The Old Globe News

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater's Artistic Director Molly Smith announces that theater artist Robert Barry Fleming has joined the company as Director of Artistic Programming as of April 2014. Fleming has worked extensively with theaters across the country as a director, writer, choreographer, producer and performer and has held positions at the University of San Diego and the University of Memphis. He returns to Arena Stage following his previous collaboration with Smith as assistant director for The Music Man.

Love is blossoming in Seattle this spring when The 5th Avenue Theatre debuts the lush new musical, A Room with a View. Based on the E.M. Forster novel that inspired the Merchant Ivory film, this enchanting adaptation features a wonderfully rich score by Jeffrey Stock and a witty and moving book and additional lyrics by Marc Acito. This beguiling and intimate romantic comedy features a cast of Seattle's best-loved musical theater stars including Laura Griffith and Louis Hobson as Lucy and George. Directed by The 5th Avenue's David Armstrong, A Room with a View also features Patti Cohenour, Jadd Davis, Allen Fitzpatrick, Richard Gray, Suzy Hunt, Matt Owen, Will Reynolds, and Jenny Shotwell.

The Old Globe yesterday announced the cast of the World Premiere of Dog and Pony, a new musical with book by Rick Elice and music and lyrics by Michael Patrick Walker. From the award-winning talents behind Jersey Boys, Peter and the Starcatcher, and Altar Boyz, Dog and Pony is a romantic musical comedy that follows Mags and Andy, a successful screenwriting team, as their professional relationship evolves into something more. Scroll down to meet the company!

Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd announces the cast and creative team for recent Tony Award-winning comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Appearing in titles roles are Resident Actor Jeffrey Bean as Vanya, Sharon Lockwood returning to the Alley as Sonia, Alley Artist Josie de Guzman returning as Masha, and Resident Actor Jay Sullivan as Spike. Rounding out the cast and making their Alley debuts are Rachael Holmes as Cassandra and Sarah Nealis as Nina. Jonathan Moscone, Artistic Director of California Shakespeare Theater, helms the production and returns after having directed the Alley's 2011 production of Amadeus.

Academy Award nominee Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road) plays Berenger in Eugene Ionesco's The Killer in a production that also features Kristine Nielsen, Paul Sparks and Robert Stanton. The Killer is newly translated by Michael Feingold and is directed by Darko Tresnjak (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder). Last produced Off-Broadway in 1960, The Killer is the final production of Theatre for a New Audience's inaugural season at Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place. Previews begin Saturday, May 17, at 7:30pm for an opening Thursday, May 29, and a scheduled run through Sunday, June 29. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast and creative team in rehearsal below!

Academy Award nominee Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road) plays Berenger in Eugene Ionesco's The Killer in a production that also features Kristine Nielsen, Paul Sparks and Robert Stanton. The Killer is newly translated by Michael Feingold and is directed by Darko Tresnjak (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder).

The manicured life of an actor-turned-politician and his impeccable wife is upset when relatives arrive at their Palm Springs home for the holidays - including daughter Brooke who's about to publish a tell-all memoir. caryn desai [sic] directs Jon Robin Baitz's Other Desert Cities, opening June 6 at International City Theatre in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. Two low-priced previews take place on June 4 and June 5.

Earn your blood at the tag team match of the century, with the survival of two families in the balance. The Echo Theater Company presents the world premiere of an outrageously violent, seriously dark and surprisingly funny new play about backyard wrestling. Larry Biederman directs Backyard by Mickey Birnbaum, opening May 31 at the Echo's new home, Atwater Village Theatre.

Two River Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director John Dias and Managing Director Michael Hurst, announces the lineup of productions for its 2014/15 Season. The year will include world-premiere plays and musicals that have been developed at the theater, including Your Blues Ain't Sweet Like Mine, a new play written and directed by Tony Award-winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson; and Be More Chill, a musical by Joe Iconis and Joe Tracz, adapted from the novel by Ned Vizzini and directed by Scott Ellis. The season will also include a range of world masterpieces and American classics, and work for audiences ages three and up

Don't miss 'Thinking Shakespeare Live' at the Old Globe theatre and get insight on the Bard from The Old Globe Artistic Director Barry Edelstein.

Atlantic Theater Company has announced full casting for Nancy Harris' play OUR NEW GIRL, directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch. Lisa Joyce, Henry Kelemen and CJ Wilson will join previously-announced Atlantic Theater Company founding member Mary McCann for the US premiere production.

The Old Globe today announced it will present Emmy Award-winning actor Richard Thomas ("The Waltons," Fifth of July, "The Americans") starring in A Distant Country Called Youth, an intimate look at the making of an artist, adapted by Steve Lawson from early letters Tennessee Williams sent to his family, friends, and professional associates. This one-night-only engagement takes place on Monday, June 9 at 7:00 p.m.

To Austin area High School English teachers, I sincerely apologize if any of your students see The Baron's Men's current production of Romeo and Juliet. If they do, they may enter your class with the false belief that Shakespeare's play about impulsive, horny, and eventually suicidal teens is meant to be a comedy. It's not. The words 'A Tragedy' sometimes even accompany the title. The only tragedies of this production are the over three hour running time, the direction that plays the majority of the story for laughs, and the fact that The Baron's Men, while claiming to have great reverence for the Bard, would do this to one of Shakespeare's greatest works.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) will present Legally Blonde the Musical onstage at the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theater today, April 24-May 4. The 2007 winner of London's Olivier Award for Best Musical, stars Courtney Hammond as the intelligent, self-assured and fashion conscious Elle Woods. For tickets and information, call 860-486-2113 and visit www.crt.uconn.edu.

Goodman Theatre announces that a new production of The Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman, Tony Award-winning playwright, screenwriter and author and Academy Award nominee, completes its 90th Anniversary 'Season to Celebrate.' Goodman Artistic Associate Henry Wishcamper directs the 1939 classic American Southern drama that 'could not be more timely, as the play's social skewering remains satisfyingly fresh' (Los Angeles Times). The Little Foxes is slated to appear May 2 - June 7, 2015 as the fourth production in the 2014/2015 Season, followed by Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, which runs June 20 - July 26, 2015.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre welcomes back Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Kushner for the West Coast premiere of his latest play, The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures, an epic tale of love, family, sex, money, and politics. Kushner reunites with one of his favorite collaborators, Michael Leibert Artistic Director Tony Taccone, to bring this sweeping drama to the Roda Theatre. With his trademark mix of soaring intellect and searing emotion, the legendary writer unfurls a poignant story about an Italian family in Brooklyn. When retired longshoreman Gus Marcantonio decides to die, his kids come home with a raucous parade of lovers and spouses to find that even the house keeps secrets. A portrait of a dysfunctional family filled with weighty dialogue, humor, and passion, Kushner's four-act play previews Friday, May 16, opens on Wednesday, May 21, and runs through Sunday, June 29, 2014.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater Artistic Director David Van Asselt and Managing Director Brian Long have announced that performances of the New York premiere of The Few, written by Samuel D. Hunter and directed by Davis McCallum, begin tonight at 7pm at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 224 Waverly Place. The official opening night is set for Thursday, May 8 at 7pm; The Few is scheduled to run through Sunday, June 8.

Co-Hosts Judith Light and Christopher Sieber announced the nominations for the 2014 Drama League Awards, including Distinguished Production of a Play, Distinguished Production of a Musical, Distinguished Revival of a Play, Distinguished Revival of a Musical, and the much coveted Distinguished Performance Award. The 2014 Drama League Nomination announcement begins the month of celebrations leading up to the 80th Annual Drama League Awards, which will be held at the Marriott Marquis Times Square (1535 Broadway) on Friday, May 16, 2014 at noon hosted by Broadway veteran Jesse Tyler Ferguson.

The 2013-2014 season at Cleveland Play House (CPH) continues with the compelling world premiere production of Deborah Zoe Laufer's Informed Consent. Co-produced with Geva Theatre Center, this incredibly thought-provoking production is inspired by the real life court case between the Havasupai Indian tribe and Arizona State University, and sparks an intriguing debate on both ethicality and morality. Directed by Sean Daniels and Sponsored by Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic and MetroHealth, Informed Consent will serve as the centerpiece to CPH's 2014 New Ground Theatre Festival and will run from today, April 23 - May 18 in the Second Stage.

THE ROAD THEATRE COMPANY and Taylor Gilbert, Founder/Artistic Director together with Sam Anderson, Artistic Director, are thrilled to announce the fourth and final show of its 2013-2014 and 23rd season of premieres with the West Coast Premiere of FLOWER DUET, written by Maura Campbell and directed by Jeffrey Wienckowski. FLOWER DUET will preview on Saturday, May 31; Tuesday, June 3 & Thursday, June 5 at 8pm and will open on Friday, June 6 at 8pm and run through Saturday, July 26 at the Road Theatre Company's new second home, the Road on Magnolia, located in The NoHo Senior Arts Colony, 10747 Magnolia Blvd. in North Hollywood.