Second Stage Theatre News

After developmental productions that drew high praise from prominent theatre critics, and left audiences alternately speechless and effusive, engaged and enraged, the Huntington Theatre Company presents the world premiere of Eleanor Burgess's explosive new play, The Niceties, running August 31 to October 6 at the South End/Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. The Huntington is pleased to produce the play in association with two other leading theatre companies. The production will move Off Broadway to Manhattan Theatre Club immediately following the Boston run, and then continue on to Princeton, NJ for performances at McCarter Theatre Center.  

11th Hour Theatre Company is bringing its sold-out Next Step Concert Series to the Jersey Shore this summer.  11th Hour is excited to present The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee - In Concert at the Gateway Playhouse in Somers Point. The concert runs August 23-26.

Aaron Tveit, star of stage and screen, will bring his solo cabaret show to San Francisco's Marines' Memorial Theatre (609 Sutter St.) on Thursday, September 27 at 8 p.m. Presented by 'Feinstein's Presents'-Feinstein's at the Nikko's series showcasing world-class performers at larger venues throughout the Bay Area-this one-night-only event will feature songs and stories from throughout Tveit's celebrated career

The Old Globe today announced the cast and creative team as the 2018 Summer Shakespeare Festival continues with the finest of the Bard's work outdoors under the stars in the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre. Celebrate romance with Much Ado About Nothing, directed by three-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall (the Globe's Love's Labor's Lost), running August 12 - September 16, 2018. Tickets start at $30.00, on sale to the general public now. Previews run August 12-17. Opening night is Saturday, August 18 at 8:00 p.m.

Good morning BroadwayWorld! Today's top stories: get a first look at Encores! production of Songs For a New World, and more!

For the second consecutive year, The Old Globe will participate in the George Stevens Senior Center's annual Juneteenth Celebration by presenting an original play developed in the coLAB workshop: Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley: From Slavery to Modiste. Written by local community member and new playwright Claudia Thompson, it will be directed by the award-winning Delicia Turner Sonnenberg (Skeleton Crew at the Globe last spring).

Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT) is pleased to announce that David Henderson, a veteran community engagement, marketing, and communications specialist for the non-profit field, will become the new Director of Marketing and Communications. In this role, which starts June 18, 2018, Henderson will oversee marketing, communications, and public relations for the theatre. He joins MRT's senior leadership team and will work closely with Executive Director Bonnie J. Butkas, who started in the fall, and Artistic Director Sean Daniels, beginning his fourth season at MRT.

The Off-Broadway League has announced that Terry Byrne was elected as the new President of The Off-Broadway League. Byrne is the first female president in the nearly 60 year history of the League. The organization also announced three new additions to the Board, including Dean Carpenter, Steven Chaikelson and Casey York.

Free For All, one of the capital's cherished annual traditions, will return this summer to Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC), offering two weeks of free performances of the Company's 2016 production of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. Directed by STC Associate Artistic Director Alan Paul, whose hit production of Camelot has extended through July 8 due to popular demand, the production will run at Sidney Harman Hall (610 F St NW) from August 21-September 2, providing more than 12,000 people the chance to see the play free of charge.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company began producing ensemble-driven plays in a church basement in the suburbs of Chicago in 1976. Today the company is a leader in the American Theater proudly based in Chicago with more than 50 groundbreaking actors, directors and playwrights who call Steppenwolf their artistic home. While deeply rooted in the Chicago community, the impact of Steppenwolf's work is felt nationwide.

The Globe is happy to announce that the Globe for All Tour will continue to bring shows to the community in 2018, with support provided by Theatre Forward's Advancing Strong Theatre grant program. Following the Globe engagement of Karen Zacarias's hilarious comedy directed by Edward Torres, Native Gardens will travel June 28 through July 1 to four of our community partner venues for free performances in South Bay, Lemon Grove, Otay Mesa, and Oceanside. Developed in the 2017 Powers New Voices Festival, it runs through June 24 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, and then hits the road!

The hilarious, ridiculous musical comedy THE RUNAWAY CLONE will be premiering at The Broadwater Second Stage for the Hollywood Fringe Festival. An original musical comedy written by Jonathan Winton Brenner and Pam Eberhardt, The Runaway Clone centers around an Agency in the future that makes and sells clones to humans. One clone escapes and takes with her all of the agency's secrets. In a panic that the world will know the truth which the Agency has been hiding for years, the administration sets out on a mission to retrieve the runaway clone and keep their empire intact. Will the Runaway Clone reach the School for Clones in time? Will the Agency protect their legacy of lies? What's a Sausage Balloon? Find out in The Runaway Clone at the 2018 Hollywood Fringe Festival!

The UC San Diego Department of Theatre and Dance presents SERE, written by Ava Geyer and directed by Dylan Key, as part of the 2018 Wagner New Play Festival.

The world's changing, bro. This summer, Goodman Theatre premieres Support Group for Men, a new comedy by Ellen Fairey, directed by Kimberly Senior. Fairey, whose work has been hailed 'a must-see for anyone who follows important new plays' (Chicago Tribune), explores shifting social and gender roles through the lens of four men who gather every Thursday night to vent about middle-aged maladies.

The UC San Diego Department of Theatre and Dance presents SERE, written by Ava Geyer and directed by Dylan Key, as part of the 2018 Wagner New Play Festival.

The UC San Diego Department of Theatre and Dance presents SERE, written by Ava Geyer and directed by Dylan Key, as part of the 2018 Wagner New Play Festival.

Rhinebeck Writers Retreat is presenting a private reading of the new musical, THE PROXY MARRIAGE, book and lyrics by Michele Lowe and music and lyrics by Adam Gwon, on May 7 in New York City, which includes actors Jason Tam (Jesus Christ Superstar Live on NBC, Broadway: A Chorus Line, If/Then), Whitney Bashor (The Bridges of Madison County), Anika Larsen (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Avenue Q), and Daniel Jenkins (Mary Poppins, Billy Elliot, Big River). The reading is directed by Lonny Price (Sunset Boulevard starring Glenn Close) and music directed by Vadim Feichtner (Falsettos Broadway revival).

The Colorado New Play Festival (CNPF) (Artistic Director Andrew Leynse) (formerly the Perry-Mansfield New Works Festival) is proud to announce the full lineup of plays and playwrights for the 2018 season. The 21st Annual Festival, to be held on June 10-16, 2018 in Steamboat Springs, CO, will develop five new works in partnership with the Actors Theatre of Louisville, Alley Theatre, Curious Theatre Company, Primary Stages, and Victory Gardens Theater.

On Thursday, April 26 (1pm) join us at the Robin Williams Center (247 West 54th Street) for a Career Conversations Q&A with Joshua Jackson (The Affair, Dawson's Creek), current star of Children of a Lesser God, moderated by BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge of 'Backstage with Richard Ridge!'

The hilarious, ridiculous musical comedy THE RUNAWAY CLONE will be premiering at The Broadwater Second Stage for the Hollywood Fringe Festival. An original musical comedy written by Jonathan Winton Brenner and Pam Eberhardt, The Runaway Clone centers around an Agency in the future that makes and sells clones to humans. One clone escapes and takes with her all of the agency's secrets. In a panic that the world will know the truth which the Agency has been hiding for years, the administration sets out on a mission to retrieve the runaway clone and keep their empire intact. Will the Runaway Clone reach the School for Clones in time? Will the Agency protect their legacy of lies? What's a Sausage Balloon? Find out in The Runaway Clone at the 2018 Hollywood Fringe Festival!