Tazewell Thompson News

Lorraine Hansberry's groundbreaking play A Raisin in the Sun is making Arena Stage its home for the next five weeks and it should not be missed.

The 'play that changed American theater forever' (New York Times) comes to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater for the first time ever this spring. Due to popular demand, the production has been extended for one week with eight additional performances, running now through May 7, 2017 in the Fichandler Stage. BroadwayWorld has photos from the opening night festivities below!

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater will present the American Voice Award to Congressman G. K. Butterfield (D-NC) on Thursday, April 6, 2017 as part of the opening night celebration for Lorraine Hansberry's groundbreaking drama A Raisin in the Sun.

The Washington Stage Guild will celebrate the end of its 30th Anniversary Season with Back To Methuselah: As Far As Thought Can Reach, the final episode in its multi-year presentation of George Bernard Shaw's visionary cycle of plays about humanity's destiny.

BroadwayWorld presents a comprehensive weekly roundup of regional stories around our Broadway World, which include videos, editor spotlights, regional reviews and more. This week, we feature THE SNEETCHES in Minneapolis, THE GREAT GATSBY in ORLANDO, Andrew Lippa's THE WORLD ACCORDING TO SNOOPY in Austin and more. Check out our top features below!

The 'play that changed American theater forever' (New York Times) comes to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater for the first time ever this spring.

Director Tazewell Thompson, handling a tale that is heavy on narrative, guides the pliable ensemble to a performance that is dynamic, touching, amusing, lively and filled with gothic foreshadowing. Every sequence unfolds a new delight, from slapstick action to nuanced characterization to the most hilarious rendition of Hamlet it has ever been my privilege to witness. Script, direction, casting, performance and tech are each remarkable renditions of their kind. The beautiful language is retained, but made perfectly clear by action and diction. Additionally, it's heartily funny.

Everyman Theatre brings Charles Dickens' classic novel to the stage in a dynamic adaptation by Gale Childs Daly. Hailed as "tight and suspenseful" by the Chicago Tribune, Daly's adaptation of Great Expectations masterfully condenses Dickens 500-page novel into a high-spirited play where only six actors portray more than 35 characters. The show is currently in rehearsal and runs from February 1 through March 5, 2017.

D.C.-based powerhouse actress and two-time Helen Hayes Award winner Dawn Ursula, last seen at Arena Stage in Love in Afghanistan, will return to play Ruth Younger in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun under the direction of Tazewell Thompson. Additional casting will be announced at a later date.

Everyman Theatre brings Charles Dickens' classic novel to the stage in a dynamic adaptation by Gale Childs Daly. Hailed as "tight and suspenseful" by the Chicago Tribune, Daly's adaptation of Great Expectations masterfully condenses Dickens 500-page novel into a high-spirited play where only six actors portray more than 35 characters. The show is currently in rehearsal and runs from February 1 through March 5, 2017.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Washington National Opera (WNO) today announced that countertenor John Holiday is the 2017 winner of the Marian Anderson Vocal Award.

The Glimmerglass Festival, which presents four mainstage productions of opera and musical theater as well as many events every summer, has released the details of its 2017 schedule.

? OPERA America, the national service organization for opera and the nation's leading champion for American opera, is pleased to announce the latest recipients of Discovery Grants and Commissioning Grants from the Opera Grants for Female Composers program, made possible through the generosity of The Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.

Tony-nominated actor Robert Cuccioli (Jekyll & Hyde; Rothschild & Sons; Javert in Les Mis; upcoming Paint Your Wagon) will lead the cast of MAGICAL THINKING: My Favorite Indigents & Severe Clear by playwright/designer Carrie Robbins, and directed by Paul Dobie (Associate/Assistant Director for B'way's Once, Cabaret, Wicked, Martin Short… Fame Becomes Me, Glengarry Glen Ross).

ERIKA ROLFSRUD Joins ROBERT CUCCIOLI & B'way Veterans Mimi Turque & Kristie Dale Sanders in MAGICAL THINKING, by Carrie Robbins for 29th Street Playwrights Collective's NEW WORKS SERIES

Tony-nominated actor Robert Cuccioli will lead the cast of MAGICAL THINKING: My Favorite Indigents & Severe Clear by playwright/designer Carrie Robbins, directed by Paul Dobie (Associate or Assistant Director for B'way's Once, Cabaret, Wicked, Martin Short... Fame Becomes Me, Glengarry Glen Ross). The reading will take place on Monday, April 18, at 7pm at the Bernie Wohl Center.

Arena Stage just announced an exciting, starry 2016/17 season, which will showcase the theater's mission of American voices and artists.

Although the production doesn't quite soar, LOST IN THE STARS is a welcome addition to the WNO season simply because it's not performed very frequently - at least in comparison to other more familiar works that transcend the opera-musical divide.

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 60th anniversary season with the company premiere of Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson's LOST IN THE STARS, February 12-20 in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater.

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 60th anniversary season with the company premiere of Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson's LOST IN THE STARS, tomorrow, February 12, through February 20 in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!