Play and Other Plays - 1977 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 13

Just in time for the holiday season, THE WOMAN IN BLACK is inviting guests to try something new this year with a holiday ticket package. For those looking to bond over a spine-tingling live theater performance, THE WOMAN IN BLACK will include a drink from the bar with the purchase of a ticket using the code HOLIDAY through January 6, 2019. An experience surely not to miss, the production has been called "Spectacular" by the Chicago Sun-Times, and "Brilliant" by Chicago Theater Review, receiving rave reviews from critics across the board. 

Goodman Theatre has announced the cast for Twilight Bowl by Pulitzer Prize finalist Rebecca Gilman, an Artistic Associate who marks her ninth production-and seventh world premiere-with the Goodman. Set in a rural Wisconsin bowling alley, the coming-of-age story focuses on six women struggling to define their own version of success. Erica Weiss-co-creator and -executive producer of the upcoming CBS series The Red Line (airing May 2019) and former Goodman Theatre Michael Maggio Directing Fellow-directs the world premiere production.

Looking ahead, you'll find a number of new productions on tap for your entertainment pleasure, including a number of holiday season offerings to put you in the Christmas spirit, thanks to the efforts of theater companies all over Middle Tennessee. Here's our calendar for December 3, 2018, to help you plot your course through the first few weeks of 2019...

Tired of the same old Christmas Carol? Downtown Music Productions presents A Chamber Christmas Carol at the gorgeous St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery. Composer Ray Leslee (Avenue X, Standup Shakespeare) has created a brand-new take on the holiday season's most prolific tale. This ONE NIGHT ONLY event features a virtuoso company of five musicians and five actors who play 35 roles, telling the classic tale through Leslee's music and selections from Dickens' masterpiece. Tom Ligon (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo) stars as Scrooge. The cast includes Mark Boyett, Jack McCarthy, JD Mollison and Alex Sunderhaus. The musicians are Broadway veterans Jack Bashkow (woodwinds), Jeff Carney (bass), Marshall Coid (violin), Ron Hay (trombone) and Mimi Stern-Wolfe at the piano. Margarett Perry directs.

Looking ahead, you'll find a number of new productions on tap for your entertainment pleasure, including a number of holiday season offerings to put you in the Christmas spirit, thanks to the efforts of theater companies all over Middle Tennessee. Here's our calendar for December 3, 2018, to help you plot your course through the beginning of a new year...

MAN IN THE RING deserves better than to be described with boxing cliches, but the Huntington Theatre Company production of Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Cristofer's play is a knockout. Its complex structure, authentic dialogue, and poignant portrayals by an outstanding cast of actors make this biography of six-time world champion prizefighter Emile Griffith much more than a story about a pugilist's career. Seasoned with the rhythms and songs of Griffith's Caribbean island origins, the pulsing beat and glaring neon of the underground gay bar scene, the roar of the arena crowds, and the exploding flashbulbs of reporters clamoring for a piece of the champ, MAN IN THE RING is an immersive experience that should not be missed.

SAFEHOUSE '77 is a site-specific interactive show with a mixture of historical and pop-cultural influences in the exciting world of spy movies. The evening begins after parking in a Bank of America lot a few blocks away from the party house where Connie (Ashley Jones, decked out in high-waisted bell bottom jeans), the sister of our party host, Sharon (Katie Rediger), meets us and goes over a few rules for the evening before escorting us to the party. Just prior to entering, each guest is given an ERA YES badge, every one different in color with an animal sticker in its center. Of course, there is a purpose which soon becomes apparent once the party begins.

The Stratford Festival lost one of its pioneers today. Douglas Rain died of natural causes early this morning at the age of 90 at St. Marys Memorial Hospital, just outside of Stratford, Ontario, the city in which he established his career, becoming one of the world's great classical actors.

Formidable actress Betsy Moore brilliantly portrays Alice as an adult who questions whether or not to end her life due to personal and professional road blocks. Her mind wanders, creating a visit from Mira, an extraterrestrial "star caller" from one of Tiptree's stories, portrayed by Megan Rippey, phantasmagorically dressed by Lena Sands in mermaid-like, metallic green, who leads Alice on an episodic, emotional journey through the shadows of her past where, despite her life's accomplishments, buried pain and unmet desires reside. During her journeys, Alice encounters her younger selves (Isabella Ramacciotti as Little Alice and Paula Rebelo as Young Alice) during the dreamlike remembrance sequences in which Alice travels to Africa with her mother (Anneliese Euler), becomes an officer in the Army, works for the CIA and the Pentagon before she started writing science fiction under the male pen name of James Tiptree, Jr. as a last grasp for life at the age of 50.

The play will be shown from March 21, 2019 until March 24, 2019. 

The fascinating history behind Shakespeare's greatest plays continues with a third series of Shakespeare Uncovered, premiering Fridays, October 12-26 on PBS (check local listings) and streaming the following day at pbs.org/shakespeareuncovered and on PBS apps. The ambitious series concludes with celebrated new hosts Helen Hunt, F. Murray Abraham, Romola Garai, Brian Cox, Simon Russell Beale and Sir Antony Sher, who seamlessly weave their personal passions with history, biography, iconic performances and new analysis to tell the stories behind the stories of Shakespeare's famous works. The final season investigates “Much Ado About Nothing,” “The Merchant of Venice,” “Measure for Measure,” “Julius Caesar,” “The Winter's Tale” and “Richard III.” 

The fascinating history behind Shakespeare's greatest plays continues with a third series of Shakespeare Uncovered, premiering Fridays, October 12-26 on PBS (check local listings) and streaming the following day at pbs.org/shakespeareuncovered and on PBS apps. The ambitious series concludes with celebrated new hosts Helen Hunt, F. Murray Abraham, Romola Garai, Brian Cox, Simon Russell Beale and Sir Antony Sher, who seamlessly weave their personal passions with history, biography, iconic performances and new analysis to tell the stories behind the stories of Shakespeare's famous works. The final season investigates “Much Ado About Nothing,” “The Merchant of Venice,” “Measure for Measure,” “Julius Caesar,” “The Winter's Tale” and “Richard III.” 

Beetlebung Road LLC, a new theater production company, will launch November 15 to December 9 with a bi-coastal production of Sam Shepard's 'Fool for Love,' to be presented November 15 to December 2 by Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave., Manhattan and December 6 to 9 by The Lounge Theatre, 6201 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles.  The production, directed by Kymberly Harris, will arise from a careful artistic process of immersion on many levels.  The company chose to debut at Theater for the New City (TNC) as part of that process: to honor and recapture the path of Shepard's 'Buried Child,' which was commissioned by TNC and premiered there in 1978.

Lloyd Hutchinson, Nancy Meckler and Stephen Rea will curate an afternoon to celebrate the great American playwright and actor Sam Shepard who passed away in July last year. The event will take place on Monday 12 November at 3pm in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs.

Centenary Stage Company launches the 2018-19 professional theatre season October 12- October 28 in the Lackland Performing Arts Center with Charles Morey's potent and theatrical adaptation of Bram Stoker's classic horror novel, Dracula.

Inspired by a 1970 Federico Fellini film, three aging clowns compete for a job in an absurdly comic look at man's fear of uselessness in society. Odyssey Theatre Ensemble presents the West Coast premiere of Old Clown Wanted by Romanian-French playwright Matei Visniec in a new translation from the French by Jeremy Lawrence. Romanian-born Florinel Fatulescu directs for a Sept. 22 opening, with performances continuing through Nov. 4 at the Odyssey Theatre in West L.A.

The colorful and complex true story of six-time world champion prizefighter Emile Griffith is told in Man in the Ring, a new play written by Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Cristofer, directed by Michael Greif, and presented by the Huntington Theatre Company from Nov. 16 to Dec. 22, 2018 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts.  Imbued with the warmth of Griffith's character and the joyful music of his childhood home, Man in the Ring chronicles Griffith's sweeping life story, from his humble beginnings in the Virgin Islands to his passionate love affairs and the tragedy that changed his life.

City Winery Chicago, 1200 W. Randolph Street, announces a special holiday show with “American Idol” winner Kris Allen and more. The following shows go on sale to the public on Thursday, September 20 at noon. All tickets will be available at citywinery.com/chicago.

Jodie Prenger leads the cast in Abigail's Party, Mike Leigh's groundbreaking comedy classic which begins a major UK tour in Brighton on 10 January 2019 and tours until 20 April 2019 in Edinburgh.

The fascinating history behind Shakespeare's greatest plays continues with a third series of Shakespeare Uncovered, premiering Fridays, October 12-26 on PBS (check local listings) and streaming the following day at pbs.org/shakespeareuncovered and on PBS apps. The ambitious series concludes with celebrated new hosts Helen Hunt, F. Murray Abraham, Romola Garai, Brian Cox, Simon Russell Beale and Sir Antony Sher, who seamlessly weave their personal passions with history, biography, iconic performances and new analysis to tell the stories behind the stories of Shakespeare's famous works. The final season investigates “Much Ado About Nothing,” “The Merchant of Venice,” “Measure for Measure,” “Julius Caesar,” “The Winter's Tale” and “Richard III.” 

Centenary Stage Company launches the 2018-19 professional theatre season October 12- October 28 in the Lackland Performing Arts Center with Charles Morey's potent and theatrical adaptation of Bram Stoker's classic horror novel, Dracula.

The Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF) has named Oskar Eustis as the first recipient of its new honor, The Gordon Davidson Award, which will be bestowed annually by SDCF to recognize a director or choreographer for lifetime achievement and distinguished service in the regional theatre nationally. The presentation of the award will take place on Saturday, September 22, at the Center Theatre Group's Annex/ Gordon Davidson Rehearsal Hall, in a by-invitation-only event.

The New York Butoh Institute and Vangeline Theater present the New York Butoh Institute Festival 2018, a celebration of diversity in butoh featuring 16 artists from Japan, Brazil, Chile, UK, Israel, Italy, Germany, France, Costa Rica, Spain, and the United States. Curated by Butoh artist Vangeline, the Festival will consist of an exciting program of butoh workshops and masterclasses, as well as four nights of groundbreaking performances by fierce female butoh dancers from October 18-21, 2018 at the Theater for the New City's Johnson Theater, 155 1st Avenue, NYC, 10003.

Inspired by a 1970 Federico Fellini film, three aging clowns compete for a job in an absurdly comic look at man's fear of uselessness in society. Odyssey Theatre Ensemble presents the West Coast premiere of Old Clown Wanted by Romanian-French playwright Matei Visniec in a new translation from the French by Jeremy Lawrence. Romanian-born Florinel Fatulescu directs for a Sept. 22 opening, with performances continuing through Nov. 4 at the Odyssey Theatre in West L.A.

The Broadway community mourns the loss of Neil Simon, who passed away on August 26 at age 91. The Committee of Theatre Owners has decided to dim the lights of Broadway theatres in his memory on Thursday, August 30 at exactly 6:45pm for one minute.