Verona News

The Award-Winning Epic Theatre Ensemble, now in their 12th year presents William Shakespeare's RICHARD III: Born With Teeth, part of Shakespeare for a New Generation, a national program of the National Endowment for the Arts in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The production, directed by Ron Russell, begins previews Off-Broadway tonight, Tuesday, April 16th and opens Saturday, April 20th at 8:00 PM at the Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street). The play will run through May 4th.

Tina Packer's 'Women of Will, the Complete Journey' - her five play series that explores and deconstructs Shakespeare's female characters - officially opened at The Gym at Judson (243 Thompson Street) in Manhattan this past weekend (April 12, 13, 14), leaving only three more chances to experience 'The Complete Journey' - the weekends of April 26, 27, 28; May 10, 11, 12; and May 24, 25, 26. BroadwayWorld has new production shots below!

Tonight, April 12, 2013, The New York Pops continues its 30th season with an evening celebrating the 65th birthday of Stephen Schwartz and the 10th anniversary of his hit musical Wicked with The Wizard and I: The Musical Journey of Stephen Schwartz. Music Director and Conductor Steven Reineke will lead the orchestra as they perform highlights from some of the composer-lyricist's most beloved works. The concert features Tony Award nominee Jeremy Jordan (Newsies), Tony Award nominee Norm Lewis (The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess), Drama Desk Award nominee Julia Murney (The Wild Party), Tony Award nominee Jennifer Laura Thompson (Urinetown), and Judith Clurman's Essential Voices USA.

Long Wharf Theatre concludes its 2012-13 season with Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning play Clybourne Park, by Bruce Norris, and directed by Associate Artistic Director Eric Ting. The play will take place on The Claire Tow Stage in the C. Newton Schenck III Mainstage from May 8, 2013 through June 2, 2013.

PCPA has assembled a stellar cast for this summer's production of the French masterpiece, Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac. It plays exclusively in the Solvang Festival Theater under the stars, August 17 through September 1, 2013.

On April 12, 2013, The New York Pops continues its 30th season with an evening celebrating the 65th birthday of Stephen Schwartz and the 10th anniversary of his hit musical Wicked with The Wizard and I: The Musical Journey of Stephen Schwartz. Music Director and Conductor Steven Reineke will lead the orchestra as they perform highlights from some of the composer-lyricist's most beloved works. The concert features Tony Award nominee Jeremy Jordan (Newsies), Tony Award nominee Norm Lewis (The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess), Drama Desk Award nominee Julia Murney (The Wild Party), Tony Award nominee Jennifer Laura Thompson (Urinetown), and Judith Clurman's Essential Voices USA.

The Old Globe will open its 2013-14 Season with The Last Goodbye, a new musical that marries Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and the incendiary songs of the legendary singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley. Conceived and adapted by Michael Kimmel, the rock musical is directed by two-time Tony Award nominee Alex Timbers (Peter and the Starcatcher, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson). Choreography is by Sonya Tayeh ("So You Think You Can Dance"), and orchestrations, music direction and arrangements are by Kris Kukul. The complete creative team and casting, as well as the remainder of the Globe's new season, will be announced at a later date. The Last Goodbye will run on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, Sept. 20 - Nov. 3, 2013. Preview performances run Sept. 20 - Oct. 5. Opening night is Sunday, Oct. 6. Tickets are currently available by subscription only. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.

BroadwayWorld.com, the largest theatre site on the Internet, is excited to announce a new feature to its comprehensive regional coverage - the Featured Regional Theater of the Week! Each week, BWW will introduce its readers to a regional theater located in one of our (over 130!) coverage cities. By exploring these different venues, their history and showcasing the production seasons, BWW continues its commitment to expand our presence in communities and cities across the United States. This Week's Featured Regional Theater: American Players Theatre in Spring Green, WI

The Guthrie Theater today announced that a public celebration of the life and work of former Guthrie artist Stephen Kanee, who passed away on January 18, will take place Sunday, April 14 at 11 a.m. on the Guthrie's Wurtele Thrust Stage.

Paper Mill Playhouse presents Thoroughly Modern Millie, winner of the 2002 Drama Desk and Tony Award for Best Musical. This effervescent musical romp will feature Ashley Kate Adams (Miss Dorothy Brown), Brenda Braxton (Muzzy Van Hossmere), Billy Bustamante (Bun Foo), Jeff Kready (Jimmy Smith), Burke Moses (Mr. Trevor Graydon), Lenora Nemetz (Mrs. Meers), James Seol (Ching Ho), Jessica Sheridan (Miss Flannery) and Laurie Veldheer (Millie Dillmount). Thoroughly Modern Millie will be directed by Paper Mill Playhouse Producing Artistic Director Mark S. Hoebee with choreography by Denis Jones. Thoroughly Modern Millie will run at the Millburn, New Jersey, theater from tonight, April 10 through May 5, 2013. The official press opening is Sunday, April 14, at 7:00pm.

North Coast Repertory Theatre presents THE ODD COUPLE by Neil Simon, directed by Andrew Barnicle. The show will run in previews tonight, April 10 - 12, 2013 and continues April 13 - May 5, 2013.

Working Theater, the 28-year-old Off-Broadway company, in collaboration with Magnum Foundation, an organization dedicated to preserving the Magnum Photos legacy and supporting photography around social justice issues, have joined forces to present Ed Cardona, Jr.'s LA RUTA, a world premiere immigration-themed play that will be staged inside the trailer and cab of an actual 48' truck. An accompanying photographic installation about the immigrant experience will also be presented.

Full casting has been announced for the Orange County engagement of FLASHDANCE - THE MUSICAL, the stage adaptation of the 1983 hit film that defined a generation. Joining Jillian Mueller as Alex and Matthew Hydzik as Nick are Katie Webber as Tess, Kelly Felthous as Gloria, DeQuina Moore as Kiki, Jo Ann Cunningham as Hannah, David R. Gordon as Jimmy, Matthew Henerson as Harry and Christian Whelan in the role of C.C.

The Award-Winning Epic Theatre Ensemble, now in their 12th year presents William Shakespeare's RICHARD III: Born With Teeth, part of Shakespeare for a New Generation, a national program of the National Endowment for the Arts in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The production, directed by Ron Russell, begins previews Off-Broadway on Tuesday, April 16th and opens Saturday, April 20th at 8:00 PM at the Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street). The play will run through May 4th.

Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer's critically acclaimed new production of Verdi'sRigoletto, which moves the opera's tragic events from a decadent 16th-century Italian court to the glitzy, depraved setting of the Las Vegas strip circa 1960, will return to the Met stage on April 13. Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo, who made a much-heralded company debut in 2010, returns to the Met to sing the role of the Duke, presented in this production as an amoral lounge singer. Georgian baritone George Gagnidze sings Rigoletto, the Duke's world-weary jester, and rising American soprano Lisette Oropesa sings her first company performances as the innocent Gilda, Rigoletto's daughter and the Duke's victim. Venezuelan bass Enrico Giuseppe Iori makes his Met debut as the assassin-for-hire Sparafucile, and Spanish mezzo-soprano Nancy Fabiola Herrera sings the role of his seductive sister, Maddalena. Italian conductor Marco Armiliato returns to lead five performances of Verdi's towering drama. Mayer's production also features the work of debuting artists Christine Jones (set design), Susan Hilferty (costume design), Kevin Adams (lighting design), andSteven Hoggett (choreography).

Shake out your picnic blanket for a night of Shakespeare under the stars. Something for Nothing Theater (S4N) brings William Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona to Ramsey Park, 4301 Rosedale Ave, Austin, TX 78756. Featuring a different adoptable guest from Austin Dog Rescue (ADR) each weekend as the incorrigible canine, Crab. Performances are Thursdays - Saturdays, May 2-4, 9-11, and 16-18, 2013 beginning at 8 p.m. All shows are free and open to the public. For information, visit www.facebook.com/somethingfornothingtheater.

As an undergraduate theater major in the early 1970s, I heard music everywhere. It seemed to pour out of every office and workspace around the department. (And in the LP era, if you wanted more than the radio, this meant schlepping a twenty pound record player and a dozen or so albums from your home to the campus, sometimes requiring back-and-forth trips from the car. If you go to that much trouble, you want to keep the music playing.) In the hushed costume shop with its quietly industrious all female staff, Broadway ruled, with Stephen Sondheim's recent Company and Follies in heavy rotation. It was 'men only' in the scene shop where I listened to male balladeers like James Taylor and Gordon Lightfoot while unhappily working off assigned crew hours. Jazz classes (my favorites) in the dance department were conducted to the pre-disco sounds of Isaac Hayes and the Temptations. And late night cast parties were never complete without spins of Bette Midler's first two albums.

Folger Theatre's artistic producer Janet Alexander Griffin today announced the season for 2013/14. Building on its reputation for productions called "breathtakingly original" by The Washington Post, the theater will mount a full season of William Shakespeare, in honor of the author's 450th birthday anniversary year.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents the national tour of Roundabout Theatre Company's Anything Goes in the Kennedy Center Opera House from June 11 to July 7, 2013. Winner of the 2011 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, Roundabout Theatre Company's Anything Goes sails direct from Broadway under the direction of Kathleen Marshall, who won the 2011 Tony Award for Best Choreography. The production features music and lyrics by Cole Porter; original book by P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton and Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse; and new book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman. Tickets go on public sale on Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Press opening night is Thursday, June 13, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.

According to the New York Times, Shakespeare's classic romatic tradgedy Romeo and Juliet is coming back to Broadway this summer. Helmed by David Leveaux, the production will star Tony nominee Condola Rashad and Orlando Bloom- making his Broadway debut in the role. Joining them in the play, which is set to open on September 19 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, will be Jayne Houdyshell as the Nurse and Joe Morton as Lord Capulet.