Ruined - 2009 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 15

Cone Man Running Productions and Obsidian Art Space's popular 24 hour play festival, A SPONTANEOUS SMATTERING, was given a seasonal spin for last night's holiday edition. Drawing a crowd of theatre diehards, family, and friends, everyone in attendance was curious to see what these skilled and talented artists would create. Waiting for the show to begin, everyone was buzzing about the #smattering posts they had seen on Facebook, the writers' previous works, and their excitement about what they were about to witness. It doesn't hurt any that everyone was treated to a free shot as they picked up their tickets either.

Court Theatre continues its 2013-2014 season with Seven Guitars written by August Wilson, and directed by Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson. Seven Guitars will run January 9 - February 9, 2014 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Avenue. Press Opening is Saturday, January 18, 2014 at 8:00PM.

BAM and Scott Rudin will present Goodman Theatre's renowned revival of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh from February 5 through March 15, 2015. Directed by Goodman Artistic Director Robert Falls and featuring Tony Award-winning stage and screen actors Nathan Lane (as Theodore "Hickey" Hickman) and Brian Dennehy (as Larry Slade), the production, including its original Chicago cast, is slated for a six-week run in the BAM Harvey Theater. Ticket on-sale dates will be announced in the fall of 2014.

It isn't every day you can tell a Chicago Bear to "break a leg!" Goodman Theatre's 7th annual "Make-A-Wish Night" features the superstar former Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher and 17-year-old beneficiary Kenneth Schumacher, who wishes to be a part of a professional theatrical production. Urlacher and Schumacher don costumes tailored especially for them and appear in select scenes of the 36th annual production of A Christmas Carol, Chicago's favorite holiday tradition. Tickets for the one-night-only appearance on December 27 at 8pm are available online at GoodmanTheatre.org/Joy, by phone at 312.443.3800 or at the box office (170 North Dearborn). BMO Harris Bank is the Major Corporate Sponsor, PepsiCo is the Official Beverage Sponsor and Aon and KPMG are the Corporate Sponsor Partners of A Christmas Carol.

A new crop of local talent joins Goodman Theatre's artistic team for the 2013/2014 Season. The four Chicago-based writers named to the fourth season of the Playwrights Unit-a year-long residency program designed to support and develop new works-include Andrew Hinderaker, Gift Theatre ensemble member; Mickle Maher, cofounder of Theater Oobleck; Anne Garcia-Romero, a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists; and Laura Schellhardt, who oversees undergraduate playwriting at Northwestern University. A partnership with Chicago Dramatists, the Playwrights Unit meets twice per month with members of the Goodman's artistic team to discuss their plays-in-progress and provide feedback for one another. The program includes readings of the playwrights' works-in-progress at Chicago Dramatists in early 2014, and culminates in summer 2014 with staged readings of their completed works at the Goodman. Playwrights Unit alumni include Greg Allen, Alice Austen, Ike Holter and Christopher Oscar Peña (2012/2013 Season); Philip Dawkins, Nambi E. Kelley, Elaine Romero and Martin Zimmerman (2011/2012 Season); and Seth Bockley, Lisa Dillman, Laura Jacqmin and Rohina Malik (2010/2011 Season).

The Broadway production of Shakespeare's timeless love story ROMEO AND JULIET, starring international film star Orlando Bloom in his Broadway debut opposite two-time Tony Award nominee Condola Rashad, closes today, December 8, 2013, after 27 previews and 93 regular performances at the Richard Rodgers Theatre (226 West 46th Street). Directed by five-time Tony Award nominee David Leveaux, Romeo and Juliet began previews on Saturday, August 24, 2013 and opened on Thursday, September 19, 2013.

Now in its 10th year, Goodman Theatre's 2013 New Stages festival features five FREE new plays-two fully staged workshop productions performed in repertory plus three staged readings-in the Owen Theatre, today, December 7 - 22.

Set to open from June - August next year, the show will take place in 'The Pavilion' within the environs of 'The O2'*. Created by Matthew Churchill Productions this show will be a World Premiere of Jules Verne's literary classic "AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS" and will run for 11 weeks. www.80daystheshow.com

Hampstead Theatre presents the premiere of Howard Brenton's new play. Inspired by conversations he had during a visit to India in 2009, Drawing The Line examines the chaos of the Partition of India - an act that has shaped the modern world.

Vancouver, BC ~ Effervescent, intoxicating, and just a little daft, Vancouver Opera's colourful production of Albert Herring bursts onto the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Stage in less than two weeks. Benjamin Britten's fast-paced, clever and hummable opera, directed by Glynis Leyshon, transports audiences to the 1950s in a riot of scrumptious costumes, devastating satire, and charming slapstick.

The busybodies of proper English village life are brilliantly skewered in Benjamin Britten's devastatingly satirical Albert Herring, onstage at Vancouver Opera for four performances only. Fast-paced, effervescent and musically clever, this sparkling 1950s-style company premiere is a scrumptious treat for Vancouver audiences.

Following two previous much-acclaimed seasons of American drama, the Ustinov presents The American Season 2014: three UK premieres, Dan LeFranc's The Big Meal, directed by Michael Boyd; Keith Huff's gritty two-hander, A Steady Rain, directed by David Grindley; and Lynn Nottage's multi award-winning Intimate Apparel, directed by Laurence Boswell. Casting will be announced in early 2014.

It was announced today that the Broadway production of Shakespeare's timeless love story ROMEO AND JULIET, starring international film star Orlando Bloom in his Broadway debut opposite two-time Tony Award nominee Condola Rashad, will play two weeks past its originally announced 14-week limited Broadway engagement - with a final performance set for Sunday, December 8, 2013, after 27 previews and 93 regular performances at the Richard Rodgers Theatre (226 West 46th Street).

Vancouver, BC ~ Effervescent, intoxicating, and just a little daft, Vancouver Opera's colourful production of Albert Herring bursts onto the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Stage in less than two weeks. Benjamin Britten's fast-paced, clever and hummable opera, directed by Glynis Leyshon, transports audiences to the 1950s in a riot of scrumptious costumes, devastating satire, and charming slapstick.

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director, Manhattan Theatre Club), Barry Grove (Executive Producer, MTC), Mandy Greenfield (Artistic Producer, MTC), Jason Eagan (Artistic Director, Ars Nova), and Jeremy Blocker (Managing Director, Ars Nova) have announced the 2013-2014 participants for The Writer's Room a new program to commission, develop and support playwrights in the process of creating new work for the stage.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University and the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research (formerly known as the Du Bois Institute), in conjunction with Hilton Als of The New Yorker, will present a staged reading of Alice Childress's Wedding Band: A Love-Hate Story in Black and White, co-directed by Hilton Als and A.R.T. Artistic Associate Shira Milikowsky. It takes place at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge, starting at 7:30pm, and will be followed by a post-reading discussion.

The most wonderful time of the year is underway as rehearsals begin this week for Goodman Theatre's A Christmas Carol, 'a joyous present for the entire family' (Chicago Sun-Times), in its 36th annual production. Directing the holiday favorite for the first time, Henry Wishcamper's production features all-new on stage magic-set elements, special effects and more. The cast of 27 (below, includes 14 new and 13 returning cast members) stars Larry Yando, who most recently appeared in Mary Zimmerman's production of The Jungle Book as Shere Khan, in his sixth turn as Ebenezer Scrooge and 8-year-old Matthew Abraham as Tiny Tim for the second year. A Christmas Carol runs tonight, November 16 - December 28 in the Goodman's Albert Theatre.

A rare and intimate glimpse into the dynamic process of creating and launching new plays, Playwright: From Page to Stage follows two outstanding young playwrights through the writing, development, staging, rehearsal, and public performance of their plays.

The busybodies of proper English village life are brilliantly skewered in Benjamin Britten's devastatingly satirical Albert Herring, onstage at Vancouver Opera for four performances only. Fast-paced, effervescent and musically clever, this sparkling 1950s-style company premiere is a scrumptious treat for Vancouver audiences.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University and the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research (formerly known as the Du Bois Institute), in conjunction with Hilton Als of The New Yorker, will present a staged reading of Alice Childress's Wedding Band: A Love-Hate Story in Black and White, co-directed by Hilton Als and A.R.T. Artistic Associate Shira Milikowsky. It takes place at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge, starting at 7:30pm, and will be followed by a post-reading discussion.

Goodman Theatre announces the complete line-up for its 2013 New Stages festival, this year celebrating Latino playwrights. Three staged readings-The Rooster Room by Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara Alegria Hudes, Feathers and Teeth by Charise Castro Smith and Another Word for Beauty by Jose Rivera-complement the previously-announced two fully-staged workshop productions, The Upstairs Concierge by Pulitzer Prize finalist Kristoffer Diaz and The Solid Sand Below by former Goodman Theatre Playwrights Unit member Martin Zimmerman.

Dr. Barbara Ann Teers's National Black Theatre (NBT) will open its 45th Season with the New York Premiere of The Last Saint On Sugar Hill, written by Keith Josef Adkins and directed by Seret Scottannounced NBT's Director of Theatre Arts Program, Jonathan McCrory. Preview performances begin tonight, October 29th at NBT, 2031 Fifth Avenue starting at 7:30pm. The opening night is set for Friday, November 1st at 7pm. The production will run through Sunday, November 24th.

The question of who determines a child's fate amidst drug addiction, religion and child custody laws takes center stage in Rebecca Gilman's newest work, Luna Gale, directed by Goodman Theatre Artistic Director Robert Falls.

Hampstead Theatre is delighted to announce its cast for the premiere of Howard Brenton's new play. Inspired by conversations he had during a visit to India in 2009, Drawing The Line examines the chaos of the Partition of India - an act that has shaped the modern world.

Goodman Theatre introduces a new subscription package for 2014, 'Great Women at Play,' featuring works written and directed by a handful of the most popular female playwrights working in the American theater today. This special package for women-and men-includes five plays for the price of four, a complimentary visit to the exclusive Goodman Lounge and the opportunity to win a $100 gift certificate from the Goodman's preferred restaurant partner, Petterino's. Visit GoodmanTheatre.org/GreatWomen for more information, and check out a video of the artists involved below!