Williamstown Theatre News

Tony Award-winner Judith Ivey, known for her critically acclaimed work in Long Wharf Theatre's productions of The Glass Menagerie and Shirley Valentine, will star in Curse of the Starving Class, by Sam Shepard, directed by Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein.

THE PIECE PROJECT and CELEBRATION THEATRE present an exclusive Los Angeles reading of Theresa Rebeck's SPIKE HEELS on Monday, January 28, 2013 at 8pm. Founded by Devon Gummersall and Andrew Carlberg, THE PIECE PROJECT is a celebrity-based theater ensemble. Every two-three months, The Piece Project hosts a play reading to benefit a local Los Angeles theater company. Devon Gummersall will direct this reading of SPIKE HEELS, which will feature Patrick J. Adams, Elaine Hendrix, Jenn Liu and Jeremy Sisto.

Executive Producer Mike Isaacson announced today the directors, choreographers and music directors for its 2013 Season, which opens on June 17 with Monty Python's Spamalot. 'This is a phenomenally talented group of artists, and I'm thrilled to be working with all of them. Last season our audience inspired us to take many risks and push ourselves far. These directors and choreographers are already working on ways to top last season's level of excitement and excellence.'

Deadline reports that two-time Tony Award winning actress Katie Finneran has joined the cast of Michael J. Fox's upcoming NBC comedy series. The show, which is scheduled to premiere in the fall, has received a 22-episode order from the network.

Trinity Repertory Company announced today that celebrated stage and screen actor Kate Burton will be honored with the 2013 Pell Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts at the 17th annual Pell Awards to be held on Monday, June 10, 2013 at Trinity Rep. The annual fundraising event will be co-chaired by Joe & Michele Madden and Elizabeth 'Beppie' Huidekoper. Mrs. Nuala Pell will serve as the event's honorary chair.

A total of 35 established and emerging writers, composers and lyricists will converge on the Goodspeed campus this month to participate in the first-ever Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals. The writing teams, representing more than twenty new musicals, will populate the campus, creating a truly exciting environment for discovery and inspiration.

Jeux de Mots trans.WORDPLAY presents FOODACTS, a culinary stage adventure. Barbara Bosch directs a cast of seven including Robert Allan, Judith Barcroft* (Bway: Dinner at Eight, Betrayal, Elephant Man, Plaza Suite), Gwen Eyster, Peter Husovsky*, Jaclyn Mitgang, Mark Ringer, and Antonio Edwards Suarez* (Bway: American Buffalo - Leguizamo understudy; Off -Bway: Chaucer in Rome - Lincoln Center). FOODACTS will run at the Lion Theatre on Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Streeet (bet. 9th and 10th Avenues), New York City for sixteen performances, February 6-24, 2013.

A stellar cast has been assembled for an invitation-only reading of Rich Orloff's award-winning comedy, Advanced Chemistry, at the National Arts Club today, January 14th.

The Metropolitan Playhouse and JAJ Production present the World Premiere of David Koteles' My First Lady, directed by Jason Jacobs as part of the Metropolitan Playhouse Founder's Festival (running tonight, January 14-27) The Playhouse is located at 220 East 4th Street.

Women's Project, the 35-year-old non-profit theater dedicated to producing plays written and directed by women, will present its 2012-2013 season of new plays featuring women theater artists at a new home, New York City Center Stage II, 131 West 55th Street, tonight, January 11 to May 19, Julie Crosby, Producing Artistic Director announced.

The Metropolitan Playhouse and JAJ Production present the World Premiere of David Koteles' My First Lady, directed by Jason Jacobs as part of the Metropolitan Playhouse Founder's Festival (running January 14- 27) The Playhouse is located at 220 East 4th Street.

Steve Alpert and Ken Greiner in association with Slant Theatre Project present the world-premiere of THE STEADFAST, Mat Smart's gripping new play that looks at eight U.S. soldiers across the sweep of American history - from the Revolutionary War to the War in Afghanistan - and the common thread that connects them across continents and centuries. THE STEADFAST is inspired by Mr. Alpert's Legacy painting. Preview performances of THE STEADFAST begin January 20 prior to an official press opening of January 23 at TBG Theatre (312 West 36th Street) in Manhattan. Slant Theatre Project's co-founder Wes Grantom will direct.

A stellar cast has been assembled for an invitation-only reading of Rich Orloff's award-winning comedy, Advanced Chemistry, at the National Arts Club on Monday, January 14th.

Cabrillo Music Theatre announces the next in a series of fundraising and entertainment events in the recently renovated Founders' Room of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. SHIRLEY JONES & PATRICK CASSIDY: TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY will take place on Sunday, February 10th, at 7:00PM, and reunites the Oscar-winning star of stage, films and television, Shirley Jones, with her son, Broadway and television star Patrick Cassidy. The Founders Room is located in the Kavli Theatre, Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks.

Long Wharf Theatre will present the world premiere of Laura Jacqmin's new play January Joiner: A Weight Loss Horror Comedy from tonight, January 9 through February 10, 2013 on Stage II.

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) Artistic Director James C. Nicola and Managing Director William Russo have announced that the New York premiere of Belleville, written by Amy Herzog and directed by Anne Kauffman, will begin performances Tuesday, February 12 at NYTW, 79 East 4 Street, between Bowery and Second Avenue. Opening night is set for Sunday, March 3 at 7pm. Belleville is scheduled to run through Sunday, March 31.

The Attic Theater Company will present THE MNEMONIST OF DUTCHESS COUNTY, a new comedy written by Josh Koenigsberg (Herman Kline's Midlife Crisis, Al's Business Cards) and directed by Laura Savia, which will be performed at The Beckett Theatre -Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street, at 9th Avenue) from Friday, February 8th through Saturday, March 2, 2013. THE MNEMONIST OF DUTCHESS COUNTY will open on Wednesday, February 13.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded the Huntington Theatre Company $245,000 so that Huntington Playwriting Fellow Melinda Lopez (Sonia Flew, Becoming Cuba) can join the company's full-time staff as playwright-in-residence. The award is one of 14 residency grants at theatre companies around the US announced this month. Lopez will begin her residency on July 1, 2013.