Wilma Theater News

September 14 marks the launch of O17, the first edition of Opera Philadelphia's new annual season-opening festival. Featuring seven operatic happenings, six city venues, three world premieres, many already sold-out performances, and one superstar Festival Artist, this twelve- day immersion will transform the City of Brotherly Love into an urban stage for diverse audiences to gather and connect through the shared experience of opera (Sep 14-25). O17 shines a contemporary light on the genre, tackling daring subject matter, offering cutting-edge takes on the classics, and providing extraordinary artists with the chance to create their most imaginative and inspired work.

Tectonic Theater Project has announced casting for the New York premiere of Uncommon Sense, a new play about living on the autism spectrum, which the Sheen Center for Thought & Culture presents for five weeks only, October 25 to November 26, at The Sheen Center's Loreto Theater (18 Bleecker Street, NYC). The work is written by Anushka Paris-Carter and Andy Paris and directed by Andy Paris under the artistic direction of Tectonic's founder, Moises Kaufman.

90 minuets from Broadway takes you to some of the best theater entertainment in the Delaware Valley. Whether its in the bustling city of Philly, one of its neighboring suburbs... or a short drive across the bridge to South Jersey. Support your local Theaters in your towns.

Sound Theatre Company presents GOBLIN MARKET a musical based on the poem by Victorian era poet Christina Rossetti, by Polly Pen and Peggy Harmon.

Lantern Theater Company will launch its 24th season with the regional premiere of Red Velvet, Lolita Chakrabarti's stirring play based on the true story of 19th century actor Ira Aldridge, who made history as the first African-American actor to portray Othello in 1833 London. Longtime Lantern artistic collaborator Peter DeLaurier will direct a cast that includes Tony Award nominee Forrest McClendon as Ira Aldridge, with David Bardeen, Damon Bonetti, Liz Filios, Adam Hammet, David Pica, Ebony Pullum, and Lauren Sowa. Theater critics and members of the press are invited to attend opening night on Wednesday, September 13 at 7 p.m. A full schedule is included in the fact sheet below.

Lantern Theater Company will launch its 24th season with the regional premiere of Red Velvet, Lolita Chakrabarti's stirring play based on the true story of 19th century actor Ira Aldridge, who made history as the first African-American actor to portray Othello in 1833 London.

Final casting has been announced for the Broadway production of the critically acclaimed musical THE BAND'S VISIT, arriving on Broadway in Fall 2017 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre (243 West 47th Street).

Pig Iron Theatre Company, the internationally acclaimed, Philadelphia-based organization, has announced that the world premiere of its ambitious, timely production A Period of Animate Existence will take place September 22-24 at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Pennsylvania in the 2017 Fringe Festival, co-presented by FringeArts and Annenberg Center Live.

Sound Theatre Company presents GOBLIN MARKET a musical based on the poem by Victorian era poet Christina Rossetti, by Polly Pen and Peggy Harmon.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces select cast members for upcoming productions as part of the company's 2017/18 programming as single tickets for the full season go on sale.

The Old Globe today announced the complete cast and creative team for William Shakespeare's exhilarating tragedy Hamlet, one of the greatest plays ever written. The Globe's Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein returns to the outdoor festival stage, with a cast featuring some of the nation's finest classical actors, to bring Shakespeare's iconic play to life. Revenge thriller, ghost story, psychological drama, political epic, and family saga, all packed in one, with unforgettable characters, theatrical masterstrokes, and world-famous lines. The Prince of Denmark comes home from college to find his father dead, his mother remarried to his uncle, and a spine-chilling apparition roaming the palace grounds. Hamlet plays August 6 - September 10, 2017, in the outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre. Previews run August 6-11, with opening night on Saturday, August 12 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets start at $30 and are on sale now to the general public.

Today, the New York Post has reported that the Tony nominated psychedelic rock musical, Passing Strange, by musicians Stew and Heidi Rodewald could be on its way back to the Broadway stage.

Lincoln Center Theater has announced that Ito Aghayere, Phillip James Brannon, Tony Carlin, Caroline Hewitt, Rick Holmes, Ted Koch, Teresa Avia Lim, Danny Mastrogiorgio, Nate Miller, Ethan Phillips, Matthew Rauch, Matthew Saldivar, Michael Siberry, Miriam Silverman, Joey Slotnick, and Henry Stram will join Steven Pasquale to comprise the cast of its upcoming production of Junk, a new play by Ayad Akhtar, directed by Doug Hughes.

American Blues Theater opens its 2017-2018 Season with the Chicago Premiere of Beauty's Daughter by Dael Orlandersmith, directed by Ron OJ Parson, and Artistic Affiliate Wandachristine. Beauty's Daughter runs July 7 - August 5, 2017 at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago.  

September marks the launch of O17, the inaugural edition of Opera Philadelphia's game-changing new annual season-opening festival, and We Shall Not Be Moved (Sep 16-24) is one of three world premieres with which the company looks forward to baptizing the festival by fire.

People's Light is proud to announce Sanjit De Silva, James Ijames, Deepa Purohit, and Laura Schellhardt as the participating playwrights in the second round of the company's groundbreaking New Play Frontiers Residency & Commission program. The playwrights officially begin the program on July 9, 2017, in conjunction with the final performance of Project Dawn by Karen Hartman, the first New Play Frontiers play to premiere at People's Light. This second round of residencies and commissions, along with the production of Project Dawn, are made possible in part by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

September marks the launch of O17, the inaugural edition of Opera Philadelphia's game-changing new annual season-opening festival, and We Shall Not Be Moved (Sep 16-24) is one of three world premieres with which the company looks forward to baptizing the festival by fire.

Aurora Theatre Company closes its 25th season with the Bay Area Premiere of SPLENDOUR, Abi Morgan's (Suffragette, The Iron Lady, Shame, The Hour) riveting play about the fragility of power and the unreliability of language. Barbara Damashek (American Buffalo) returns to Aurora to helm this drama, featuring Lorri Holt (The Aspern Papers), Denmo Ibrahim (Betrayed), Mia Tagano, and Sam Jackson. SPLENDOUR plays June 23 through July 23 at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. For tickets and information the public can call (510) 843-4822 or visit auroratheatre.org.

Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA; Jeffrey Horowitz, Founding Artistic Director) is pleased to announce casting for British director Simon Godwin's new staging of Measure for Measure, William Shakespeare's dark comedy about justice, faith, power, sex, and family. The production, which marks Godwin's first time directing Shakespeare for an American company, runs June 17 - July 16 at Polonsky Shakespeare Center (262 Ashland Place) in the Brooklyn Cultural District.

American Blues Theater opens its 2017-2018 Season with the Chicago Premiere of Beauty's Daughter by Dael Orlandersmith, directed by Ron OJ Parson, and Artistic Affiliate Wandachristine. Beauty's Daughter runs July 7 - August 5, 2017 at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago.  The official press opening is Thursday, July 13, 2017 at 7:30 p.m.