The Public Theatre News

Following in the footsteps of Jennifer Morrison (ONCE UPON A TIME, WARRIOR, HOUSE) and Charlie Carver (TEEN WOLF, THE LEFTOVERS), actor/director Matthew Lillard (SCREAM, THE BRIDGE, THE DESCENDANTS, SCOOBY-DOO) has launched a social media challenge to help bring American theater to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

The Broadway at Birdland concert series, in association with Jacob Langfelder, is excited to announce that "Love Me: Downtown and Downunder - A Pride Celebration" will take place on the historic music stage on this Sunday, June 28 at 10:30pm.

Enjoy Shakespeare under the stars at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's Outdoor Stage production of Love's Labour's Lost. The enormously popular summer venue, located on the campus of the College of Saint Elizabeth in Morris Township, hosts the show through July 26th.

Project: Theater (producers of the critically acclaimed Occupation and the monthly Our Bar series) has announced the US premiere of UNITY (1918), written by Kevin Kerr and directed by KJ Sanchez. UNITY (1918) begins performances on Thursday, August 6 for a limited engagement through Sunday, August 23. Press opening is Sunday, August 9 at 7 PM. 

Dorset Theatre Festival will stage Katie Forgette's Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily, a delightfully funny and exciting take on the famous detective story that weaves together threads of history and literature including the great Sherlock Holmes himself, his trusted friend Watson, the sinister Moriarty, the glamorous Lillie Langtry, and even Oscar Wilde. The production will be directed by Margarett Perry and will run from July 9th through the 25th. 'There is a reason that Sherlock is such a popular figure in literature as well as on stage and in film,' says Artistic Director Dina Janis. 'These mysteries are engaging throughout and always very satisfying. This piece in particular is so clever and entertaining.' The Case of the Jersey Lily places literature's favorite genius detective right in the middle of a blackmail scheme that connects the famous actress Lillie Langtry, celebrated playwright Oscar Wilde (just finishing work on his new play, The Importance of Being Forthright), criminal mastermind James Moriarty and Queen Victoria herself.

Bay Street Theater has announced that FIVE PRESIDENTS, the new play by Emmy Award-winning writer Rick Cleveland (Six Feet Under, The West Wing, and House of Cards), will extend its run for an additional week due to popular demand. The production will now run from tonight, June 23-July 19. 

Big Fish, a new musical by Andrew Lippa and John August, joins Stages' lineup for its 2015-16 season.

Geffen Playhouse welcomes Ari Brand (Broadway The Neil Simon Plays; Off-Broadway My Name is Asher Lev), Molly Ephraim (ABC's Last Man Standing, Broadway Into the Woods, Fiddler on the Roof; film Paranormal Activity), Lili Fuller (Hulu's Complete Works) and Raviv Ullman (Off-Broadway Sticks and Bones, title character in Disney's Phil of the Future) as the cast for its West Coast premiere production of Bad Jews by Joshua Harmon, directed by Matt Shakman, who is the artistic director of the Black Dahlia Theatre, a Geffen playhouse alumni (Good People, Wait Until Dark) and a noted television director (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Mad Men).

Bay Street Theater has announced that FIVE PRESIDENTS, the new play by Emmy Award-winning writer Rick Cleveland (Six Feet Under, The West Wing, and House of Cards), will extend its run for an additional week due to popular demand. The production will now run from June 23-July 19. 

Theatre Development Fund, the not-for-profit service organization for the performing arts, will honor three of the organization's 'Unsung Heroes' - Ted Chapin, Jeffrey Gural and Robert Zukerman at TDF's Gala tonight, June 15 at the Edison Ballroom (240 West 47th Street).

Final casting has been set for the 2015 Planet Connections Theatre Festivity's Playwrights For A Cause, set to take place at 7:30pm on Sunday, June 14, 2015 at New York Theatre Workshop, 79 East 4th Street, on Sunday, June 14 at 7:30 pm. The evening, which will benefit the non-profit National Coalition Against Censorship, will showcase world premiere one-act plays by three acclaimed playwrights: Israel Horovitz's Breaking Phillip Glass and Erik Ehn's Her Speech, both directed by Planet Connections Theatre Festivity founder and PFAC Producing Artistic Curator Glory Kadigan, and Halley Feiffer's A Play About New Mexico, directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch.

Enjoy Shakespeare under the stars at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's Outdoor Stage production of Love's Labour's Lost. The enormously popular summer venue, located on the campus of the College of Saint Elizabeth in Morris Township, will host the show beginning on June 17th and continuing through July 26th.

The Actors' Equity Foundation's 2015 Clarence Derwent Awards for most promising female and male performers on the New York metropolitan scene have gone to Phillipa Soo (Hamilton) and Josh Grisetti (It Shoulda Been You). 

The John Drew Theater at Guild Hall in East Hampton presents Arthur Miller's award-winning American classic All My Sons starring Alec Baldwin and Laurie Metcalf and directed by Stephen Hamilton. The play will run Tuesdays through Sundays, tonight, June 9, through June 28, and is produced by Guild Hall in association with Roy Furman and Ellen Myers.

Bad Jews runs tonight, June 9 through July 19, 2015 (opening night is June 17, 2015) in the Gil Cates Theater at the Geffen Playhouse.

Skylight Theatre Company in association with Flying Cucumber Productions presents the World Premiere of El Grande CIRCUS de Coca-Cola, written by Ron House and directed by Alan Shearman. Based on El Grande de Coca-Cola by Ron House, Diz White, Alan Shearman and John Neville-Andrews, Opening at 8:30pm on Saturday, July 18, 2015 Runs at 8:30pm Fridays and Saturdays, 3pm Sundays through August 23, 2015 The Skylight Theatre complex is located at 1816 1/2 N. Vermont, LA, 90027.

'Casterbridge,' based on Thomas Hardy's classic Victorian novel, 'The Mayor of Casterbridge,' is a new musical theater work with book and lyrics by David Willinger and music by Christopher Beste. The 20-character, two-act musical is fairly faithful to Hardy's parable of the spiritual ups and downs of man and features a score inspired by English country music of the period. Theater for the New City will present the piece's world premiere run today, June 4 to 19, directed by Willinger.

Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere of Heisenberg, the new play by two-time Olivier Award winner Simon Stephens (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Punk Rock), directed by Drama Desk Award winner Mark Brokaw (The Lyons, How I Learned to Drive) starring Denis Arndt (The Night Alive at Geffen Playhouse, 'The Practice') and Tony and Emmy Award winner Mary-Louise Parker (Proof, 'Weeds') opens tonight, June 3, as part of MTC's 2014-2015 season of The Studio at Stage II -- Harold and Mimi Steinberg New Play Series at New York City Center -- Stage II (131 West 55th Street).

Leading up to Broadway's biggest night, the 2015 TONY AWARDS, BWW brings you our 'Brush Up On Your TONY Nominees' Guide to this year's nominees in the top categories.

To celebrate its 20-year milestone, the 2015 Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards will be broadcast live online and available on HomeTowne Television.