William Saroyan News

OBERON THEATRE ENSEMBLE is pleased to announce Winter Rep 2009, celebrating the company?s 12th Anniversary Repertory Season. The company will be presenting William Shakespeare?s Much About Nothing in conjunction with the series called, American Rapture, which includes Hello Out There by William Saroyan and world premiere plays by Alex Dinelaris (nominated Lucile Lortel/Drama Desks).

Lazar was the legendary agent who represented Nixon in extracting a record fee for his interviews with Frost. While he handled the biggest movie stars-including Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Cary Grant and Gregory Peck-he also represented some of the greatest names in that era's literature-including Ernest Hemingway, Truman Capote, Vladimir Nabokov, Clifford Odets, William Saroyan and Tennessee Williams-and music icons from Cole Porter and Ira Gershwin to Madonna. Toby Jones found the role quite interesting. 'Playing a character like Irving Lazar...I've met lots of people who knew him, so it was slightly intimidating,' he says. 'There's very little information about him available other than one ghosted autobiography. My impression is of a man very driven. He started off in a poor Russian-Jewish family in Brooklyn and basically fought his way up to become the top literary agent in the business.'

The Storm Theatre presents the first show of its 2008/2009 season - William Saroyan's THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE, beginning October 3, 2008 at The Storm Theatre, 145 W. 46th Street, NYC. Tickets are $20 and are available at www.smarttix.com, 212-868-4444.

Set in the uneasy calm between the Depression and WWII, THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE follows the patrons of a San Francisco waterfront bar over the course of a single day in 1939. Uniquely American, Saroyan's twenty-seven characters exude a clear-eyed confidence and resiliency as they face troubles head-on in this funny, dramatic and ultimately touching celebration of existence. THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE won both the 1940 Pulitzer Prize for drama and the 1940 New York Drama Critics Circle Award. Peter Dobbins, artistic director of The Storm Theatre, directs.

Get a true taste of NoHo at the second annual All-Day, All-Arts, All-NoHo 'NoHo Scene' on Sunday, October 5 from 11 am until 8 pm. Admission to all NoHo Scene events and activities is free.

the stageFARM (Alex Kilgore, Artistic Director and Carrie Shaltz, Founder / Executive Director) has announced the line-up of plays that will comprise the world premiere of SPIN, a series of new short plays (commissioned on the timely topic) by Adam Rapp, Gina Gionfriddo, Judith Thompson, Elizabeth Meriwether, and Mark Schultz. With direction by Alex Kilgore and Evan Cabnet, SPIN begins performances Friday evening, October 3, 2008, for a limited engagement through Saturday evening, November 8, at The Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce Street between Barrow & Bedford Streets).

In the spirit of last season's acclaimed VENGEANCE, the Off-Broadway theatre company the stageFARM (Carrie Shaltz, Founder / Executive Director and Alex Kilgore, Artistic Director) will present the world premiere of SPIN, a series of new short plays commissioned on the timely topic by Adam Rapp, Gina Gionfriddo, Judith Thompson, Elizabeth Meriwether, and Mark Schultz. With direction by Alex Kilgore and Special Guest Director (TBD), SPIN begins performances Friday evening, October 3, 2008 for a limited engagement through Saturday evening, November 8, 2008 at The Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce Street between Barrow & Bedford Streets). Opening night is Saturday evening, October 11, 2008 at 8:00PM.

Berkshire Theatre Festival Artistic Director Kate Maguire is pleased to announce the company's 2008 80th anniversary season, which will extend from May 22 through December 30 and be the longest-running season in the company's history.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey launches the Fall portion of its 2007 season with a rarely-performed modern American classic by William Saroyan, author of the novel and screenplay The Human Comedy

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey will present Eugene Ionesco's absurdist classic The Bald Soprano from August 7th through the 26th.

Arlington, VA's American Century Theater will bring George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber's Stage Door to life from June 21st through 24th as part of its 'Rescue Series.'

Seven is proving to be a lucky number for Barbra Streisand this week as her new album, 'Live In Concert 2006' becomes the 7th Barbra Streisand album to debut in the Top 10 and enters the Billboard Top 200 best-selling albums chart at #7

The 37th season of Lyrics & Lyricists at the 92nd Street Y opens January 6-8 with 'The Last Girl Singer: Rosemary Clooney...And Her Way with Words,' the first New York tribute to Rosemary Clooney since her death in 2002

The bold and ambitious 2007 Soulpepper season will revisit relationships established with specific playwrights and embrace some new and thrilling challenges and discoveries.

NORA, legendary film director Ingmar Bergman's adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's classic play, A Doll's House, is coming to Manhattan for the first time in its 25-year history.