Tennessee Williams News

This month, Steppenwolf Theatre Company continues its commitment to Chicago's next generation of theater artists with the second annual Next Up: three productions presented in rotating repertory, June 5 - 24, 2012 in The Steppenwolf Garage (1624 N Halsted St)-LIFE AND LIMB, SOUTH OF SETTLING and THE GLASS MENAGERIE. Check out photos from all three productions below!

The York Shakespeare Company presents Sam Shepard's TRUE WEST, directed by Seth Duerr. True West plays a three-week limited engagement at Theatre 54 @ Shetler Studios (244 West 54th Street, 12th Floor). Opening Night is tonight, June 9 (8pm). $18 tickets are available at www.smarttix.com.

The second annual 'Night of A Thousand Judys' - the Pride concert to benefit The Ali Forney Center - will take place at Playwrights Horizons on Monday, June 18.

There's not a lot to be proud of in Crowley's epochal play that made history as the first piece for mainstream theater to look at homosexuality with a clear, if assuredly off-putting, gaze. The playwright took off the rose-colored glasses that his character Emory would likely have worn to present a no-holds-barred examination of the modern homosexual's manners and sexual mores that now come across as a shocking blend of witheringly disdainful glances, the then-surprising and liberal use of expletives, and the evisceration of the modern gay man's voyeuristic and wanton interactions.

A Streetcar Named Desire stops at THEATER TALK for Tony Awards weekend, with stars Blair Underwood and Nicole Ari Parker, joined by producer Stephen C. Byrd, discussing the historic Broadway production with series co-hosts Michael Riedel of the New York Post and executive producer Susan Haskins. Also on board in a separate interview is comedian-character actor-writer Rob Bartlett, most recently seen in the revival of How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Revolve Productions will present PIECES by Chris Phillips at the 16th New York International Fringe Festival August 10-26, 2012. The new play is directed by Brian Zimmer. The venue as well as dates for the five performances along with the multi-talent cast will be announced soon. The drama is from Los Angeles.

Alive Theatre Presents... NOCTURNE as part of the 2012 Hollywood Fringe Festival. Created and directed by Kate Bowen & Scott Dare, the show plays a special pay-what-you-can preview Monday, June 11th at 10pm, then opens June 15 and plays June 16 and June 22-23 at 11pm. To purchase tickets, click here. Tickets are $7 general admission. Performances take place at The Complex, Ruby Theatre, located at 6478 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, Calif.

The York Shakespeare Company is pleased to present Sam Shepard's TRUE WEST, directed by Seth Duerr. True West will play a three-week limited engagement at Theatre 54 @ Shetler Studios (244 West 54th Street, 12th Floor). Performances begin tonight, June 8 and continue through Saturday, June 23. Opening Night is Saturday, June 9 (8 p.m.). $18 tickets are available at www.smarttix.com.

The cast of Jermyn Street Theatre's eagerly awaited UK premiere of Henrik Ibsen's St John's Night is to be headed by Olivier Award winning actress Sara Crowe and also includes Louise Calf, Isla Carter, Roddy Maude-Roxby, David Osmond, Danny Lee Wynter, Ed Birch, Harry Napier and Luke Bateman.

Three-time Tony Award-nominated actor Marc Kudisch will play the title role in Westport Country Playhouse's July staging of Moliere's "Tartuffe," directed by David Kennedy, Playhouse associate artistic director.

The 7th Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival announced that this year's program of "Tennessee Williams and Music" will present the pleasures of music in the drama of America's great playwright. The seaside village of Provincetown will be alive with the sounds of blues, Mariachi, Dixieland, American Pop, Art Song and African drums. Theater artists from around the globe will converge on this art colony where Williams worked over several summers in the 1940s, performing his classics, his little known works and new works that he has inspired.

Planet Connections Theatre Festivity will present Naked Brazilian, written and performed by Gustavo Pace, as part of the 4th Annual Planet Connections Theatre Festivity. The Festivity will take place May 30th through June 24th at Culture Project, 45 Bleeker Street in New York City. Ticket $18. Naked Brazilian is playing at Culture Project (Downstairs) in a limited run: tonight, June 5th @ 6pm; Friday, June 8th @ 8:30pm; Sunday, June 10th @ 4pm; and Sunday, June 17th @ 3pm, 2012.

This June Steppenwolf Theatre Company presents the second annual Next Up: three productions presented in rotating repertory, tonight, June 5 through June 24, 2012 in The Steppenwolf Garage (1624 N Halsted St).

The Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival will announce the program for this year's theme, Tennessee Williams and Music, at its first gala fundraising dinner tonight, June 2, 2012. Guests will be treated to a sneak preview of one of this year's productions, "Autumn Song," an exclusive auction and art exhibition of white-line woodcuts by Bill Evaul, and a special appearance by entertainer Zoe Lewis.

The New York Times reports today that a Scarlett Johansson is in talks to star in a revival of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof on Broadway in the Spring of 2013.

Playwright, actor, and performance artist Carmelita Tropicana (aka Alina Troyano) has long entranced New York audiences with her trademark bravado. This month she brings her distinctive brand of whimsy and hilarity to El Museo del Barrio in Post Plastica, a collaboration with her sister, the award-winning writer-director Ela Troyano.

The REP, Point Park University's professional theatre company, will produce four works, including one world premiere and one Pittsburgh premiere, in the 2012 - 2013 season, which opens Sept. 7, 2012 and runs through April 6, 2013 at the Pittsburgh Playhouse.