Second Stage News

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre's (NAMT) 25th Annual Festival of New Musicals takes place tomorrow, Thursday, October 17 and Friday, October 18 at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street). Below, meet the writers of the 25th Annual Festival of New Musicals shows!

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T) welcomes Seth Goldman, co-founder and TeaEO of Honest Tea and Harvard College alum, to discuss his new business book in comic format, Mission in a Bottle – The Honest Guide to Doing Business Differently – and Succeeding, published by Crown Business division of Random House. Co-authored with Barry Nalebuff, Honest Tea co-founder and Yale School of Management professor, the book explains how they built their business from five thermoses to morethat 100 million bottles a year. Since its publication in September 2013, it has been named a New York Times and Wall Street Journal Best Seller.

Betsy Wolfe and Adam Kantor will reprise their roles as Cathy and Jamie in Jason Robert Brown's THE LAST FIVE YEARS in a concert version at 54 Below, running tonight, October 16 - 19, 2013.

Partial Comfort Productions (Drama Desk nominee A Bright New Boise) continues its acclaimed World Premiere of AND MILES TO GO by Chad Beckim. Directed by Hal Brooks (Pulitzer Prize finalist Thom Pain), performances run through November 2 at The Wild Project.

New City Stage Company will be opening the 2013-14 season with "RFK", a play about the last 4 years of Senator Robert F. Kennedy's life. The show also began the 2012-13 season and was one of the biggest hits New City Stage has had, selling out out 18 performances in a row and extending 2 weeks. The show is written by Jack Holmes, who grew up in the Philadelphia area and performed in the original production. It is directed by New City Sage Founding Artistic Director Ginger Dayle and stars Producing Artistic Director Russ Widdall as Bobby Kennedy. The show runs October 31 until November 24, 2013 at the Adrienne Theatre Second Stage, with the possibility of an extension. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased by clicking here or calling (215) 563-7500.

Second Stage begins previews for its production of Little Miss Sunshine tonight at 7pm. This new musical is based on the film of the same name by Michael Arndt. It was adapted for the stage by James Lapine, who wrote the book, and William Finn, who wrote the lyrics and music. Lapine and Finn also worked together on The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Falsettos. Little Miss Sunshine will run until Dec 8.

Just yesterday, the cast of Second Stage Theatre's THE LAST FIVE YEARS, including Adam Kantor and Betsy Wolfe, celebrated the release of the cast album at Barnes & Noble. Accompanied by composer Jason Robert Brown, the duo sang from the show and signed copies of the album afterwards. BroadwayWorld was there for the special event and you can check out photo coverage below!

With seven premieres on its stages this year, Artists Rep's 2013/14 season reinforces the theatre's longstanding commitment to producing new plays in Portland. With the U.S. premiere of Foxfinder starting October 29, Artists Rep aims to give this play national recognition and offer West Coast audiences the first look at this up-and-coming playwright.

Bay Street Theatre has announced that Scott Schwartz, a leading voice of the next generation of American theater, has joined Bay Street as its new Artistic Director. A special welcome party was hosted last evening by Bonnie Comley and Stewart Lane at a private club in New York City to celebrate his arrival and to introduce him to Bay Street Theatre patrons and members of the Broadway community of actors, directors and producers. Scroll down for photos from the event!

The New York premiere of Becoming Dr. Ruth, a warmhearted, candid and inspiring comedy starring Debra Jo Rupp, ("That 70's Show") written byMark St. Germain and directed by Julianne Boyd begins previews tonight, Friday, October 11 at 8:00PM.

David Wilson Barnes (Becky Shaw at Second Stage Theatre and London's Almeida Theatre) plays Charlie Duff, a burnt-out local newscaster who transforms first his community and then himself when he begins praying on-air in the Huntington Theatre Company's new production of Stephen Belber's moving new drama The Power of Duff. Amy Pietz ('The Office,' 'Caroline in the City') plays Duff's ex-wife Lisa, and Jennifer Westfeldt (Kissing Jessica Stein, Friends with Kids) plays Sue, Charlie's co-anchor, in the production helmed by Huntington Artistic Director Peter DuBois. Performances begin tonight, October 11 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. The Power of Duff is produced in association with New York Stage and Film and Vassar's Powerhouse Theater.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is pleased to announce a new Artist in Residence initiative at OBERON, its second stage and club-theater venue. This initiative is rooted in A.R.T's mission to expand the boundaries of theater by supporting local and emerging artists. OBERON launches this multi-year program of work and mentorship with three local performance groups: Touch Performance Art, The Boston Circus Guild and Liars & Believers. All three have worked previously in OBERON, creating events in the club theater model and harnessing a new form of theater that is rooted in a social environment.

David Wilson Barnes (Becky Shaw at Second Stage Theatre and London's Almeida Theatre) plays Charlie Duff, a burnt-out local newscaster who transforms first his community and then himself when he begins praying on-air in the Huntington Theatre Company's new production of Stephen Belber's moving new drama The Power of Duff. Amy Pietz ('The Office,' 'Caroline in the City') plays Duff's ex-wife Lisa, and Jennifer Westfeldt (Kissing Jessica Stein, Friends with Kids) plays Sue, Charlie's co-anchor, in the production helmed by Huntington Artistic Director Peter DuBois. Performances begin on October 11 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. The Power of Duff is produced in association with New York Stage and Film and Vassar's Powerhouse Theater. Check out the videos below!

The Civilians, the award-winning New York-based theatre company, announces the members of its 2013-14 R & D Group. The group's emerging and established artists were selected from over one hundred applicants. The R & D Group is comprised of artists from multiple theatrical disciplines. Each artist or creative team will develop an original work over the season. The artists and projects were selected to represent a range of different strategies for making new work from creative inquiry and research. This diversity of approach helps feed a culture of innovation in the group, making the R & D Group an effective lab of experimentation for the field of investigative theater.

Manhattan Theatre Club has announced full casting for the American premiere of Taking Care of Baby by Dennis Kelly and directed by Erica Schmidt. Joining previously announced cast members Reed Birney (Blasted, Our Leading Lady), Kristen Bush (Kin, The Common Pursuit), Tony nominee Amelia Campbell (A Streetcar Named Desire, Our Country's Good) and Margaret Colin (The Columnist, 'Gossip Girl'), are Francois Battiste (Magic/ Bird), Michael Crane (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson off-Broadway), Ethan Phillips (Golden Age) and Zach Shaffer ('Smash').

IATI Theater has announced the World Premiere of Light of Night, written by Cecilia Copeland and directed by Mariana Carreño King. Light of Night will run for only 12 performances at IATI Theater (64 East 4th Street). Performances begin tonight, October 10th and continue through Sunday, October 27th. All performances will be in English.

Smash creator, Theresa Rebeck opens up about her career and the release of her fourth volume of collected plays with a book signing to follow. The event is set for Monday, October 21st at 5pm at The Drama Book Shop.

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE's Hannah Nordberg (Olive Hoover) and Tony nominee Rory O'Malley appear in this new Backstage Pass video for the new musical based on the film of the same name written by Michael Arndt. Check out the behind-the-scenes look below!

Riverside Theatre's 40th Anniversary celebration begins with the tuneful, nostalgic musical, I Love A Piano. This festive musical tribute showcasing songs from the legendary Irving Berlin performs on the Stark Stage from October 29 - November 17, 2013.