From the Page to the Stage: Laura Eason's Ethan Frome Opens in Chicago World Premiere by Kenneth Jones

The world premiere of Lookingglass Theatre's Ethan Frome, Laura Eason's adaptation of the New England-set Edith Wharton novel, opens March 5 following previews from Feb. 23 in Chicago.

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

Tennessee Williams' Milk Train, a Wild Ride for Olympia Dukakis, Opens Off-Broadway by Kenneth Jones

Tennessee Williams' The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore, a rarely seen title about a wealthy, aging Southern eccentric barking her memoirs to a secretary as a harbinger of death climbs …

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

Marilyn Maye Says It With Broadway Music, and How by Kenneth Jones

Marilyn Maye was such a showstopper at the recent New York Pops Sondheim birthday concert at Carnegie Hall that we could not resist catching her intimate new show, Her Kind of Broadway, at t…

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

Will "King's Speech" Director Tom Hooper Direct "Les Miz" Movie? by Kenneth Jones

Tom Hooper, the Oscar-nominated director of "The King's Speech," has been offered to direct the film version of the musical Les Miserables, according to the "24 Frames" blog in the Los Angel…

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

Christian Borle, Adam Chanler-Berat, Celia Keenan-Bolger Give Peter Pan a Backstory in Starcatcher, at NYTW 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☆⚑

Two Weeks Added to San Francisco Premiere Run of Tales of the City Musical by Kenneth Jones

American Conservatory Theater's world-premiere run of the musical Tales of the City, inspired by the novels of Armistead Maupin, will get two extra weeks in San Francisco this summer.

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

More "Magic to Do": Broadway's Ben Vereen Plays Town Hall Feb. 18 by Kenneth Jones

Ben Vereen, the Tony Award-winning song-and-dance man of Pippin, Jesus Christ Superstar and Wicked, will sing, dance and reminisce about his life and career Feb. 18 at The Town Hall in midto…

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

Sally Murphy and Stephen Louis Grush Explore Sex With Strangers, Opening Jan. 30 in Chicago by Kenneth Jones

Sex With Strangers, Laura Eason's new play about relationships, sex, identity and authenticity in the age of the Internet, opens in a world-premiere production Jan. 30 following previews fro…

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

James Earl Jones Will Be Mr. President in Broadway's The Best Man by Kenneth Jones

Tony Award winner James Earl Jones has been picked to play the former President of the United States in the upcoming Broadway revival of Gore Vidal's The Best Man.

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

Geoff Packard Will Play Liberty Smith in DC World Premiere of Historical Musical Romp by Kenneth Jones

Casting has been announced for Liberty Smith, the musical comedy about a fictional patriot's encounters with figures from the American Revolution. Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC, will prod…

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

Camino Real, Red, Race and World Premiere of The Convert Will Play Goodman Theatre in 2011-12 by Kenneth Jones

Goodman Theatre in Chicago announced part of its 2011-12 season, to include the Chicago premieres of John Logan's Red and David Mamet's Race, plus the world-premiere co-production of Danai G…

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

Emma, Paul Gordon's Austen-Inspired Musical, Opens Jan. 23 at Old Globe by Kenneth Jones

Old Globe Theatre's production of Jane Austen's Emma - A Musical Romantic Comedy, by Tony Award nominee Paul Gordon, starring Patti Murin as Emma Woodhouse and Adam Monley as Mr. Knightley, …

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

For Fans of Jerome Kern, a Religious Experience by Kenneth Jones

The sold-out Nov. 15 Merkin Hall presentation of the conceptual concert All the Things You Are: Jerome Kern, part of the Broadway Close Up series there, proved that any New York City theatre…

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

Robert Sean Leonard Will Inspire a New Dawn in Born Yesterday on Broadway by Kenneth Jones

Tony Award winner Robert Sean Leonard (The Invention of Love, TV's "House") will play the reporter Paul Verrall in the new Broadway production of Garson Kanin's Born Yesterday, the producers…

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

Playbill Unveils New "Director's Cut" Video Series, With Rob Ashford and Daniel Radcliffe by Kenneth Jones

Following in the tradition of recent Playbill magazine features in which directors of Broadway shows interviewed their famous collaborators, Playbill Video debuts "Director's Cut" this week.…

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

World Premiere of Mary, Thomas Bradshaw's Satire of Race, Tradition and Family Dynamics, Opens at Goodman by Kenneth Jones

Myra Lucretia Taylor, of Broadway's Nine and Macbeth, plays the title servant role in the Chicago world premiere of Thomas Bradshaw's absurdist comic drama Mary, opening Feb. 14 at Goodman T…

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

David Garrison Joins World Premiere of By the Way, Meet Vera Stark by Kenneth Jones

David Garrison, a Tony Award nominee for A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine, completes the cast of Lynn Nottage's new play, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, which gets its world premiere …

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

Rob McClure, Lauren Worsham, Sebastian Arcelus, Jill Paice Will Star in Encores! Concert Where's Charley? by Kenneth Jones

Rob McClure, late of Avenue Q, will sing the Frank Loesser classic "Once in Love With Amy" as romantic lead Charley in the March 17-20 City Center Encores! concert of Where's Charley?

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

Pearl's Misanthrope, Directed by Joseph Hanreddy, Opens Off-Broadway Jan. 23 by Kenneth Jones

Sean McNall, a resident actor with Pearl Theatre Company, plays the title character of The Misanthrope in the new Off-Broadway staging of the 17th-century verse comedy by Molière. It …

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

PLAYBILL.COM'S BRIEF ENCOUNTER With Ben Vereen by Kenneth Jones

Ben Vereen, the man who sang "Magic to Do" as the Leading Player of Bob Fosse and Stephen Schwartz's musical Pippin, has more magic up his sleeve, after all these years.

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

Broadway Marquees Will Dim in Tribute to Theoni V. Aldredge by Kenneth Jones

The marquees of Broadway theatres will be dimmed for one minute at 7 PM Jan. 25 to honor the work and life of Tony Award-winning costume designer Theoni V. Aldredge, who died Jan. 21 at the …

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

Kyle Dean Massey Is Lucky Guy in Musical About Nashville Dreamers; Merman, Collela, Jordan on Board by Kenneth Jones

Varla Jean Merman, Leslie Jordan, Jim Newman, Jenn Collela, Savannah Wise and Kyle Dean Massey will kick up their heels in the new Off-Broadway country-western musical comedy Lucky Guy, prod…

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

Death of a Salesman, With "Walking Dead" Star Jeffrey DeMunn, Opens at Old Globe by Kenneth Jones

Tony Award nominee Jeffrey DeMunn, freshly noticed for his elder-survivor role in the hot TV series "The Walking Dead," plays Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's Death of Salesman, opening Jan. 2…

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

Anything Goes Box Office, at Stephen Sondheim Theatre, Opens Feb. 14 by Kenneth Jones

There will be an anything-goes quality to the Feb. 14 box-office opening for tickets to Anything Goes at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. Expect $10 tickets, free stuff and a chance to win an o…

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

Laughing Liberally, Dunking the Tea Party With Comedy and Song, Begins NYC Run by Kenneth Jones

Laughing Liberally: This Ain't No Tea Party, an evening of comedy with music and multi-media presentations, makes its Off-Broadway debut beginning March 14 at the Midtown Theatre, 163 W. 46t…

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