Terrence McNally News

Starting July 6th at the Provincetown Theater, producer Robert Driemeyer, in association with Jim A. Landé, is proud to present David Parr's provocative new play SLAP&TICKLE. The production will be directed by Obie Award winner David Drake, whose critically acclaimed mounting of Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning classic OUR TOWN enjoyed a extended run at the Provincetown Theater this spring.

Cape Rep Theatre will continue its 25th Anniversary Season on June 17 with Terrence McNally's Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. will direct. Performances will continue for 5 weeks until through July 17.

Mark Kudisch, set to star in the Washington area premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon's SYCAMORE TREES at the Signature Theatre, has said he has made a career of playing the jilted man who doesn't need to find love. As he put it, 'I have made a career of being the foil.'

GAYFEST NYC, Inc., (Bruce Robert Harris and Jack W. Batman, Producers), the country's premier producer of new LGBT-themed plays, will close its production of the world premiere of the new play Mother Tongue written by F. J. Hartland with direction by Margarett Perry on May 23.

Kicking off their 2010 season, Drury Lane Oakbrook, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace, IL, will close their epic production of the nostalgic and powerful portrait of life in turn of the century America, RAGTIME on May 23rd. The production is directed and choreographed by Rachel Rockwell, who received a Jeff Award nomination for her direction of last season's smash hit Miss Saigon. Quentin Earl Darrington will star as "Coalhouse Walker" (Broadway: RAGTIME, National Tours of THE COLOR PURPLE, RAGTIME and THE LION KING; and Regionally RAGTIME at Paper Mill Playhouse; ABYSSINIA at Goodspeed Opera House; A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC at California Music Theatre, and DREAMGIRLS at Madame Walker Theatre; and Valisia Lekae (Broadway: RAGTIME, 110 IN THE SHADE, THE THREEPENNY OPERA; Off-Broadway: ALMOST HEAVEN; 1st National Tours of ALL SHOOK UP, MAMMA MIA) will star as "Sarah".

New Georges (Susan Bernfield, Artistic Director; Sarah Cameron Sunde, Associate Director), the OBIE Award-winning downtown theater company founded in 1992, and New Feet Productions will present the world premiere of Emily DeVoti's thought-provoking new play 'MILK,' directed by Jessica Bauman.

According to her website, Bernadette Peters, who was most recently seen performing in New York in her sold out Broadway Barks benefit concert, will be playing at a variety of venues around the country for her upcoming tour, which kicks off next year. The two-time Tony winner will perform a wide variety of tunes from her vast theatre repertoire.

It's the turn of the 20th century. The world is changing and anything is possible. 'Ragtime,' set in the volatile melting pot of New York City, weaves together three distinctly American stories -- that of a stifled upper-class wife, a determined Jewish immigrant, and a daring African-American musician.

Tony Award winners Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin will perform their concert 'An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin' at the Mayo Center on October 1.

BUNKED!: A New Musical, by Bradford Proctor and Alaina Kunin, has been picked up for sponsorship by Logo (the same channel that brings you RuPaul's Drag Race, Buffy, and the upcoming RuPaul's Drag U). BUNKED! will make its world premiere this summer at the New York International Fringe Festival (August 13-29; exact dates TBA).

Philadelphia Theatre Company concludes its 2009-2010 season with August Wilson's masterpiece and first Broadway success Ma Rainey's Black Bottom on May 21-June 13.

The national premiere of TRUE LOVE LIES will take the stage beginning May 21st at Atlanta's Horizon Theatre. The production will run through June 20th.

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) announces the winning selections of the 2010 TRU Voices New Plays Reading Series. In a series that is unique because it develops new producers as well as new plays, three works were chosen from submissions by emerging or established producers, as well as from writers who hoped to be matched with a producer.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) presents the New York premiere of THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY, a new play written by Kristoffer Diaz and directed by Edward Torres. The show stars Usman Ally, Terence Archie, Desmin Borges, CHRISTIAN LITKE, and Michael T. Weiss (NBC's 'The Pretender'). Preview performances began on Tuesday, April 27 with opening night set for Thursday, May 20 at 6:30pm. For subscription or ticket information, please call the Second Stage Box Office at 212-246-4422 or visit the company's website, www.2ST.com.

GAYFEST NYC, Inc., (Bruce Robert Harris and Jack W. Batman, Producers), the country's premier producer of new LGBT-themed plays, continues its Fourth Annual Festival, a five-week event (May 6 - June 6, 2010) filled with new theatre works spotlighting gay issues, conclude the festival with the world premiere of the new musical This One Girl's Story (inspired by the proud life of Sakia Gunn), based on a true story with book by Bil Wright, music and lyrics by Dionne McClain-Freeney.

Producer Daryl Roth has announced that Obie, Helen Hayes and GLAAD award-winner Marc Wolf will perform his solo show Another American: Asking and Telling at the DR2 Theatre (103 E. 15th Street, NYC).

New Dramatists, Tony Honor recipient and one of the nation's premiere playwright development workshop, honored two-time Tony Award winner Julie Taymor with their 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award at its 61st Annual Spring Luncheon tribute, to be held Tuesday, May 18th at the New York Marriott Marquis. Ms. Taymor's award was presented to her by Academy Award winning actress Helen Mirren, who stars in Taymor's soon-to-be-released film adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest. Thomas Schumacher of Disney Theatricals served as the Luncheon Chair. Disney Theatricals and Robert Boyett were the benefactors for New Dramatists 61st Annual Spring Luncheon.

Previews will begin today at Virginia's Signature Theatre for the world premiere musical Sycamore Trees written by Ricky Ian Gordon, the award-winning composer of the opera The Grapes of Wrath and the musicals Dream True and My Life with Albertine. A starry Broadway cast portrays Gordon's own family story - complete with a tough Bronx-born father and former 'Borscht Belt' singer/comedian mother - in a tale of two generations' struggles and triumphs in the decades from World War II through the 1990s.

Tony Award-winning lyricist and librettist Lynn Ahrens talks about penning the narration for 'The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers' receiving its world premiere on Tuesday, May 18 with the Boston Pops

NEW DRAMATISTS, Tony Honor recipient and the nation's premiere playwright development workshop, proudly announces that two-time Tony Award winner Julie Taymor will be honored with their 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award at its 61st Annual Spring Luncheon tribute, to be held Tuesday, May 18th at the New York Marriott Marquis.