Williamstown Theatre News

Premiere Stages at Kean University will present free interactive Staged Readings of the 2013-2014 Liberty Live Commission, At Liberty Hall by James Christy, November 8th through 10th in the University Center Little Theatre at Kean University. The story of an unlikely pair of American immigrants, At Liberty Hall follows two high school students who've just moved to New Jersey: Christian Rosario, a funny but unfocused teenager from Queens by way of the Dominican Republic; and Alexander Hamilton, 16, the subject of Christian's 10th grade history project. This time-bending story finds common threads of humor, honor and awkwardness as told through the experiences of a someday-Founding Father and a kid looking for a way out of the projects.

Stable Cable Lab Co. has announced the cast and creative team for the workshop production of Nibbler, a play by Ken Urban, directed by Stephen Brackett. Nibblerwill begin invited presentations on Friday, November 15, 2013 at Theatre 54 at Shetler Studios (244 W. 54th St - between Broadway & 8th Ave.) and is scheduled to run through November 23rd, 2013. The results of the workshop production - including the actors' experience with the work, the aesthetics of the director and designers, and the audience's feedback - will be invaluable to the development of this play and talkbacks will follow several performances to discuss the work.

In celebration of its fourth season, Sanguine Theatre Company will produce EXIT 27, a new work by award-winning playwright, Aleks Merilo and directed by Mark Karafin. Based on a true story, EXIT 27 combines the themes of rejection, survival, and redemption in exploration of the human experience. As the overwhelming winner of Sanguine's highly competitive playwriting competition, EXIT 27 brings a stirring perspective of raw human nature in its NYC premiere.

Roundabout Theatre Company presents The Winslow Boy, starring Tony nominee Michael Cumpsty as 'Desmond Curry', Academy & Tony Award nominee Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as 'Grace Winslow', Alessandro Nivola as 'Sir Robert Morton' and Tony Award winner Roger Rees as 'Arthur Winslow'.

Will Eno's new play The Realistic Joneses will come to Broadway in Spring of 2014 starring Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winner; Academy Award and Tony Award-nominee Toni Collette (“Hostages,” “United States of Tara,” The Sixth Sense, The Wild Party), Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award-winner Michael C. Hall (“Dexter,” Chicago), Tony Award-winner Tracy Letts (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; August: Osage County; “Homeland”), and Academy Award-winner and Gold Globe-nominee Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny; The Wrestler; Salome). The production will be directed by Obie Award-winner Sam Gold, who is currently represented by Fun Home at the Public Theater.

Series creators and producers Suzy Evans and Molly McGaughey have announced the debut of the Season 1 of Rom.Dot.Com. The pilot episode is now available on YouTube, and a new episode will debut every Monday at noon. Click HERE to watch the first episode, and scroll down to meet the cast, starring Mikaela Feely-Lehmann!

It was announced today that Williamstown Theatre Festival Artistic Director Jenny Gersten will step down at the end of the year to become Executive Director of Friends of the Highline, the non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and re-use of an elevated railway that has become a renowned public space in New York City. While the search is underway for a new Artistic Director, WTF's 2014 summer season will remain under Gersten's Artistic Direction; she will curate and oversee the season to ensure a seamless leadership transition.

Series creators and producers Suzy Evans and Molly McGaughey have announced the debut of the Season 1 of Rom.Dot.Com! The pilot episode is now available on YouTube, and a new episode will debut every Monday at noon. Click below to watch the first episode!

A Noise Within (ANW), the acclaimed classical repertory theatre company, presents a free reading of Ferenc Molnar's Liliom, the play upon which the popular 1950's musical Carousel was based. Apollo Dukakis, a resident artist with the company, directs the piece, using the Benjamin F. Glazer translation, with a cast of sixteen portraying multiple roles. Admission for the reading is free. RSVP via phone to 626-356-3100 x1 to reserve your seat. This reading takes place during the run of The Guardsman, another well-known work by Ferenc Molnar, at A Noise Within, now playing through November 30.

UglyRhino Productions will present TinyRhino: Horror Movie Edition on Tuesday, October 29th at 8 p.m. Come celebrate Halloween with six spooky new plays by up and coming playwrights and directors that pay homage to the classic horror movie genre.

Colt Coeur's Play Hotel reading series will present staged readings of two plays: a boy put this girl in a cage with a dog and the dog killed the girl by Clare Barron andUmma Lappa Soon by Claire Kiechel on Monday, October 28th at 6pm (Barron play) & 8pm (Kiechel play) in the Bernie B. Jacobs room of the Sardi's building at 234 W. 44th Street, in Times Square.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Broadway director Alex Timbers has signed on to helm a comedic version of Romeo and Juliet titled 'Roseline' for Universal. The project is loosely based on Rebecca Serle's 2012 'When You Were Mine' novel, and focuses on the classic romance told from the perspective of Juliet's cousin and Romeo's initial love interest.

David Wilson Barnes (Becky Shaw at Second Stage Theatre and London's Almeida Theatre) plays Charlie Duff, a burnt-out local newscaster who transforms first his community and then himself when he begins praying on-air in the Huntington Theatre Company's new production of Stephen Belber's moving new drama The Power of Duff. Amy Pietz ('The Office,' 'Caroline in the City') plays Duff's ex-wife Lisa, and Jennifer Westfeldt (Kissing Jessica Stein, Friends with Kids) plays Sue, Charlie's co-anchor, in the production helmed by Huntington Artistic Director Peter DuBois. Performances begin tonight, October 11 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. The Power of Duff is produced in association with New York Stage and Film and Vassar's Powerhouse Theater.

LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater's world premiere production of LUCE, by JC Lee, directed by May Adrales is currently in previews. The cast features Marin Hinkle, Neal Huff, Olivia Oguma, Okieriete Onaodowan, Sharon Washington. LUCE will run through Sunday, November 17 at the Claire Tow Theater (150 West 65th Street). All tickets $20. Opening night is Monday, October 21. Check out photos of the cast in action below!

David Wilson Barnes (Becky Shaw at Second Stage Theatre and London's Almeida Theatre) plays Charlie Duff, a burnt-out local newscaster who transforms first his community and then himself when he begins praying on-air in the Huntington Theatre Company's new production of Stephen Belber's moving new drama The Power of Duff. Amy Pietz ('The Office,' 'Caroline in the City') plays Duff's ex-wife Lisa, and Jennifer Westfeldt (Kissing Jessica Stein, Friends with Kids) plays Sue, Charlie's co-anchor, in the production helmed by Huntington Artistic Director Peter DuBois. Performances begin on October 11 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. The Power of Duff is produced in association with New York Stage and Film and Vassar's Powerhouse Theater. Check out the videos below!

The Vineyard Theatre has announced its world-premiere production of the musical THE LANDING -- with book and lyrics by Greg Pierce, music by John Kander and directed by Walter Bobbie -- will extend its previously-announced engagement by two weeks, now scheduled to play through November 24 at The Vineyard (108 E. 15 St.). THE LANDING began preview performances October 3 with opening night set for October 23.

The Civilians, the award-winning New York-based theatre company, announces the members of its 2013-14 R & D Group. The group's emerging and established artists were selected from over one hundred applicants. The R & D Group is comprised of artists from multiple theatrical disciplines. Each artist or creative team will develop an original work over the season. The artists and projects were selected to represent a range of different strategies for making new work from creative inquiry and research. This diversity of approach helps feed a culture of innovation in the group, making the R & D Group an effective lab of experimentation for the field of investigative theater.

The writer who gave television some of its favorite moments in entertainment with 'Flamingo Road,' 'Dallas,' 'Falcon Crest,' 'The Colbys,' 'General Hospital,' and 'Dynasty,' Frank V. Furino, has brought Marilyn Monroe back to life ... on stage in 'Marylin ... MADNESS & Me,' which is based on an original concept by Didier Bloch, under the direction of Joe Leonardo. Opening in the Monroe Forum at the El Portal Theatre on Sept 26th for a limited run, the overwhelming response from the public and press alike, has resulted in the production's extension through October 20th, 2013, at which point the destiny of the show, with an eye on Broadway's Great White Way, will be determined. Scroll down for photos from the show!

Victor Lesniewski, in association with Plum Productions, is proud to present Cloven Tongues, the new play by Lesniewski, which will premiere at New York City's The Wild Project under the direction of Michelle Bossy. The production will star Ema Lakovi? (Displaced Wedding), Casey Biggs ('Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'), Alex Mickiewicz (Williamstown Theatre Festival), and Catherine Curtin ("Orange Is the New Black").

Today, October 8 award-winning, seven-member indie-folk band/theater troupe PigPen Theatre Co. releases The Way I'm Running, a five-song EP of all new material.