberry Project in ACT's Falls Theatre on June 6 at 7:30 p.m. and June 7 at 2:00 p.m. Each reading will be followed immediately by post-play discussions with the playwright and the director, Valerie Curtis-Newton. A special reception will be held following the June 7 presentation.

Fresh off her Tony Nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, Jennifer Damiano sat down with BroadwayWorld to discuss bringing her role of Natalie to life.

The new musical Next to Normal officially opened on Broadway on April 15th. Now you can catch the production at a special BWW price for a limited time!

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. Her life takes her from the cornfields of Kansas to the clover fields of New York.

Ghostlight Records confirms yesterday's digital release of the Original Broadway Cast Recording of the critically acclaimed new musical NEXT TO NORMAL. The 4/7 digital release, which has already reached #20 on iTunes, will be followed by a Double-CD brick-and-mortar retail release on May 12th.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) announces the final show of its 2008-09 season: Edward Albee's At Home at the Zoo, staged by acclaimed director Rebecca Bayla Taichman (world premieres of Theresa Rebeck's The Scene and Mauritius and Sarah Ruhl's Dead Man's Cell Phone). This new spellbinder by the master playwright who also penned Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and A.C.T.'s The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, is a meticulously calibrated and dangerously brutal look at relationships intimate and unexpected. The story opens with Peter, a tweedy book editor, and his wife, Ann, whose everyday conversation takes an unexpected turn into dangerously personal territory. It's the kind of conversation that can drive a husband out for a walk-to Central Park, where Jerry, a desperate outcast, awaits. An unforgettable pairing of Albee's original The Zoo Story with a freshly penned prequel, At Home at the Zoo (formerly titled Peter and Jerry) bares its teeth to threaten the delicately balanced world its characters inhabit. Artistic Director Carey Perloff has put together an all-star artistic team on this production, featuring Tony Award-nominated actor Manoel Felciano (Ragtime at The Kennedy Center, A.C.T.'s Rock 'n' Roll, and Sweeney Todd on Broadway) as Jerry and scenic designer Robert Brill, who received a Tony Award nomination last week for his work on Guys and Dolls on Broadway. Hailed by critics as 'a thoroughly satisfying package of jagged-edged provocation' (Newsday) and 'an essential and heartening experience' (The New York Times), Edward Albee's At Home at the Zoo plays at A.C.T. June 5-July 5, 2009. Opening night is Wednesday, June 10, 2009, at 8 p.m. Tickets-starting at $14-are available by calling A.C.T. Ticket Services at 415.749.2228, or at www.act-sf.org.

Following a critically acclaimed season which included the Pulitzer Prize finalist Becky Shaw and the Broadway transfer of its musical hit Next to Normal, Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director; Ellen Richard, Executive Director) has announced three of the four plays scheduled for its upcoming 31st Season.

A new play written and directed by Paul Weitz and the rain-check run of the latest Douglas Carter Beane play are set for the 2009-10 season at Off Broadway's Second Stage Theater according to a report in Variety.

BroadwayWorld Presents The 2009 Tony Award Nominees: 'Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play'