The Public Theatre News

Theater Schmeater is pleased to present Heidi Schreck's enigmatic play Creature, opening on Friday May 27th, and running on Thursday Fridays and Saturdays until June 25th. A Seattle native, Ms. Schreck has found success on the East Coast as a playwright, and this early play is the first of her work to be produced in NYC.

Barrett Foa, acclaimed star of stage and screen, brings his one-man show, Grin and Barrett, to Feinstein's at the Nikko for two performances only - Friday, June 24 (8 p.m.) and Saturday, June 25 (7 p.m.). After seven seasons of spouting intricate tech geekery on the hit CBS television show, 'NCIS: Los Angeles,' the star of Broadway's Avenue Q, Mamma Mia!, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and off-Broadway's Buyer & Cellar will present an evening of pride, desperation, and show-offsmanship in a one-man cabaret that is sure to be... an hour long! Produced by Andrew Carlberg, Grin and Barrett is directed by Christopher Youngsman and features choreography by Rene?e Felice Smith and musical direction and arrangements by David O. Tickets for Barrett Foa range in price from $45-$65 and are available now by calling 866.663.1063 or visiting www.feinsteinsatthenikko.com.

In the 2014-15 season, the NYC theatre industry hit a record high in the 9 years AAPAC has data collected. For the first time, 30% of all available roles went to actors of color, a jump from 24% the previous year. After three years in a row of exceeding the nine-year average of 23%, it seems safe to say that there is a definite upward trend in the casting of actors of color.

Previews begin Sunday, May 1, at 7:30pm for Theatre for a New Audience's production of August Strindberg's The Father in a new version by Scottish author David Greig commissioned by Theatre for a New Audience and Tuesday, May 10, at 7:30pm for A Doll's House in an adaptation by Thornton Wilder not seen in New York since its Broadway premiere in 1937.  The plays, both directed by Arin Arbus, Associate Artistic Director of Theatre for a New Audience, feature Maggie Lacey as Nora in A Doll's House and as Laura in The Father and John Douglas Thompson as Thorwald in A Doll's House and the Captain in The Father.

Sellersville Theater 1894 in Sellersville PA will present Pushcart Players in 'Stone Soup and other Stories' on from Tuesday, May 3 through Friday, May 6, 2016 at 10:00 am. Pushcart is the Emmy-nominated educational theater for young audiences, now in its 43rd year of bringing something special to schools and theaters nationwide. The Sellersville Theater, connected to the Sellersville Hotel and Restaurant, is an historic, intimate performing arts venue for live music, comedy shows and family entertainment by local and national acts.

Playwright Dominque Morisseau demonstrates why she has such a bright future.

Cape Rep Theatre, 3299 Rt. 6A, Brewster, is pleased to announce the continuation of its professional theater training program, TheatreLab. 

On Friday, April 15, 2016, the Broadway play ECLIPSED by Danai Gurira - a story about the navigation of five women through the vicious Liberian civil war - observed a moment of silence during the curtain call to honor of the hundreds of missing girls who, in 2014 were abducted by members of Boko Haram, a terrorist group, at the Chibok school in Northern Nigeria: #BringBackOurGirls.

Strawdog Theatre Company and Artistic Director Hank Boland present the final main stage production in its 2015 - 2016 season and the final production to be produced at Strawdog's Broadway home for 26 years*, George S. Kauffman and Moss Hart's ONCE IN A LIFETIME. The production begins tonight, April 22, and continues through June 4, directed by Damon Kiely, at Strawdog Theatre Company, 3829 N. Broadway St.

AMERICAN PSYCHO, the American premiere of a new musical based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis -- which celebrates the 25th anniversary of its publication this March -- began performances on Broadway at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (236 West 45th Street) on Thursday, March 24, 2016. Opening night is tonight, April 21, 2016. Scroll down to learn more about the company and watch highlights from the show!

The 2016 Drama League Award Nominees for Outstanding Play, Outstanding Revival of a Play, Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Revival of a Musical, and the much-coveted Distinguished Performance Award were just announced this morning at Sardi's, by Aladdin stars Adam Jacobs, Courtney Reed and James Monroe Iglehart. Check out the full list of nominees below!

Abrons Arts Center presents the New York City premieres of EMPATHY SCHOOL / LOVE STORY, a program of two monologues, with video and original music, written and directed by Aaron Landsman.

New Freedom Theatre presents the world premiere of THE BALLAD OF TRAYVON MARTIN. THE BALLAD OF TRAYVON MARTIN is written by Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj and Thomas J. Soto.

Native Voices at the Autry, America's leading Native American theatre company, presents its 18th Annual Festival of New Plays at the Autry Museum of the American West and La Jolla Playhouse. The festival features staged readings of new and in-progress plays by Native writers followed by audience talkbacks in which each viewer becomes an important part of the collaborative process.

Skylight Theatre Company is proud to announce that they will be co-producing the World Premiere of Jesse Mu-En Shao's THE END TIMES, in collaboration with Jon Lawrence Rivera's Playwrights' Arena. This marks Jesse's first produced work. The collaboration between the two companies is a longtime in planning. Both companies pride themselves on nurturing and developing new works.

The Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre has announced the two musicals that have been chosen for the SigWorks: Musical Theater Lab, a new developmental workshop for musical theater writers - SKIN & BONES by Ben Clark and Andrew Kramer and U.G.L.Y. by Darius Smith.

Inspired by the memoirs of a Muslim woman who fought for her independence at a turning point in Egypt's modern history, THIS TIME is a lush new play about regret, romance, and familial responsibility.

We interviewed Mary Testa who will perform in Two River Theater's production of 'Pericles' from April 16th to May 8th. Testa spoke to us about her career, the show and working on the Red Bank stage.

The divisive world of Washington D.C. politics moves to center stage of the Bram Goldsmith Theater at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts when Anthony Giardina's searing political comic drama THE CITY OF CONVERSATION opens for a limited run in May.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Emmy and Golden Globe award winner Kelsey Grammer recently took his final bow as Charles Frohman/Hook in Broadway's Finding Neverland on April 3rd. Grammer returned to the role on January 19th of this year after a brief hiatus. Paul Slade Smith will take over the role temporarily beginning this week. Sources have told us that Broadway favorite Marc Kusdisch will take on the role next, officially joining the company on April 12.