The Old Globe News

Producers Paul Blake and Mike Bosner, in conjunction with San Francisco's SHN (Greg Holland, Chief Executive Officer) announced principal casting today for the pre-Broadway engagement of ROMAN HOLIDAY - The Cole Porter Musical, the new musical premiering as part of SHN's 2017 Season this summer.

Charlotte Cohn, co-producers SCS Innovations, LLC, Forty-Eight Theatrical Group, Brierpatch Productions, Neil Gooding Productions, Karen Cohen/Jack Hayflick, Ralph Meranto/JCC Centerstage, in association with NewYorkRep & The Telling Company, present the New York Premiere of Jason Odell Williams' critically acclaimed play Church & State. A friendly reminder that performances begin tomorrow, March 3, 2017 for an open-ended run at New World Stages (340 W. 50th Street - between 8th & 9th Avenues). Opening Night is Monday, March 20, 2017 at 7:00 p.m.

Developed in The Old Globe's 2016 New Voices Festival, The Blameless is a compassionate and moving look at the power of familial bonds in the most extraordinary of circumstances. The boisterous Garcia family has always tackled their days with warmth, humor, and tough love.

Venus in Fur is now running at Virginia Stage Company with the official opening night on Friday, March 3. The play runs Tuesday-Sunday through March 19 with tickets in the orchestra as low as $20. Discounts available for military, students, and groups.

Theater Close-Up -- the unique collaboration between THIRTEEN and the large community of New York City area Off-Broadway and regional theaters - continues with John Strand's The Originalist, captured live on-stage at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., Monday, March 13 at 9 p.m. on THIRTEEN, with an encore presentation on Sunday, March 19 at 3:40 a.m. The play will also air Sunday, March 26 at 10 p.m. on WLIW21. The play, directed on the stage by Molly Smith, will be available for streaming for two weeks after the broadcast. L to R: Edward Gero as Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and Kerry Warren as Cat in The Originalist at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Credit: C. Stanley Photography. Four-time Helen Hayes Award winner Edward Gero (Red) returned to Arena Stage as one of America's most brilliant and polarizing figures: Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. When bright, liberal, Harvard Law School graduate Cat (Kerry Warren) embarks on a nerve-wracking clerkship with Justice Scalia, she discovers him to be both an infuriating sparring partner and an unexpected mentor. How will their relationship affect one of the most incendiary cases ever to reach the nation's highest court? Along the way, Cat's relationship with Scalia is complicated further by Brad (Harlan Work), an adversarial law clerk on Scalia's staff. Gero had last appeared at Arena Stage as Mark Rothko in 'Red.' He is a four-time Helen Hayes winner and 14-time nominee. Regional credits include Mark Rothko in 'Red' at the Goodman Theatre; the title role of 'Sweeney Todd' at Signature Theatre; 'The Chosen' at Theater J; Ebenezer Scrooge in 'A Christmas Carol' and Horace Vandergelder in 'Hello, Dolly!' at Ford's Theatre; 'American Buffalo,' 'Shining City' (Helen Hayes nomination) and 'Skylight' (Helen Hayes Award) at Studio Theatre; and 'The Matchmaker' at Center Stage. In 30 seasons with the Shakespeare Theatre Company, he's played 70 roles, including Helen Hayes-winning turns in 'Henry IV,' 'Richard II' and 'Macbeth.' In New York, he's appeared at South Street Theatre and Classic Stage. Author John Strand is a resident playwright with Arena Stage through the American Voices New Play Institute. His previous work at Arena Stage includes 'The Miser,' an adaptation of the Moliere play set in Reagan-era America; 'Lovers and Executioners,' winner of the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play; and Tom Walker, also commissioned by Arena Stage. His recent work includes the book and lyrics for 'Hat! A Vaudeville,' a new musical with a score by composer Dennis McCarthy (South Coast Repertory); 'Lincolnesque,' a dark comedy about politics and madness in D.C. (The Old Globe, dir. by Joe Calarco); and 'Lorenzaccio,' his adaptation of Alfred de Musset's 1834 French classic (Shakespeare Theatre Company, dir. by Michael Kahn). Of the Arena Stage production, The New York Times wrote, '... The meat of the play draws a portrait of the private man in accordance with the public record: rigid in his views, deeply moralistic and unafraid to express his florid contempt for those benighted souls who see things from any perspective other than his own. Also: He's funny.' DC Theatre Scene opined, 'Arena and director Molly Smith have given this fine work a good, rigorous production ... Edward Gero is a continuing wonder ...' Theater Close-Up on THIRTEEN has most recently featured Rasheeda Speaking from The New Group, Fashions for Men from Mint Theater, Wiesenthal filmed at the Acorn Theatre at Theatre Row, Repairing a Nation from Crossroads Theatre Company in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Incident at Vichy from Signature Theatre Company, The Woodsman recorded at New World Stages, Buried Child from The New Group, and Buyer & Cellar from Westport Country Playhouse. THIRTEEN is using its unrivaled expertise in producing national PBS arts programming - which began with such classic series as Theater in America, part of the award-winning series Great Performances and special limited series such as Stage on Screen -- to provide New Yorkers with unparalleled access to great Off-Broadway and regional offerings. The Originalist is a production of Stage17, and was directed for television by Diana Basmajian. For Theater Close-Up, Mitch Owgang is producer; Bill O'Donnell is series producer; and David Horn is executive producer. Executive-in-charge for WNET is Neal Shapiro. Major support for this presentation of Theater Close-Up is provided by the Howard Gilman Foundation, and Bernard and Irene Schwartz. # # # About WNET WNET is America's flagship PBS station and parent company of THIRTEEN and WLIW21. WNET also operates NJTV, the statewide public media network in New Jersey. Through its broadcast channels, three cable services (KidsThirteen, Create and World) and online streaming sites, WNET brings quality arts, education and public affairs programming to more than five million viewers each week. WNET produces and presents such acclaimed PBS series as Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, PBS NewsHour Weekend, Charlie Rose and a range of documentaries, children's programs, and local news and cultural offerings. WNET's groundbreaking series for children and young adults include Get the Math, Oh Noah! and Cyberchase as well as Mission US, the award-winning interactive history game. WNET highlights the tri-state's unique culture and diverse communities through NYC-ARTS, Reel 13, NJTV News with Mary Alice Williams and MetroFocus, the daily multi-platform news magazine focusing on the New York region. In addition, WNET produces online-only programming including the award-winning series about gender, First Person, and an intergenerational look at tech and pop culture, The Chatterbox with Kevin and Grandma Lill. In 2015, THIRTEEN launched Passport, an online streaming service which allows members to see new and archival THIRTEEN and PBS programming anytime, anywhere: www.thirteen.org/passport. About Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater Under the leadership of Artistic Director Molly Smith and Executive Director Edgar Dobie, is a national center dedicated to American voices and artists. Arena Stage produces plays of all that is passionate, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit, and presents diverse and ground-breaking work from some of the best artists around the country. Arena Stage is committed to commissioning and developing new plays and impacts the lives of over 10,000 students annually through its work in community engagement. Now in its seventh decade, Arena Stage serves a diverse annual audience of more than 300,000. Arenastage.org For media only: Photos and press releases can be accessed here: http://www.thirteen.org/13pressroom/press-release/theater-close-originalist/

Trinity Repertory Company announces that Jessica Lange will be honored with the 2017 Pell Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts at the 21st annual Pell Awards Gala to be held on Monday, May 22, 2017 at the new WaterFire Arts Center in Providence.

Laguna Playhouse Artistic Director Ann E. Wareham is thrilled to announce the fourth show in the Laguna Playhouse 2016-2017 season, Hershey Felder as OUR GREAT TCHAIKOVSKY, written  by Hershey Felder, music by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and directed by Trevor Hay. "This might be the most powerful piece of work that Hershey and Trevor have ever brought to the Playhouse. Tchaikovsky's story is as relevant and important today as it was in the 1800s," says Wareham.  OUR GREAT TCHAIKOVSKY will begin previews on Today, March 1; will open on Sunday, March 5 at 5:30pm and will run through Sunday, March 26, 2017 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

The Ojai Playwrights Conference announced today performers and honorees for its 20th Anniversary Benefit Gala - 'Celebrating 20 Years of Visionary Voices' Scheduled for Saturday, April 8, 2017, the Benefit begins at 4:00pm at Matilija Auditorium with an extraordinary event created especially for this evening.

The New Group has announced full casting for Hamish Linklater's The Whirligig, with Noah Bean, Jon DeVries, Alex Hurt, Jonny Orsini and Grace Van Patten, and as previously announced, Norbert Leo Butz, Zosia Mamet and Maura Tierney, set to appear in this world premiere directed by Scott Elliott.

Today, BWW speaks with Geno Carr about making his Broadway debut in a musical which proves that even when horrible things happen, the human spirit will always prevail.

'Picasso at the Lapin Agile' follows a fictional meetnig between two of the greatest minds of the 20th centurey- Pabloe Picasso and Albert Einstein. From the mind of Steve Martin, this show is playing at the Old Globe through March 12th.

The new Broadway musical Come From Away is currently in previews at Broadway's Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre and officially opens Sunday, March 12, 2017. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Orlando Shakespeare Theater in Partnership with UCF presents William Shakespeare's comedy, Love's Labour's Lost now through March 24, 2017 in the Margeson Theater. Set in the Roaring Twenties, Love's Labour's Lost will play in repertory with F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (now through March 26, 2017). BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

The University of California San Diego Department of Theatre and Dance presents Streamers, a play by Tony Award winner David Rabe, with direction by UC San Diego faculty member Kim Rubenstein.

The U.S. National Tour of ANNIE, now in its third smash year, will return to the State Theatre in Easton today, February 24.   Directed by original lyricist and director Martin Charnin for the 19th time, this production of ANNIE is a brand new incarnation of the iconic Tony Award-winning original.

This May Diversionary asks audiences this question with the World Premiere of BALLAST by Georgette Kelly, a highly poetic exploration of the waking and dream lives of two trans and cisgender couples as they come to terms with the new lives they find themselves in.

The Old Globe today announced the complete cast and creative team of the world premiere of Nick Gandiello's touching and timely drama The Blameless, which was developed in a reading in the Globe's Powers New Voices Festival last year.Gaye Taylor Upchurch (The Last Match, Bethany) returns to the Globe to direct.

The Old Globe presents the world premiere of Nick Gandiello's touching and timely drama The Blameless, which was developed in a reading in the Globe's Powers New Voices Festival last year. Gaye Taylor Upchurch (The Last Match, Bethany) returns to the Globe to direct.The Blameless will play February 23 - March 26, 2017 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Previews run February 23 - March 1. Opening night is Today, March 2 at 8:00 p.m. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the company below!

McCarter Theatre Center has announced two added performances of Ken Ludwig's adaptation of Agatha Christie's mystery masterpiece, Murder on the Orient Express, running March 14 - April 2, 2017. Additional performances are scheduled for March 22 and 29 at 7:30 p.m.

Four intellectuals - a doctor, an actress, a psychologist and a neurobiologist studying the human brain's response to race - search for love, acceptance and identity in Lydia R. Diamond's comedy-drama Smart People, which makes its D.C. debut at Arena Stage.