TheatreWorks News

Aurora Theatre Company closes its dynamic 27th season with a poignant adaptation of  Joan Didion's memoir, THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING. Nancy Carlin (A Life In The Theatre, The Second Man) will direct Stacy Ross (Leni, Hedda Gabler, Gidion's Knot) in a solo performance.

As previously announced, Theatre Three will kick off its 2019-20 season with a new spin on the classic tale, DRACULA (October 3 through October 27). You've long heard the story of DRACULA, everyone's favorite blood-sucking Transylvanian; but what stories might we learn through the eyes of his mysterious mistress Mina? This fresh adaptation of the Bram Stoker Gothic horror novel takes a deeper look into the Romanian folklore with an update on the undead. Be prepared for plenty of bloody plot twists and turns!

Casting has been completed on yet another milestone for Catskill's adventurous Bridge Street Theatre - its first full-scale summer musical! But, true to form, it's a pretty off-beat one: Joy Gregory and Gunnar Madsen's acclaimed Off-Broadway hit 'The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World'. Based on the true story of three sisters from rural new Hampshire whose father forced them to form a rock band, and who recorded an album back in 1969 which has since become a cult classic, 'The Shaggs' will play for eight performances only, Thursdays through Sundays July 11-21, in BST's intimate 84-seat Mainstage.

The Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF), the not-for-profit foundation of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), will host a symposium entitled 'Choreography in Collaboration' on Monday, June 10, 2019, from 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM at SDC, 321 West 44th Street, Suite 804.

The Franklin Performing Arts Company (FPAC) will conclude its musical season with Kander and Ebb's Cabaret June 14 and 15 at THE BLACK BOX.

San Francisco Playhouse announced casting for Cabaret, the Tony Award-winning musical that will close the company's 2018/19 Season. Susi Damilano will direct, with music direction by Dave Dobrusky and choreography by Nicole Helfer.

THE GREEN ROOM 42 - Broadway's newest intimate concert venue - will present the "Tony Awards Viewing Party" hosted by the "undie rock" sensation The Skivvies on Sunday, June 9 at 7:30 PM. Come hear the hit Broadway duo Lauren Molina and Nick Cearley sing covers and parodies from the musical theatre cannon during commercial breaks, while we live stream the Tonys on a large projection screen.

Immerse yourself in the wild and indomitable female spirit with the Third Annual Andromeda's Sisters Gala to benefit the dance theater company The Neo-Political Cowgirls. The compelling three-day journey includes play readings, a private estate fundraiser and an interactive creativity workshop on June 14th 22nd and 23rd which can be enjoyed collectively or individually. The brain child of Kate Mueth who is the founder of the 501 ( c ) 3 company Neo-Political Cowgirls, Andromeda's Sisters is an arts and advocacy forum to create more work for women in theater and to increase the female voice in the narrative of our society's stories. Mueth brings her vibrant, unconventional, mind-expanding magic to the event. This is not your typical write-a-check and have a cocktail fundraiser. Guests will be treated to talented voices of the theater, advocacy, and legal world to expand their horizons and network with fascinating women. This is the uniquely fertile soil where community, arts and advocacy merge to grow both roots and blossoms. And men are most welcome to join in the fun.

Underscore Theatre Company announces casting for its musical comedy THE BALLAD OF LEFTY & CRABBE.

Musician extraordinaire Hershey Felder will be presenting HERSHEY FELDER: A PARIS LOVE STORY at the Wallis Annenberg beginning May 24, 2019. A PARIS LOVE STORY will focus on Impressionist composer Claude Debussy, known for his masterpieces La Mer, Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune, of course, Claire de lune. I had the wonderful opportunity ask Hershey a few inquiries in the midst of his world premiering in Mountain View.

Desert Theatreworks, the Valley's fastest-growing theatre company, has stepped outside of their pattern of familiar Broadway hits with their current production of Real Women Have Curves. The audience is the winner! Director Rebecca Havely has taken five dynamite actresses, a 1987 script, and presented a production that is as relevant as this morning's headlines. Fortunately, it is delivered with so many laughs and so much love that any messages and societal observations are secondary. It's a genuine feel-good evening in the theatre.

Joe Pope and PopeFilms will be presenting a staged reading of THE NOOSE, a new play by Nicholas T. Proferes, on Friday, May 17, 2019 at 11am and 3pm at Ripley Grier Studios

The June 2019 So-fi festival announces that it will be presenting works at The Clemente's Los Kabayitos and Flamboyan Theaters (107 Suffolk St. between Rivington & Delancey) and Westbeth (463 West Street between Bethune and West 12th St) June 6th-23rd 2019.

The OBIE Award-winning NAATCO, National Asian American Theatre Company, kicks off their 29th season with the World Premiere of Gordon Dahlquist's [Veil Widow Conspiracy].

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) announces 11 awards granted from their Frank Young Fund for New Musicals(formerly known as the National Fund for New Musicals), and six awards granted from their Innovation & Exploration Fund.

Founding Executive Director Kathy Evans announced the 27 writers of nine new musicals for Rhinebeck Writers Retreat's summer weeklong residencies. This year's artists include Obie-winner Heather Christian, Kleban-winner Brian Crawley, TV and film writers Bekah Brunstetter (THIS IS US) and Cinco Paul (DESPICABLE ME), inaugural Stephen Schwartz Award winner Oliver Houser, and ASCAP Foundation scholarship winner Khiyon Hursey. The musicals cover a wide range of subjects. Four have LGBTQ themes: a historical look at Florida in the 1950s (IN A SUNSHINE STATE), a Palestinian/Israeli love story (BORDERS), a modern coming of age of a young black man (SEAN'S STORY PART I | THE AWAKENING), and a fantasy queer rock musical celebrating lady love (TL;DR: THELMA LOUISE; DYKE REMIX). Two are darkly comedic historical musicals: one featuring Mary Magdelene (A.D. 16) and the second a WWII plot to foil Hitler (OPERATION MINCEMEAT). Other subjects include the opioid crisis (ALMOST HEAVEN), the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (THE GOLDEN SPIKE), and a mystery involving a woman with a sleep disorder (NARCOLEPSY).

DreamWorks Theatricals (a division of Universal Theatrical Group), Michael McCabe and Neil Laidlaw have announced that THE PRINCE OF EGYPT, the new stage musical based on the celebrated DreamWorks Animation film and featuring the Academy Award®-winning song When You Believe, will begin performances at London's Dominion Theatre on Wednesday 5 February 2020, with an official London premiere on Tuesday 25 February 2020, for a limited 32-week engagement.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre celebrated the end of its 2018/2019 run and the new works theater community with the OriginKC: NEW WORKS FESTIVAL, running April 19 through May 19, 2019. The focal point of the Festival is the three-day intensive Festival Launch Weekend, May 3, 4 and 5, that features staged readings, panel discussions, two premiere opening nights, and post-show conversations.

THE BLACK BOX Broadway Series presents Mamie Parris in a one-night-only solo show accompanied by Broadway composer Barbara Anselmi (It Should Have Been You) on Saturday, May 11 at 8 pm. On Broadway, Mamie most recently returned to the cast of School of Rock  in the role of Rosalie. She previously starred as Grizabella in the Broadway revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's iconic musical CATS. Her other Broadway and National Tour credits include School of Rock (Patty) (cast album), Wicked (Elphaba), 9 To 5 The Musical (as Judy Bernly, the role created by Jane Fonda in the iconic film), the Tony-Nominated revival of Ragtime, 5-time Tony-Winner The Drowsy Chaperone, Legally Blonde the Musical, and Roundabout Theatre's acclaimed revivals of On The 20th Century (Agnes) (cast album), and 110 In the Shade (cast album). Off-Broadway credits include Pump Boys and Dinettes (Prudie), part of the Encores! Off-Center series, and See Rock City and Other Destinations (Dodi) presented by the Transport Group (cast album out now). Other notable credits include roles at The Goodspeed Opera House, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, The Muny, The Macau International Music Festival in Macau, China, and many more. Her film and television credits include The Blacklist (NBC), A Stand Up Guy (Orchard), and State of Affairs (NBC).

This year's Tony Awards nominations were announced this morning by Bebe Neuwirth and Brandon Victor Dixon.