Signature Theatre News

Lakeland's 2018-19 season concludes with the first locally produced production of the musical version of Mary Rodgers' classic Young Adult novel Freaky Friday. Freaky Friday, which opens on February 1, 2019 and runs for three weeks at Lakeland Community College's Rodehorst Performing Arts Center, is directed by Martin Friedman and under the Musical Direction of Matthew Dolan.

When in comes to portraying one of pop culture's biggest superstars of all time, it takes not one... not two... but three Broadway powerhouses to bring her to life onstage. Cher is on Broadway this season, played at three stages of her life by the incomparable Stephanie J. Block, Teal Wicks and Micaela Diamond. Below, watch as Richard Ridge checks in with all three leading ladies as they chat about becoming the Star, Lady and Babe, wearing her iconic clothes, and what they've already learned from the living legend!

Geva Theatre Center's 2018-2019 Fielding Studio Series continues with the world premiere of The Magician's Daughter, written by Lila Rose Kaplan and directed by Shelley Butler. This production marks the second world premiere of the season, following hot on the heels of the world premiere of Brent Askari's Hard Cell - also premiering in January. The Magician's Daughter begins performances on January 24 and runs in the Fielding Stage through February 10.

Victory Gardens Theater continues its 44th season with the Chicago Premiere of Pipeline, written by 2018 MacArthur Fellow Dominique Morisseau and directed by Cheryl Lynn Bruce. Pipeline runs February 1 March 3, 2019, with press performance on Friday, February 8, 2019 at 7:30pm at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue.

The Washington Stage Guild presents the third and final play in Arlene Hutton's romantic trilogy portraying married life in the mid-20th Century. Gulf View Drive explores the lives of Raleigh and May Brummett, who met by chance during World War II, married in haste and faced the challenges of finding their own way. It is now 1953 and Raleigh's published stories have gained success. But success brings new challenges as both mothers-in-law and a sister descend on the couple. Along the way, each adjusts to the meaning of family life in his or her own way and faces an America beginning to confront its racial divide. The play opens on Thursday, January 17 and will run through Sunday, February 10, 2019. Press performance will be on Sunday, January 20 at 2:30 pm. A special talkback with playwright Arlene Hutton is scheduled immediately following this performance.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces the full company for Ruth and Augustus Goetz's melodrama, The Heiress, suggested by the Henry James novel, Washington Square. After growing up subjected to her father's disinterest and strong resentment, a young woman in the 1850s discovers what love is in her journey towards independence, growth and strength, without an impactful female role model in her life. Directed by Deputy Artistic Director Seema Sueko, The Heiress runs February 8 - March 10, 2019 in the Fichandler Stage.

Signature Theatre presents By the Way, Meet Vera Stark by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner andResidency 1 playwright Lynn Nottage and directed by Obie Award-winner Kamilah Forbes.

Strange Sun Theater will present Jessica Bashline's new play, WICKEDEST WOMAN, at the WP Theater on the Upper West Side, January 19 - February 2. The World Premiere is directed by Melissa Crespo with Opening Night slated for January 19. The limited run features a gender bending cast of 7 actors who have numerous Broadway and Off-Broadway credits.

Olney Theatre Center begins 2019 on the Mainstage with its Residential Regional Premiere of Tony Award winning musical Once, running February 6 - March 10, 2019. Marcia Milgrom Dodge, Tony Award Nominee for the Broadway production of Ragtime, makes her Olney Theatre Center debut as Director and Choreographer. Press is invited to attend the performance on Saturday, February 9 at 8:00 pm.

The Washington Stage Guild presents the third and final play in Arlene Hutton's romantic trilogy portraying married life in the mid-20th Century. Gulf View Drive explores the lives of Raleigh and May Brummett, who met by chance during World War II, married in haste and faced the challenges of finding their own way.

We are pleased to announce the winners for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Wichita Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Nominations were reader-submitted and voted on by you - the local theatergoers!

 Theatre production company Parity Productions has released its monthly list of Qualifying Productions for January -their popular directory of New York City shows in which the individual creative teams have 50% of the positions filled with cis women and/or trans and gender nonconforming (TGNC) artists (directors, designers, and playwrights). 

Annie Golden (Netflix's "Orange Is The New Black"), Isabelle McCalla (The Prom), Taylor Iman Jones (Head Over Heels), Joseph Allen (Something Wicked This Way Comes), Mackenzie Dade (The Sound of Music), Morgan Siobhan Green (Be More Chill), F. Michael Haynie (Charle and the Chocolate Factory), Charlotte Maltby (The Sound of Music), Destinee Rea (The Book of Mormon), Brian Charles Rooney (The Three-Penny Opera), David Rowen (Bob Marley's Three Little Birds), and Nathan Salstone (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) have joined the cast of 54 SINGS LADY GAGA at Feinstein's/54 Below, Tuesday, January 8th, 2019, at 9:30PM.

The cast and creative team have been announced for the Signature Theatre production of Boesman and Lena by Athol Fugard and directed by Yael Farber.

Playwrights Horizons presents the world premiere of If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhf**ka, written by Tori Sampson, directed by Leah C. Gardiner, and choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly, February 15-March 31, 2019 in the Mainstage Theater at Playwrights Horizons

Broadway favorite and DC area native Margo Seibert returns to Signature Theatre on January 20 to launch her new album 77th Street.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley will kick off the new year with the Tony and Olivier Award nominated drama Frost/Nixon. Written by Golden Globe winner Peter Morgan (creator of Netflix's The Crown), Frost/Nixon is a riveting political prizefight where the cameras roll, the truth spins, and it becomes clear that he who controls the medium controls the message. With America caught in the riptides of Watergate and Vietnam, the former leader of the free world and a lightweight British talk-show host clash in a legendary series of TV interviews that will determine the President's legacy forever. Directed by Leslie Martinson, Frost/Nixon will be presented January 16 February 10, 2019 (press opening: January 19, 2019) at Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro Street, Mountain View. For tickets ($40-$100) and more information the public may visit TheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

2018 is over and we can't help but look ahead to the 2019 Broadway season, which is bound to be filled with countless star-making (and star-preserving) performances. Who should you keep your eye on as the spring season begins and awards season approaches?

The Micro-Musical Theatre Show's new production of the micro-musical SNOW WAY OUT is NOW AVAILABLE to subscribers!

It's the last week to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Wichita Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.