Nine Lives, a Musical About New Orleanians, Gets NYC Sneak Peek Feb. 27; Michael Cerveris Performs 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, getting exposure Feb…

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

35th Annual Humana Festival Begins Feb. 27 in Louisville; Rapp, Washburn, Nachtrieb Among Scribes by Kenneth Jones

The 35th annual Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville begins Feb. 27 with the first preview of the world premiere of Anne Washburn's A Devil at Noon, directed…

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

Idiot Loses Billie Joe Armstrong, Michael Esper, John Gallagher, Jr. Feb. 27; Newcomers in the Wings by Kenneth Jones

They've had the time of their lives, but it's time to say goodbye. Billie Joe Armstrong and original cast members John Gallagher, Jr. and Michael Esper exit Broadway's American Idiot after t…

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

Lights! Camera! Epigram! Broadway's Earnest Gets Captured on Hi-Def Film March 11-12 by Kenneth Jones

Lady Bracknell is ready for her close-up. Roundabout Theatre Company's extended Broadway production of The Importance of Being Earnest is being filmed in high-definition over three performan…

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

Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis Celebrate 100 Performances in NYC Oct. 19 by Kenneth Jones

There is no evidence that Dr. Sigmund Freud ever said that “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar,” a quote that is attributed to the psychoanalyst. And there is no word about the sh…

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

Bengal Tiger, With Robin Williams, Makes Its First Roar on Broadway March 11 by Kenneth Jones

Robin Williams makes his Broadway acting debut as the title feline in Rajiv Joseph's Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, a Pulitzer Prize-finalist play set in war-torn Iraq, starting previews M…

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

Arena Stage Has World Premieres of Like Water for Chocolate and Mary T. & Lizzie K. in 11-Show New Season by Kenneth Jones

The world premiere of the pre-Broadway musical Like Water for Chocolate will be among productions on the 2011-12 schedule at Arena Stage in Washington, DC. Artistic director Molly Smith anno…

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

A Wilde Hit! Broadway's Earnest Gets 17-Week Extension, Bumping People Musical to Studio 54 by Kenneth Jones

Roundabout Theatre Company announced a 17-week extension of the critically acclaimed Broadway production of Oscar Wilde's comedy The Importance of Being Earnest, directed by and starring Bri…

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

Walnut Street Amadeus, With Dan Olmstead and Rob McClure, Opens Jan. 26 by Kenneth Jones

Dan Olmstead plays bitter composer Salieri opposite Rob McClure's rambunctious Mozart in Walnut Street Theatre's new production of Peter Shaffer's Amadeus, opening Jan. 26 following previews…

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

Robinette, Schraf and Twyford Are The Carpetbagger's Children, Opening Jan. 26 at Ford's by Kenneth Jones

Ford's Theatre's new production of Horton Foote's The Carpetbagger's Children, his play about three daughters of a Union soldier who settled in Texas following the Civil War, opens Jan. 26 f…

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

Forgiving John Lennon, a Look at Tolerance and Muslim Identity, Will Get World Premiere in MI by Kenneth Jones

Detroit Repertory Theatre will give William Missouri Downs' Forgiving John Lennon, the story of a Somali Muslim woman clashing with two American professors, its world premiere March 31-May 2…

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

Broadway's Phantom Celebrates 23 Years Jan. 26 by Kenneth Jones

The Phantom of the Opera, Broadway's longest-running musical, celebrates another milestone on Jan. 26, the 23rd anniversary of the opening of the Harold Prince production of the Andrew Lloyd…

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

Alexis Rogers, Todd M. Kryger, Sean Blake Will Bring Porgy and Bess to Life at Chicago's Court by Kenneth Jones

The new Court Theatre production of George Gershwin and DuBose Heyward's folk music Porgy and Bess has its title lovers. The all-Chicago cast will be headed by Alexis Rogers (The Piano Lesso…

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

Wonderland Troupe Will Record Cast Album Prior to Broadway Launch by Kenneth Jones

Wonderland, the new Broadway musical that reinvents "Alice in Wonderland" for the 21st century, will get a cast album from Masterworks Broadway. The score by composer Frank Wildhorn and lyri…

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

David Auburn's The New York Idea, a Slice of Mahattan's Upper Crust, Opens Jan. 26 by Kenneth Jones

The Atlantic Theater Company world-premiere adaptation of The New York Idea, a play about social change and those who can and cannot adapt, opens Jan. 26 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in Gre…

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

Gore Vidal's The Best Man Will Resurface on Broadway in 2012 — an Election Year by Kenneth Jones

Gore Vidal's The Best Man, the 1960 play about presidential candidates, will return to Broadway in spring 2012, producer Jeffrey Richards announced.

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

Wilma Will Give Our Class Its U.S. Premiere in 2011-12; Annie Baker, Angels, Sam Shepard Also Planned by Kenneth Jones

The Wilma Theater, Philadelphia's resident theatre company that does not shy away from international works and intellectually stimulating fare, will open its 2011-12 season with the U.S. pre…

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

Mayer, Shaiman, Wittman, Spielberg, Rebeck, Zadan and Meron Collaborating on "Smash," a Musical TV Series by Kenneth Jones

A new hourlong dramatic TV series about the making of a fictional Broadway musical, once aimed for development at Showtime, has been greenlighted as a pilot for NBC. Some major Broadway play…

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

Lynn Nottage's Meet Vera Stark Will Star Sanaa Lathan as Hollywood Dreamer by Kenneth Jones

Sanaa Lathan, a Tony Award nominee for the 2004 revival of A Raisin in the Sun, will play the title character in the world premiere of Lynn Nottage's By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, for Second …

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

PLAYBILL.COM'S BRIEF ENCOUNTER With Cameron Mackintosh by Kenneth Jones

A 25th anniversary production of Les Misérables, with a fresh production team, is touring North America. Producer Cameron Mackintosh explains it all for us.

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

Druid's Award-Winning Cripple of Inishmaan Begins 16-Week U.S. Tour in Boston Feb. 2 by Kenneth Jones

The Druid and Atlantic Theater Company's production of Martin McDonagh's The Cripple of Inishmaan takes its first step in a 16-week U.S. tour on Feb. 2 at Boston's Paramount Center for the A…

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

From the Page to the Stage: Laura Eason's Ethan Frome Premieres in Chicago Feb. 23 by Kenneth Jones

The world premiere of Lookingglass Theatre's Ethan Frome, Laura Eason's adaptation of the Edith Wharton novel, begins Feb. 23 in Chicago.

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

View From the Bridge, With Larry Bull, Joseph R. Sicari, Gayton Scott, Kira McCarthy, Begins FL Run by Kenneth Jones

Gulfshore Playhouse in Naples, FL, is reviving Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge, the tragedy about an Italian-American longshoreman's passion for his niece, March 3-20.

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

Geffen's Escort, Anderson's Prostitution Play, To Star Polly Draper, Maggie Siff, James Eckhouse by Kenneth Jones

Maggie Siff of "Mad Men" and Polly Draper of "thirtysomething" will star in the Geffen Playhouse world premiere of Jane Anderson's The Escort, a play that "combines the two oldest profession…

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

Heidi Blickenstaff, Christopher Sieber, Bobby Steggert, Santino Fontana To Sing Songs of Sam Davis at Birdland by Kenneth Jones

The PS Classics CD "Love on a Summer Afternoon: Songs of Sam Davis" will come to life in an all-star performance at New York City's Birdland on March 21 at 7 PM.

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