StageFARM News

The Drama Book Shop is pleased to welcome playwright Gina Gionfriddo (After Ashley, Becky Shaw) for a discussion about her latest play, Can You Forgive Her?, opening soon at New York's Vineyard Theatre. The event will be followed by a signing of her work. The Tuesday, May 9th, 5:00pm event is free and open to the public. 

Atlantic Theater Company has announced its 2017-18 season productions and one Atlantic for Kids production.

Rehearsals began this week for the revival of John Guare's critically acclaimed play Six Degrees of Separation starring seven-time Emmy Award winner Allison Janney ('Mom,' The Girl on the Train) as Ouisa, Tony Award winner John Benjamin Hickey (The Normal Heart, 'Manhattan') as Flan and Corey Hawkins (Straight Outta Compton, '24: Legacy') as Paul. Directed by Trip Cullman (Significant Other, Yen), Six Degrees of Separation will begin previews Wednesday, April 5 prior to the official opening on Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at the Barrymore Theatre. The production will play a 15-week run through Sunday, July 16.

Additional casting has been announced for the revival of John Guare's critically acclaimed play Six Degrees Of Separation starring seven-time Emmy Award winner Allison Janney ('Mom,' The Girl on the Train) as Ouisa, Tony Award winner John Benjamin Hickey (The Normal Heart, 'Manhattan') as Flan and Corey Hawkins (Straight Outta Compton, '24: Legacy') as Paul.

Audiences have two more opportunities to see the Chicago premiere of Gloria - a 'shocking, hilarious and spectacularly honest play' (Chicago Tribune) and 'tantalizing, darkly comic expose of ambition and egoism' (Daily Herald) by MacArthur Foundation Fellow Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.

What is newsworthy? What lives have value? Does ambition compromise morals? MacArthur Foundation Fellow Branden Jacobs-Jenkins explores these questions and more in Gloria. Directed by Evan Cabnet, Gloria made its Off-Broadway debut in 2015 at the Vineyard Theater. The complete cast and creative team reunite for the Chicago premiere at the Goodman.

Producer Stuart Thompson announced today that John Guare's critically acclaimed play Six Degrees of Separation will return to Broadway this spring in a revival starring seven-time Emmy Award winner Allison Janney ('Mom,' The Girl on the Train) as Ouisa and Tony Award winner John Benjamin Hickey (The Normal Heart, 'Manhattan') as Flan. Trip Cullman (Significant Other, Punk Rock) will direct the production, which is set to open at the Barrymore Theatre in April 2017 and will run for 15 weeks only.

Ben Rappaport, currently starring in the Broadway revival of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, has been cast in a recurring role in the third season of TV Land's YOUNGER.

I can't believe it's May again. It marks a year since my audition process for Fiddler began. It also marks a year since I decided that if I booked the show, I was going to propose to my girlfriend on the stage.

I'm amazed at how many things I keep learning from doing this show every day. Yesterday, during the matinee, as we were performing the sons' section of 'Tradition', I discovered that I was holding my breath during certain pieces of choreography, which obviously inhibited my singing. I mean, you're reading that thinking, 'well duh, Ben'. You're right. Absolutely 'duh', but it took me six whole months to realize that. That's the odd phenomenon of this almost zen practice of eight shows a week in a long run.

'God, Ben. We get it, we get it. Arts in school blah blah blah.' I know, I know, but I have to piggyback on last week and tell you about what I got to witness this week.

'Twas the night before the Tony nominations, when all through midtown pretty much everyone was stirring. Especially that mouse (at least in pre-war buildings above restaurants). The iphones were charging on bedside tables with care in hopes that when the nomination list came out at 8:30, your name would be there.

The orchestra starts the waltz into 'Sunrise, Sunset'. Everyone is in place, Tevye sings, 'Is this the little girl I carried?' Nothing out of the ordinary, here. Then, four male ensemble members and the Rabbi slowly come up the upstage stairs from the trap, moving downstage center, where they slowly get into position with the chuppah (Jewish wedding canopy). One little problem, tonight. There's no chuppah (we later found out it had been broken). I look around the stage at my fellow cast members, who are all slowly registering this and getting that glint in the eye you get when you're about to crack up. Then, it hit me. Samantha Massell and I have a solo coming up in a second where we have to sing the lyric, 'Is there a canopy in store for me?' The irony of this is just too much for me and, no matter how hard I try, I sing this line with the stupidest grin on my face. I mean, you can't ignore it! I absolutely LIVE for moments like this. Happy accidents that keep things fresh, can breathe new life into the show, and remind us all that it's called a 'play' for a reason. It's supposed to be fun!

San Diego Repertory Theatre (San Diego REP) presents 'Rapture, Blister, Burn,' the 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist hit comedy from 'House of Cards' writer Gina Gionfriddo, for its sixth and final show of the 40th anniversary season. REP Co-Founder and Artistic Director Sam Woodhouse directs this play that the New York Times calls 'intensely smart and immensely funny,' and has been called 'a smart, funny, and lightning-paced look at feminism' by New York Daily News. The show's run began on Thursday, April 21, 2016 and plays through Sunday, May 15, 2016 with an opening night tonight, April 27, 2016 at 7 p.m. in the Lyceum Space Theatre at San Diego REP in Horton Plaza.

San Diego Repertory Theatre (San Diego REP) presents "Rapture, Blister, Burn," the 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist hit comedy from "House of Cards" writer Gina Gionfriddo, for its sixth and final show of the 40th anniversary season. REP Co-Founder and Artistic Director Sam Woodhouse directs this play that the New York Times calls "intensely smart and immensely funny," and has been called "a smart, funny, and lightning-paced look at feminism" by New York Daily News. The show's run begins today, April 21, 2016 and plays through Sunday, May 15, 2016 with an opening night on Wednesday, April 27, 2016 at 7 p.m. in the Lyceum Space Theatre at San Diego REP in Horton Plaza.

I must have been an incredibly naive 12 year old. As my family and I were leaving the Marriott Marquis Theatre after a performance of the revival of Annie Get Your Gun, we passed by the stage door. A hoard of people were crowded behind the barricades, eagerly clutching their playbills, sharpies, and cameras in hopes to snag an autograph or photo with Bernadette Peters and Tom Wopat. We were watching from across the street. A security person was guarding the door, and would escort Bernadette and Tom as they made their way through the crowd, greeting their fans. Once they were done, they each got into the back seats of their respective black Lincoln town cars and rode off into the night. What I couldn't wrap my head around, at the time, was....where do they go?

San Diego Repertory Theatre (San Diego REP) presents "Rapture, Blister, Burn," the 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist hit comedy from "House of Cards" writer Gina Gionfriddo, for its sixth and final show of the 40th anniversary season. REP Co-Founder and Artistic Director Sam Woodhouse directs this play that the New York Times calls "intensely smart and immensely funny," and has been called "a smart, funny, and lightning-paced look at feminism" by New York Daily News. The show's run begins on Thursday, April 21, 2016 and plays through Sunday, May 15, 2016 with an opening night on Wednesday, April 27, 2016 at 7 p.m. in the Lyceum Space Theatre at San Diego REP in Horton Plaza.

I must have been an incredibly naive 12 year old. As my family and I were leaving the Marriott Marquis Theatre after a performance of the revival of Annie Get Your Gun, we passed by the stage door. A hoard of people were crowded behind the barricades, eagerly clutching their playbills, sharpies, and cameras in hopes to snag an autograph or photo with Bernadette Peters and Tom Wopat. We were watching from across the street. A security person was guarding the door, and would escort Bernadette and Tom as they made their way through the crowd, greeting their fans. Once they were done, they each got into the back seats of their respective black Lincoln town cars and rode off into the night. What I couldn't wrap my head around, at the time, was....where do they go?

I've coined this new term. The power of the beard has not only led me to bow before it in awe and reverence, but also offer it the illustrious status of being a verb. To beard is about doing far more than simply growing it. It's about experiencing it and LIVING it.

My trip to visit my girlfriend came to an abrupt halt. I had just gotten off a conference call with my agent and manager, 'Get to the airport as soon as you can. They want to test you for the CBS pilot.' I was sitting on a bench at Lambert-St. Louis Airport next to the check in counters, before you go through security. Anxiously, I clutched my backpack and suitcase waiting for my manager to call and give the green light to check in for my flight to LA. They were negotiating my contract and hadn't reached a deal (when you test for a TV show, your contract has to be signed before the screen test. And if you don't book the job, the contract goes in the shredder). I couldn't board the plane until the deal was closed, and the test was first thing the next morning. After an hour of limbo, I finally got the call. The deal had closed! Time to get the ticket. Of course I had already missed the initial flight, and they had to book me on a later one. This was my first exposure to (what I didn't realize, then) the actor's eternal state of in between-ness.