Mother Courage - 2005 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 20

Emmy winner Rosie O'Donnell has signed on to star in and executive produce the poignant new Lifetime Original Movie, 'America,' premiering in February 2009. Based on E.R. Frank's book of the same name, the film follows the story of a boy named America, an emotionally vacant sixteen-year-old, who spent his entire life shuffled through the foster care system. O'Donnell stars as a therapist who gives America the support he needs to deal with his troubled past and helps him find the courage to live.

Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The Public Theater, has announced the 26-member Broadway cast of HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical. Newcomers to the cast include Gavin Creel, Caissie Levy and Sasha Allen, who join the rest of the tribe, who are reprising their roles from Central Park last summer. Currently in rehearsal at the Union Square Theatre, HAIR begins preview performances on Friday, March 6 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street, NYC) with an Opening Night set for Tuesday, March 31, 2009.

Broadway's most talked about new musical and the biggest Tony Award-winner in years is coming to Cleveland. Spring Awakening, the 8-time Tony Award? winning Broadway musical, will open at PlayhouseSquare's PalaceTheatre and play for 16 performances, March 3-15. Spring Awakening is part of the KeyBank Broadway Series at PlayhouseSquare. Spring Awakening swept the 2007 Tony Awards? winning eight out of its eleven nominations, including Best Musical, Best Director (Michael Mayer), Best Book (Steven Sater), Best Choreography (Bill T. Jones), Best Orchestrations (Duncan Sheik), Best Lighting Design (Kevin Adams), Best Featured Actor (John Gallagher Jr.).

Primary Stages (Casey Childs, Executive Producer; Andrew Leynse, Artistic Director; Elliot Fox, Managing Director) has announced complete casting for the New York premiere of Shipwrecked!

Meryl Streep, who stars in the film Doubt as the stern Sister Aloysius , has won the 2008 SAG Award Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for playing the part. Streep was up for an Academy Award for her performance in The Devil Wears Prada. She is a two-time Oscar winner for Kramer vs. Kramer and Sophie's Choice, and has been nominated for an additional 11 Oscars. Other film credits include The Deer Hunter, Silkwood, Out of Africa, Postcards from the Edge, Heartburn, The Bridges of Madison Countyand Adaptation. She was last seen on screen as Donna in the film version of the Broadway hit Mamma Mia!. Her many theatre credits include Trelawney of the 'Wells,' The Taming of the Shrew, Happy End, The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull and Mother Courage (she starred in the latter two at the Delacorte Theatre). Doubt opened on Broadway on March 9th, 2005 and ran through July 2nd, 2006; it had originally played a hit run at Manhattan Theatre Club. With Tony-winning performances by Cherry Jones and Adriane Lenox, and Tony-nominated work by Brian F. O'Byrne, the show won the 2005 Tony Award for Best Play in addition to the Pulitzer Prize. Doug Hughes won a Tony for directing the play.

Producer Howard Panter for Ambassador Theatre Group and co-producers Tulchin/Bartner/Jenkins, Bill Kenwright, Northwater Entertainment, Darren Bagert, and Tom Gregory announced the complete cast and design team for the new Broadway production of the greatest musical comedy GUYS AND DOLLS. The first joint Broadway project by two-time Tony Award winning director Des McAnuff and choreographer Sergio Trujillo since their collaboration on the Tony Award winning musical Jersey Boys, GUYS AND DOLLS will begin previews on February 3, 2009 at Broadway's newly refurbished Nederlander Theatre (208 West 41st Street). Opening Night is March 1, 2009.

Meryl Streep, who stars in the film as the stern Sister Aloysius, sat down with BroadwayWorld.com to discuss the riveting film, the power of the story and how she came about winning the role.

Primary Stages (Casey Childs, Executive Producer; Andrew Leynse, Artistic Director; Elliot Fox, Managing Director) has announced complete casting for the New York premiere of Shipwrecked!

North American Cultural Laboratory (www.NACL.org), Brad Krumholz and Tannis Kowalchuk, Co-Artistic Directors, will present the Manhattan premiere of 'THE UNCANNY APPEARANCE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES,' based on a story written by Mr. Krumholz and created by NACL in collaboration with the ensemble. Krumholz also directs. Performances begin on December 2 at HERE Arts Center (www.here.org), 145 Sixth Avenue (between Spring and Broome Streets, enter on Dominick Street), and the show will officially open on Thursday, December 4 at 7:00 p.m. Performances will run through Sunday, December 21.

NY Post's Page Six Magazine reports that acting icon Meryl Streep would love to return to the Broadway stage.

Consistently included among the Midwest's top-tier holiday events, Goodman Theatre's annual production of A Christmas Carol returns for its 31st season. Guided by sixteen years of experience with the production, Chicago actor/director William Brown returns to direct Tom Creamer's adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1843 novella for his third consecutive year.

New Georges (Susan Bernfield, Artistic Director; Sarah Cameron Sunde, Associate Director), the OBIE Award-winning downtown theater company founded in 1992, will present the world premiere of Wendy Weiner's 'HILLARY: A Modern Greek Tragedy With a (Somewhat) Happy Ending,' directed by Julie Kramer. Mia Barron, last seen on Broadway in Tom Stoppard's Tony Award-winning Best Play The Coast of Utopia, and stage and television's Darren Pettie will head up the eight-member cast as Hillary and Bill Clinton.

Emmy winner Rosie O'Donnell has signed on to star in and executive produce the poignant new Lifetime Original Movie, 'America,' premiering in February 2009. Based on E.R. Frank's book of the same name, the film follows the story of a boy named America, an emotionally vacant sixteen-year-old, who spent his entire life shuffled through the foster care system. O'Donnell stars as a therapist who gives America the support he needs to deal with his troubled past and helps him find the courage to live.

Playwrights Horizons, under the leadership of Artistic Director Tim Sanford and Managing Director Leslie Marcus, has announced additional casting and details for its 2008/2009 Season.