Zoe Caldwell News

Dory Previn Shannon died on Tuesday morning, February 14, at her home in Massachusetts, according to her husband, artist Joby Baker. She was 86 years old.

Soho Rep celebrates its 35th anniversary season with FEED35, a yearlong series of post-performance talks produced by FEED, the theater's Literary and Humanities program.

Patti LuPone will be celebrated in an all-star evening of song and memories on Monday, March 12. The Acting Company will salute a founding member and board director with the help of two other founding members, Kevin Kline and David Schramm, joined by Kristin Chenoweth, Sutton Foster, Harvey Fierstein, Zoe Caldwell, Laura Benanti, Boyd Gaines, Michael Urie, Melissa Errico, Howard McGillin, Steven Pasquale, Anthony Dean Griffey, Manoel Feliciano, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Tickets range from $75 to $175 from http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/226559 or at The Kaye Playhouse Box Office 212-772-4448. Benefit tickets, which include dinner with Patti LuPone and the cast, are available from 212-258-3111.

Classic Stage Company has announced complete casting for their upcoming production of Shakespeare's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, which begins previews at CSC on Wednesday, April 4 for a limited engagement through Sunday, May 20. Joining two-time Tony Award winner Bebe Neuwirth (Hippolyta/Titania) and acclaimed film/television/stage star Christina Ricci (Hermia) in the cast are Jordan Dean (Demetrius), Nick Gehlfuss (Lysander), David Greenspan (Flute/Fairy), Halley Wegryn Gross (Helena), Anthony Heald (Theseus/Oberon), Erin Hill (Starveling/Fairy), Chad Lindsey (Snout/Fairy), Taylor Mac (Egeus/Puck), James Patrick Nelson (Snug/Fairy), Steven Skybell (Bottom) and Rob Yang (Quince/Fairy). Directed by Tony Speciale (Unnatural Acts), A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM has its official opening Sunday, April 29.

Next up in its continuing series Dark Nights, The New Group presents Re-imagining Baal today at 4:00pm.

Roundabout Theatre Company in association with Damian Arnold, has announced casting for the Broadway premiere of Marc Camoletti's classic farce Don't Dress For Dinner, starring Ben Daniels as "Robert," Melora Hardin as "Jacqueline," Adam James as "Bernard" and Jennifer Tilly as "Suzanne" with Spencer Kayden as "Suzette." Don't Dress For Dinner is adapted by Robin Hawdon and directed by John Tillinger.

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has announced 10 Finalists for its prestigious playwriting award, now celebrating its thirty-fourth year. The ten Finalists for the 2011-2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, chosen from over 100 submitted plays, are:

Next up in its continuing series Dark Nights, The New Group presents Re-imagining Baal on Sunday, February 5 at 4:00pm. Reservations required at seats@thenewgroup.org (space is limited). Suggested donation: $20.

Classic Stage Company's upcoming production of Bertolt Brecht's GALILEO (translated by Charles Laughton) starring Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham, which begins previews Tuesday evening, February 1, will extend by one additional week through Sunday, March 18.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater's Yosemite began performances on Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at Rattlestick Theater (224 Waverly Place - off Seventh Avenue South, between Perry & West 11th Streets). The official opening night is set for Thursday, January tonight at 7pm. The production is scheduled to run through February 26th. Pedro Pascal directs.

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick, will next season present new production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Tony Award-winning musical PASSION, to be directed by John Doyle (the Tony Award-winning revivals of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd and Company). PASSION is slated to begin performances in February, 2013.

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick, will present Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham in a new production of Bertolt Brecht's GALILEO, translated by Charles Laughton, and directed by Kulick, beginning performances Wednesday, February 1 at CSC (136 East 13th Street) for a limited engagement through Sunday, March 11. The official press opening for GALILEO is Sunday, February 12. Tickets for GALILEO go on sale to the public today, Tuesday, January 3.

Classic Stage Company's new production of Anton Chekhov's tragicomic masterpiece THE CHERRY ORCHARD, featuring John Turturro (Lopakhin), Dianne Wiest (Ranevskaya), Ken Cheeseman (Pischick), Daniel Davis (Gaev), Alvin Epstein (Fiers), Josh Hamilton (Trofimov), Slate Holmgren (Yasha), Roberta Maxwell (Charlotta), Juliet Rylance (Varya), Michael Urie (Yepikhodov), Elisabeth Waterston (Dunyasha) and Katherine Waterston (Anya), has extended its upcoming engagement through Friday, December 30. Previews begin Wednesday, November 16 at CSC (136 East 13th Street). THE CHERRY ORCHARD is directed by Andrei Belgrader, with a translation by John Christopher Jones. The official press opening is scheduled for Sunday, December 4 at 7pm.

Though Bonnie & Clyde closes on Broadway tomorrow, December 30, the story of the infamous duo will live on at Georgia's Aurora Theatre in 2012. Bonnie & Clyde: A Folktale has attracted an impressive creative team for the premiere of this new musical at Aurora Theatre in March 2012. Storied Broadway veteran, award-winning Lonny Price will direct, while the magnificent Josh Rhodes, having worked on the show through development, will choreograph. It is no wonder the project has attracted world-class talent. The musical is the brain child of Broadway stars Hunter Foster and Rick Crom. Aurora Theatre Associate Producer Ann-Carol Pence joins as musical director. She discovered the show while attending the New York Musical Theatre Festival, a place where new shows like Tony Award-winning Next to Normal got their start.

Directed by Michael Garces, NE 2ND AVENUE depicts the lives of eight distinct characters: a Puerto Rican small-time drug dealer, a deprived African-American young lady, a Haitian jitney driver, a Cuban-Jewish grandfather, a Rasta Man, an African-American adolescent trying to find his footing in life, a Cuban rafter and a gay man, who each take the audience on a memorable journey through the intense streets of Miami. Through its characters, NE 2ND AVENUE brings voice to Miami's marginalized urban populations, exploring underlying issues of racism and social injustice, acknowledging the differences among us and ultimately discovering the common threads that bind us together.

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick, has announced that acclaimed actress Christina Ricci will join two-time Tony Award winner Bebe Neuwirth in the company's upcoming production of William Shakespeare's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. Directed by Tony Speciale, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM will begin performances Wednesday, March 28 and play a limited engagement through Sunday, May 6. Neuwirth will play the role of Titania and Ricci the role of Hermia. Additional casting will be announced early in the new year. Tickets will go on sale to the general public February 6. CSC is currently presenting the highly-acclaimed, sold-out production of Anton Chekhov's THE CHERRY ORCHARD (through January 8 only) and will next present Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham in Bertolt Brecht's GALILEO, directed by Brian Kulick, beginning performances Wednesday, February 1.

New York City's Soho Rep celebrates its thirty-fifth anniversary with the publishing and official release of The Soho Rep Book on December 12, 2011

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater has announced the cast and creative team for the world premiere of Yosemite, a new play written by Daniel Talbott (Slipping). The fourth production of the company's 17th season, Yosemite will begin performances on Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at Rattlestick Theater (224 Waverly Place - off Seventh Avenue South, between Perry & West 11th Streets). The official opening night is set for Thursday, January 26th at 7pm. The production is scheduled to run through February 26th. Pedro Pascal directs.

Classic Stage Company's acclaimed, sold-out production of Anton Chekhov's tragicomic masterpiece THE CHERRY ORCHARD, featuring John Turturro and Dianne Wiest, among an esteemed cast, will extend by one additional week through Sunday, January 8. THE CHERRY ORCHARD is directed by Andrei Belgrader, with a translation by John Christopher Jones.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center will present its 12th annual Monte Cristo Award to legendary film actor and O'Neill alum Michael Douglas in recognition of his monumental achievements and contributions to the American and international theater community. Mr. Douglas embodies the "pioneering spirit, unceasing artistic commitment, and excellence" of America's only Nobel Prize winning playwright Eugene O'Neill. The award will be presented to Mr. Douglas by his wife, Catherine Zeta Jones, at a gala dinner held in his honor at the Edison Ballroom in New York City on Monday, April 16th at 6:30pm.