Steve Martin News

Iconic stage and screen actress Kathleen Turner returns to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater to star in Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins, as the feisty, unforgettable political journalist. Written by twin-sister journalists Margaret Engel and Allison Engel and directed by David Esbjornson (Broadway's The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? and Driving Miss Daisy), the D.C. premiere kicks off Arena Stage's 2012/13 season playing August 23 through October 28, 2012 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle.

In preparation for the All-Day Long Island Al Jolson Festival (in Oceanside, NY) on Saturday, August 18, BroadwayWorld.com cabaret columnist Stephen Hanks offers his take on what made the 'World's Greatest Entertainer' so great, and muses about the reasons as to why he is such a devotee of the man who once owned Broadway and starred in the first talking picture.

The Laguna Playhouse welcomes back Rita Rudner, one of the country's top comediennes, for an exclusive three-day stand-up engagement, aptly titled Rita Rudner: Act 3, Friday, August 24 - Sunday, August 26, 2012. Performance times are 7 p.m. each evening.

The recent nationwide appearances, from New York to Los Angeles, by singer and actress Barbara Van Orden and author Patty Farmer, on behalf of her critically acclaimed book "The Persian Room Presents" has spawned a collaboration on a new book, currently under the working title of 'Playboy On Stage.'

BSC is proud to present a fall return of DR. RUTH, ALL THE WAY, by Mark St. Germain, directed by Julianne Boyd. Starring stage, film and television actress Debra Jo Rupp.

UglyRhino announces casting for their produtions of The Awakening and GLAMDROMEDA, which will take place this August at The Brooklyn Lyceum.

THE RAILROAD PLAYHOUSE (RRP) presents the Box Car Play Series presentation of Tom Briscoe's ...SO I GOT FIRED FROM THAT JOB!!!, directed by Seth Soloway. I Got Fired will perform one night only at the Railroad Playhouse (27 South Water Street, Newburgh, NY).). Performances are Saturday August 11th at 8:00pm and 10:00pm. Tickets are $20 advance ($25 at door) at www.rrplayhouse.org.

Kevin Nealon comes to The Orleans Showroom August 24 and 25.

The Guthrie Theater currently presents The Sunshine Boys-acclaimed Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and screenwriter Neil Simon's sidesplitting comedy. Directed by Gary Gisselman (Guthrie: A Christmas Carol, Lost in Yonkers), The Sunshine Boys features veteran actors Peter Michael Goetz and Raye Birk as Willie Clark and Al Lewis, respectively, a pair of crabby, retired vaudeville comedians persuaded to reunite after 11 years apart-despite the fact that they hate each other. Hilarity ensues when these seasoned stage partners return to the stage for a CBS television comedy special. Get a first look at Goetz and Birk in The Sunshine Boys in the photos below!

David Geffen's far-reaching influence - as agent, manager, record industry mogul, Hollywood and Broadway producer, and philanthropist - has helped shape American popular culture for the past four decades.

Blackfriars Theatre, a not-for-profit professional theatre on East Main Street's "Theatre Row" is bringing back the smash hit from last year, "Tomfoolery," with words and music by Tom Lehrer, July 8-August 5, 2012.

A giant, man-eating plant from outer space will invade the Whitefish Performing Arts Center when Alpine Theatre Project presents Little Shop of Horrors tonight, July 5 through July 21 at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center in downtown Whitefish. The musical comedy runs Tuesdays - Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 6pm with a special Family Matinee at 2pm on July 21.

In light of this week's news of the passing of noted author, playwright, producer and director Nora Ephron, today we are highlighting some of the most memorable moments from her accomplished and versatile career onscreen and onstage. Ephron's artistic output consisted of collections of essays, memoirs, novels, screenplays, feature films, plays and producing duties on projects close to her heart, as well as a considerable amount of awareness raising for women's causes and general charitable work for the arts. While perhaps best known for her much-loved trio of romantic comedies WHEN HARRY MET SALLY…, SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE and YOU'VE GOT MAIL, Ephron also penned the screenplay for the Mike Nichols biopic SILKWOOD about whistleblower Karen Silkwood, as well as wrote and directed the recent hit comedy JULIE & JULIA, re-teaming with her friend and consistent collaborator, three-time Oscar-winner Meryl Streep. Incidentally, Streep actually played Ephron - or at least a thinly-veiled version of her - in the 1986 Mike Nichols film HEARTBURN, based on her novel of the same name. While BEWITCHED, LUCKY NUMBERS and HANGING UP may have failed to ignite, Ephron created fine films with the angelically-themed John Travolta starrer MICHAEL and the Julie Kavner vehicle THIS IS YOUR LIFE, as well as crafted indelible characters in screenplays such as COOKIE, MIXED NUTS and MY BLUE HEAVEN. Closing out her career, Ephron showcased Streep once again and rising star Amy Adams shone brightly in the fun and frothy JULIE & JULIA, ending Ephron's film output with a hit to go along with her successful early beginnings as an essayist, humorist and cultural commentator - having penned essay collections in the 1970s such as WALLFLOWER AT THE ORGY, CRAZY SALAD: SOME THINGS ABOUT WOMEN, SCRIBBLE, SCRIBBLE: NOTES ON THE MEDIA, and, more recently, I FEEL BAD ABOUT MY NECK: AND OTHER THOUGHTS ON BEING A WOMAN and I REMEMBER NOTHING: AND OTHER REFLECTIONS - who famously parlayed those skills into TV writing, and, then, her Oscar-nominated work on SILKWOOD - arguably her finest dramatic work of all in film. As far as Ephron's stage ventures are concerned, besides the forthcoming musical adaptation of SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE currently being developed under director Lonny Price and her writing of next season's purportedly Tom Hanks-headlining Broadway bow in LUCKY GUY, Ephron penned the 2002 Jack O'Brien play with music (by no less than Marvin Hamlisch and Craig Carnelia) IMAGINARY FRIENDS, starring Cherry Jones and Swoozie Kurtz, as well as the recently-closed Off Broadway smash, LOVE, LOSS AND WHAT I WORE, co-written with her sister, Delia Ephron. JFK White House intern to New York Post columnist to celebrated essayist to Oscar-nominated screenwriter, director and producer, Ephron left a significant mark on society and also crafted some heartwarming - or, should that be: heartburning - stories along the way.

The Mirage Hotel & Casino will welcome Emmy Award-winning actor and master of slapstick comedy Martin Short to the Terry Fator Theatre as he makes his Aces of Comedy debut June 29 - 30. Short, who has appeared on the small screen, in feature films and on Broadway, is widely known for his comedic, sidekick roles such as the character "Franck" in Steve Martin's "Father of the Bride" series.

The Mirage Hotel & Casino will welcome Emmy Award-winning actor and master of slapstick comedy Martin Short to the Terry Fator Theatre as he makes his Aces of Comedy debut June 29 - 30. Short, who has appeared on the small screen, in feature films and on Broadway, is widely known for his comedic, sidekick roles such as the character "Franck" in Steve Martin's "Father of the Bride" series.

Blackfriars Theatre, a not-for-profit professional theatre on East Main Street's "Theatre Row" is bringing back the smash hit from last year, "Tomfoolery," with words and music by Tom Lehrer, July 8-August 5, 2012.

MotorCity Casino Hotel welcomes Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers to Sound Board on Thursday June 28 at 8:00 p.m Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers is a bluegrass band that released its first collaborative album "Rare Bird Alert" in March, 2011. The record debuted at #1 on Billboard's Bluegrass Chart and #43 on the Billboard's Top 200. On September 29, 2011, Steve Martin and the Rangers jointly won the 'Entertainers of-the-Year' award at the International Bluegrass Music Association Awards.

Academy-award winning actor and comedian Robin Williams has signed on for a guest-starring role in the season opener of the FX acclaimed hit comedy WILFRED, starring Elijah Wood and Jason Gann. The season debut will air on June 28th at at 10:00 PM E/P.

A giant, man-eating plant from outer space will invade the Whitefish Performing Arts Center when Alpine Theatre Project presents Little Shop of Horrors July 5 - 21 at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center in downtown Whitefish. The musical comedy runs Tuesdays - Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 6pm with a special Family Matinee at 2pm on July 21.