TheatreWorks News

The American Theatre Wing celebrates its 2016 Jonathan Larson Grants recipients: Cesar Alvarez (book, music and lyrics), Nikko Benson (music and lyrics), Carson Kreitzer (book and lyrics), and Sam Salmond (book, music, and lyrics).

The workshop of award-winning composer/lyricist/playwright/performer Max Vernon's new musical THE VIEW UPSTAIRS, directed by Scott Ebersold and with choreography by Spencer Liff and music direction by Matt Aument, began rehearsals last week in New York City and will culminate in three industry presentations on March 31st and April 1st. THE VIEW UPSTAIRS is produced by Invisible Wall Productions, and they are proud to announce the cast and creative team.

 Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts is pleased to announce the 3rd ANNUAL NEW WORKS FESTIVAL, April 29 - May 1. THE READINGS ARE FREE. Reserve seats online at www.baystreet.org or by calling the Bay Street Theater Box Office at 631-725-9500, open Tuesday through Saturday 11 am to 5 pm.

Theatreworks USA (Barbara Pasternack, Artistic Director; Ken Arthur, Producing Director) will continue its 2016 weekend family performance series Saturday, March 19th, with Junie B.'s Essential Survival Guide To School, the New York premiere of the new children's musical based on the best-selling series of books by Barbara Park(published by Random House Books for Young Readers), penned by Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich (Ever After, Dear Edwina). Featured in the cast are Lizzy Brooks, Gino Chaviano, Michelle Croll, Charles Engelsgjerd, and Annabelle Fox.

Just beyond the elegant dining room of an Upper East Side restaurant, service workers angle for shifts, pray for tips and cling to dreams of life beyond their daily back-of-house grind. Armando Molina directs the Los Angeles premiere of My Mañana Comes by Elizabeth Irwin, opening April 16 at the Fountain Theatre in Hollywood.

Ken Davenport and Michael Jackowitz, the producers of the new Off-Broadway musical DADDY LONG LEGS, have announced the "Give A Girl Her Chance" Contest, which will gift an Off-Broadway debut to one talented young woman.

42nd Street Moon concludes its 23rd season with Frank Loesser's glorious Napa Valley romance, the Tony Award-winning THE MOST HAPPY FELLA. This masterpiece with book, music and lyrics by Frank Loesser (Guys and Dolls, How to Succeed in Business …, Where's Charley?) is an unconventional and sweepingly romantic love story set in the vineyards of Napa Valley. Considered one of Loesser's greatest works, the stunning score includes "The Most Happy Fella," "Standing on the Corner," "Joey, Joey, Joey," "Rosabella," "Big D," "My Heart Is So Full of You" and "Song of a Summer Night." Directed by Cindy Goldfield, with musical direction by Dave Dobrusky, THE MOST HAPPY FELLA will run April 27 - May 17, 2016 (Press opening: Saturday, April 30) at the Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson Street, San Francisco. For tickets ($25-$75) or more information, the public may call (415) 255-8207 or visit www.42ndstmoon.org. 

Frontier Theatre Productions' Artistic Director James Roose-Evans today announces the company's first show - a production of Marguerite Duras's The Lovers Of Viorne which runs from 3 - 21 May at The Theatre Room, Frontier's new 55 seat chamber theatre in their headquarters at 6 Frederick's Place.  Roose-Evans directs Charlotte Cornwell as Claire with full casting to be announced shortly. 

Desert Rose Playhouse, in Rancho Mirage, is currently presenting COCK, an intelligent and moving comic drama. It is sensitively directed (by artistic director Jim Strait), and performed superbly by a first-rate cast. COCK is a drama that is likely to interest both the LGBT community (Desert Rose's core constituency) and straight theatergoers. Its theme about identity is universal.I consider it a must-see.

CLUE THE MUSICAL, as interpreted by director Lance Phillips-Martinez and music director Joel Baker, Desert Theatreworks' production is a great deal of family-friendly fun. Mr. Phillips-Martinez and Ashley Hernandez (who also plays the multiply-widowed Mrs. Peacock) have provided superb choreography. Add an excellent cast, a terrific musician (Brian Alec Thom), and the twist of giving the audience the opportunity to solve the murder, the result is a highly enjoyable 95 minutes.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley continues its 2015/2016 season with the Regional Premiere of the dazzling romance, CYRANO, a new sprightly adaptation by Michael Hollinger (Opus) and Aaron Posner (My Name is Asher Lev, The Chosen) of Edmond Rostand's classic Cyrano de Bergerac.

Pittsburgh CLO is proud to announce the cast and creative team of THE 39 STEPS, May 19-August 14 at the CLO Cabaret.  Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have THE 39 STEPS, a fast-paced whodunit with a riotous blend of virtuoso performances by an incredible cast and wildly inventive stagecraft, including an on-stage plane crash!

Master playwright David Ives (Venus in Fur, All in the Timing) reinvigorates Jean-Francois Regnard's 1708 comedy about greed, love, and intrigue in Aurora's Bay Area Premiere of THE HEIR APPARENT. Josh Costello (Detroit, Wittenberg) helms THE HEIR APPARENT, featuring Julian Lopez-Morillas, Kenny Toll, Patrick Kelly Jones, Elizabeth Carter, Lawrence Radecker, Khalia Davis, and Katie Rubin. THE HEIR APPARENT plays April 15 through May 15 at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. For tickets ($32-50) and information the public can call (510) 843-4822 or visit auroratheatre.org.

 Berkeley Playhouse at the historic Julia Morgan Theater continues their most acclaimed season yet, with The Addams Family. The show isdirected and choreographed by long time Berkeley Playhouse associate Kimberly Dooley (Berkeley Playhouse's Mary Poppins, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Wiz, Suessical the Musical.). Previews begin March 24. The show runs from March 26 to April 17 at the Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave in Berkeley, CA. Tickets are now available through the Box Office. Please call (510) 845-8542 x351 or visit berkeleyplayhouse.org.

After a sold out run at this summer's New York International Fringe Festival, and recently named Best of the Festival and Audience Favorite at the Flying Solo Festival, former South Bronx public school drama teacher Karen Sklaire's RIPPLE OF HOPE: One Teacher's Journey to Make an Impact will have an encore performance in the Bobby Hackett Theatre at the Community College of Rhode Island Knight Campus in Warwick today, March 11, 2016, at 7:30 PM.

The Pearl Theatre Company is pleased to present the world premiere of The Dingdong, Mark Shanahan's adaptation of French farceur Georges Feydeau's Le Dindon. Directed by The Pearl Theatre's Artistic Director Hal Brooks, The Dindong follows the misadventures of one madcap night in a Paris Hotel, dancing us into a world where opening the wrong door in the dark of night leads to mayhem, laughter and, maybe, a few home truths about the secrets to a happy marriage. The production runs April 5-May 15 and features five actors taking on multiple roles in this breezy comedy full of romance, lust and theatricality. 

Marin Theatre Company's artistic director Jasson Minadakis and managing director Michael Barker are thrilled to announce the 50th anniversary season for the North Bay's leading non-profit professional theatre.

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College concludes its 2015-16 season on Sunday, May 15, 2016 at 2pm with Two Beans Productions' Alexander, Who's Not Not Not Not Not Not Going to Move. Based on Judith Viorst's best-selling Alexander...series, this new family musical teaches us that home isn't a house or a place on a map-it's wherever you are when you're with the people who love you. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased at BrooklynCenter.org or by calling the box office at 718-951-4500 (Tue-Sat, 1pm-6pm).

Theatreworks USA will continue its 2016 weekend family performance series this Sunday, March 13th, with Page Turner Adventures' THE MIXED-UP FAIRY TALE - hilarious storytelling with a touch of vaudeville, featuring Riley Roam as "World Famous Storyologist" Page Turner and former Ringling Bros. clown Kenny Mikey as her bumbling assistant.