Verona News

Theatre for a New Audience will present a live taping of the podcast Person Place Thing, hosted by Randy Cohen, with guests two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee Sarah Ruhl and Tony-nominated actor Jessica Hecht on Monday, June 8, at 7:00pm at Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place. Tickets are $15.

In this week's edition, we hear from John Cariani, who is currently starring as 'Nigel Bottom' in Something Rotten!- playing at the St. James Theatre. Read on to find out his top five picks!

Kentucky Shakespeare has announced an expanded 55th summer season of free Shakespeare in Central Park featuring 7 productions over 10 weeks totaling 59 performances.

Original ensemble members, Michael Winther, Kimberly Grigsby, Shane Shanahan are joined by cellist, Peter Sachon as they reunite with Pulitzer prize-winning lyricist, Mark Campbell and many of the composers for a special one-night-only concert event, celebrating the ten year anniversary of Songs from an Unmade Bed, the critically acclaimed, theatrical song cycle originally produced off-Broadway by New York Theatre Workshop in 2005.

TKTS has been a New York City institution for decades, bringing theatre-goers a last-minute way to get tickets for some of Broadway's hottest shows at a discount. TDF operates three TKTS Discount Booths in New York City- Times Square, South Street Seaport, and Brooklyn. Looking for affordable tickets for tonight, May 22, 2015? BroadwayWorld brings you the full list of what's available today below:

This moving drama follows a strong-willed widow and her teenage daughter in World War II as they flee from Rome to provincial Ciociaria in a vain attempt to find safety. Starring as Cesira is Italian soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci, who has garnered outstanding reviews throughout Europe and for her rare North American performances. Of a recent recital at Lincoln Center, The New York Times wrote, “The extraordinary Italian soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci has concentrated her career in Europe. Each appearance she makes in America. . . is coveted by opera fans familiar with her intelligent and charismatic artistry.” Antonacci has previously appeared with San Francisco Opera in the title role of Ermione (1992) and as Adalgisa in Norma (1998).  Completing the cast are soprano Sarah Shafer, who created the role of Mary in the Company's 2013 world premiere of The Secret Garden, as Cesira's daughter Rosetta; tenor Dimitri Pittas as Michele, a young intellectual who becomes close to both mother and daughter, making his Company debut in the role; and baritone Mark Delavan as the devious Giovanni.

Northwest Classical Theatre Company concludes its seventeenth season with Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), an action-packed, hilarious homage to Shakespeare and the people who love his plays.

The Chicago Tribune writes that PJ Paparelli, artistic director of Chicago's American Theater Company for seven years, died today, May 21, 2015 following a car accident while on vacation in Scotland earlier this week. He was 40.

Paper Mill Playhouse presents the world-premiere musical Ever After, directed and choreographed by three-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall (Anything Goes, Nice Work If You Can Get It), featuring a book and lyrics by Marcy Heisler and music by Zina Goldrich. Ever After begins performances tonight, May 21, 2015, and runs through Sunday, June 21, 2015.

The complete cast and creative team have been announced for The Old Globe production of William Shakespeare's delightful and romantic Twelfth Night. Rebecca Taichman, whose production of the time-traveling Time and the Conways fascinated audiences last April, is back to direct the first show of the 2015 Summer Shakespeare Festival. The Old Globe engagement will begin performances on June 21 and run through July 26, 2015, with opening night on Saturday, June 27 at 8:00 p.m., in the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre.

The Theatre Project has announced the line-up of its 2015-16 season, which will include classics, contemporary, and experimental works at its downtown residency at the historic Players Theatre. Beginning in June, The Theatre Project's season celebrates the company's 5th Anniversary Off-Broadway and will feature six productions as well as musical performances and free public readings throughout the year.

Tennessee Shakespeare Company (TSC), the Mid-South's professional classical theatre, in partnership with the University of Memphis' Department of Theatre & Dance presents a magical, family-friendly, Louisiana bayou-inspired production of A Midsummer Night's Dream on the U of M's Mainstage from June 4-21.

Bloodshed is par for the course during Tony Awards season, especially as it reaches its peak in the last handful of weeks leading up the big annual ceremony feting theatre's best, so today we take a look back at some of the absolute most brutal and tight Tony Award races for Best Musical in history. Although comparing a group of musicals - alike as dissimilar as they may be - may be an unfair proposition in practice, there is only one way a winner is decided when the Tony Awards rolls around and it unfortunately always finds fan favorites, critical darlings and a few commercial hits vying for top honors. There can only be one Best Musical - well, except for 1960 when there were actually two mainstage entertainments given the prize; THE SOUND OF MUSIC and FIORELLO, with no less than GYPSY ending up an also-ran. Who will claim the trophy on June 7? Tune in then to see!

From May 28 to June 14, Theater for the New City will present the U.S. premiere of 'Maximum Security,' a new play by Piedad Bonnett, the internationally acclaimed Colombian writer, performed in English translation (world premiere) by Lucia della Paolera and acted by a cast of Latino actors.

Jeffrey Horowitz, Theatre for a New Audience Founding Artistic Director, has extended once again Fiasco Theater's The Two Gentlemen of Verona due to box office demand.

Original ensemble members, Michael Winther, Kimberly Grigsby, Shane Shanahan are joined by cellist, Peter Sachon as they reunite with Pulitzer prize-winning lyricist, Mark Campbell and many of the composers for a special one-night-only concert event, celebrating the ten year anniversary of Songs from an Unmade Bed, the critically acclaimed, theatrical song cycle originally produced off-Broadway by New York Theatre Workshop in 2005.

TKTS has been a New York City institution for decades, bringing theatre-goers a last-minute way to get tickets for some of Broadway's hottest shows at a discount. TDF operates three TKTS Discount Booths in New York City- Times Square, South Street Seaport, and Brooklyn. Looking for affordable tickets for tonight, May 15, 2015? BroadwayWorld brings you the full list of what's available today below:

Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, presents the world premiere of Shining Lives: A Musical. Directed by Jessica Thebus and developed through Northlight's Interplay Series, the musical is adapted from the Northlight-commissioned play These Shining Lives. The production will run at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd in Skokie, from May 8 - June 14, 2015. Shining Lives: A Musical opens tonight, May 15 and 16, 2015.

Co-founders John Stoops and Tim Evans proudly announce the third season of the Three Oaks Theater Festival, an annual summer event that brings limited-engagement runs of highly- acclaimed, professional productions to audiences in Harbor Country, Michigan. This season will be performed at the Acorn Theater with a staged reading to take place at the Vickers Theatre.

Alex Turner Productions today announces the full cast for the UK premiere of Tennessee Williams' One Arm adapted for the stage by Moises Kaufman. Josh Seymour directs Joe Jameson (The Divinity Student), Georgia Kerr (The Girl in the French Quarter), Peter Hannah (The Guard), James Tucker (Lester) and Tom Varey (Ollie Olsen). The company members play multiple roles around the central character of Ollie Olsen - characters weaving through the complex tapestry of his life. The production opens at Southwark Playhouse on 12 June, with previews from 10 June, and runs until 4 July.