Verona News

Cymbeline is back! Two sold-out weeks last January for Fiasco Theater's production of Cymbeline wasn't nearly long enough to satisfy the demands of a theatre-going public hungry for, as Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote, 'the comedy, poignancy and unlikely magic of Cymbeline.'

Continuing their fifth season in the summer of 2011, The Porters of Hellsgate return to The Whitmore-Lindley Theatre Complex in North Hollywood with William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. Taking liberty with time and place, The Porters explore race, class, sexuality and wealth for their six-week run of the Bard's ultimately tragic comedy.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT), concludes its 2011 Nutmeg Summer Series with My Fair Lady, closing July 17 in the Harriett S. Jorgensen Theatre (lower Jorgensen Auditorium) on the UConn Storrs campus.

As we come to the middle of July, I hope you have made your plans to attend one or more of the numerous productions that are running at present at one of the many live theatre and performance venues that make their home here on the picturesque California Central Coast!

The Made At Horse Trade Series will feature two works developed through Horse Trade Theater Group's The Fire This Time Festival, Yusef Miller's Breakfast and Kelley Nicole Girod's Ambrosia, playing as a double feature August 10-29 at The Red Room (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Ave and Bowery), Monday & Wednesday at 8pm and Sundays at 3pm. Tickets ($18/$15 students & seniors) are available online at www.horseTRADE.info or by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444.

Shakespeare meets the Hatfields and the McCoys this summer in Tennessee Shakespeare Festival's family-friendly The Comedy of Errors, running June 17-July 10 in Bell Buckle on the campus of the Webb School. Tennessee Shakespeare Festival's latest production, The Comedy of Errors - described as 'a rollicking version of William Shakespeare's madcap tale of mistaken identity, set in the highlands of 1880s West Virginia.'

CATS 30th birthday will be celebrated in Italy by a new summer tour throughout the main seaside resorts that will end on September 21 in the magical historical context of Verona Arena.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT), concludes its 2011 Nutmeg Summer Series with My Fair Lady, running July 7 - 17 in the Harriett S. Jorgensen Theatre (lower Jorgensen Auditorium) on the UConn Storrs campus. CRT is delighted to have soap opera legend Eileen Fulton, who portrayed Lisa Miller Grimaldi on As the World Turns for almost 50 years, starring as Mrs. Higgins in My Fair Lady.

The Metropolitan Atlanta Theater Awards, founded by Russ Ivey, originated in October of 2004 with the intention of recognizing those hardworking individuals that put their time and effort into Community and Non-Union Professional Theater. There are many aspiring actors that would like to be given recognition for their skills and dedication to the performing arts. Many of those are of the desire to build their resume so that they will be given more audition opportunities. Secondly, many theaters have a hard time marketing themselves so they can draw not only an audience, but a lot of the talent to their shows. This is where the MAT Awards come in. The 'MAT' is one of thirty one different categories that are presented on an annual basis. Each year, an Award Ceremony is held to present those awards to the individuals/theaters that have put the time and effort into making their productions great. Those categories are the following:

Chautauqua Theater Company Artistic Directors Vivienne Benesch and Ethan McSweeny announce the first production of CTC's 28th season: Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters, translated by Paul Schmidt.

A.R.T. American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) opens its 2011-12 season with The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, by George Gershwin, DuBose and Dorothy Heyward, and Ira Gershwin. The adaptation by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks and Obie Award-winning composer Diedre L. Murray, directed by A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus, with choreography by Ronald K. Brown, begins previews on August 17 and opens for the reviewing press on August 31 at 7pm. Performances are at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge. Tickets for preview performances are currently on sale, remaining tickets for the run go on sale on July 12.

Norm Lewis, Audra McDonald, and David Alan Grier will star as Porgy, Bess, and Sportin' Life in A.R.T.'s new production of The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess. Performances will begin August 17 at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge, where it will run until October 2. The show's next stop will be on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theater, where it will begin previews on December 17th and will open on January 12th, 2012.

Falcon Theatre Founder, Garry Marshall, is thrilled to announce the Falcon Theatre's 2011-2012 5-Play Subscription Season.

La Jolla Playhouse presents Peer Gynt, by Henrik Ibsen, adapted and directed by David Schweizer, running June 28 - July 24 (media night: Wednesday, July 6 at 7:30 pm) in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre. Tickets to Peer Gynt are available by calling the Box Office: (858) 550-1010 or online at LaJollaPlayhouse.org.

As we move from the latter portion of June to the 4th of July Holiday weekend and beyond, I trust you have your reservations made to avail yourself of one or more of the WONDERFUL shows that are currently running (or soon will be) at any number of the several live performance and theatre venues that we are so proud to have here on the beautiful California Central Coast!

The Civic Center of Greater Des Moines announced today three established Broadway performers will act as instructors in the Civic Center's first musical theater camp of the summer, STAGERIGHT BROADWAY EXPERIENCE taking place June 27-July 1 at the Civic Center.

The Guthrie Theater today announced star casting for its three fall productions: Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (September 10 - November 5, 2011 on the Wurtele Thrust Stage), Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney's The Burial At Thebes (September 24 - November 6, 2011 on the McGuire Proscenium Stage) and Obie Award-winning playwright Adam Rapp's new play The Edge of Our Bodies (October 22 - November 20, 2011 in the Dowling Studio).

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) kicks off this summer's Second Stage Theatre Uptown Series with the world premiere of Sex Lives of Our Parents, written by Michael Mitnick. Directed by Davis McCallum, Sex Lives of Our Parents will feature Teddy Bergmann (Peter and the Starcatcher), Lisa Emery (Far East), Daniel Jenkins (Mary Poppins), Virginia Kull (Dividing the Estate), Ben Rappaport (NBC's 'Outsourced') and Mark Zeisler (Second Stage Theatre's Eurydice). Previews begin on June 7th and opening night is Wednesday, June 22

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT), concludes its 2011 Nutmeg Summer Series with My Fair Lady, running July 7 - 17 in the Harriett S. Jorgensen Theatre (lower Jorgensen Auditorium) on the UConn Storrs campus. CRT is delighted to have soap opera legend Eileen Fulton, who portrayed Lisa Miller Grimaldi on As the World Turns for almost 50 years, starring as Mrs. Higgins in My Fair Lady.

As we move into the latter portion of June, I really hope you've made your reservations to see some of the GREAT shows that are presently running (or soon will be) at the various live theatre and performance venues that we have here on our beautiful California Central Coast!