Second Stage News

Elizabeth Birnkrant, known for her roles in JESUS HOPPED THE A TRAIN for Eclipse Theatre, 1984 at Steppenwolf, VICES AND VIRTUES: THE GREAT WAR at Profiles Theatre and other roles with Sideshow, First Floor and Roadworks theatre companies, has been cast in the leading role of L'il Bit in The Artistic Home's production of Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize winning HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE. The Artistic Home co-founder John Mossman will play Uncle Peck, the family member who has a sexual relationship with his niece Li'l Bit during her pre-teen and teenage years. Mossman, who directed The Artistic Home's BY THE BOG OF CATS last year, as an actor has most recently appeared as Leontes in THE WINTERS TALE and O'Trigger in THE RIVALS at Lakeside Shakespeare Theatre.  He has also appeared with The Artistic Home as MACBETH and as Shannon in NIGHT OF THE IGUANA. He played Atticus Finch in Oak Park Festival Theatre's TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and performed in the Steppenwolf production of THE MARCH.

OBERON, the American Repertory Theater's (A.R.T.) incubator for local and emerging artists, presents Queer Heartache February 9 and 10, 2018 at OBERON, 2 Arrow Street, Cambridge. Created and performed by award-winning, queer, trans, Asian-American poet from Hawaii, Kit Yan anddirected by Jessi Hill, Queer Heartache returns to A.R.T. after an acclaimed run during the 2016/17 I.D. Festival at OBERON.

Vineyard Theatre's Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern and Managing Director Suzanne Appel announce that the 2018 Gala Fundraiser will celebrate Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer and the award-winning theatre company's 35th Anniversary.

Good morning BroadwayWorld! Today's top stories: CARDINAL opens tonight at Second Stage, and KINGS begins previews tonight at the Public Theater!

In conjunction with its current production of Bad Dates, Huntington Theatre Company will host several special events and post-show conversations. Admission to onsite post-show events is free with a ticket to Bad Dates, available at www.huntingtontheatre.org/season/2017-2018/bad-dates/, by phone at 617 266 0800, or in person at the Huntington Avenue Theatre (264 Huntington Avenue) and Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA (527 Tremont Street) box offices. Tickets start at $25. Performances run from January 26 through February 25, 2018 at the Avenue of the Arts / Huntington Avenue Theatre.

Birdland Jazz Club will present vocalist Lorna Dallas in Home Again for one night only as part of the "Broadway at Birdland" concert series, on Monday, February 26, 2018 @7pm.

The Tank (Meghan Finn and Rosalind Grush, Artistic Directors) will present Reveries: An Immersive Theatrical Experience at The Tank (312 West 36th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues) on February 1st, 2018 with six performances through February 4th, 2018.

The Huntington Theatre Company presents the irresistible comedy, Bad Dates, featuring Haneefah Wood (Cassandra in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at the Huntington and Blanche in Fox TV's Grease Live! ), written by Theresa Rebeck (creator of NBC's Smash and the Elliot Norton and IRNE Award-winning play Mauritius, produced at the Huntington in 2006), and directed by Jessica Stone (director of Ripcord and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at the Huntington). Performances run from January 26 through February 25, 2018 at the Avenue of the Arts / Huntington Avenue Theatre.

Monk Parrots announce casting for their New York premiere of Gabriel Jason Dean's (Princeton Hodder Fellow, Dramatist's Guild Fellowship, Broadway Blacklist) critically acclaimed play TERMINUS, directed by Lucie Tiberghien (The Other Thing, Don't Go Gentle, Soldier X, Hoodoo Love, The Pavilion). TERMINUS runs from February 17 - March 10, 2018 in a limited engagement at NEXT DOOR at NYTW, located at 83 East 4th Street between Bowery and 2nd Avenue in New York City. Previews begin February 17 for a February 20 opening.

On this day, we celebrate the life and career of Jonathan Larson, who passed away on this day in 1996.

Lauren Molina joins the cast of WOMEN OF THE WINGS: A CELEBRATION OF FEMALE MUSICAL THEATRE WRITERS Volume II at Feinstein's/54 Below on March 2! 

 A full production of Anna Deavere Smith's “Notes from the Field” opened in late 2016 at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Mass., and immediately transferred to off-Broadway, opening at Second Stage Theater in New York. In this unique one-woman show, Smith dramatized the accounts of students, parents, teachers and administrators affected by American's school-to-prison pipeline, which pushes underprivileged, minority youth out of the classroom and into incarceration.

Kathy Evans, Founding Executive Director of Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, announced applications are open for this summer. Nine musical theatre writing teams will be hosted for 9 consecutive weeklong residencies in the Hudson Valley between July 2 and September 3. All writers are eligible and their musical can be at any stage of development, as long as it has not been published or licensed. Selected writers pay nothing to participate and receive a $500 stipend. All costs are covered by donations to Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, including travel up to $750.  Writers with children are welcomed to apply and Rhinebeck Writers Retreat will accommodate their housing needs. There is no fee for applications received by February 16 and there is a fee of $20 for the final deadline of February 23.  All information, guidelines, and online application can be found at www.rhinebeckwriters.org.

Dallas Summer Musicals, Inc. (DSM) and Broadway Across American (BAA) are pleased to announce that the Dallas engagement of the hit Broadway musical ON YOUR FEET! based on the life story of seven-time GRAMMY winning international superstar Gloria Estefan and her husband, 19-time GRAMMY winning producer-musician-entrepreneur Emilio Estefan is on sale now.

LABA presents two Second Stage events at The Theater at the 14th Street Y, 344 E. 14th Street, New York, NY 10003, in February 2018.

Anthony Rapp, star of the original Broadway production of Rent, posted a photo on Twitter that he took of Rent composer Jonathan Larson. Today marks the 22nd anniversary of Larson's death.

LABA presents two Second Stage events at The Theater at the 14th Street Y, 344 E. 14th Street, New York, NY 10003, in February 2018. 'The first year of the LABA fellowship is really about the first encounter -- the first try, the impulse, a first creative sketch and creating a touch point for the artist,' said Ronit Muszkatblit, Artistic Director of LABA. 'In the Second Stage program, we go into the next layer -- it's about finding depth.

Producer Declan Riley Kunkel has announced that Next To Normal, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical, is returning to New Haven, Connecticut in January.

The Marsh welcomes a new solo show to the Berkeley stage, What They Said About Love by Steve Budd, which was awarded the Best of Fringe at the 2016 San Francisco Fringe Festival. In this absorbing solo show, Steve wonders why other people can and why he can't tie the knot. Budd sheds light on how people meet and make it to the altar, the push and pull of relationships, singles who can't seem to settle down, and more. The Oakland based actor captures the physical and vocal nuances of more than a dozen Bay Area characters, using their own words taken from hours of interviews, and weaves in his relentless search for the one. What They Said About Love, directed by Mark Kenward and developed with David Ford, will be presented 8:00pm Fridays and 8:30pmSaturdays February 2-March 3, 2018 (press opening: February 9) at The Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston Way, Berkeley. For tickets ($20-$35 sliding scale, $55-$100 reserved), the public may visit www.themarsh.org or call The Marsh box office at 415-282-3055 (open 1pm-4pm, Monday through Friday).

Second Stage Theater's Broadway premiere of Kenneth Lonergan's Lobby Hero, directed by Trip Cullman and starring Michael Cera, Chris Evans, Brian Tyree Henry, and Bel Powley, begin previews on Thursday, March 1 at the Hayes Theater (240 West 44th Street) and will officially open on Monday, March 26.