Dreamgirls, Shrek, Mandy Patinkin, Tarell Alvin McCarney Among Nominees for SF Bay Area Critics Awards by Kenneth Jones

Nominees for the 35th annual San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle
Awards, representing local theatrical excellence in 2010, were announced Feb. 28. The ceremony will be held 7…

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Rep Players Announced for NYC Season of Nora, Blood Wedding, Dybbuk and Shadow of the Glen by Kenneth Jones

Marvell Repertory Theatre, a rare American company that presents work in rotating repertory, launches its inaugural Off-Off-Broadway season with four works from the international stage.

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Kate Baldwin's "American Songbook" Boasts Bock & Harnick, Lennon & McCartney Feb. 19 by Kenneth Jones

Kate Baldwin, the Best Actress Tony Award nominee for Finian's Rainbow, blends a little contemporary pop into her repertoire for her Feb. 19 show in Lincoln Center's American Songbook serie…

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Pittsburgh Public's New Season Has Red, Freud's Last Session, Coward, Sophocles and More by Kenneth Jones

Pittsburgh Public Theater's 2011-12 season will include six productions, including two two-character dramas -- the hot Broadway title Red and Off-Broadway's popular Freud's Last Session.

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Charming Billy, Inspired by Award-Winning Novel, Opens in MD World Premiere Feb. 7 by Kenneth Jones

Charming Billy, Blake Robison's adaptation of Alice McDermott's novel about a community's memory of a dead man, gets its world premiere by Round House Theatre in Bethesda, MD, Feb. 7-20. Pre…

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Jamey Hood Spreads Her Wings as Lucky Duck, Opening Feb. 19 at South Coast Rep by Kenneth Jones

Lucky Duck, Henry Krieger and Bill Russell's popular pop musical version of "The Ugly Duckling," opens at South Coast Rep Feb. 19 following previews that began Feb. 11. Art Manke, a five-tim…

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Zooming-In On a Handbag: Broadway's Importance of Being Earnest Will Be Filmed for Cinema by Kenneth Jones

Lady Bracknell is ready for her close-up. Roundabout Theatre Company's extended Broadway production of The Importance of Being Earnest will be filmed in high-definition for future screenings…

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Zabyrna Guevara and Adam Rothenberg Are Tempestuous Couple of Burn This; Brooks Ashmanskas Also Cast by Kenneth Jones

Brooks Ashmanskas, Ken Barnett, Zabryna Guevara and Adam Rothenberg will star in Center Theatre Group's new production of Lanford Wilson's Burn This, now in rehearsal under the direction of …

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

"Mr. Schue" in a New Light, Performing at the Goodman by Kenneth Jones

Broadway and stage star Matthew Morrison — teacher Will Schuester of TV’s "Glee" — will headline Goodman Theatre's May 21 Gala that celebrates One Enchanted Decade …

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Stephen Bogardus, Lisa Banes, Tim Hopper Cast in David Greenspan Comedy Go Back to Where You Are by Kenneth Jones

Obie Award winner Lisa Banes, Obie nominee Tim Hopper and Tony Award nominee Stephen Bogardus are among the players who will join David Greenspan in the world premiere of his comedy Go Back …

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Ten Chimneys, Black Pearl Sings, Stephen Schwartz's Snapshots Confirmed for IL's Northlight by Kenneth Jones

The leaders of Northlight Theatre in Skokie, IL, announced their 2011-12 season, which will feature the previously announced Stephen Schwartz musical Snapshots.

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

What a Difference a Rave Makes: Starcatcher Gets Two-Week Extension by Kenneth Jones

Peter and the Starcatcher, one of the best-reviewed productions in the history of Off-Broadway's New York Theatre Workshop, will get a two-week extension, to April 17.

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Playwrights Anne Washburn, Lisa D'Amour, Lisa Kron and Katori Hall Among Ten Blackburn Prize Finalists by Kenneth Jones

The ten finalists for the 2011 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, honoring female playwrights and chosen from over 100 nominated plays, were announced on Feb. 1.

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

A New Life! Harry Connick, Jr. Will Star in Broadway's On a Clear Day, as Reconceived by Michael Mayer by Kenneth Jones

The revised revival of the musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, once aimed for Off-Broadway, has been bumped to Broadway and will star Tony Award nominee Harry Connick, Jr.

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Finding Neverland, Directed and Choreographed by Rob Ashford, Will Premiere at La Jolla Playhouse by Kenneth Jones

Finding Neverland, the musical about the children who inspired J.M. Barrie to create Peter Pan, will get its world premiere at La Jolla Playhouse in the 2011-12 season. Scott Frankel (music)…

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

For the Love of Mike: Leslie Kritzer, Montego Glover, Sherie Rene Scott Will Honor Late Critic Kuchwara by Kenneth Jones

Michael Kuchwara, the respected late theatre critic for the Associated Press, will be celebrated by Broadway showfolk that he wrote about in a benefit on Feb. 28, which would have been his 6…

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

You Are the Star of Interviewing the Audience, Opening Feb. 10 at NYC's Vineyard by Kenneth Jones

Interviewing the Audience, Zach Helm's new interactive piece inspired by the work of monologist Spalding Gray, opens Feb. 10 at the Vineyard Theatre in Manhattan. Previews began Feb. 3.

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Lou Stancari, Helen Hayes Award-Winning DC Designer, Dead at 63 by Kenneth Jones

Lou Stancari, a Washington, DC, scenic designer was found dead on the tracks of the Farragut North Metro station in DC on Jan.15. Police are sill investigating the incident.

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Susan Stroman's Double Bill of Ellington Jazz Ballets Premieres Jan. 28 at NY City Ballet by Kenneth Jones

Frankie and Johnny...and Rose, a new ballet by Tony Award-winning choreographer Susan Stroman, with music by composer Duke Ellington, premieres Jan. 28 in a performance by New York City Ball…

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Collapse, Inspired by a Minnesota Tragedy, Gets World Premiere by Berkeley's Aurora Theatre by Kenneth Jones

Aurora Theatre Company in Berkeley, CA, presents the world premiere of Allison Moore's Collapse, directed by Jessica Heidt, Jan. 28-March 6 as part of the National New Play Network program.

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

La Cage, Addams Family, Memphis Among Shows Coming to L.A.'s Pantages Theatre in 2011-12 by Kenneth Jones

The 2011-12 subscription season at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles will include the national tours of Come Fly Away, Wicked, La Cage aux Folles, Memphis and more.

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Hollywood's Dietrich and Literature's Remarque Are Focus of Puma, a World Premiere at NJ Rep by Kenneth Jones

Puma, the new play about the love affair between actress Marlene Dietrich and writer Erich Maria Remarque, with Hollywood's Golden Age as the backdrop, gets its world premiere by New Jersey …

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Staff and Editorial Board Changes Announced for "Best Plays" Chronicle by Kenneth Jones

Best Plays Theater Yearbook editor Jeffrey Eric Jenkins has accepted the position of director of theatre studies in the department of drama at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts,…

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Michael Cerveris Shepherding Nine Lives, Musical About New Orleanians; NYC Sneak Peek Is Feb. 27 by Kenneth Jones

The nonfiction book "Nine Lives," a biography of nine New Orleans residents and their relationship with the fabled city, has inspired a song cycle and forthcoming album. Broadway actor and f…

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑

Alex Timbers, Roger Rees, Rick Elice Give Peter Pan an Origin in Starcatcher, Opening March 9 by Kenneth Jones

The New York Theatre Workshop production of Peter and the Starcatcher, telling the origin of kid-lit hero Peter Pan in a bare-bones staging that encourages the audience to use its imaginatio…

SOURCE: Playbill at 5:58pm on May 25, 2015☆⚑