Sidney Kingsley News

Theatre Royal Bath Productions today announces the UK premiere of Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike as part of its 2019 Summer Season, directed by the Tony Award-winning US director Walter Bobbie. The comedy, produced by special arrangement with Joey Parnes, Larry Hirschhorn, Sue Wagner and John Johnson, will open at the Ustinov Studio where it runs from 6 June to 6 July with press night on 12 June.

On Monday, March 18, DGF hosted a Salon at the Lambs Club where they presented actress Judith Light and playwright Tony Kushner with the DGF Madge Evans & Sidney Kingsley Awards. Former DGF Fellow, Oliver Houser, was also presented with the inaugural DGF Stephen Schwartz Award. The evening featured performances by Michael R. Jackson, James Jackson Jr., Sean Patrick Cameron, and Oliver Houser, and remarks by Jordan Roth, Jon Robin Baitz, and Stephen Schwartz.

Powerful drama: still made in America. Lynn Nottage's 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Sweat opens tonight in its Chicago premiere at Goodman Theatre. Ron OJ Parson directs the collision of race, class and friendship at a pivotal moment in America-hailed as 'extraordinarily moving' (The New York Times) and 'passionate and necessary...a masterful depiction of the forces that divide and conquer us' (Time Out New York). Sweat marks the fourth Nottage play to be produced at the Goodman, following Crumbs from the Table of Joy (2006), Ruined (a 2008 world-premiere Goodman commission that earned the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama) and By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (2013). Sweat appears through April 14 in the Albert Theatre. Tickets ($20 - $80; subject to change) are available at Goodmantheatre.org/Sweat, by telephone at 312.443.3800 or at the box office (170 N. Dearborn).

Actress Judith Light and playwright Tony Kushner are set to receive DGF Madge Evans & Sidney Kingsley Awards. Former DGF Fellow, Oliver Houser, also announced as recipient of the DGF Stephen Schwartz Award.

With the original run and first extension completely sold out, Steep Theatre is extending the run of Ike Holter's Red Rex through March 30. Jack Miggins, who was nominated for a Jeff Award for his work in Steep's 2014 production of The Vandal, will join the cast in the role of Adam beginning on March 13. Tickets are on sale now at steeptheatre.com/redrex, and they're expected to sell very quickly. 

Evening Crane Theatre will present the world premiere production of Four Seasons by Michael Seebold on February 1st, at Triskelion Arts' Muriel Schulman Theater in Brooklyn.

With the original run completely sold out, Steep Theatre is extending the run of Ike Holter's Red Rex through March 16 and adding Wednesday evening performances to the schedule beginning February 6. Tickets are on sale now at steeptheatre.com/redrex, and they're expected to sell very quickly. 

In January, Steep Ensemble Member Jonathan Berry returns to Steep to direct the world premiere of Ike Holter's Red Rex, the sixth play in Holter's seven-play "Rightlynd Saga" about Chicago. Since the 2012 production of his Hit the Wall, Holter's work has gained increasing national and international attention. In describing the "Rightlynd Saga," Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune opined that it "might just be one of the most significant literary achievements in modern-day Chicago." Holter's play Rightlynd, part of the seven-play saga, is currently in production at Victory Gardens Theatre, and his Lottery Day, the final play in the saga, premieres in the Spring of 2019 at the Goodman Theatre. Director Jonathan Berry has been at the helm of many of Steep's most memorable shows, including the recent smash-hit production of Simon Stephens' Birdland.

Evening Crane Theatre will present the world premiere production of Four Seasons by Michael Seebold on February 1st, at Triskelion Arts' Muriel Schulman Theater in Brooklyn.

-A small theater company moves into an abandoned Chicago storefront. Led by their adventurously thirsty artistic director, they embark on an explosive new play with the hope of finally breaking it big. When the ensemble realizes their source material might not be as original as once assumed, they are thrust into an intense confrontation with residents of their new community, who not only want them out, but will take their story back by any means necessary. Red Rex is the sixth play in Ike Holter's seven part 'Rightlynd Saga," which also includes Exit Strategy, Prowess, and The Wolf at the End of the Block.

Eclipse Theatre Company announces 2019 season will feature the comedic works of playwright Christopher Durang

As BroadwayWorld sadly reported last week, composer/lyricist/actress Carol Hall passed away at age 82. We remember the Broadway veteran below.

Via Brooklyn and The Southampton Inn are proud to present the first ever VB Reads: Feast and Fiction, a play reading series. VB Reads will present Monica: This Play Is Not About Monica Lewinsky by Dianne Nora on Saturday, July 14th at 9pm and Collected Stories by Donald Margulies today, July 17th at 8pm. This two-night event will be hosted by The Southampton Inn at their in-house restaurant, Claude's at 91 Hill Street, Southampton, NY 11968. The event will feature a special prix fixe menu option, titled The Full Feast, as well as a drink and dessert option, titled Sips and Sweets, to be served as you enjoy the staged reading. For additional information about ticketing and reservations please visit www.viabrooklyn.org.

Via Brooklyn and The Southampton Inn are proud to present the first ever VB Reads: Feast and Fiction, a play reading series. VB Reads will present Monica: This Play Is Not About Monica Lewinsky by Dianne Nora today, July 14th at 9pm and Collected Stories by Donald Margulies on Tuesday, July 17th at 8pm. This two-night event will be hosted by The Southampton Inn at their in-house restaurant, Claude's at 91 Hill Street, Southampton, NY 11968. The event will feature a special prix fixe menu option, titled The Full Feast, as well as a drink and dessert option, titled Sips and Sweets, to be served as you enjoy the staged reading. For additional information about ticketing and reservations please visit www.viabrooklyn.org.

Via Brooklyn and The Southampton Inn are proud to present the first ever VB Reads: Feast and Fiction, a play reading series. VB Reads will present Monica: This Play Is Not About Monica Lewinsky by Dianne Nora on Saturday, July 14th at 9pm and Collected Stories by Donald Margulies on Tuesday, July 17th at 8pm. This two-night event will be hosted by The Southampton Inn at their in-house restaurant, Claude's at 91 Hill Street, Southampton, NY 11968. The event will feature a special prix fixe menu option, titled The Full Feast, as well as a drink and dessert option, titled Sips and Sweets, to be served as you enjoy the staged reading. For additional information about ticketing and reservations please visit www.viabrooklyn.org.

With the original run and four-week extension completely sold out, Steep Theatre Company is adding three more performances of Simon Stephens' Birdland on June 10, 14, and 15. With the ensemble's next production (Penelope Skinner's Linda directed by Robin Witt) right around the corner, June 15 will be the last chance to catch this runaway hit at Steep.

The American Theatre Wing and The Village Voice announce that Tony Award-nominated and three-time Obie-winning actress Kathleen Chalfant will receive a special Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement at the 63rd Annual Obie Awards.

The Juilliard School today announced that alumnus Wynton Marsalis, trumpeter, director of Juilliard Jazz Studies, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, will address the graduates at the school's 113th commencement ceremony, which takes place Friday, May 18, 2018, at 11am in Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center. Mr. Marsalis received an honorary doctor of music degree from Juilliard in 2006. This will be the final commencement for Juilliard President Joseph W. Polisi, who has had a long association with Mr. Marsalis and asked that he be the commencement speaker. In July, Damian Woetzel will begin as the school's seventh president.

Dear Evan Hansen's Laura Dreyfuss and Tony-nominated actresses Kathleen Chalfant and Geneva Carr join National New Play Network (NNPN) for a 20th Anniversary benefit reading of a new play Jane Burgoyne by Robert Moulthrop, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel, at Westside Theatre on April 30th at 7:00 pm. Hosted by Richard Winkler and Jane and JB Harrison, the reading will support NNPN as it continues to revolutionize the new play landscape through its nationally recognized programs and services for artists and organizations. Tickets for the reading can be purchased at TodayTix.