reasons to be pretty

BWW Q&A: Laura Irene Young of WHEN JESUS DIVORCED ME At Off The Wall Productions

To his credit, Klugheit sees the controversy as a chance to engage an otherwise piercing inquiry into our cultural obsession with physical beauty. REASONS TO BE PRETTY paints an unflinching portrait of seemingly reasonable Americans in emotional crisis -- socially well-adjusted folks who suffer from profound insecurity and power struggles. 

MCC Theater just announced their 2023-2024 season and we have all the details on their slate of world premiere musicals here!

Berkshire Theatre Group (BTG) and Kate Maguire (Artistic Director, CEO) have announced casting for two of its summer 2023 shows: Million Dollar Quartet, a three-time Tony Award–nominated once-in-a-lifetime musical evening back by popular demand with some of the same cast as 2017 and Photograph 51, an intriguing portrait of the race to discover the mysteries of the DNA double helix. 

BroadwayWorld talks to director Timothy Near about her new production of Athol Fugard's incandescent 'The Road to Mecca' playing at Z Below in San Francisco June 4 to 30.

MCC Theater and The Movement Theatre Company will present a PlayLab staged reading of Quick Service by May Treuhaft-Ali and directed by Cristina Angeles.

TFANA has extended the run of Alice Childress’s Wedding Band, directed by Awoye Timpo, to May 22. (The production, which began previews April 28—postponed from an original date of April 23 due to two COVID-19 cases—was formerly set to close May 15).

Talking to Khori Dastoor, General Director of Opera San José brings to mind that old quote from Elizabeth Taylor when she was faced with unimaginable adversity, “Now is the time for guts and guile.” Just one year into her tenure as GD, Dastoor is faced with an almost impossible situation due to the Covid pandemic. Out of all the arts, opera, the artform which she has made her life’s work, arguably has the biggest challenges. After all, the act of singing operatically produces enormous amounts of aerosols, the core audience is older and thus especially at risk for Covid, and the population at large may not consider opera to be essential to their lives. Since creating new works is practically impossible, many GD’s are offering a sort of greatest hits of former glories, video snippets from past years that were already in the can. Or maybe something like a “reading” of an old holiday chestnut like Der Rosenkavalier, presented Brady-Bunch style on Zoom. So what does Dastoor do instead? She goes bravely programs a brand-new, beautifully-produced production of Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers, starring no less than world-renowned opera star Susan Graham, alongside two of Opera San José’s super-talented Resident Artists, soprano Maya Kherani and baritone Efraín Solis. This immensely moving chamber work is based on an unpublished play by Terrance  McNally, adapted by librettist Gene Scheer, and tells the story of a family struggling to connect during the early years of the AIDS pandemic. The work premiered in 2008, yet somehow feels more relevant than ever, given the parallels with what we’re all going through today, as evidenced by McNally’s death from Covid earlier this year. The opera is currently available for streaming through the end of December. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit operasj.org. BroadwayWorld spoke with Dastoor shortly after the filming of Three Decembers had been completed. Dastoor was remarkably open and forthcoming about the challenges of the opera world right now, even as her passion for growing the artform burns stronger than ever. We talked about how she managed to produce Three Decembers during Covid, her successful earlier career as a lyric soprano, and the imperative to keep the arts alive during these difficult times. Her responses to my questions were invariably thoughtful, often surprising and not without humor. And, as a rare woman of color leading an opera company, her understanding of the need to open up her artform runs deep. Above all, though, she is just plain fun to talk to - effortlessly engaging, whip-smart, emotionally transparent, and without an ounce of pretension.

Audra McDonald and Steven Pasquale will star in the upcoming six-episode series 'The Second Wave' at Spectrum Originals.

Responding to the extreme precarity the artistic community is experiencing amidst a dire lack of government intervention, Soho Rep. Project Number One creates jobs to support artists in this moment and will be part of building a new path forward.

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the best TV episodes from the 1950's to 2020; see if your favorites made the list!

A Soldier's Play officially opened on Broadway on January 21 for a limited engagement at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway (227 West 42nd Street).

An international cast is set to star in a new production of Gruesome Playground Injuries next month. The original production premiered at the Alley Theatre in Houston in 2009, then off-Broadway in 2011. The play will be put up during the both romantic and equally commercialized Valentine's day season.

Tony Award-nominated Reasons to Be Pretty playwright Neil LaBute will join the cast and director for a talkback following the performance of his play, In a Dark Dark House, on Sunday, December 15 at 7 pm. Andromache Chalfant (set designer for theatre & opera) will moderate.

Knife Edge Productions is pleased to announce their next production, Neil LaBute's In a Dark Dark House. The play runs December 6 - 21 with opening night slated for December 10 at A.R.T/New York Theatres. In a Dark Dark House is directed by the company's Resident Theatre Director, Sam Helfrich.

Broadway producer Jerry Frankel passed away this morning, Saturday, November 17, 2018.

Aaron Grant is proud to announce that Jeremy Scott Blaustein has joined Aaron Grant Theatrical as the new Project Coordinator.

After serving as Artistic Director of the company since 2008, Christine Louise Marshall is stepping down from the position before the 2018-19 season.

After serving as Artistic Director of the company since 2008, Christine Louise Marshall is stepping down from the position before the 2018-19 season.

Chrissy Metz, the Emmy Award and Golden Globe nominated star of the NBC drama This Is Us, will make her stage debut in Neil LaBute's critically acclaimed play Fat Pig at the Geffen Playhouse.

MCC Theater is thrilled to announce four new productions for its 32nd Season in the Theater's new, permanent home. The season includes an exciting mix of world and New York premieres from artists both familiar and new to MCC audiences-each fulfilling MCC's longtime commitment to bold, risk-taking works from the most vital voices working in theater today.

Juniper Productions continues its mission to open the doors to exciting and enriching theatrical experiences in unconventional venues throughout Philadelphia with its newest project and first full-length production, staged at 1025 Hamilton in the city's Spring Arts District designed especially for entrepreneurial creatives.

Pasadena Playhouse, the State Theater of California, announces a new Hitchcock-style drama Belleville by Pulitzer Prize finalist and Obie Award winner Amy Herzog.  Performances run from Wednesday, April 18 to Sunday, May 13; the press opening is April 22. 

Good morning BroadwayWorld! Today's top stories: Escape to Margaritaville begins previews on Broadway today, and also releases its original cast recording!

Chrissy Metz, the Emmy Award and Golden Globe nominated star of the NBC drama This Is Us, will make her stage debut in Neil LaBute's critically acclaimed play Fat Pig at the Geffen Playhouse.