The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts News

Joyce Award-recipient Naomi Iizuka brings her tale of family ties, a lingering debt, mystical stories-and magical food-to the Goodman stage in her newest work, Ghostwritten, April 4 - May 3, 2009. Lisa Portes, who has shepherded this play from its first appearance at the 2007 New Stages Series, directs its world-premiere production with a cast of Chicago favorites led by Lisa Tejero (Mirror of the Invisible World and Metamorphoses) and Kim Martin-Cotten (King Lear).

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced a one week extension for its production of RAGTIME. The musical will now run in the Eisenhower Theater April 18 through May 17, 2009. Based on a 1975 novel by E.L. Doctorow, the production features book by Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and will be directed and choreographed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge. The musical is part of the Kennedy Center?s Broadway: The Third Generation, a series celebrating the current generation of Broadway musical composers. The official press night will take place on Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.

Herbie Hancock calls her 'a wonderful song stylist,' Melba Moore says that 'She's a reincarnation of Ella Fitzgerald,' and Aretha Franklin proclaims 'If you're looking for good entertainment and very hip music, be sure to check out Nnenna Freelon.' Following up on its sold-out January concert by Tony winner Christine Ebersole and its wildly popular first-time collaboration with City Arts and Lectures in December when Barbara Cook appeared in concert and in conversation with Steve Winn, Bay Area Cabaret continues its 5th season on Sunday, March 8 at 5pm with Nnenna Freelon and her jazz quartet at the Marines Memorial Club Crystal Ballroom (609 Sutter Street@ Mason). Individual tickets to this show, and to a May 17th show by multi-platinum jazz singer/songwriter Ann Hampton Callaway, are available at www.bayareacabaret.org or City Box Office (415) 392-4400.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will present Terrence McNally's Nights at the Opera - an event showcasing three of the playwright's works including Master Class, The Lisbon Traviata, and Golden Age concurrently in Kennedy Center theaters from March 20 - April 18, 2010. Directors include Walter Bobbie for Master Class and Christopher Ashley for The Lisbon Traviata.

Sydney Theatre Company's forthcoming production of A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, directed by Liv Ullmann, is to tour to the United States. The production which will play at Sydney Theatre from 1 September to 10 October 2009, featuring STC Co-Artistic Director Cate Blanchett as Blanche DuBois, and will run at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington from 29 October to 21 November 2009 and Brooklyn Academy Of Music (BAM), New York from 27 November to 20 December 2009.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced the Center and the National Symphony Orchestra's complete season for 2009- 2010. In wide ranging programming that covers theater, dance, classical music, jazz and productions for young people, the Center continues its commitment, as the nation's center for the performing arts, to producing and presenting the best of national and international arts.

Legendary Broadway star, actress/singer Betty Buckley will continue her successful Song Interpretation and Communication Workshop hosted by Imagination Celebration in March and April 2009. The Fort Worth native will share her singing and acting techniques in her master class designed for both dedicated students and advanced professional performers.

arlier this month, Alan Zachary & Michael Weiner joined in a week-long celebration at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. of the 'Next Generation of Broadway Songwriters' by performing an hour-long concert of their songs, joined by Megan Hilty (star of Broadway's Wicked and 9 to 5). The concert is now available to watch online.

Herbie Hancock calls her 'a wonderful song stylist,' Melba Moore says that 'She's a reincarnation of Ella Fitzgerald,' and Aretha Franklin proclaims 'If you're looking for good entertainment and very hip music, be sure to check out Nnenna Freelon.' Following up on its sold-out January concert by Tony winner Christine Ebersole and its wildly popular first-time collaboration with City Arts and Lectures in December when Barbara Cook appeared in concert and in conversation with Steve Winn, Bay Area Cabaret continues its 5th season on Sunday, March 8 at 5pm with Nnenna Freelon and her jazz quartet at the Marines Memorial Club Crystal Ballroom (609 Sutter Street@ Mason). Individual tickets to this show, and to a May 17th show by multi-platinum jazz singer/songwriter Ann Hampton Callaway, are available at www.bayareacabaret.org or City Box Office (415) 392-4400.

Theater News from Broadway and the Baltimore/Washington Region

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced Arts in Crisis: A Kennedy Center Initiative, a program designed to provide emergency planning assistance to struggling arts organizations throughout the United States. Expanding on previously existing arts management programs at the Kennedy Center, Arts in Crisis will provide free consulting from both Kennedy Center President Michael M. Kaiser and members of the Kennedy Center's executive staff.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts celebrates the 12th Anniversary of the Millennium Stage on January 31, 2009 with 'Broadway Today'-a star-studded, free concert, produced by Michael A. Kerker and presented in cooperation with ASCAP, in the Opera House as a part of the Center's season-long artistic initiative Broadway: The Third Generation. With the composers at the piano, original cast members and Broadway stars perform signature songs that made these artists household names. Free tickets are required. Tickets will be given away one (1) per person in line in front of the Opera House beginning at 4 p.m. on Saturday, January 31, 2009.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts celebrates the 12th Anniversary of the Millennium Stage on January 31, 2009 with 'Broadway Today'-a star-studded, free concert, produced by Michael A. Kerker and presented in cooperation with ASCAP, in the Opera House as a part of the Center's season-long artistic initiative Broadway: The Third Generation. With the composers at the piano, original cast members and Broadway stars perform signature songs that made these artists household names.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced casting for its production of RAGTIME in the Eisenhower Theater April 18 - May 10, 2009. Based on a 1975 novel by E.L. Doctorow, the production features book by Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and will be directed and choreographed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge. The musical is part of the Kennedy Center's Broadway: The Third Generation, a series celebrating the current generation of Broadway musical composers. The official press night will take place on Saturday, April 25, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts celebrates the 12th Anniversary of the Millennium Stage on January 31, 2009 with 'Broadway Today'-a star-studded, free concert, produced by Michael A. Kerker and presented in cooperation with ASCAP, in the Opera House as a part of the Center's season-long artistic initiative Broadway: The Third Generation. With the composers at the piano, original cast members and Broadway stars perform signature songs that made these artists household names. Free tickets are required. Tickets will be given away one (1) per person in line in front of the Opera House beginning at 4 p.m. on Saturday, January 31, 2009.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts celebrates the 12th Anniversary of the Millennium Stage on January 31, 2009 with 'Broadway Today'-a star-studded, free concert, produced by Michael A. Kerker and presented in cooperation with ASCAP, in the Opera House as a part of the Center's season-long artistic initiative Broadway: The Third Generation. With the composers at the piano, original cast members and Broadway stars perform signature songs that made these artists household names.

Last holiday season, due to the 2007 Broadway stagehands' strike, fundraising for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and sales of its annual holiday CD, Broadway's Greatest Gifts: Carols for a Cure, were gravely impacted. With most theaters dark, the main source of sales of the CD was cut off. Stephen DeAngelis, NYC casting director and Artistic Director from the Engeman Theater, contacted Lynn Pinto, Executive Producer of Carols for a Cure, to see if they could sell the CDs to help make up for strike losses. The Engeman Theater sold hundreds of the CDs. In gratitude, Ms. Pinto invited performers from the Engeman Theater to record a track of their own for the 2008 CD.

Barbra Streisand guests and talks about her impoverished childhood on CBS' 'The Early Show' today Dec. 30th -- the the network airs the Kennedy Center Honors tonight at 9pm EST.

Barbra Streisand guests and talks about her impoverished childhood on CBS' 'The Early Show' on Dec. 30th -- the same day the network airs the Kennedy Center Honors.

Cast members from the Broadway production of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, the longest-running show in Broadway history, will sing holiday songs live throughout Good Morning America on ABC, this coming Monday morning December 22. Led by PHANTOM star Patricia Phillips, the first-ever African-American to play opera diva Carlotta Giudicelli, the cast's performances are in recognition of the special 10th Anniversary of Broadway's Greatest Gifts: Carols for a Cure, the annual holiday CD which benefits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. On this year's CD, the cast of PHANTOM can be heard singing their folk version of 'Away in a Manger,' arranged by cast member and acoustic guitarist Geoff Packard.