Second Stage News

Chicago Theatre Workshop, in association with Fletcher Jones Volkswagen, is proud to announce the regional premiere of Little Miss Sunshine, May 11 - June 4, at The Edge Theatre, 5451 N. Broadway. Little Miss Sunshine, music and lyrics by James Lapine and book by William Finn, is directed and choreographed by Maggie Portman and music directed by Nick Sula.  Previews are Thursday, May 11 and Friday, May 12 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, May 13 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 14 at 3 p.m. Opening Night is Sunday, May 14 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 for previews and $32.50 - $42.50 for the regular run. Tickets are on sale now at www.chicagotheatreworkshop.org or by calling 773.999.9541.

Justin Guarini will play 'Vincenzo' opposite the previously announced Beth Malone in the title role of THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN at The Muny this summer.

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) announces 16 awards granted from their National Fund for New Musicals, a major funding program to support NAMT member not-for-profit theatres in their collaborations with writers to create, develop and produce new musicals.

Earlier this morning, Laura Benanti (She Loves Me, Gypsy) and Javier Muñoz (Hamilton, In the Heights) announced the nominations for the 62nd Annual Drama Desk Awards.

Community, collaboration and crime capture the mood at Bristol Riverside Theatre's production of Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution, running May 9-May 28.  Directed by Susan D. Atkinson, the high-voltage thriller by the Queen of Crime drama, which concludes BRT's 30th Anniversary Season, features an ensemble of professional actors Sharon Alexander, Keith Baker, Kenneth Boys, Hanna Gaffney,  Leonard C. Haas, Eleanor Handley, Thomas-Robert Irvin, Kyra Leeds, Matt Leisy, James Luse, William R. McHattie, Christopher J. Perugini, Carl Wallnau, Paul B. Weagraff, and Kylie Westerbeck performing alongside Bucks County community members Missy Andrews, Mari Bernhagen, Drew Burke, Melissa Bushey, David Owen Cashell, Sybil Cooper, Matthew DiMarino, Ginny Fairweather, Maryann Fanning, Michael Gearty, Regina Gluhski, Terri Hall, Sarah Konyves, Donna Rae Lee, Matt Lydon, Sr., Matt Lydon, Jr., Donna McCole, Ronald Pae, Eileen Peters, Dottie Polsenberg, Lesia Pryor, Patricia Rooney, Kurt Scholer, Marion M. Walter, Harriet Zeff, and Margie Zielinski.

Incoming WAITRESS star, Betsy Wolfe, is getting ready to step into Jenna's shoes on the set of her photoshoot. Betsy discusses what she thinks of her character Jenna, and why she's excited to join the cast of Waitress. Betsy replaces Sara Bareilles, the show's composer, lyricist, and current Jenna, on June 13. Check out the video below!

Paper Mill Playhouse, recipient of the 2016 Regional Theatre Tony Award, has announced casting for the hit Broadway musical Mary Poppins based on the stories of P.L. Travers and the Walt Disney Film with original music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, book by Julian Fellowes, new songs and additional music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, and co-created by Cameron Mackintosh. Bank of America is the Major Sponsor of Mary Poppins.

John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation, starring seven-time Emmy Award winner Allison Janney ('Mom,' The Girl on the Train), Tony Award winner John Benjamin Hickey (The Normal Heart, 'Manhattan') and Corey Hawkins (Straight Outta Compton, '24: Legacy'), directed by Trip Cullman (Significant Other, Yen), officially opens tonight, April 25, at the Barrymore Theatre (243 West 47th Street). Below, get to know the cast before they take their opening bows!

Neil Simon returns to Oradell as the Bergen County Players close the mainstage portion of their 2016-2017 season with his semi-autobiographical comedy, the Tony Award-nominated "Chapter Two".

Jason Forbach, who was recently featured in the Broadway revival of Les Miserables and Phoenix Best who made her Broadway debut in The Color Purple will star in this summer's production of Evita at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.

The Geffen Playhouse today announced that Downton Abbey star Allen Leech will make his U.S. stage debut opposite Ginnifer Goodwin (Once Upon a Time, Big Love) in the Los Angeles Premiere of Constellations, Nick Payne's 2015 Broadway sensation. The Geffen's production is directed by Giovanna Sardelli (Guards at the Taj) and marks Goodwin's Los Angeles stage debut.

The Drama League (Executive Artistic Director Gabriel Stelian-Shanks) has announced the eleven exceptional stage directors who have been selected as the 2017 Directing Fellows of The Drama League Directors Project.

The new musical, ANASTASIA, dances into Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre (235 West 44th Street) tonight, April 24, 2017, produced by Stage Entertainment, Bill Taylor (Sister Act, Rocky), Tom Kirdahy (It's Only A Play, The Visit) and Hunter Arnold (Kinky Boots, Spring Awakening). The company is led by Christy Altomare, Derek Klena, John Bolton, Ramin Karimloo, Caroline O'Connor and Mary Beth Peil. Scroll down to get to know the company before they take their opening bows!

Culver City residents Jeannine and Jack Stehlin are celebrating the 21st anniversary season of their New American Theatre production company by presenting MACBETH: REVISITED, directed by and starring Jack Stehlin in the title role with choreography and sound design by John Farmanesh-Bocca. Last year, this team of two brilliant production designers brought the award-winning Tempest Redux to the Odyssey Theatre, with mind-blowing choreography enabling the classic tale to resonant with modern audiences. Their great skill working together is again gracing a local stage at Sacred Fools on Hollywood's Theatre Row, featuring a gender-bending cast of company members who tell Shakespeare's tale of power, greed, and the blood-thirst for ambition - all in a roughly 95-minute theatrical journey.

The new Broadway musical Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is currently in performances at Broadway's Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46th Street) and officially opens tonight, April 23, 2017. Scroll down to get to know the company before tonight's opening bows!

Earlier this week, Second Stage Theater (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director; Casey Reitz, Executive Director) announced productions for its inaugural Broadway season at the historic Hayes Theater on Broadway.

BroadwayWorld is thrilled to announce that Dear Evan Hansen's Will Roland will be taking over our Twitter and Instagram accounts today! Tune in to get an up close and personal behind-the-scenes look at the hit Broadway production!

Four intellectuals-a doctor, an actress, a psychologist and a neurobiologist studying the human brain's response to race-search for love, acceptance and identity in Lydia R. Diamond's comedy-drama Smart People, which makes its D.C. debut at Arena Stage. Set against the backdrop of Obama's 2008 election, Diamond's fiercely funny play explores the unavoidable nature of cultural bias. Deputy Artistic Director Seema Sueko makes her Arena Stage directorial debut with this "sexy, serious and very, very funny modern-day comedy of manners" (Variety). Smart People runs April 14-May 21, 2017 in the Kreeger Theater.

After a sold-out run for Lost Girls, Theatre Exile closes their 20th anniversary season with Buzzer by Tracey Scott Wilson. Gentrification comes to a head as the thought-provoking social drama fans the flames of love, race, class and privilege.

Artists at Play will workshop Victor Maog's tot: The Untold, Yet Spectacular Story of (a filipino) Hulk Hogan, followed by multiple readings in May across Los Angeles through a partnership with the Los Angeles Public Library LA Made series and AAP's Annual Reading series. Rodney To will direct Maog's comedy, which will be free for the public to attend.