Shirley Booth News

Westport Country Playhouse announces playwright-in-residence David Wiltse's 'tour de farce' office comedy, 'Scramble!, will be staged July 9 through 26.

Westport Country Playhouse and Westport Arts Center will co-present two award-winning legends - playwright Edward Albee and film and theatre actor Kathleen Turner in 'Artists in Conversation,' a casual, intimate talk between two theatre professionals who also happen to be good friends, on Monday, June 23, 8 p.m., at the Playhouse.

The Tony Awardâ-winning Manhattan Theatre Club (Peter J. Solomon, Chairman of the Board; Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, Executive Producer) today announced it will rename its Broadway house, the landmarked Biltmore Theatre, the 'Samuel J. Friedman Theatre' in recognition of the pioneering Broadway publicist.

MAGGIE MAES & KIMBERLY VAUGHN will present Four Women & a Waitress, at the ArcLight Theatre, June 10-22, 2008. The two plays, Rosemary with Ginger by Edward Allen Baker & The Stronger by August Strindberg, will be directed by KARL BURY & STEPHEN WADSWORTH, respectively.

Westport Country Playhouse and Westport Arts Center will co-present two award-winning legends - playwright Edward Albee and film and theatre actor Kathleen Turner in 'Artists in Conversation,' a casual, intimate talk between two theatre professionals who also happen to be good friends, on Monday, June 23, 8 p.m., at the Playhouse.

MAGGIE MAES & KIMBERLY VAUGHN will present Four Women & a Waitress, at the ArcLight Theatre, June 10-22, 2008. The two plays, Rosemary with Ginger by Edward Allen Baker & The Stronger by August Strindberg, will be directed by KARL BURY & STEPHEN WADSWORTH, respectively.

Westport Country Playhouse (Joanne Woodward and Anne Keefe, Artistic Directors, Jodi Schoenbrun Carter, Managing Director) announced that distinguished actor and director Paul Newman, who was slated to direct the fall production, 'Of Mice and Men' by John Steinbeck, will step down from making his directorial debut at the Playhouse due to health issues.

Westport Country Playhouse (Joanne Woodward and Anne Keefe, artistic directors, and Jodi Schoenbrun Carter, managing director) will launch 'The Classical Series,' bringing together professional actors to read works by master playwrights. The series premiere will feature Emmy Award winner Jane Curtin, Tony Award winner Joanna Gleason, Obie Award winner Kristine Nielsen and stage, film and television actor Chris Sarandon.

Westport Country Playhouse announces its summer roster of shows, featuring Tony Award winner James Naughton directing a Cole Porter musical revue; 'Saturday Night Live's' Rachel Dratch appearing in David Wiltse's 'tour de farce' office comedy; and Playhouse favorite Mark Shanahan ('Sedition,' 'David Copperfield,' 'Journey's End') performing in a thriller.

Julia Roberts will host the annual gala for Westport Country Playhouse, Westport, CT (Joanne Woodward and Anne Keefe, artistic directors, Jodi Schoenbrun Carter, managing director) on Monday, September 15.

Westport Country Playhouse (Joanne Woodward and Anne Keefe, artistic directors, Jodi Schoenbrun Carter, managing director) will stage a masterful blend of comedy and drama, 'The Pavilion,' by Craig Wright, award-winning playwright and Emmy-nominated writer/producer of television's 'Lost,' 'Six Feet Under' and 'Dirty Sexy Money.' Directed by Chad Rabinovitz, Playhouse artistic associate, the production will run from May 13 through May 31.

Campbell Scott, Isaiah Sheffer and B. D. Wong will read short stories at 'Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story,' the live performance version of the renowned public radio show of the same name, on Monday, May 19, 8 p.m., at Westport Country Playhouse.

Tony Award-winner Victoria Clark will be joined by Conrad John Schuck, Dermot Crowley, Celia Keenan-Bolger and Michael Arden in Marc Blitzstein and Joseph Stein's Juno, the second Encores! production of New York City Center's 2008 season. Directed by Tony Award- winner Garry Hynes with guest music direction by Eric Stern and choreography by Warren Carlyle, Juno will play for five performances, from March 27 - 30, at New York City Center, West 55th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues). This will be the first production since the original Broadway staging in 1959 to use the original orchestration by Blitzstein, Hershey Kay and Robert Russell Bennett.

Tony Award-winner Victoria Clark will be joined by Conrad John Schuck, Dermot Crowley, Celia Keenan-Bolger and Michael Arden in Marc Blitzstein and Joseph Stein's Juno, the second Encores! production of New York City Center's 2008 season, performances are March 27-30.

Victoria Clark will star in Marc Blitzstein and Joseph Stein's Juno, the second Encores! production of New York City Center's 2008 season. Directed by Tony Award winner Garry Hynes, with guest music direction by Eric Stern and musical staging by Warren Carlyle, Juno will play for five performances, from March 27 - 30, at New York City Center

Gerald Schoenfeld, Board Chairman of The Shubert Organization and The Shubert Foundation, will receive the Joan Warburg Humanitarian Award from The Acting Company on Monday, November 12. Legendary producer Edgar Lansbury, will be presented the John Houseman Award honoring his commitment to the development of classical actors and a national audience for the theater.

Variety.com reports that SAG President Alan Rosenberg (Broadway's Lost in Yonkers, TV's 'CSI,' film Last Temptation of Christ) will be starring opposite Tony-nominee S. Epatha Merkerson (TV's 'Law & Order,' Broadway's The Piano Lesson) in Center Theater Group's production of William Inge's Come Back, Little Sheba.

Emmy Award-winning stage and TV star S. Epatha Merkerson will star in William Inge's Come Back, Little Sheba at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in L.A. from June 17th through July 15th, with opening night set for June 24th.

'The only thing I've ever wanted to do in my entire life is to be on Broadway' ~ Audra McDonald upon winning her fourth Tony Award and Broadway is all the better for it!