Signature Theatre News

Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning masterpiece finally arrives at Berkeley Rep in its entirety - directed by artistic director Tony Taccone in his 20th anniversary season! BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast of the ambitious production, check it out below!

Due to popular demand, The Left Wing, in association with John Turturro, extends the world premiere production of Brandon Cole's Imperfect Love to February 25. Directed by Michael Di Jiacomo, Imperfect Love is inspired by the tumultuous life of the great Italian actress Eleonora Duse (1858-1924) and her nine-year love affair with the poet and playwright Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863-1938). The production, which is set to open on February 4, runs at The Connelly Theater and features set and costume design by the Academy Award-winning Italian designer Gianni Quaranta (Merchant-Ivory's A Room with a View). Turturro's 1998 film, Illuminata, which was co-written by Cole and Turturro, was based on Cole's Imperfect Love.

Troupe today announces Elizabeth Berrington and Tanya Moodie are to star in the UK premiere of Joel Drake Johnson's tense workplace drama Rasheeda Speaking. Directed by Jonathan O'Boyle the production opens at Trafalgar Studios 2 on 20 April, with previews from 18 April, and runs until 12 May.

In response to popular demand, The Acting Company (Ian Belknap, Artistic Director; Elisa Spencer-Kaplan, Executive Director) extends their acclaimed production of playwright/poet Marcus Gardley's X: Or, Betty Shabazz v. the Nation through February 25, 2018. Coinciding with African Heritage Month, the Ian Belknap-directed play deepens our understanding of one of America's most complex, compelling historical figures, and explores the tumultuous landscape of ideology and activism in the 1960s. 

4,380 Nights is essentially two different plays, which makes it often hard to follow due to the lack of cohesion, but there are still glimpses of a play in which the message of hope rings quietly over fear and hate.

Below, watch as Richard Ridge checks in with Booth to find out more about the play and reminisce about his career on stage and screen. 

The New Group has announced that Rhea Perlman will join F. Murray Abraham, Kate Buddeke, Laura Esterman, Nancy Giles, Lily Gladstone, Ed Harris, Charlotte Hope, Mark Linn-Baker, Amy Madigan, Rileigh McDonald, Kenny Mellman, Maulik Pancholy and Michael Rabe in the New York premiere of David Rabe's Good for Otto. Rhea Perlman will appear in the role of Nora, as Rosie O'Donnell, previously announced, is unable to appear due to illness. Directed by Scott Elliott, this production will play a limited Off-Broadway engagement February 20 - April 1, with Opening Night on Thursday, March 8 at The Pershing Square Signature Center (The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre, 480 West 42nd Street).

Theatre Philadelphia proudly announces the debut of Philly Theatre Week with 70 organizations, 80 events and 268 performances between February 8 to 18, 2018. This new 10-day celebration will showcase the vibrant and diverse theatre scene in the tri-state region, and help make theatre even more accessible to the community.

Moderated by Theatre Forward Executive Director Bruce E. Whitacre, the exclusive luncheon will explore the current Broadway landscape with some of Broadway's leading players and stars, with a panel that includes Heather A. Hitchens, President and CEO of the American Theatre Wing; Keegan-Michael Key, Emmy-winning actor, comedian, writer and producer (Meteor Shower, Hamlet, "Key and Peele"); John Leguizamo, Emmy and Obie Award-winning actor and playwright (Latin History for Morons, Freak, Mambo Mouth); Daryl Roth, award-winning Broadway producer (Kinky Boots, Indecent); Lea Salonga, Tony Award-winning actor (Once On This Island, Miss Saigon, Les Miserables) and Irene Sankoff and David Hein, the Tony-nominated and Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Award-winning songwriting and book-writing team behind Come From Away.

National UBU ROI Bake-Off - a one-of-a-kind playwriting workshop by Paula Vogel, open to participation to the general public - will take place on Presidents' Day, Monday, February 19 when hundreds of aspiring and accomplished writers across the country will present their own short works based on Alfred Jarry's 1896 revolutionary drama UBU ROI, about a despot king awash in murder, genocide, a war with Russia and the revolt of his own countrymen and women. Paula Vogel is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE, and had her first Broadway production last season with her Tony Award-winning work, INDECENT.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces the world-premiere musical production of Dave by three-time Tony Award winner Thomas Meehan (Annie, Hairspray, The Producers), Tony Award nominee Nell Benjamin (Mean Girls, Legally Blonde) and Pulitzer Prize and two-time Tony Award winner Tom Kitt (Next to Normal, If/Then). The world-premiere engagement is produced by special arrangement with Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, Doshudo Productions and Larger Than Life. Inspired by the Academy Award-nominated American political comedy film, Dave will run July 13-August 19, 2018 in the Kreeger Theater.

Monk Parrots announce casting for their New York premiere of Gabriel Jason Dean's (Princeton Hodder Fellow, Dramatist's Guild Fellowship, Broadway Blacklist) critically acclaimed play TERMINUS, directed by Lucie Tiberghien (The Other Thing, Don't Go Gentle, Soldier X, Hoodoo Love, The Pavilion). TERMINUS runs from February 17 - March 10, 2018 in a limited engagement at NEXT DOOR at NYTW, located at 83 East 4th Street between Bowery and 2nd Avenue in New York City. Previews begin February 17 for a February 20 opening.

Westport Country Playhouse's New Works Circle Initiative (NWCI) continues in its third consecutive year of developing new plays and musicals, culminating in readings before an invited audience. The 2018 NWCI schedule includes four new plays to be developed with playwrights, directors, and other artists during the next six months.

Dallas Summer Musicals, Inc. (DSM) and Broadway Across American (BAA) are pleased to announce that the Dallas engagement of the hit Broadway musical ON YOUR FEET! based on the life story of seven-time GRAMMY winning international superstar Gloria Estefan and her husband, 19-time GRAMMY winning producer-musician-entrepreneur Emilio Estefan is on sale now.

PROFILE THEATRE presents a production of the comedic drama 2.5 Minute Ride by Pulitzer and Tony-winning playwright Lisa Kron. Riding the rails of humor and horror, this solo performance features NYC-based actor Allison Mickelson, who recently impressed audiences at Portland Center Stage in Lisa Kron's award-winning musical Fun Home. It will be directed by Jane Unger, Profile's founding artistic director, and marks the first full (double!) season for Profile's ambitious new Artistic Director Josh Hecht, as well as the third year of the Diversity and Inclusivity Initiative.

Abingdon Theatre Company (Tony Speciale, Artistic Director; Denise Dickens, Producing Director) has announced its latest Studio Series of intensive classes focusing on audition technique and script analysis. For registration and further information visit abingdontheatre.org or call (212) 868-2055, ext. 1.

TOOTSIE's story is hitting the stage! Scott Sanders Productions announced today that the world premiere of the new comedy musical, TOOTSIE, will play a pre-Broadway engagement this fall at Broadway In Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre (151 West Randolph Street, Chicago, IL) from September 11 October 14. TOOTSIE will come to Broadway in spring 2019.

From award-winning playwright and Princeton University Lecturer in Theatre Nathan Alan Davis (The Princeton and Slavery Plays, Nat Turner in Jerusalem) comes the first in a trilogy of new plays about a multi-generational African-American family. After the recent death of her husband, Gail works hard to keep her rural Illinois household running and to ensure her daughter, mother-in-law, and grandson are happy and healthy while coming to terms with her own mortality. Protect the Beautiful Place is a poignant exploration of how we define the idea of home and the choices we make to protect the ones we love.

Olivier Award winner Andy Karl will star in a benefit reading of CHASING THE RIVER by Jean Giebel. Karen Carpenter (Delia & Nora Ephron's Love Loss and What I Wore) will direct the presentation at The Pershing Square Signature Center's Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre on Monday January 29th(7pm).

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) announced complete casting today for the New York premiere of MISS YOU LIKE HELL. With book and lyrics by Quiara Alegr a Hudes and music and lyrics by Erin McKeown, the new musical is directed by Public Theater Resident Director and Founder of Public Works Lear deBessonet, with choreography by Danny Mefford. The musical will begin previews in The Public's Newman Theater on Tuesday, March 20 and run through Sunday, May 6, with an official press opening on Tuesday, April 10.