William Shakespeare News

The Wednesday, February 26 2PM performance of Bedlam's Hamlet by William Shakespeare will be live streamed to participating New York City schools in association with Virtual Arts TV. This multi-camera, real time live stream brings this critically acclaimed production directly into classrooms, and enables students and teachers to interact via chat rooms with the cast and crew during the show. For more information, visit http://virtualarts.tv/shakespeare-streamed-live-to-your-students/.

Animus Theatre Company has announced its 2014 Season, which will feature Matthew Lillard, Leslye Headland, and Alan Langdon, with plays by Bob Glaudini, Tennessee Williams, and Headland. The MainStage Production will be Dutch Heart of Man by Glaudini, directed by Alan Langdon, running April 24th thru May 11th. The Workshop Production will feature four short plays by Tennessee Williams: Moony's Kid Don't Cry; The Long Goodbye; Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen; and The Pink Bedroom. The one-act plays, all presented nightly, will be directed by Matthew Lillard and run August 1st thru 10th. Both productions will be presented at the Cherry Lane Theatre in downtown NYC, the 2014 home of Animus Theatre Company. The season will be rounded out in the fall/winter with a multi-media festival headlined by Leslye Headland's Seven Deadly Sin Cycle Plays (Cinephillia, Bachelorette, Assistance, Surfer Girl, Reverb, and The Accidental Blonde) presented as a collection of readings for the first time in New York City. Cast and creatives for all of the above will be announced at a later date.

Producing Artistic Director Ted Pappas will celebrate Pittsburgh Public Theater's 40th anniversary with The Season of Legends, six breathtaking works that epitomize The Public's range. Included are the first play produced by The Public 40 years ago, a heavenly world premiere comedy, a musical bouquet of brilliance, August Wilson's most personal play, William Shakespeare's timeless tragedy, and a recent New York hit about a diva's passion for design.

WAM Theatre's Artistic Director Kristen van Ginhoven announced highlights of the 2014 season today. The Berkshire-based professional theatre company will celebrate its fifth anniversary with an inspiring and thought-provoking series of plays readings, special events, panel discussions, and educational programs that continue its mission to focus on women artists and stories of women and girls.

Even in the midst of this brutal winter, the Hole in the Wall Theater seeks to warm hearts and tickle fancies with a visually inventive new production of William Shakespeare's most magical play, The Tempest. Leave the winter weather behind and join the famous wizard Prospero on his tropical island, with his beautiful daughter, a bevy of shipwrecked nobles, a pair of drunken fools, a terrible monster, and the dreadful witch Sycorax, a character rarely seen in modern productions, but sure to haunt the audience long after the lights go down.

Kenny Leon and True Colors Theatre Company announce the upcoming Atlanta Premiere of David Mamet's Race directed by John Dillon. Race will run from today, February 25 - March 23, 2014 at Fulton County's Southwest Arts Center located at 915 New Hope Road, Atlanta, GA 30331.

Women's Action Movement Theatre's Artistic Director Kristen van Ginhoven announced highlights of the 2014 season today. The Berkshire-based professional theatre company will celebrate its fifth anniversary with an inspiring and thought-provoking series of plays readings, special events, panel discussions, and educational programs that continue its mission to focus on women artists and stories of women and girls.

The critically acclaimed Bedlam productions of William Shakespeare's Hamlet and George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan will celebrate their 100th performance at off-Broadway's Lynn Redgrave Theater (45 Bleecker Street, NYC) on Tuesday, February 25 at 7:30PM.

Standing before a packed house of subscribers, Executive Producer and Artistic Director David Armstrong revealed The 5th Avenue Theatre's 2014/15 season. "Every year we try to choose a season that embodies our mission: to celebrate our great indigenous art form, The Musical - past, present, and future," Armstrong said. "With an array of shows ranging from a hotly-anticipated Broadway tour to a hilarious world premiere, not to mention celebrated contemporary classics and one of the immortal musicals from the Golden Age of Broadway, we believe that this season truly represents the breadth and depth of what musical theater has to offer."

Ryan Lee's reimagining of William Shakespeare's THE WINTER'S TALE is an interesting take on the famed classic.

Great Lakes Theater (GLT), Cleveland's Classic Company, commences the second half its 2014-15 season with Ira Levin's murder mystery masterpiece, Deathtrap. The production will be performed in the company's intimate and audience-friendly home at the Hanna Theatre, PlayhouseSquare, now through March 16, 2014. Charles Fee, GLT's Producing Artistic Director, directs the production. Scroll down for a first look at the cast in action!

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) presents Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night's Dream, a 75-minute abridged production of William Shakespeare's whimsical comedy of misplaced young passions and magical mischief. Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night's Dream will be performed for the public Saturdays at 11:00 a.m. from February 22 to March 22 in CST's Courtyard Theater. After each performance, the actors remain on stage for a brief question-and-answer session, before joining the audience in the Lobby for one-on-one conversations and photo opportunities. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Today, in the midst of preparations for one of the nation's most influential festivals of new work, the Humana Festival of New American Plays, Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein proudly announce Actors Theatre of Louisville's 2014-2015 Season. The 51st Season lineup will include a world-premiere reimagining of Love's Labour's Lost, the musical The Last Five Years, a production of Nina Raine's emotionally-charged drama Tribes, award-winning playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney's The Brothers Size, and the return of Naomi Iizuka's At the Vanishing Point-a beautifully-observed portrait of Butchertown with an original score by Ben Sollee. From the exhilaration of infatuation to the heart-wrenching tale of lost love, from one person's fight to find a voice to the dreams and voices of an entire community, the lineup features powerful stories and some of the most exciting artists working in theatre today.

No storyline is off limits when the Improvised Shakespeare Co. takes the stage tonight, February 22, 8pm, at The Capitol Center for the Arts' Spotlight Cafe.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) presents Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night's Dream, a 75-minute abridged production of William Shakespeare's whimsical comedy of misplaced young passions and magical mischief.

Orlando Shakespeare Theater in Partnership with UCF is proud to present a timeless retelling of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar from March 19 - April 20, 2014. The classic drama comes to life on the intimate Goldman Theater stage under the direction of Tina Packer, founder and former Artistic Director of Shakespeare & Company, 'a troupe that has kept the Berkshires ringing with the sound of blank verse for 32 years' (The New York Times). The small cast includes Jason Asprey, Paul Bernardo, Nigel Gore, Anne Hering, Jim Ireland, A. Ross Neal, and Esau Pritchett. Tickets ($17 - $40) are available by calling (407) 447-1700, online at http://orlandoshakes.org, or in person at 812 East Rollins St., Orlando, FL 32803. Orlando Shakespeare Theater in Partnership with UCF presents a timeless retelling of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar from March 19 - April 20, 2014. The classic drama comes to life on the intimate Goldman Theater stage under the direction of Tina Packer, founder and former Artistic Director of Shakespeare & Company, 'a troupe that has kept the Berkshires ringing with the sound of blank verse for 32 years' (The New York Times). The small cast includes Jason Asprey, Paul Bernardo, Nigel Gore, Anne Hering, Jim Ireland, A. Ross Neal, and Esau Pritchett. Tickets ($17 - $40) are available by calling (407) 447-1700, online at http://orlandoshakes.org, or in person at 812 East Rollins St., Orlando, FL 32803.

The Utah Shakespeare Festival recently announced the casting of the first nine actors for the 2014 season. All are familiar faces, having appeared at the Festival in the past. Actors slated to appear thus far are Henry Woronicz, Aaron Galligan-Stierle, Sara J. Griffin, Steve Wojtas, Roderick Peeples, Melinda Pfundstein, Quinn Mattfeld, Grant Goodman, and Brian Vaughn. A complete casting list will be available soon at www.bard.org.

Post5 Theatre presents its Southern take on Moliere's classic, Tartuffe by Moliere, directed by Tobias Andersen and presented by Ronni Lacroute/ Willakenzie Estate, in partnership with KZME Portland. The show runs tonight, Feb 21 - Mar 16, 2014.

Great Lakes Theater (GLT), Cleveland's Classic Company, commences the second half its 2014-15 season with Ira Levin's murder mystery masterpiece, Deathtrap. The production will be performed in the company's intimate and audience-friendly home at the Hanna Theatre, PlayhouseSquare, today, February 21 - March 16, 2014. Charles Fee, GLT's Producing Artistic Director, directs the production.

Today we are turning our attention to the increasingly ubiquitous presence of performers in their golden years reaching lofty new career heights and ingratiating themselves with new audiences all the while - most notably, Elaine Stritch, Christopher Plummer, Bruce Dern, June Squibb, Judi Dench, Angela Lansbury, Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones.