William David News

The Orange County premiere of MARY POPPINS opens tonight, Friday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m. at Segerstrom Center for the Arts for a limited engagement of four weeks through Sunday, August 7.

The Orange County Performing Arts Center and producers Cameron Mackintosh and Thomas Schumacher announced today that the award-winning musical MARY POPPINS will begin performances at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa on Thursday, July 14, 2011 for a limited engagement of three weeks through Sunday, July 31, 2011. Opening night is set for Friday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m.

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.

WICKED is a new musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, Academy Award winner for Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt) and book by Winnie Holzman ("My So Called Life," "Once And Again" and "thirtysomething") based on the best-selling 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire.

The Portland premiere of MARY POPPINS opens tonight, Friday, June 24, 2011 at 7:30pm at the Keller Auditorium for a limited engagement of three weeks through Sunday, July 10, 2011. MARY POPPINS plays Tuesday through Friday evenings at 7:30pm, Saturdays at 2:00pm and 7:30pm and Sundays at 1:00pm and 6:30pm. 'We're very excited that Mary Poppins has flown into town and that audiences in Portland will have the opportunity to experience this blockbuster musical' said Portland Opera General Director, Christopher Mattaliano. 'Tickets are on sale and great seats are still available.'

Everybody's been talking about the animatronic pig which cost a reported £100,000 for Cameron Mackintosh's new musical comedy BETTY BLUE EYES, based on the Handmade Film 'A PRIVATE FUNCTION' by Alan Bennett and Malcolm Mowbray. BETTY BLUE EYES is the first original musical Cameron Mackintosh has produced in ten years. It started previews at the Novello Theatre in the West End on 19 March and opened on 13 April. Reelkandi TV got the first look at the production highlights and now BroadwayWorld brings you a glimpse of the exciting production below!

MOTHERHOOD THE MUSICAL is touring nationally to over 50 venues around Australia over 44 weeks. The show premiered in Melbourne in February, has toured to Tasmania, Perth & regional WA, Northern Territory, North Queensland and Brisbane and is currently in South Queensland before Northen NSW, Sydney, Regional Victoria and Adelaide.

Andrew Upton's adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov's 1926 novel turned play The White Guard, commissioned by London's National Theatre (where it played to five-star reviews last year), is presented in a new production directed by Upton at Sydney Theatre from 7 June to 10 July.

The Sacramento premiere of MARY POPPINS opens Friday, June 3 at 8:00 p.m. at the Community Center Theater for a limited engagement of three weeks through Sunday, June 19, 2011. MARY POPPINS plays Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m. and Thursday, Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m., with an additional performance on Sunday, June 5 at 7:30 p.m. 'Thus far sales have exceeded our expectations, but there are still great seats available' said Richard Lewis, executive producer of California Musical Theatre.

Live Performance Australia (LPA) today announced that the recipients of the prestigious JC Williamson AwardTM, to be presented at the 2011 Helpmann Awards®, are Nancye Hayes OAM, Toni Lammond AM and Jill Perryman AM MBE.

Director Vincent Cardinal wins big with classic revival of GUYS AND DOLLS at CRT.

The Sacramento premiere of MARY POPPINS opens tonight, Friday, June 3 at 8:00 p.m. at the Community Center Theater for a limited engagement of three weeks through Sunday, June 19, 2011.

After breaking box office records and selling out in record time in 2009, WICKED, Broadway's biggest blockbuster will return to Nashville's Tennessee Performing Arts Center, October 19 through November 6.

The company of the first North American tour of WICKED welcomes Dee Roscioli as Elphaba on Tuesday, June 7 in Omaha, NE.

The company of the first North American tour of WICKED will welcome Dee Roscioli as Elphaba on Tuesday, June 7 in Omaha, NE.

After breaking box office records and selling out in record time in 2009, WICKED, Broadway's biggest blockbuster, returns to Omaha's Orpheum Theater, Wednesday, May 25 through Sunday, June 12, 2011.

After breaking box office records and selling out in record time in 2006 and 2008, WICKED, Broadway's biggest blockbuster, will return to Atlanta's Fabulous Fox Theatre from September 14-October 9, as a special to the Broadway Across America - Atlanta 2011-12 season.

Tennessee Women's Theater Project has returned to Nashville's Z. Alexander Looby Theater for the fifth year running - continuing through Sunday, May 22 - for its annual Women's Work festival of performing and visual arts created by women. The festival cuts a broad swath across styles and genres to offer eleven completely different programs: poetry and essays; one-woman shows; staged readings of new plays; film, dance, music and a display of visual art works in the theater lobby. Women's Work ends its 2011 reign with Lauren Schmitzer's Chlamydia is Not a Flower (and other love lessons I missed). Schmitzer, a Nashville writer and former music journalist for Billboard and MTV, holds a BA in English from Vanderbilt University and, as she proudly says, 'this is my first play,' which she has entrusted to director David Williams to bring to the stage on Sunday night.

Ensemble Theatre presents Williamson's AT ANY COST?, July 7 through August 21.

After breaking box office records and selling out in record time in 2009, WICKED, Broadway's biggest blockbuster, returns to Omaha's Orpheum Theater, Wednesday, May 25 through Tickets for WICKED's return engagement went on sale February 21. They start at $39 and can be purchased online at TicketOmaha.com; by calling 402-345-0606 or at Ticket Omaha in the Holland Performing Arts Center, 13th and Douglas streets, Omaha, Neb. For group sales call 402-661-8516 or toll-free at 866-434-8587.