How I Learned to Drive - 1997 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 5

The Old Globe opens its 2015-2016 Season with IN YOUR ARMS, a World Premiere dance-theatre musical featuring direction and choreography by Tony Award winner Christopher Gattelli (Newsies, Godspell, Lincoln Center Theater's The King and I and South Pacific) and original music by Tony Award winner Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime, Once on This Island; two-time Oscar nominee for Anastasia). The production begins tonight, September 16, with an opening slated for September 24, and runs through October 25, 2015.

NeekOn will feature Live Music, Dance (including a Persian Folklore Dance Flash Mob), Visual Arts, and Food from multiple cultures around the world. (Neek means kindness.)

Molly Smith directs her 30th production as Artistic Director of Arena Stage with a gritty and relevant take on the Tony Award-winning musical Oliver!, blending the chaotic worlds of 19th-century Victorian London with 2015 London. Smith's new in-the-round staging infuses a modern edge to the classic musical about an innocent orphan thrown into the dark world of double-dealing thieves and conmen, highlighting the disparity between classes and dangerous life on London's streets today. Featuring a remarkable score including 'You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two,' 'Consider Yourself,' 'Where is Love?' and 'Food, Glorious Food,' Oliver! runs October 30, 2015-January 3, 2016 in the Fichandler Stage at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater.

Among them, the company can claim 18 Tony Awards, 4 Pulitzer Prizes, 6 Pulitzer finalist distinctions, 3 Emmy Awards, and 2 Academy Awards; to list all their honors would take several pages.

Producing Artistic Director Chuck Tobin today announced the July 1st opening of Jeffrey Hatcher's area premiere adaptation of Wait Until Dark, written by Frederick Knott at Saint Michael's Playhouse (tonight, July 1 - 11). Directed by Sarah Carleton the cast features Abby Lee as Susan, John D. Alexander as Roat, Christian Kohn as Mike, Bill Carmichael as Carlino, David Rossetti as Sam, and introducing Jillian Kenny as Gloria.

?Producing Artistic Director Chuck Tobin today announced the July 1st opening of Jeffrey Hatcher's area premiere adaptation of Wait Until Dark, written by Frederick Knott at Saint Michael's Playhouse (July 1 - 11).  Directed by Sarah Carleton the cast features Abby Lee as Susan, John D. Alexander as Roat, Christian Kohn as Mike, Bill Carmichael as Carlino, David Rossetti as Sam, and introducing Jillian Kenny as Gloria.

The 69th Annual Tony Awards are this Sunday June 7th at 8/9c hosted by Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming. It's the biggest award show of the Broadway season and it closes out a long award season for Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals and plays. We can't help but wonder what chances this year's Best Musical and Best Play nominees have of taking home the ultimate prize. 

The Public Theater announced additional casting today for the 2015 Free Shakespeare in the Park season, beginning Wednesday, May 27 at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. This summer will feature Shakespeare's late romances with THE TEMPEST, directed by Tony Award nominee Michael Greif, and CYMBELINE, directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan. Jesse Tyler Ferguson will return to the Park this summer as Trinculo in THE TEMPEST, along with Hamish Linklater and Lily Rabe teaming up again with Daniel Sullivan on CYMBELINE to play Posthumus Leonatus/Cloten and Imogen, respectively.

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University is pleased to announce that it has acquired the literary archive of dramatist Paula Vogel, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a celebrated teacher who has mentored a generation of playwrights. Vogel is the first American female playwright to have her archive included in the Yale Collection of American Literature, where she joins such luminaries as Eugene O'Neill, Thornton Wilder, A. R. Gurney, and John Guare.

Goodman Theatre, in collaboration with Chicago's various off-Loop theaters and Northwestern University, unveils partial programming in its spring 2015 citywide "August Wilson Celebration" -- an extensive retrospective of the late playwright's life, artistry and influence on American culture. The seven-week Celebration takes place in March and April 2015 on dual landmark occasions: the 70th anniversary of the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright's birth and the 10th anniversary of his death.

La Jolla Playhouse announces five shows for its 2015/2016 season, featuring all new works, including the world-premiere musical Come from Away, featuring book, music and lyrics by acclaimed Canadian husband-and-wife team Irene Sankoff and David Hein, directed by Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley; the world premiere of Indecent, co-created by director Rebecca Taichman (Playhouse's Sleeping Beauty Wakes, Milk Like Sugar), and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel (How I Learned to Drive), co-produced with Yale Repertory Theatre; and Blueprints to Freedom: An Ode to Bayard Rustin, by Michael Benjamin Washington (Memphis, The Wiz), directed by The Cosby Show's Phylicia Rashad, which had its first workshop during the Playhouse's 2014 DNA New Work Series.

Firehouse Theatre is proud to announce the full cast and creative team working on the next production of its 21st Season, A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration, by Pulitzer Prize-winner Paula Vogel. Directed by Dr. Tawnya Pettiford-Wates, this touching family musical will play 14 performances, November 20 - December 20, 2014. Opening night is November 21.

Folger Theatre launches its 2014/15 season in Rome with William Shakespeare's enduring political tragedy, Julius Caesar from tonight, October 28 - December 7, 2014.

'Mad Men' star Vincent Kartheiser and Broadway's Larry Pine (CASA VALENTINA) play Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler, respectively, in BILLY & RAY, Mike Bencivenga's new play -- directed by the legendary director/writer/producer Garry Marshall -- being given its NY premiere this fall at the Vineyard Theatre (108 E. 15 St.), with an official opening tonight, October 20, 2014.

'Mad Men' star Vincent Kartheiser and Broadway's Larry Pine (CASA VALENTINA) will play Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler, respectively, in BILLY & RAY, Mike Bencivenga's new play -- directed by the legendary director/writer/producer Garry Marshall -- being given its NY premiere this fall at the Vineyard Theatre (108 E. 15 St.), with previews scheduled to begin tonight, October 1 prior to an official opening on October 20, it has been announced by Vineyard's Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern.

Folger Theatre launches its 2014/15 season in Rome with William Shakespeare's enduring political tragedy, Julius Caesar from October 28 - December 7, 2014. Robert Richmond (Richard III and Henry V at Folger) directs the epic portrait of the battle between ambition and honor, conspiracy and loyalty, leading an outstanding ensemble including Anthony Cochrane (Broadway's War Horse and Folger's Henry VIII) as the honorable Marcus Brutus, and Maurice Jones, making his Folger Theatre debut as Caesar's closest ally, Mark Antony.

The Pheasantry has announced its Autumn/Winter 2014-15 Concert Season including: Molly Ringwald, Maria Friedman with Jason Carr, Kerry Ellis, Billy Stritch, Buddy Greco with Lezlie Anders, Robert Meadmore & Annabel Leventon, Clive Rowe, Christine Andreas & Martin Silvestri, and more to be announced.

'Mad Men' star Vincent Kartheiser and Broadway's Larry Pine (CASA VALENTINA) will play Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler, respectively, in BILLY & RAY, Mike Bencivenga's new play -- directed by the legendary director/writer/producer Garry Marshall -- being given its NY premiere this fall at the Vineyard Theatre (108 E. 15 St.), with previews scheduled to begin October 1 prior to an official opening on October 20, it has been announced by Vineyard's Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern.

The 'Alley Theatre @ UH' season begins with Betty Buckley, Hallie Foote, Annalee Jefferies and Veanne Cox in award-winning Texas playwright Horton Foote's The Old Friends, a Southwestern premiere.

Legendary director/writer/producer Garry Marshall will direct the Vineyard Theatre's New York debut of Mike Bencivenga's comedy BILLY & RAY this fall, with performances set to begin October 2 and an opening night scheduled for October 20 at The Vineyard, it has been announced by Douglas Aibel, Artistic Director, and Sarah Stern, Co-Artistic Director.

The 'Alley Theatre @ UH' season begins with Betty Buckley, Hallie Foote, Annalee Jefferies and Veanne Cox in award-winning Texas playwright Horton Foote's The Old Friends, a Southwestern premiere.

The schedule for this summer's Lincoln Center Out of Doors festival, which runs from July 20 to August 10, was announced today by Bill Bragin, Lincoln Center's Director of Public Programming. Nearly 100 free performances will take place across the plazas of Lincoln Center during three weeks. A special Memorial Concert for Pete and Toshi Seeger on July 20 will be followed by the official opening concert on July 23 with Larry Harlow's Hommy: A Latin Opera, the landmark work's first performance in 40 years. Complete festival details and a chronological listing of events follow.

ZACH Theatre announces the next performance in the TOP Concert Series - MOLLY RINGWALD, the critically acclaimed actress, author and singer, live in concert on the Kleberg Stage for two performances only at 7:30pm and 9:30pm on April 26th, 2014. Molly Ringwald will be performing songs from her recent album, "Except…Sometimes," an homage to the Great American Songbook featuring a carefully chosen selection of nine standards which Ringwald caps off with her take on The Breakfast Club classic, "Don't You (Forget About Me)."

Fiddlehead Theatre Company announces two talkbacks during the run of A Little Princess, Fiddlehead's first production as Resident Company at Boston's historic Strand Theatre (543 Columbia Road, Dorchester, MA). A Little Princess will run from November 21 -December 8, 2013, and will feature two appearances by the creative team behind A Little Princess: Composer Andrew Lippa will provide a talkback on Friday, November 29 hosted by WGBH's Jared Bowen, and playwright Brian Crawley will take the stage on Friday, December 6. Both sessions are free for ticket-holders, who are invited to stay after the performance to participate in an audience Q&A. These events are perfect for theater students, educators, drama departments, and fans of musical theater. Tickets for A Little Princess are $25-$45 and may be purchased by calling the box office at 617-229-6494 or online at www.fiddleheadtheatre.com. Student, senior and group discounts are available.