Terrence McNally News

More than half a century of artistic excellence and community engagement has earned The Dallas Opera a major role in shaping the national/international cultural reputation of Dallas. TDO has also made-and continues to make-an important contribution to the economic impact of the performing arts in North Texas.

Brooks Ashmanskas (Tony nom. Fame Becomes Me; The Producers), Andrea Burns (The Nance; In The Heights), Hunter Foster (Hands On a Hard Body; Tony nom. Little Shop of Horrors), Jessica Molaskey (A Man Of No Importance, Sunday in the Park with George, Parade) , Martin Moran (All The Rage; Obie Award, The Tricky Part), Kelsey Fowler (Mary Poppins, Sunday In The Park With George) and Alex Sheitinger (Mary Poppins, Beauty And The Beast) will perform in a reading of a new play, THE DRAMA DEPARTMENT by James Hindman, directed by Peter Flynn (Our Town, On the 20th Century, Chess).

Signature Theatre has announced the pairing of one of the theatre's most celebrated friends with the upcoming 2013/14 season's newest play. Shakespeare Theatre Company Artistic Director Michael Kahn returns to Signature this fall for the first time in nearly twenty years to direct the world premiere of Pride in the Falls of Autrey Mill, the new play by Paul Downs Colaizzo.

Based on the hit DreamWorks film and the incredible true story that inspired it, the first national tour of the high-flying Broadway musical "Catch Me If You Can" will land in Las Vegas at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts from June 18 - 23.

Beefcake, in all shapes and sizes, is front and center in the musical romp The Full Monty. As produced by Riverside Dinner Theatre in Fredericksburg, the show is a crowd-pleaser. A bit naughty, yes, so leave the kids at home. Otherwise, featured player Sally Struthers and company give the audience a rollicking good time.

Live From Lincoln Center's season finale features series host Audra McDonald taking center stage at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall with "Audra McDonald In Concert: Go Back Home." At this special gala concert, the five-time Tony Award winner shines a light on her favorite music, including songs from a wide range of musical theater composers featured on her highly anticipated new recording, Go Back Home (Nonesuch), her first solo album in seven years. "Audra McDonald In Concert: Go Back Home" airs on PBS stations on Friday, May 24 at 9 p.m. (ET) (check local listings).

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced it will produce the world premiere original musical production of Little Dancer featuring book and lyrics by Tony Award winner Lynn Ahrens, music by Tony Award winner Stephen Flaherty, and direction and choreography by five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman. The musical will begin performances in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater in October 2014. Casting and additional details about Little Dancer will be announced at a later date.

TRANSFORMERS 4 director Michael Bay announced at last night's CinemaCon in Las Vegas that Stanley Tucci has signed on to the cast of the upcoming sequel.

New York's Rattlestick Playwrights Theater presents its Los Angeles premiere of the critically-acclaimed play Slipping, written and directed by Daniel Talbott, which began previews Thursday, April 4, 2013 at Elephant Stages' Lillian Theatre in Hollywood, Calif. and will run through May 5, 2013. The opening night party for Slipping, the first Los Angeles production from Rattlestick, was held at the Elephant Stages' Lillian Theatre on Saturday, April 13, 2013 in Los Angeles, Calif. Scroll down for photos from the celebrations!

GAYFEST NYC, Inc. (Bruce Robert Harris and Jack W. Batman, Producers), the country's premier producer of new LGBT-themed plays, announces its Fifth Festival of Plays, a four-week event filled with powerful theatre works spotlighting gay issues.

'Master Class,' Terrence McNally's play about the life of opera diva Maria Callas, seems tailor-made to continue the partnership between Gulfshore Playhouse and the Naples Philharmonic. Produced by Gulfshore, performed in the Daniels Pavilion, the show combines a larger-than-life character, smart writing, lush music and operatic arias.

Broadway In Chicago has announced that the real Frank Abagnale, Jr., the man whose life inspired CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, will make a special appearance in Chicago at the Cadillac Palace Theatre for a post-show Q&A after the evening performance tonight, April 13, 2013.

Broadway musicals come in all different shapes and sizes. The small and cute, 'You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown' and 'Little Shop of Horrors;' the grand and extravagant, 'Hello Dolly!' and 'The King and I;' and the massive and epic, 'The Phantom of the Opera,' 'Les Miserables,' and 'Ragtime.' The latter, the most notable American addition to the list, opens at Marietta's Earl Strand Theatre in a production by the Atlanta Lyric Theatre on Friday. With a book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and music by Stephen Flaherty, 'Ragtime' opened on Broadway in 1998 and won, amongst others, the Tony Awards for Best Book and Score, and Audra McDonald won her third Tony for playing young-mother, Sarah. The show, set in 1902, combines the joy of a simpler time with the inevitable conflict associated with societal change.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University has announced that it will present the world premiere of the musical Witness Uganda, created by Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews, and directed by A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus. The production will begin performances at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge in February of 2014.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University is pleased to announce that it will present the world premiere of the musical Witness Uganda, created by Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews, and directed by A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus. The production will begin performances at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge in February of 2014.

Deadline reports that Stanley Tucci and Anne Heche have joined the cast of the action thriller HEAT, based on the novel by William Goldman. The actors will join Jason Statham, Cedric the Entertainer, Hope Davis and Milo Ventimiglia, Sophia Vergara, Michael Angarano, and Dominik Garcia-Lorido.

Nonesuch releases Audra McDonald's first solo album in seven years-Go Back Home-on May 21, 2013. After four seasons spent in Los Angeles playing Dr. Naomi Bennett on ABC's hit medical drama Private Practice, the acclaimed singer and actress returned to New York and Broadway last year, winning her record-tying fifth Tony Award for her role in The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess. With Go Back Home, the Grammy Award-winning soprano, whose voice Stephen Sondheim has hailed as "one of the glories of the American theater," makes her highly anticipated return to recording, presenting her most personal album to date.

Broadway In Chicago has announced that the real Frank Abagnale, Jr., the man whose life inspired CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, will make a special appearance in Chicago at the Cadillac Palace Theatre for a post-show Q&A after the evening performance on Saturday, April 13, 2013.

Theatres are usually dark on Monday nights, but several times each year Berkeley Repertory Theatre makes them glow with Page to Stage, a series of talks that engage brilliant guests in sparkling conversation. Today, the Tony Award-winning theatre announced that Artistic Director Tony Taccone will moderate a chat with Obie Award-winner MarK Wing-Davey, only days before he brings the Bard back with a bang in Pericles, Prince of Tyre. This free event tonight, April 8 takes place at the new Osher Studio in the Arts Passage at Berkeley Central. The address is 2055 Center Street in downtown Berkeley, only half a block from BART.

The Los Angeles Premiere of Slipping will begin tonight, April 6, and run through Sunday, May 5, 2013, as Rattlestick Playwrights Theater's first LA production. The show will play Elephant Stage's Lillian Theatre, 1076 Lillian Way in Los Angeles, Calif.