Williamstown Theatre News

Good morning BroadwayWorld! Today's top stories: the Tony nominees will meet the press, Laura Benanti, Joel Grey, and more will honor Sheldon Harnick at NYGASP Gala, and more!

Goodspeed is assembling a stellar cast for Cyrano an inspired new take on the Edmond Rostand classic Cyrano de Bergerac. Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor Peter Dinklage will develop the title role and film actress Haley Bennett will play Roxanne in this bold new musical. Additional casting will be announced at a later date. This exciting musical is adapted by Erica Schmidt in collaboration with members of the Grammy Award-winning indie alternative band The National. Cyrano will run August 3 - September 2, 2018 at The Terris Theatre in Chester, Conn. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

On Monday, May 14, 2018, Third Street Music School Settlement (Third Street), the nation's longest running community school, will honor Grammy Award-winning Singer and Songwriter Rosanne Cash, Tony and Oscar Award-winner Joel Grey, and long-time Board Member and Award-winning Architect Byron Bell at its Annual Spring Gala. Graham Parker, President of Universal Studios Classical Music Labels, will serve as master of ceremonies and Lydia Fenet, Senior Vice President of Christie's Auction House will host the live auction. Members of the cast of SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical also will perform. Held at Capitale (130 Bowery) in New York City, the gala will bring together hundreds of luminaries from the arts, culture, education, media, business, finance and philanthropy worlds to pay tribute to the honorees for their contributions to and leadership in arts and music education. Funds raised through attendance, live and silent auction participation will help support Third Street scholarships and financial aid services. With its roots in the settlement movement, Third Street today serves more than 5,000 New Yorkers of all ages and backgrounds by providing high quality, accessible music and dance instruction in more than 25 instruments and voice. More than 75% of Third Street students receive financial aid or scholarships through the school's Partners program, which sends teaching artists into community centers and public schools throughout New York City. Alumni include well-known artists Bobby Lopez, Jessie Montgomery, Irving Caesar, among others. This year's honorees join a roster of previous honorees that includes The Roots, Sting, Yoko Ono, Harold Prince, Philip Glass, and Audra McDonald. Rosanne Cash will be presented with Third Street's Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Arts and Joel Grey will receive Third Street's Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts. 'Third Street is founded on the principles of artistry, diversity, and community. We believe music connects us and that it is crucial to support programs that enable accessibility to the arts for people of all backgrounds,' said Third Street Music School's Anna-Maria Kellen Executive Director, Valerie G. Lewis. 'We are proud to celebrate our 123rd Anniversary with music visionaries, Joel Grey and Rosanne Cash, along with a long-time supporter of Third Street, Byron Bell. They have been incredible advocates for the arts, fostering artistic creativity in their communities and beyond,' she said. Gala Co-chairs are Jeannie Park and Larry Hackett, Kara Saxon and Amit Malhotra, and Kate and James Vanek. Anniversary Co-chairs include Beau Everett and Stephanie Goodman, Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, Tatiana Serafin and Mick Kalishman, Felipe Toews and Yuu Fujita. Honorary Co-chairs include Barbara E. Field, Philip Glass and Harold Prince. Event sponsors include Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, Baldor Specialty Foods, Ernst & Young LLP, Putney, Twombly, Hall & Hirson LLP, Industry City, JD Carlisle Development Corporation, Steinway & Sons, and Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP. For more information visit thirdstreetmusicschool.org/gala or contact Katharine Nemeth at 212-777-3240 ext. 26 or gala@thirdstreetmusicschool.org. Tickets start at $500 per person and $5,000 per table. About Third Street Founded in 1894, Third Street Music School Settlement is the nation's longest-running community music school. Celebrating 123 years of service, Third Street works to enrich lives and communities by providing access to high quality music and dance instruction to students of all ages and backgrounds, regardless of artistic ability or socio-economic circumstances. As a pioneer of community arts education in the United States, Third Street today serves more than 5,000 students in our primary location on East 11th Street, and through partnerships with nearly 25 public schools and community centers throughout New York City. Third Street alumni include violist Masumi Per Rostad of the acclaimed Pacifica String Quartet; Ray Chew, musician and music director of Dancing with the Stars and American Idol; Irving Caesar, composer of the 1920's hit 'Tea for Two'; Bobby Lopez, co-creator of the hit Broadway musical Avenue Q and Academy Award-winning writer of 'Let It Go' from Disney's Frozen and 'Remember Me' from Disney's Coco; Ingrid Michaelson, pop singer/songwriter with hits on the Top 40 charts; and Jessie Montgomery, recipient of the Sphinx Award. Visit http://www.thirdstreetmusicschool.org/ for more information, and follow Third Street on Instagram @3rdstreetnyc and twitter @Third_Street.

Williamstown Theatre Festival (Mandy Greenfield, Artistic Director) has announced details about additional programming and events for the 2018 summer season.

The Geffen Playhouse today announced the full cast for its world premiere production of Amanda Peet's Our Very Own Carlin McCullough. The play will feature Mamie Gummer (The Good Wife, True Detective) as Cyn, Abigail Dylan Harrison (The Affair) as Carlin at 10, Caroline Heffernan as Carlin at 17, Tyee Tilghman as Saleef and Joe Tippett (Rise, Broadway's Waitress) as Jay. Tyne Rafaeli (Geffen's Ironbound, Actually) will direct.

California Repertory Company, part of the CSULB Theatre Arts Department, continues its spring season with End Days, by Deborah Zoe Laufer.

Casting is announced for two REPRISE 2.0 productions with two Tony Award leading actress nominees: Laura Bell Bundy (Legally Blonde - Tony Nomination, Hairspray, Anger Management) is to play Charity in Sweet Charity, directed and choreographed by three time Tony Award-winner Kathleen Marshall from June 20 to July 1, and Carmen Cusack (Bright Star - Tony Nomination, Wicked) is to play Victoria Grant in Victor/Victoria directed by Richard Israel and choreographed by John Todd from September 5 to 16 at UCLA's Freud Playhouse.

Williamstown Theatre Festival (Mandy Greenfield, Artistic Director) has announced additional casting for the 2018 summer season, including Eden Espinosa, Samira Wiley, Krysta Rodriguez, Rachel Tucker, and many more.  It was also announced that two-time Tony Award® winner Chita Rivera will perform a one-night-only solo concert benefitting Williamstown Theatre Festival's New Play & Musical Development Initiative. 

Amas Musical Theatre(Donna Trinkoff, Artistic Producer) and The Amas Musical Theatre Lab will present further staged readings of Play It by Heart, a new musical, with music by David Spangler, Jerry Taylorand Marty Dodson, lyrics byDavid Spangler, Jerry Taylor,R.T. Robinson, and Marty Dodson, and book byWilly Holtzman. Directed by Daniel Goldsteinwith music direction by Andrew Wilder, the readings (by invitation only) will be held on Thursday, May 17 at 1pm and 5pm at Opry City Stage (48th/49th& Broadway).

The Amoralists (James Kautz, Artistic Director) announce their 11th season, RICOCHET: An Amoralists Anthology about Surviving an American Epidemic. RICOCHET will feature four boundary-pushing original, intersecting plays that follow a community as it copes with the aftermath of a mass shooting. Written by The Amoralists 2018/2019 'WRIGHT CLUB playwrights, Gabriel Jason Dean, Charly Evon Simpson, and James Anthony Tyler, the season will include four complementary original graphic novels created by Danica Novgorodoff.

BroadwayWorld has teamed up with Broadway alum Ilana Levine, who makes her entrance onto the podcast stage with her new show Little Known Facts. Ilana's unique brand of celebrity interview, 'Podcast Verite,' is unfiltered, raw, honest and uniquely funny.

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director John Doyle and Executive Producer Jeff Griffin, and Transport Group, under the leadership of Jack Cummings III (Artistic Director) and Lori Fineman (Executive Director), present a new production of Tennessee Williams' SUMMER AND SMOKE, directed by Jack Cummings III, Artistic Director of The Transport Group, now in  previews at CSC (136 East 13th Street) for a limited engagement through Sunday, May 20.  Opening night is Thursday, May 3.  The cast of SUMMER AND SMOKE will feature Glenna Brucken (Rosemary), Phillip Clark (Dr. Buchanan), Nathan Darrow (John Buchanan),  Hannah Elless (Nellie Ewell), Elena Hurst (Rosa Gonzales), Marin Ireland (Alma Winemiller), Tina Johnson(Mrs. Bassett), Gerardo Rodriguez (Papa Gonzales), T. Ryder Smith (Reverend Winemiller), Ryan Spahn (Archie Kramer),Jonathan Spivey (Roger Doremus), and Barbara Walsh (Mrs. Winemiller).

The Las Vegas Philharmonic performs its Season Finale concert on Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 7:30 PM in Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts. The program will feature the Philharmonic's American German Cultural Exchange Fellowship recipient, German pianist Danae Dorken performing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Opus 73, "Emperor."  In addition, the orchestra will perform Bernstein's Fancy Free: Three Dance Variations and close its 2017 - 2018 concert season with Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5 in B-Flat Major, Opus 100.  Music Director Donato Cabrera will host his pre-concert conversation at 6:30 PM in Reynolds Hall for patrons interested in learning more about the music in the evening program.

Deidrie Henry returns to The Armory to star as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, Lanie Robertson's riveting portrait of Holiday's life told through an imagined final performance in a small bar in South Philadelphia in 1959. Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill begins preview performances on May 26, opens on June 1, and runs through July 1 on the U.S. Bank Main Stage. Bill Fennelly returns to The Armory to direct after previously directing Gypsy, Black Pearl Sings and, most recently, Little Shop of Horrors. Deidrie Henry, who most recently played Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire at The Armory, will be joined on stage by Abdul Hamid Royal, the production's music director who also plays the role of Jimmy Powers, along with local musicians Charles Neal (drums) and Andre St. James (bass).

Casting has been announced for the World Premiere of THE BABY DANCE: MIXED, a new adaptation by Emmy Award-winner JANE ANDERSON ('Olive Kitteridge') of her acclaimed 2004 play The Baby Dance. A drama delicately laced with comic overtones, THE BABY DANCE: MIXED is a compelling and urgent play about race, class, and wanting the perfect child.

Duo Shows At 54! is a summer series at FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW celebrating the special collaboration of two artists brought together, curated by Creative and Programming Director Jennifer Ashley Tepper. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com/series/duo-shows-at-54 or call (646) 476-3551.

Broadway Licensing releases the performance rights to PigPen Theatre Co.'s The Old Man and The Old Moon.

A collective of perspectives. A public outcry. The establishment of a movement. This month, two new plays- Until the Flood by Dael Orlandersmith, directed by Neel Keller and florissant & canfield by Kristiana Rae Colon, directed by Derrick Sanders-bring a national dialogue to the stage.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre wraps up its 2017/18 season with its OriginKC: NEW WORKS FESTIVAL. Entering its third season, the OriginKC: NEW WORKS FESTIVAL, running April 27 through May 27, 2018, positions Kansas City as a major player and national center for the cultivation and production of new works, while offering theatre artists from across the country the financial, creative and artistic resources required to develop vital, diverse works of theatre.

The Obie-award winning The Fire This Time Festival (http://www.firethistimefestival.com/), in association with Frigid New York @ Horse Trade, is presenting readings of three plays and a screenplay that were developed in its New Works Lab, and they will be held over two days: Thursday May 3, and May 4, 2018, at the Sheen Center in Studio B, located at 18 Bleecker St (between Mott St. and Elizabeth St.) in New York City.