Second Stage News

Next week, FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com/Feinsteins or call (646) 476-3551.

Second Stage Theater presents an upcoming World Premiere musical, Superhero. The show will begin previews January 31, 2019 at the Tony Kiser Theater (305 West 43rd Street) and will officially open on February 28, 2019.

Two-time Tony-winning actress, singer and dancer Sutton Foster returns to Cafe Carlyle, June 11-22. At Cafe Carlyle, she'll perform Broadway favorites and original recordings, focusing on selections from her new album, Take Me to the World, and stories of how being a mother of a two-year-old has informed her work and changed her life.

Building on 40 years of producing powerful contemporary theatre, Studio Theatre is pleased to announce a new class of commissioned playwrights and directors to Studio R&D, its incubator to support the creation of new work from inception to first production. Incoming Studio R&D artists are playwrights James Fritz, James Ijames, Steph Del Rosso, and Emily Schwend, as well as directors Carl Cofield, Lila Neugebauer, and Eric Ruffin. These exciting talents from the US and UK will have Studio's full support in creating aesthetically diverse new work to be presented in future seasons and introduced into the international repertoire. As they create Studio-specific works, commissioned artists will visit Studio to get to know its theatres, programming, and audiences in person.

La MaMa in association with Out of the Box Theatrics presents the World Premiere of DYING IN BOULDER (or the perfect place to die if you have good karma) by Linda Faigao-Hall, directed by Ian Morgan (Associate Artistic Director of The New Group). Previews begin February 28, 2019 at The Downstairs at La MaMa with opening night slated for March 3.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, announces that playwright and screenwriter John Logan will receive the 19th Monte Cristo Award. An alumnus of the O'Neill, John developed the musical Superhero, soon to open off-Broadway, at the O'Neill's 2017 National Music Theater Conference and his Moulin Rouge bows on Broadway this summer. A gala evening in celebration of Logan's many achievements will be held at the Edison Ballroom (New York) on Monday, April 22, 2019.

After the success of School Play in 2017 and Magdalene in 2018 Tribe of Fools is embarking on their third spring-time show, Clown Sex Ed.

Gamut Theatre's Stage Door Series presents Murderess by Anne Bertram opening January 18, 2019 at Gamut Theatre in downtown Harrisburg.

The Sacred Fools Theater Company is kicking off its New Works Reading Series with presentations of four unproduced plays from emerging playwrights that embrace the theatrical form and speak to the diverse culture of contemporary society. The readings will take place on four Sundays at 5:00 pm in late January and February. These readings will be held in the Second Stage at the Broadwater Theater Complex and attendance is free to the public. A series reception will follow the first reading next door at The Broadwater Plunge.

Stages Repertory Theatre is pleased to present, in conjunction with the 2nd Annual Sin Muros: A Latinx Theatre Festival, Marisela Treviño Orta's The River Bride, running from January 23 through February 10, 2019. Chronicling the lives of two sisters in a Brazilian fishing village who are struggling to find their own happily-ever-after while bound to family honor and tradition, the play incorporates traditional Brazilian folklore and lyrical storytelling to weave a magical tale of love, fate and transformation. The River Bride received its world premiere in 2016 at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and has been performed at the Arizona Theatre Company, Halycon Theatre and Su Teatro over the past three years.

IAMA Theatre Company has named playwright Sanaz Toossi as the 2019 recipient of the Rhimes Unsung Voices Playwriting Commission. The commission, sponsored by award-winning writer and producer Shonda Rhimes (Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, How To Get Away With Murder), was created to help grow and nourish budding playwrights and artists with emphasis on cultural inclusion and the goal to showcase fresh, creative, thought-provoking work.

Second Stage Theater has announced that playwright Bess Wohl and director Michael Greif will return to Second Stage Theater next summer with the New York premiere of MAKE BELIEVE.

Tony Award-winning producer Daryl Roth (Kinky Boots, The Normal Heart, Indecent) announced today that Patricia Kalember ("Power," "Sisters," "thirtysomething") will put on the aviator glasses of iconic activist Gloria Steinem in GLORIA: A Life beginning Tuesday, January 29. Christine Lahti will play her final performance as Gloria on January 27.

A powerful, emotionally-riveting, dynamically-staged original stage musical, DEAR EVAN HANSEN is a truly incredible, phenomenal show that I happily admit-in just a few years of its existence-has quickly become one of my favorite Broadway musicals of all time. Not only does it feature gorgeous, memorable songs from Oscar winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, it also has a simple but notably layered and impactful book by Steven Levenson that encourages deeper, meaningful discourse long after the end of the show. Even more remarkable is that the show presents a troubled but empathetic title character that demands so much from the extraordinary Ben Levi Ross-the actor tasked to bring him to life-that you are left in awe at his performance's sheer tenacity and brilliance. Thankfully, it has finally arrived at Orange County's Segerstrom Center for the Arts, where the Tony Award-winning musical's first national tour continues its much-too-brief two-week engagement through January 13, 2019 in Costa Mesa.

Kathy Evans, Founding Executive Director of Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, announced applications are open for this summer. Nine musical theatre writing teams will be awarded nine consecutive weeklong residencies in the Hudson Valley between June 30 and September 1. Each team gets a private retreat to focus solely on writing their new musical. All writers are eligible and their musical can be at any stage of development. All costs are covered including travel up to $750, and each writer gets a $500 stipend. Writers with children are welcomed to apply. There is no fee for applications received by February 6 and there is a fee of $20 for the final deadline of February 16.  More information and the online application can be found at https://www.rhinebeckwriters.org/2019-residencies.

Make a joyful noise! Today, January 8, Manhattan Theatre Club's Broadway premiere of Choir Boy, written by Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney and directed by Drama Desk Award nominee Trip Cullman, opens at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.

When in comes to portraying one of pop culture's biggest superstars of all time, it takes not one... not two... but three Broadway powerhouses to bring her to life onstage. Cher is on Broadway this season, played at three stages of her life by the incomparable Stephanie J. Block, Teal Wicks and Micaela Diamond. Below, watch as Richard Ridge checks in with all three leading ladies as they chat about becoming the Star, Lady and Babe, wearing her iconic clothes, and what they've already learned from the living legend!

Second Stage Theater has released a sneak peek music video of "I'll Save the Girl," from the upcoming World Premiere musical, SUPERHERO. The song is performed by cast member KYLE McARTHUR, accompanied by composer/lyricist TOM KITT on the piano. Watch below!

Geva Theatre Center's 2018-2019 Fielding Studio Series continues with the world premiere of The Magician's Daughter, written by Lila Rose Kaplan and directed by Shelley Butler. This production marks the second world premiere of the season, following hot on the heels of the world premiere of Brent Askari's Hard Cell - also premiering in January. The Magician's Daughter begins performances on January 24 and runs in the Fielding Stage through February 10.

The Old Globe has announced The Old Globe Classical Directing Fellowship, led by the Globe's Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein, a leading Shakespearean scholar, author, and director. Four directing fellows-Daniel Jaquez, Delicia Turner Sonnenberg, Sam White, and LA Williams-will participate in the pilot session of this new initiative. They will be in residence from Tuesday, January 22 through Friday, January 26, 2019.