Berkeley Repertory Theatre announces the world premiere of The House that will not Stand, a historical comedic drama commissioned from award-winning poet-playwright and Oakland native Marcus Gardley. Sensuous, witty, heartbreaking, and uplifting - The House that will not Stand unearths a story about free women of color in 1836 New Orleans, where black Creole women entered into common-law marriages with affluent white men. When her wealthy lover mysteriously dies, Beartrice Albans' foundation of security hangs precariously by a thread. She is left to fend for her three unwed daughters in a world where freedom must be carefully negotiated. Told in a rich and lyrical river of words, this new play was developed through The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep's Center for the Creation and Development of New Work. It's helmed by Patricia McGregor, whose many credits include the celebrated production of Spunk at California Shakespeare Theater. The House that will not Stand begins previews on Berkeley Rep's intimate Thrust Stage today, January 31, opens on Wednesday, February 5 and runs through Sunday, March 16, 2014.
Berkeley Repertory Theatre welcomes legendary performer Mikhail Baryshnikov in his return to the Bay Area to star in Man in a Case, adding yet another electrifying show to its 2013-14 season.
The Tony Award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival's 2014 preview performances begin February 14, and the season will open Friday night, February 21 in the Angus Bowmer Theatre with Shakespeare's The Tempest (director, Tony Taccone). On Saturday, Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window (Juliette Carrillo) takes the stage, as does the classic Marx Brothers musical The Cocoanuts (David Ivers), and Sunday afternoon Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors (Kent Gash) opens in the Thomas Theatre.
Today Berkeley Repertory Theatre announces the 10th anniversary presentation of Brian Copeland's Not a Genuine Black Man, the longest-running solo show in San Francisco history. After over 700 performances in its initial seven-year run in more than 30 cities including San Francisco and Los Angeles, as well as off Broadway, Copeland's acclaimed show comes to Berkeley Rep's Osher Studio for 18 performances this April. Copeland, a writer, actor, comedian, and radio talk-show host, recounts his story of growing up black in the 1970s in San Leandro, California, a city once nationally known as one of the most racist in America. With wit and heartfelt passion, he explores the themes of racial identity and ultimately, belonging. "Very funny," raved the San Francisco Chronicle. "Copeland is a winning, magnetic performer. More than that, he's got an important tale to tell!" Directed and developed in part by David Ford, Not a Genuine Black Man previews on April 23, 2014, opens April 25, 2014, and plays through May 31, 2014. Tickets are on sale now.
Berkeley Repertory Theatre announces the world premiere of The House that will not Stand, a historical comedic drama commissioned from award-winning poet-playwright and Oakland native Marcus Gardley. Sensuous, witty, heartbreaking, and uplifting - The House that will not Stand unearths a story about free women of color in 1836 New Orleans, where black Creole women entered into common-law marriages with affluent white men. When her wealthy lover mysteriously dies, Beartrice Albans' foundation of security hangs precariously by a thread. She is left to fend for her three unwed daughters in a world where freedom must be carefully negotiated. Told in a rich and lyrical river of words, this new play was developed through The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep's Center for the Creation and Development of New Work. It's helmed by Patricia McGregor, whose many credits include the celebrated production of Spunk at California Shakespeare Theater. The House that will not Stand begins previews on Berkeley Rep's intimate Thrust Stage on Friday, January 31, opens on Wednesday, February 5 and runs through Sunday, March 16, 2014.
Today Berkeley Repertory Theatre announced that award-winning actor and musician Hershey Felder will return to star inHershey Felder as Leonard Bernstein in Maestro about the amazing life of American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein.
Today Berkeley Repertory Theatre announces its 2013-14 board of trustees, a team of exemplary leaders and art advocates from the Bay Area's leading organizations and companies who will steer the Theatre through its 46th season. At its annual board of trustees meeting, the board elected author and retired McGraw-Hill executive Thalia Dorwick as its president, welcomed new and returning members, and reaffirmed its commitment to Berkeley Rep's mission to produce and present ambitious and innovative theatre.
Today Berkeley Repertory Theatre announces that legendary performer Mikhail Baryshnikov will return to the Bay Area to star in Man in a Case, adding yet another electrifying show to its 2013-14 season. Man in a Case is based on two of Anton Chekov's 1898 short stories, "Man in a Case" and "About Love." In Big Dance Theater's adaptation, two hunters trade stories both witty and haunting: one about a reclusive man's courtship of a carefree young woman, which forces him to closely examine his own rigid nature; the other about a man who relives the story of lost love. Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar, the creative masterminds behind the Obie Award-winning Big Dance Theater, bring their signature style of cutting-edge theatre to create a high-tech performance filled with movement, music, and video to illuminate those rare occasions when we're offered life-changing possibilities.Baryshnikov is joined onstage by a stellar cast of four veteran performers from Big Dance Theater including its co-director Paul Lazar, who joins the cast for the Berkeley run.
Berkeley Repertory Theatre has announced The Pianist of Willesden Lane, a one-woman play starring internationally acclaimed pianist and storyteller Mona Golabek. Based on the book The Children of Willesden Lane by Golabek and Lee Cohen, the play is set in Vienna in 1938 and in London during the Blitzkrieg and tells the true story of Golabek's mother, Lisa Jura, a young Jewish musician whose dreams are interrupted by the Nazi regime. In this poignant show, Golabek performs some of the world's most beautiful music live as she relates the real-life legacy of her mother's quest to survive.
San Jose Repertory Theatre's Artistic Director Rick Lombardo has announced San Jose Rep's 2013-2014 season, with seven productions starting tonight, September 5, 2013 to July 14, 2014.
Love, drones and fantasy baseball: unexpected topics that merely scratch the surface of everything the San Jose Repertory Theatre's Season of Innovation explores this year. Taking a compelling look into the human experience through the lens of seven artistic productions, Silicon Valley's top performing arts company has a lineup that runs the gamut of spending a wild night with Janis Joplin to questioning the ethics of aerospace technology.
Berkeley Repertory Theatre kicks off its 46th season this September with Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, winner of the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play. The hilarious Broadway blockbuster from three-time Obie Award-winner Christopher Durang begins previews in the Roda Theatre on September 20, opens September 25, and runs through October 20. Durang, the renowned author of rollicking comedies such as Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You and The Marriage of Bette & Boo, turns Chekhov on his head with this witty and incisive farce. In bucolic Bucks County, Vanya and Sonia fritter their lives away in their family's farmhouse amid regret, angst, and the alarming prophecies of an addled housecleaner. Enter their sister Masha, a self-absorbed movie star with her prized boy toy Spike, and the stage is set for an absurd weekend of hilarity and global warming. Acclaimed director Richard E.T. White returns to Berkeley Rep to stage the laugh-inducing Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, a loving homage to Chekhov's themes of heartbreak and hope.
Today Berkeley Repertory Theatre announces that 16 young professionals - including seven California natives - have been awarded fellowships for the 2013-14 season. Each year, the brightest and best young minds from across the country are selected through a rigorous application process to take part in Berkeley Rep's Fellowship program. This prestigious training program provides hands-on practical experience with educational seminars that offers insight into the operation and inner workings of an award-winning theatre.
Tony Taccone informed the guests that legendary actors Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart will perform at Berkeley Rep in a pre-Broadway engagement of No Man's Land. Award-winning director Sean Mathias stages Harold Pinter's masterwork in the Roda Theatre for an exclusive and strictly limited run in August.
Berkeley Repertory Theatre's Artistic Director Tony Taccone today announces the appointment of Liesl Tommy as the nonprofit's associate director. Tommy, who most recently directed Berkeley Rep's critically acclaimed production of Ruined, joins the Theatre's artistic team effective September 1. Tommy will fulfill various artistic duties including directing for Berkeley Rep's main stage; developing new work through The Ground Floor, the Center for the Creation and Development of New Work; and supporting ongoing artistic pursuits in the spirit of cultivating and producing innovative and adventurous work for the Theatre.
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts has announced its May-June 2013 events, including: Phantom Limb Company: 69°S, McCoy Tyner Quartet with Special Guest Joe Lovano, Talk Cinema, Chris Botti, and Love, Loss and What I Wore.
Tonight, at the annual gala celebrating the Tony Award-winning Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the nonprofit's artistic director thrilled the crowd with a surprise announcement: Tony Taccone informed the guests that legendary actors Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart will perform at Berkeley Rep in a pre-Broadway engagement of No Man's Land. Award-winning director Sean Mathias stages Harold Pinter's masterwork in the Roda Theatre for an exclusive and strictly limited run in August.
On April 20, Berkeley Repertory Theatre invites guests to 'don their bowties, boas, and bling for the grandest, funniest, and most delicious party of the year. Join Danny Scheie - the Bay Area's prince of comedy - for OVATION, a night of delectable food, fine wine, and extravagant revelry to celebrate The Neighborhood Playhouse with an international reputation.' Below, check out two hilarious videos of Scheie introducing the gala via impersonations of Tony Taccone, Susie Medak, Rita Moreno, and more!
Broadway Idiot, a documentary about the making of Berkeley Rep's acclaimed stage version of Green Day's American Idiot, debuted to stellar reviews at last month's South by Southwest Film Festival. Now it returns to the theatre where it all began as a benefit for Berkeley Rep's education and outreach programs. Broadway Idiot plays for one night only in the Roda Theatre on Saturday, May 4 at 8:00 PM.
