Universes News

CHURCH AND STATE by DezArts Performs' opening night brings the audience to their feet with a well-deserved standing ovation.

Jacob G. Padron, 38, has been named the new Artistic Director of Long Wharf Theatre and will begin his role February 1, 2019.

The Public Theater announced complete casting today for the world premiere of EVE'S SONG, written by The Public's Emerging Writers Group alum and 2017-18 Tow Playwright-in-Residence, Patricia Ione Lloyd.

The Public Theater announced the full line-up today for the 15th annualUNDER THE RADAR FESTIVAL, running January 3-13, 2019. This popular and highly-anticipated festival of The Public's winter season will include artists from across the U.S. and around the world, including Argentina, Australia, France, Lebanon, Nigeria, Norway, Palestine, and the UK. Curated by UTR Festival Director Mark Russell, this year's UNDER THE RADAR FESTIVAL continues to expand to venues throughout New York City in addition to The Public Theater's home at Astor Place. Tickets start at $25 and are on sale now.

CONSTELLATIONS at Hudson Stage Company

The Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera presents the North American premiere of its heralded Voices of the Mountains program at Carnegie Hall in New York in a one-night-only performance on November 14, 2018. Voices of the Mountains is a multimedia concert inspired by the music of the Polish Highlands and featuring projections based on photos taken by Polish composer Mieczys?aw Kar?owicz. Conceived by Waldemar D?browski, General Director of Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera, Voices of the Mountains takes the audience on a musical journey of the Polish Highlands through chamber and vocal music by some of Poland's most revered composers, including Wojciech Kilar, Karol Szymanowski, Henryk Miko?aj Gorecki, and Frederic Chopin, in arrangements by the young Polish composer Jan Smoczy?ski, as well as traditional Highland melodies performed by Polish folk musicians.

In time for Halloween, Pork Filled Productions (PFP) and REBATEnsemble present The Night Parade, a theatre experience that immerses audiences in the supernatural and horror, based on the old Japanese folk tale,Hyakki Yagy?, Night of a Hundred Demons.

In a unique addition to its upcoming 2018/2019 Season, Goodman Theatre and the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA) will present the U.S. premiere of Mendoza by Los Colochos of Mexico City-the latest in a 30-year history of premiering works by prominent local, national and international Latino playwrights and theater companies. Mendoza is presented as part of Destinos-the 2nd Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, a seven-week festival of Latino theater artists and companies from Chicago, the U.S. and Latin America in shows, panels and student performances at venues citywide. A radically reimagined adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, Mendoza is a tale of ambition, blood and power by Antonio Zuñiga and Juan Carrillo, directed by Carrillo and presented in Spanish with English supertitles. The limited engagement of Mendoza appears October 2-7, 2018 at Goodman Theatre (170 N. Dearborn); tickets ($25-32; subject to change) go on sale Friday, August 24 by telephone 312.443.3800 or online GoodmanTheatre.org/Mendoza.

Casa de Musica presents AUTUMN IN JAZZ, the sixth edition of the event, running until Oct. 28. 

Last season's runaway hit Constellations is back for a one-weekend reprise to open New Hampshire Theatre Project's 30th anniversary season. Seacoast favorites CJ Lewis and Colleen A. Madden star in this witty comedy about the significance of falling in love within the vastness of our complex human existence. Nick Payne's brilliant script takes us on a journey through parallel universes and the multiple nuances of loving relationships. 'Madden and Lewis are mesmerizing,' said Edge reviewer Jeanne McCartin, 'no lover of theatre should miss Constellations.' One audience member raved, 'If you see only one play this year, see this one!' This year's production is sponsored by JCM Management Company.

The Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera presents the North American premiere of its heralded Voices of the Mountains program at Carnegie Hall in New York in a one-night-only performance on November 14, 2018. Voices of the Mountains is an interactive, multimedia concert featuring projections and inspired by the music of the Polish Highlands. The evening includes works by esteemed Polish composers Wojciech Kilar, Karol Szymanowski, Henryk Miko?aj Górecki, and Mieczys?aw Kar?owicz, in modern arrangements by the young Polish composer Jan Smoczy?ski.

The Public Theater announced complete casting today for the world premiere of EVE'S SONG, written by The Public's Emerging Writers Group alum and 2017-18 Tow Playwright-in-Residence, Patricia Ione Lloyd.

Vidalia Unwin has been a playwright and an actor for several years in Louisville and the surrounding area. The Alley Theater, The Bard's Town, and Finnigan Productions have produced her plays. Most recently, Broken Iris made its debut as part of the inaugural Louisville Fringe Festival. It happens also to be the first play produced since the playwright, a transgender individual, has been in transition.

Dael Orlandersmith, "an intense poet, writer and intellectual" (Chicago Tribune), brings her newest work, Lady in Denmark, to the Owen Theatre. Reuniting with director Chay Yew (Black n Blue Boys/Broken Men, 2012), Orlandersmith's world premiere production is a reflection on love and adversity starring stage and screen actress Linda Gehringer in a 90-minute solo performance. Helene (Gehringer) is a Danish American woman coping with the death of her husband who finds solace in the hauntingly beautiful music of their favorite singer, Billie Holiday. This is her journey through the couple's time together-from the smoky jazz clubs of post-war Copenhagen to the home they shared in present-day Chicago. Lady in Denmark is one of five world premieres this season, all originally developed as a part of the Goodman's New Stages Festival. The creative team includes Andrew Boyce (set), Christine Pascual (costumes), Lee Fiskness (lighting) and Mikhail Fiksel (original music and sound). Donald E. Claxon is the Production Stage Manager. Lady in Denmark appears October 19 - November 18, 2018 (opening night is October 29 at 7pm) in the Goodman's Owen Theatre (170 N. Dearborn); tickets ($15-45; subject to change) go on sale Friday, August 31, by telephone 312.443.3800 or online GoodmanTheatre.org/LadyInDenmark.

Encompass New Opera Theatre will present the world premiere of Anna Christie with music by Edward Thomas set to a libretto by Joseph Masteroff, beginning on Thursday, October 4, 2018 at 8pm, running through Sunday, October 21, 2018, at the Baruch Performing Arts Center (at 55 Lexington Avenue, entrance on 25th Street, between Lexington and Third Avenues). 

In time for Halloween, Pork Filled Productions (PFP) and REBATEnsemble present The Night Parade, a theatre experience that immerses audiences in the supernatural and horror, based on the old Japanese folk tale,Hyakki Yagy?, Night of a Hundred Demons.

In a unique addition to its upcoming 2018/2019 Season, Goodman Theatre and the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA) will present the U.S. premiere of Mendoza by Los Colochos of Mexico City-the latest in a 30-year history of premiering works by prominent local, national and international Latino playwrights and theater companies. Mendoza is presented as part of Destinos-the 2nd Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, a seven-week festival of Latino theater artists and companies from Chicago, the U.S. and Latin America in shows, panels and student performances at venues citywide. A radically reimagined adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, Mendoza is a tale of ambition, blood and power by Antonio Zuñiga and Juan Carrillo, directed by Carrillo and presented in Spanish with English supertitles. The limited engagement of Mendoza appears October 2-7, 2018 at Goodman Theatre (170 N. Dearborn); tickets ($25-32; subject to change) go on sale Friday, August 24 by telephone 312.443.3800 or online GoodmanTheatre.org/Mendoza.

LYMAN, The Musical, is about, centrally, a person named Lyman Liri. We are first introduced to him as an adult when a lady stops to talk to him while he is selling Valencia oranges on the streets of Redlands, California. We begin to learn about both of them, and how they might even be connected, as the woman seems to recognize him, but can't recall from where or when. This is a brand new Musical that made it's El Portal debut the night I saw the performance. It is an amazing and courageous endeavor to not only put a spotlight on the homeless in our city, but to show how possible it could be that one choice, one decision could change the course of your life forever, in a flash, and this theme is explored thoroughly throughout Lyman's story.

Writer and director Anne Johnstonbrown announced today the full cast for her production of LYMAN, The Musical, which tackles the prevalent issue of homelessness and how choice and chance define our future. The musical stars Lou Beatty, Jr. (Tales from the Hood 2, The Yard), and features Eric Baily, Jr., Jacob Betts, Chantel Cagle-Cordova, Jack Dempsey Collins, Tony Collins, Erik Dabrowski, Natalie Eleftheriadis, Kevin C. Ezeh, Andrew Flory, Eddie Griego, Michael Naishtut, Betty Ann Ortega, Emily Priestly, Nathan Smith-Finley, Connie Ventress, William Warren, Howard Wilson, and Veronica Crystal Young.

What if Shakespeare had conceived the melancholy Dane as a costumed crime fighter? Out of Box Theatre opens its seventh season with a play that will answer that question. Bat-Hamlet tells the tale of a Dark Knight that emerges from betwixt the pages of Shakespeare to exact revenge on his murderous uncle, King Jester. Once resolved to avenge beloved King Police Commissioner Gordrick's death, Hamlet dons the persona of Bat-Hamlet, a flashier and much cooler version of his brooding youth.