Verona News

Great River Shakespeare Festival of Winona, Minn., has just released a spoof of TV's 'Real Wives' series with 'The Real Housewives of Shakespeare.' The leading ladies of Shakespeare's plays get together to decide which of them is 'Best in the Canon.' In this shocking, behind-the-scenes reality show, viewers will get a rare glimpse into the lives of these immortal characters.

Professional singer and music professor Dr. P tries to shake hands with a parking meter and describes a rose as'a convoluted red form with a linear green attachment.' A man who sees, but does not see, Dr. P suffers from visual agnosia. Unable to recognize objects and faces (including his wife's), he finds a way to make sense of his world through music. LBO goes site-specific again with four performances of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat between June 16 and June 24, 2012 at the EXPO Warehouse in Long Beach, CA.

Tony nominee Norm Lewis, currently starring on Broadway as Porgy in The Gershwins' PORGY AND BESS, joined the legendary walls of Sardi's when his caricature was unveiled and hung yesterday, May 30th, during a special ceremony. His portrait joins the hundreds of Broadway and Hollywood celebrities, including his co-star and fellow 2012 Tony nominee Audra McDonald, as well as co-star David Alan Grier also Tony-nominated for his performance in The Gershwins' PORGY AND BESS.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) launches its 2012 Nutmeg Summer Series with Man of La Mancha, running June 7 - 16 in the intimate Harriett S. Jorgensen Theatre (lower Jorgensen Auditorium) on the UConn campus, Storrs.

Tony nominee Norm Lewis, currently starring on Broadway as Porgy in The Gershwins' PORGY AND BESS, joined the legendary walls of Sardi's (234 West 44th Street) when his caricature was unveiled and hung this evening, May 30th, during a special ceremony. His portrait joins the hundreds of Broadway and Hollywood celebrities, including his co-star and fellow 2012 Tony nominee Audra McDonald, as well as co-star David Alan Grier also Tony-nominated for his performance in The Gershwins' PORGY AND BESS. See a photo of the three together at Sardi's below!

Live Theatre and Soho Theatre are delighted to announce the full cast for the West End transfer of A WALK ON PART including one of Britain's leading female comedians Andi Osho, who will be joined by returning cast members John Hodgkinson, Hywel Morgan and Tracey Gillman plus previously announced new cast member Joe Caffrey.

BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge was thrilled to sit down and speak with nearly all of this year's Tony Award nominees at the official Tony Brunch on May 2, 2012, and we will be bringing you special coverage on all of them throughout the awards season. Today we bring you Norm Lewis, nominee for Best Actor in a Musical for Porgy and Bess.

Chris Isaacson has announced that Upright Cabaret's AMERICAN ICON Series ends another stunning season with VIVA LAS VEGAS - a presentation of personality and pop that honors the flashiest performers of all time: Elvis, Cher and Elton John. Joining the group of all-star performers will be Patrick Cassidy.

The Porters of Hellsgate present William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor, directed by Charles Pasterna, running June 15 through July 22 at The Whitmore Theatre in North Hollywood.

Tony nominee Norm Lewis, currently starring on Broadway as Porgy in The Gershwins' PORGY AND BESS, will join the legendary walls of Sardi's (234 West 44th Street) when his caricature is unveiled and hung on Wednesday, May 30th at 5:00pm during a special ceremony. His portrait will be join the hundreds of Broadway and Hollywood celebrities, including his co-star and fellow 2012 Tony nominee Audra McDonald, as well as co-star David Alan Grier also Tony-nominated for his performance in The Gershwins' PORGY AND BESS.

Esteban Cruz has had to permanently leave the cast of American Theater Company/About Face's production of RENT for undisclosed personal reasons. As of today, Wednesday, May 23, the role of Angel will be taken over by Eduardo Placer.

Starring Lenny Ciotti, Eric Doss, Amy Frances Quint, Erick Gonzalez and Jonathan Reed, Frog and Peach Theatre's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' will play from April 26 to May 20, 2012 at the West End Theater, 263 West 86th St. Check out the production photographs below.

Shakespeare. Truth be told, in ordinary circumstances, not many are beating down theater doors and knocking over ceramic busts in an effort to catch the latest production of one of England's most prolific playwrights. But when it comes to Folger Theatre's current production of The Taming of the Shrew, they should be. Three words to describe this Wild West rendition: bold, biting, and brilliant.

South Coast Repertory's 49th season will offer audiences an exciting blend of current hits and world premieres. The season begins with Alan Ayckbourn's hilarious farce, Absurd Person Singular, and will include new plays by some of the hottest writers on the theatre scene, including the world premiere of Noah Haidle's Smokefall and a second world premiere to be announced; Sarah Ruhl's comic tale of loss, Eurydice; the Southland debuts of Bill Cain's touching How to Write a New Book for the Bible, Amanda Dehnert's trailblazing musical take on Shakespeare, The Verona Project, and David Henry Hwang's hit comedy Chinglish; and the West Coast premieres of Samuel D. Hunter's poignantly funny The Whale and Stephen Adly Guirgis' Broadway hit The Motherf**ker with the Hat.

Water Works Theatre Company announces that tickets are on sale now for its 12th annual Shakespeare in the Park program in Royal Oak's Starr Jaycee Park.

New York City Opera celebrates the company's 2011-12 season with New York's civic leaders tonight, May 16, with its Spring Gala: An Evening with Deborah Voigt. The event takes place at the historic Loeb Central Park Boathouse in Manhattan and feature cocktails and gondola rides on the lake, as well as a formal dinner and dancing to the Jazz Age sounds of the Grammy Award-winning Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks.

Meet the Sycamores - the delightfully eccentric family at the center of the action in the madcap comedy classic, You Can't Take It With You. They revel in day-to-day occurrences such as collecting snakes, making fireworks in the basement, and practicing ballet steps in the parlor. When their daughter Alice, decides to invite her conservative boyfriend's family to dinner, they promise to be on their best behavior. However...! Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and adapted into an Academy Award winning film, this beloved comedy has been a perennial favorite to theatre-goers for more than 70 years.

Producers Scott Landis and Philip Morgaman have announced that EVER AFTER, a new musical based on the 20th Century Fox Film, will open on Broadway in the 2013-2014 season following a pre-Broadway engagement to be announced. The production will be directed and choreographed by three-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall. EVER AFTER features music by Zina Goldrich and book & lyrics by Marcy Heisler, who recently won the 2012 Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre for most promising musical theatre lyricist. The music director is Mary-Mitchell Campbell.

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) announces 15 awards granted from their National Fund for New Musicals, a major funding program to support NAMT member not-for-profit theatres in their collaborations with writers to create, develop and produce new musicals. Now in its fourth year, the Fund will provide grants totaling $48,000 to 14 organizations across the country.

Lookingglass Theatre Company presents the world premiere of EASTLAND: A NEW MUSICAL, written by Artistic Director Andrew White with music by Ben Sussman and Artistic Associate Andre Pluess and directed by Amanda Dehnert. The production runs June 6 - July 29, 2012 at Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson. The Press Opening is Saturday, June 16, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.