Dividing the Estate - 2007 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 8

Tickets for THE ORPHANS' HOME CYCLE, the world premiere of a three part theatrical event by the late Academy Award and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Horton Foote, are now available at www.signaturetheatre.org.

THE ORPHANS' HOME CYCLE, the world premiere of a three part theatrical event by the late Academy Award and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Horton Foote, will feature a company of 22 actors under the direction of Michael Wilson. The exciting, sweeping work will be co-produced in the 2009-2010 season by Hartford Stage (Michael Wilson, Artistic Director; Michael Stotts, Managing Director) and Signature Theatre Company (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director).

Charles Busch and Julie Halston will host this year's Primary Stages 25th Anniversary Gala Benefit to be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel (109 East 42nd Street) on Monday, November 9, 2009. This year's 'Leading Ladies' Penny Fuller and Isabel Keating are set to perform and will be joined by Elysabeth Kleinhans, and celebrity guests Allison Janney, Marian Seldes and Elizabeth Wilson in helping Primary Stages celebrate their 25th Anniversary Season.

The Off-Broadway League, the official trade organization for Off-Broadway theatres, producers and productions, is proud to highlight its member shows for the upcoming Fall 2009 season in the vibrant diverse landscape of Off-Broadway theatre.

THE ORPHANS' HOME CYCLE, the world premiere of a three part theatrical event by the late Academy Award and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Horton Foote, will feature a company of 22 actors under the direction of Michael Wilson. The exciting, sweeping work will be co-produced in the 2009-2010 season by Hartford Stage (Michael Wilson, Artistic Director; Michael Stotts, Managing Director) and Signature Theatre Company (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director).

TRACY LETTS' AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, winner of five 2008 Tony Awards, as well as the 2008 Pulitzer Prize, and currently starring Tony and Emmy award winner PHYLICIA RASHAD, will play its final performance on SUNDAY, JUNE 28th, 2009. It will have played 648 performances and 18 previews, surpassing The Heidi Chronicles, Master Class, The Real Thing, and Doubt, among many others, to become one of the longest running plays in Broadway history.

TRACY LETTS' AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, winner of five 2008 Tony Awards, as well as the 2008 Pulitzer Prize, and currently starring Tony and Emmy award winner PHYLICIA RASHAD, will play its final performance on SUNDAY, JUNE 28th, 2009. It will have played 648 performances and 18 previews, surpassing The Heidi Chronicles, Master Class, The Real Thing, and Doubt, among many others, to become one of the longest running plays in Broadway history.

2009 Tony Award nominee Hallie Foote (Dividing the Estate) will be featured in the cast of THE ORPHANS' HOME CYCLE, the nine-play three part theatrical event by her late father, the Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award winning playwright Horton Foote, which will be co-produced in the 2009-2010 season by Hartford Stage (Michael Wilson, Artistic Director; Michael Stotts, Managing Director) and Signature Theatre Company (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director).

Hartford Stage, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Wilson and Managing Director Michael Stotts, announced today that acclaimed actress Lois Smith will return to Hartford Stage in the role of matriarch Stella Gordon as she joins the Broadway cast of Horton Foote's hit comedy Dividing the Estate for the production's run at Hartford Stage May 28 - July 5.

Hartford Stage, under the leadership of Michael Wilson, artistic director, and Michael Stotts, managing director, announced today that the Broadway hit comedy Dividing the Estate, by Horton Foote, directed by Wilson, will transfer to Hartford Stage in May 2009 to close the Tony Award-winning theatre's 45th season. The gospel musical drama Gee's Bend, which was to have been the sixth and final MainStage offering this year, has been postponed until next season.

In one of the most exciting theater events of the current season, The Year of Magical Thinking, the stage adaptation of Joan Didion's bestselling memoir, has its Connecticut premiere at TheaterWorks. One of the true luminaries of American theater, Annalee Jefferies, stars in this recent Broadway hit, which will be directed by Steve Campo. The production runs April 17 through May 24, 2009 at TheaterWorks in downtown Hartford's City Arts on Pearl at 233 Pearl Street. (The play opens to press Friday, April 24 at 8 p.m.)

Hartford Stage, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Wilson and Managing Director Michael Stotts, announced today that acclaimed actress Lois Smith will return to Hartford Stage in the role of matriarch Stella Gordon as she joins the Broadway cast of Horton Foote's hit comedy Dividing the Estate for the production's run at Hartford Stage May 28 - July 5.

In one of the most exciting theater events of the current season, The Year of Magical Thinking, the stage adaptation of Joan Didion's bestselling memoir, has its Connecticut premiere at TheaterWorks. One of the true luminaries of American theater, Annalee Jefferies, stars in this recent Broadway hit, which will be directed by Steve Campo. The production runs April 17 through May 24, 2009 at TheaterWorks in downtown Hartford's City Arts on Pearl at 233 Pearl Street. (The play opens to press Friday, April 24 at 8 p.m.)

The New York Times reports the sad news that Horton Foote, who chronicled America's many voices and many lives and who will leave a dramatic and literary legacy as one of the country's greatest storytellers, has passed away today in Hartford, Connecticut. He was 92, said his daughter Hallie Foote.

Signature Theatre Company (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director) is proud to announce casting for ZOOMAN AND THE SIGN, by Charles Fuller and directed by Stephen McKinley Henderson. ZOOMAN AND THE SIGN is the final production of Signature's 2008-09 season celebrating the historic Negro Ensemble Company (NEC).

The Book of Lambert opened on February 14 and continues through March 1, 2009 in a limited engagement at the historic La MaMa e.t.c. as part of their Black History Month celebration.

La MaMa e.t.c. proudly presents the World Premiere of The Book of Lambert, written by Tony Award nominated and Obie/Audelco Award winning playwright Leslie Lee. The play, directed by Cyndy A. Marion, features Lucille Lortel and Obie Award winning actor Arthur French, who recently performed on Broadway in Horton Foote's Dividing The Estate. The Book of Lambert runs from February 13th to March 1st, 2009 in a limited engagement at the historic La MaMa e.t.c. as part of their Black History Month celebration. Lambert previews on February 13th and officially opens on February 14th, Valentines Day.

Signature Theatre Company (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director) is proud to announce casting for ZOOMAN AND THE SIGN, by Charles Fuller and directed by Stephen McKinley Henderson. ZOOMAN AND THE SIGN is the final production of Signature's 2008-09 season celebrating the historic Negro Ensemble Company (NEC).

The Irish Repertory Theatre (132 West 22nd Street) is hosting a NEW WORKS READING SERIES to support new plays and emerging playwrights. As part of its mission statement, The Irish Repertory Theatre 'encourages the development of new works focusing on the Irish and Irish American experience, as well as a range of other cultures.' The next of the free staged readings is Midden by Morna Regan. The reading is on Friday, January 30th at 3 PM, tickets are free, and the event is open to the public. An RSVP to 212-727-2737 is required.

McCarter Theatre Center announces the complete cast for Eclipsed, the Spotlight Production of the theater's 3rd Annual In-Festival of new works. Written by Obie Award-winning actress and playwright Danai Gurira and directed by Liesl Tommy, the five-woman play features Pascale Armand, Nikiya Mathis, Keiana Rich?rd, Stacey Sargeant, and April Yvette Thompson. Eclipsed runs on Wednesdays through Sundays from January 26 to February 8, 2009 in The Room in the Berlind Theatre (opening night January 31). Set in war-torn Liberia, Eclipsed offers a chilling, humanizing, and surprisingly funny portrait of transformation and renewal. With wit, compassion, and defiance, this gripping play unearths the wreckage of war and celebrates the women who navigate and survive the most hostile of circumstances. Danai Gurira first introduced excerpts of Eclipsed to McCarter in 2007, followed by a public reading of the work during the 2008 In-Festival. In researching the play, Ms. Gurira traveled to Liberia through a TCG New Generations Grant, which she applied for with McCarter Theatre. Pascale Armand has been seen in New York at Playwrights Horizons and Manhattan Theatre Club and regionally at numerous theaters including Kansas City Rep, Arena Stage, Yale Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, Syracuse Stage, American Repertory Theatre, and Actors Theatre of Louisville.

THE ORPHANS' HOME CYCLE, a world premiere production of nine plays by Horton Foote that have been newly adapted by the Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award-winning playwright into a three-part theatrical event, will be co-produced in the 2009-2010 season by Signature Theatre Company (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director) and Hartford Stage (Michael Wilson, Artistic Director; Michael Stotts, Managing Director). The productions will be directed by Michael Wilson and performed at Hartford Stage from August 27, 2009 to October 17, 2009 and at Signature Theatre Company, from October 29, 2009 to April 11, 2010. Each part of the three part cycle will be staged individually as well as in repertory and one-day marathons. Audiences may choose to see the individual parts or the entire trilogy. THE ORPHANS' HOME CYCLE encompasses nine newly adapted plays by Mr. Foote, together for the first time. Mr. Foote, 92, is actively adapting each of the full-length plays, some previously produced and others never before seen, into one epic cycle.

La MaMa e.t.c. proudly presents the World Premiere of The Book of Lambert, written by Tony Award nominated and Obie Award winning playwright Leslie Lee. The play, directed by Cyndy A. Marion, features Lucille Lortel and Obie Award winning actor Arthur French, who recently performed on Broadway in Horton Foote's Dividing The Estate. The Book of Lambert runs from February 13th to March 1st, 2009 in a limited engagement at the historic La MaMa e.t.c. as part of their Black History Month celebration. Lambert previews on February 13th and officially opens on February 14th, Valentines Day. Founded by the venerable Ellen Stewart, La MaMa e.t.c. is located at 74A East 4th Street between 2nd Avenue & Bowery in NYC. Performances take place in the First Floor Theatre and run Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 2pm with an added performance on Wed 2/18 at 7:30pm. Tickets are $18 for adults and $13 for students and seniors and can be purchased by calling 212-475-7710 or visiting www.LaMaMa.org. The Book of Lambert depicts the lives of six lost souls hiding from society in the subterranean depths of an abandoned NYC subway tunnel. Their leader is Lambert, an African-American man who has been hurt - possibly beyond repair - by his former love, a beautiful Caucasian woman. A bright but disillusioned ex-college professor, Lambert begins writing a prophetic book on life. In an effort to guide and re-focus this wayward flock, Lambert unleashes his own identity issues while coming face to face with the demons of his past. The Book of Lambert is a telling story of how our histories can haunt us, and how we may or may not recover from them.

Hartford Stage, under the leadership of Michael Wilson, artistic director, and Michael Stotts, managing director, announced today that the Broadway hit comedy Dividing the Estate, by Horton Foote, directed by Wilson, will transfer to Hartford Stage in May 2009 to close the Tony Award-winning theatre's 45th season. The gospel musical drama Gee's Bend, which was to have been the sixth and final MainStage offering this year, has been postponed until next season.

This year will be of particular interest due to the economic situation, which makes the phrase 'more for your hard earned dollar' even harder...

This February, THE STORY OF MY LIFE, a new musical comes to Broadway. Starring Will Chase (Rent, Aida, The Full Monty) and Tony Award nominee Malcolm Gets (Amour, Merrily We Roll Along,Caroline in the City), the show is directed by Tony Award winner Richard Maltby, Jr. (Ain't Misbehavin', Song & Dance), THE STORY OF MY LIFE features a score by Neil Bartram and a book by Brian Hill. Performances begin Tuesday, February 3rd on Broadway at The Booth Theatre (222 West 45th Street). Opening night is Thursday, February 19th at 7:30PM.