Uta Hagen News

Musical theatre performers MARY LOU BARBER, EDWARD PLEASANT and BEN RAUCH will be performing dramatic readings of excerpts from The Very Reverend James Parks Morton's forthcoming memoir at the 12th Annual James Parks Morton Interfaith Awards gala on Thursday, June 5 at the New York Hilton Midtown. This is the first time in the history of the Interfaith Center of New York (ICNY) awards dinner that a theatrical event has been presented.

Following the recent hits at The Lion Theatre and the Under St. Marks theater of Antony Raymond's comedies, ELSINORE COUNTY and LUSTYNESS, Daniel Neiden will present Raymond's second installment of his three part Shakespeare Un-Canon, entitled JULIO! Performances will begin June 3rd, and will celebrate its opening on Thursday, June 5th, running through June 21st at The Kraine Theater (85 E. 4th Street). Tickets are $18 and can be purchased by visiting www.ElsinoreCounty.com, or by calling Brown Paper Tickets at (800) 838-3006.

Ten Chimneys Foundation has announced the ten actors who will participate in the 2014 Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program, a widely acclaimed national program to serve the future of American theatre. July 13-20, the Lunt-Fontanne Fellows will join Master Teacher David Hyde Pierce for an intensive, weeklong master class and immersion experience at Ten Chimneys, the National Historic Landmark estate of theatre legends Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in Genesee Depot, Wisconsin.

Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks is a touching and human comedy about a formidable retired woman, Lily Harrison, who hires an acerbic dance instructor, Michael Minetti, to give her private dance lessons -one per week for six weeks- in her gulf-front condo in St. Petersburg Beach, Florida. What begins as an antagonistic relationship blossoms into an intimate friendship as these two people from very different backgrounds reveal their secrets, fears, and joys while dancing the Swing, Tango, Waltz, Foxtrot, Cha-Cha, and Contemporary Dance. Michael and Lily learn to overcome their outward differences and discover an unlikely but profound connection. By the final lesson, Lily shares with Michael her most closely guarded secret and he shares with her his greatest gifts, his loyalty and compassion. A comedy with music and dance, the play also addresses the serious issues of ageism and intolerance.

The Tallest Tree in the Forest/written & performed by Daniel Beaty/directed by Moises Kaufman/Mark Taper Forum/through May 25

Steve Blackwood (ex-Bart, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) will be giving a free in-store acting class to the first 30 people who buy THE STEVE BLACKWOOD SESSIONS. His book is about his days on DAYS OF OUR LIVES, how to succeed in show (or any) business, but MOST of all about the enlightening dialogue he has with the students in his acting classes in Boston and Detroit.

Steve Blackwood (ex-Bart, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) will be giving a free in-store acting class to the first 30 people who buy THE STEVE BLACKWOOD SESSIONS. His book is about his days on DAYS OF OUR LIVES, how to succeed in show (or any) business, but MOST of all about the enlightening dialogue he has with the students in his acting classes in Boston and Detroit.

CRYSTAL SPRINGS, a thought-provoking new play that interweaves the challenges of parenting in the digital age with a suspenseful tale of online misbehavior and its vicious consequences, will receive its world premiere at the Eureka Theatre in March. This latest work by rising playwright Kathy Rucker, a Humana Festival Heideman Award finalist, will be directed by award-winning British director Anna Jordan. CRYSTAL SPRINGS plays today, March 6 - 23, 2014 at The Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson St., San Francisco.

59E59 Theaters has announced the NYC premiere of GIDION'S KNOT, written by Johnna Adams and directed by Austin Pendleton. GIDION'S KNOT begins performances tonight, February 20 for a limited engagement through Sunday, March 9. Press opening is Wednesday, February 26 at 7:30 PM.

Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? has been an essential part of American theater - even more to the point, American culture - for over half a century. When we talk about long-ago stage productions of great plays, most of us have to imagine. In the case of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, we have something far better: in the winter of 1963, a few months after the play opened, Columbia Records took the unusual step of bringing the original cast - Uta Hagen, Arthur Hill, Melinda Dillon and George Grizzard - into the studio to perform the entire play for an audio recording. It has been unavailable since the LP era, but now Masterworks Broadway proudly releases this important recording for the first time in the digital era. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?will be available for purchase exclusively via MasterworksBroadway.com on February 18 in a limited quantity of 2-CD-R sets as well as digital download. The 2-CD-R sets will be available through Arkiv Music on March 18, plus downloads through digital service providers the same day.

CRYSTAL SPRINGS, a thought-provoking new play that interweaves the challenges of parenting in the digital age with a suspenseful tale of online misbehavior and its vicious consequences, will receive its world premiere at the Eureka Theatre in March. This latest work by rising playwright Kathy Rucker, a Humana Festival Heideman Award finalist, will be directed by award-winning British director Anna Jordan. CRYSTAL SPRINGS plays March 6 - 23, 2014 at The Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson St., San Francisco. For tickets ($45-$65) and information the public may visit www.CrystalSpringsThePlay.com or call 800.838.3006.

York Little Theatre (YLT) is proud to introduce The Belmont Academy, YLT's new educational component. The mission of YLT's Belmont Academy is to provide a well-rounded education in the area of the performing arts. Classes will incorporate and instruct many diverse genres, as well as facilitate each student's self-discovery of his/her own artistic gifts, enriching themselves, their community and society at large.

59E59 Theaters has announced the NYC premiere of GIDION'S KNOT, written by Johnna Adams and directed by Austin Pendleton. GIDION'S KNOT begins performances on Thursday, February 20 for a limited engagement through Sunday, March 9. Press opening is Wednesday, February 26 at 7:30 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7:30 PM; Friday - Saturday at 8:30 PM; and Sunday at 3:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues).

Masterworks Broadway rings in 2014 with the release of three long requested albums previously unavailable on CD - Li'l Abner (January 14), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (February 18), Brigadoon / Kiss Me, Kate (March 18).

Following the recent sold out run at The Lion Theatre of AnTony Raymond's ELSINORE COUNTY, Daniel Neiden will present Raymond's new dark comedy, LUSTYNESS: PLAYS ABOUT THIS GUY NAMED LOU. Performances will begin tonight, January 3rd, running through Sunday, January 12 at Under St. Marks Theatre (94 St. Marks Place).

Following the recent sold out run at The Lion Theatre of Antony Raymond's ELSINORE COUNTY, Daniel Neiden will present Raymond's new dark comedy, LUSTYNESS: PLAYS ABOUT THIS GUY NAMED LOU. Performances will begin Friday, January 3rd, running through Sunday, January 12 at Under St. Marks Theatre (94 St. Marks Place). Tickets are $18 and can be purchased by visiting www.ElsinoreCounty.com, or by calling Brown Paper Tickets at (800) 838-3006.

The League of Professional Theatre Women with the generous support of the Betty R. and Ralph Sheffer Foundation is pleased to present Award-Winning actress MERCEDES RUEHL interviewed by Andrea Chapin for the next Oral History, on Monday, January 13, 2014 at 6:00 pm at the Bruno Walter Auditorium of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts on 65th Street & Amsterdam Avenue.

There will be a Celebration of legendary theatrical press agent Shirley Herz, on Monday, November 4th at 1:30 pm at the Samuel J Friedman Theatre, 261 West 47th Street, NYC. Some of the participants are Jeffrey Alper, Sam Altman, Barry Brown, Jan Buttram, Robert Callely, Tyne Daly, Jane Friedman, Diane Judge, Angela Lansbury, 'Charlotte Moore, Tom Rhoads, Liz Smith, Iris Williams and La Cage aux Folles' Original cast members: Betsy Craig, Dan Grady, Cady Huffman, David Jackson, Eric Lamp, Tom Sesma & Jennifer Smith. Musical accompaniment by Mark Hummel and Don Pippin.

It's not often that a fictional account of an historical figure is so riveting that you feel as if you're right there in the action, even though it takes place in the distant past. But Nicholas Wright's Mrs. Klein does just that, and brings back to life a woman who has been called the most influential female psychologist in history, and probably the least well known.

George Street Playhouse and Artistic Director David Saint have announced the casting of MARLO THOMAS, award-winning actress of stage and screen, in the world premiere production of Clever Little Lies, by Tony Award-winner JOE DiPIETRO (rescheduled from the 2012-13 season). Mr. Saint will helm the production, slated to take the stage in New Brunswick, November 19 - December 22. The remainder of the cast will be announced at a later date.