Wilma Theater News

Casting has been announced for the Boston engagement of Disney's The Lion King. Boston's most eagerly awaited stage production returns to the Boston Opera House stage from September 9 to October 12 as part of the 2014-2015 Lexus Broadway In Boston Season.

Concert meets immersive performance where every audience member has a backstage pass. Inspired by Russian feminist group Pussy Riot, Applied Mechanics is engaging its signature choose-your-own-adventure style to create a piece about feminism, protest art, and activism in our contemporary world.

People's Light & Theatre presents the regional premiere of Itamar Moses' acclaimed comedy Bach at Leipzig running tonight, July 9-August 10, 2014 on the Steinbright Stage. Associate Artistic Director Pete Pryor directs. People's Light & Theatre is located at 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, PA 19355.

Concert meets immersive performance where every audience member has a backstage pass. Inspired by Russian feminist group Pussy Riot, Applied Mechanics is engaging its signature choose-your-own-adventure style to create a piece about feminism, protest art, and activism in our contemporary world.

Tickets are on sale now for "Presented" shows in the 2014 Fringe Festival presented by FringeArts, bringing the world's most daring and innovative performers to Philadelphia stages for the 18th year in a row from September 5-21. The 2014 Fringe Festival is supported by Presenting Sponsor PNC, through the PNC Arts Alive initiative. The Lincoln Motor Company is the Official Automotive Sponsor of the Festival.

People's Light & Theatre presents the regional premiere of Itamar Moses' acclaimed comedy Bach at Leipzig running July 9-August 10, 2014 on the Steinbright Stage. Associate Artistic Director Pete Pryor directs. People's Light & Theatre is located at 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, PA 19355.

Tom Stoppard's autobiographical parallel The Real Thing focuses on the successful playwright Henry and his close circle of family and friends. Starring his wife, Charlotte, Henry's newest work examines the intricacies of love, honesty and infidelity. Soon, as this play within a play continues, the lines between fiction and reality start to blur. Relationships break, bend and change, as lust, deceit and selfishness take center stage, leaving us all searching for 'the real thing'.

Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Michael Ritchie has set the 11th season at the CTG/Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City.

Lantern Theater Company closes their 20th anniversary season with a limited return engagement of Philadelphia actor/playwright Anthony Lawton's multimedia adaptation of C.S. Lewis' classic novella The Screwtape Letters. Featuring Lawton as demon Screwtape and Sarah Gliko as his sinuous secretary Toadpipe, The Screwtape Letters runs today, May 27 - June 15, 2014.

Casting has been announced for the National Theatre production of THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME

Plays & Players continues its collaboration with Power Street Theater Company with follow-up readings of El Nogalar by Tanya Saracho, Dark Matters by Oliver Mayer and To Catch the Lightning by Carmen Rivera. These three plays, representing 30/30/2, 30/30/3 and 30/30/4, were selected from a group of finalists chosen during the 30/30/1 full day event held with local theater and Latino community leaders in March, as part of a nation-wide event. The readings hope to serve as a further contribution to the already-growing conversation about the Latina/o voice and identity in the Philadelphia theater community.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater's Artistic Director David Van Asselt and Managing Director Brian Long have announced that following strong reviews, the New York premiere of The Few, written by Samuel D. Hunter (Backstage's 2014 Future Broadway Power List) and directed by Davis McCallum, will extend two weeks through Saturday, June 21 at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 224 Waverly Place.

A pioneer in the world of contemporary dance, MacArthur "Genius Grant" recipient Liz Lerman's new theatrical dance piece Healing Wars examines healing in wartime, the nature of damage that continues when battles are over and the question of how individuals and societies absorb the pain and impact of war. The production features a company of performers in multiple roles, including Marjani Forte, George Hirsch, Tamara Hurwitz Pullman, Ted Johnson, Alli Ross, Samantha Speis, Keith A. Thompson, renowned stage and film actor Bill Pullman and a combat veteran to be announced at a later date. The limited engagement, world-premiere production of Healing Wars runs June 6 - June 29 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater.

Continuing its commitment to promoting growth and innovation in Philadelphia's cultural community, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation tonight awarded $780,000 to 19 Philadelphia artists and arts groups.

Lantern Theater Company closes their 20th anniversary season with a limited return engagement of Philadelphia actor/playwright Anthony Lawton's multimedia adaptation of C.S. Lewis' classic novella The Screwtape Letters. Featuring Lawton as demon Screwtape and Sarah Gliko as his sinuous secretary Toadpipe, The Screwtape Letters runs May 27 - June 15, 2014. [Full schedule including special events is below.]

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater Artistic Director David Van Asselt and Managing Director Brian Long present the New York premiere of The Few, written by Samuel D. Hunter and directed by Davis McCallum, at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 224 Waverly Place. The official opening night is set for tonight, May 8 at 7pm; The Few is scheduled to run through Sunday, June 8.

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, screenwriter, and librettist Doug Wright will visit Drexel University's Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design next week as a distinguished Rankin Scholar for a residency comprised of sessions with students, a professional development workshop and a public presentation entitled 'Stage to Screen and Back Again.'

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, screenwriter, and librettist Doug Wright will visit Drexel University's Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design next week as a distinguished Rankin Scholar for a residency comprised of sessions with students, a professional development workshop and a public presentation entitled "Stage to Screen and Back Again."

The Bearded Ladies, Philadelphia's experimental cabaret troupe, are pleased to announce their next project: ANDY: A Popera. Inspired by the life, fame, and philosophy of Andy Warhol, this cabaret/opera hybrid is written by the artists of Bearded Ladies, will be built in three stages, and features original music by resident composer Heath Allen. The project is being developed in partnership withOpera Philadelphia, with a goal of building to a pop art opera to premiere in 2015. The development of ANDY: A Popera has been generously supported by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre welcomes back Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Kushner for the West Coast premiere of his latest play, The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures, an epic tale of love, family, sex, money, and politics. Kushner reunites with one of his favorite collaborators, Michael Leibert Artistic Director Tony Taccone, to bring this sweeping drama to the Roda Theatre. With his trademark mix of soaring intellect and searing emotion, the legendary writer unfurls a poignant story about an Italian family in Brooklyn. When retired longshoreman Gus Marcantonio decides to die, his kids come home with a raucous parade of lovers and spouses to find that even the house keeps secrets. A portrait of a dysfunctional family filled with weighty dialogue, humor, and passion, Kushner's four-act play previews Friday, May 16, opens on Wednesday, May 21, and runs through Sunday, June 29, 2014.