Berkeley Repertory Theatre News

Berkeley Repertory Theatre concludes its season with another new play, Dael Orlandersmith's BLACK N BLUE BOYS/BROKEN MEN. This world premiere introduces audiences to children and adults forging identities in families fractured by abuse. Each relates a story that transforms these challenges into a celebration of our capacity to survive. Orlandersmith created this show after becoming a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize with Yellowman, and she brings these characters to life with the help of Obie Award-winning director Chay Yew. (more...)

Students of all ages can sign up for a summer of fun at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Classes abound in expanded offerings for kids and adults during the School of Theatre’s summer session – plus, teens have a special opportunity to spend part of their break in a four-week Summer Intensive or the new Teen Actors Studio. Activities begin July 2 at the Theatre’s performing-arts complex in downtown Berkeley. (more...)

South Coast RepertoryÂ’s 49th season will offer audiences an exciting blend of current hits and world premieres. The season begins with Alan AyckbournÂ’s hilarious farce, Absurd Person Singular, and will include new plays by some of the hottest writers on the theatre scene, including the world premiere of Noah HaidleÂ’s Smokefall and a second world premiere to be announced; Sarah RuhlÂ’s comic tale of loss, Eurydice; the Southland debuts of Bill CainÂ’s touching How to Write a New Book for the Bible, Amanda DehnertÂ’s trailblazing musical take on Shakespeare, The Verona Project, and David Henry HwangÂ’s hit comedy Chinglish; and the West Coast premieres of Samuel D. HunterÂ’s poignantly funny The Whale and Stephen Adly GuirgisÂ’ Broadway hit The Motherf**ker with the Hat. (more...)

Berkeley Repertory Theatre announced the cast and creative team for its world premiere of Eve Ensler’s EMOTIONAL CREATURE. This positive and propulsive new show – from the Tony Award-winning playwright, performer, and activist who created The Vagina Monologues – features a choreographer, a composer, four top designers, and an ensemble of talented young women. Directed by Obie Award-winner Jo Bonney, Emotional Creature plays only 36 performances in the Roda Theatre. The limited engagement at Berkeley Rep begins previews on June 14, opens June 22, and runs through July 15. The lead producers of this premiere are Wayne Jordan and Quinn Delaney, Marjorie Randolph, and Jack and Betty Schafer; the executive producer is the Strauch Kulhanjian Family. The development of this production has been supported in part by The Mosse Artistic Development Fund. (more...)

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Young Conservatory Director Craig Slaight has announced the West Coast premiere of Show Choir! Show Choir! The Musical plays May 26–June 9, 2012, at The Theater at Children’s Creativity Museum (formerly Zeum Theater), located at 221 Fourth Street, San Francisco. Tickets are $20.50 and are available by calling the A.C.T. Box Office at 415.749.2228 or online at www.act-sf.org. (more...)

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Conservatory Director Melissa Smith announced today that honorary master of fine arts degrees will be conferred on acclaimed actress and comedian Mary Birdsong and California Shakespeare Theater Artistic Director Jonathan Moscone. (more...)

TheatreWorks presents its 60th World Premiere, the GrooveLily musical WHEELHOUSE. The pop-rock trio GrooveLily, creators of the popular TheatreWorks/Off-Broadway hit Striking 12, stars in this irresistible autobiographical musical about traveling tunesmiths in desperate need of a tune-up as they rocket across the country in a worn-out Winnebago. (more...)

Steppenwolf for Young Adults (SYA) today announced two world premieres as part of its 2012/13 Season: The Book Thief, based on the novel by Markus Zusak, adapted by Heidi Stillman, directed by Hallie Gordon; and Oral Histories, collected from across the city by DePaul University students, curated and written by Miles Harvey (director to be announced at a later date). (more...)

Jo Schuman Silver, producer of Steve Silver’s Beach Blanket Babylon, announced today the selection of nine Bay Area finalists for the Steve Silver Foundation and Beach Blanket Babylon “Scholarship for the Arts.” One winner in each category will be presented with a check for $10,000 towards their college education. (more...)

Closing AuroraÂ’s 20th season is the World Premiere of SALOMANIA, Aurora Theatre Company Artistic Director Tom RossÂ’s first new play commission for the company, written and directed by award-winning Bay Area auteur Mark Jackson (Metamorphosis, Salome, Miss Julie). Workshopped and developed at Aurora in 2010, SALOMANIA features Madeline H.D. Brown (Metamorphosis), Mark Anderson Phillips (Small Tragedy), Alex Moggridge (Betrayed), Liam Vincent (California Shakespeare Theater), Anthony Nemirovsky (Awake and Sing!), Marilee Talkington (Crowded Fire), and Kevin Clarke (Shotgun Players). SALOMANIA plays June 15 through July 22 at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. (more...)

Today Tony Taccone, artistic director of Berkeley Repertory Theatre, revealed two new plays that heÂ’s selected to complete the Tony Award-winning nonprofitÂ’s 45th season. In keeping with its reputation for debuting smart and adventurous shows, the Theatre presents the world premiere of Fallaci, written by Lawrence Wright and directed by Gregory Mosher, and the West Coast premiere of Dear Elizabeth, the latest collaboration from Sarah Ruhl and Les Waters. (more...)

Last night, April 28, at the Four Seasons San Francisco, more than 380 people celebrated Tony Award-winning Berkeley Repertory Theatre with actor Rita Moreno, who hosted an evening for theatre lovers, gourmands, and philanthropists. Moreno entertained the crowd with a series of songs and jokes. A gala held each year to benefit Berkeley Rep, ONSTAGE raised more than $510,000 to support the nonprofitÂ’s artistic efforts and its education and outreach programs for the local community. (more...)

Today, Berkeley Repertory Theatre announced that itÂ’s giving away 3,000 free tickets for the world premiere of Eve EnslerÂ’s Emotional Creature in June. The Tony Award-winning theatre will deliver the free tickets to fellow nonprofit organizations and to government agencies that serve key constituencies, including at-risk youth, teens and young adults of both genders, and abuse victims of all ages, with priority given to groups that serve women and girls. (more...)

The Boston College Theatre Department, in partnership with the University's 2012 Arts Festival, will present an April 26 free, public symposium on artistic leadership in the American theater. It will feature three prominent artistic directors of important theater organizations, all Boston College alumni. (more...)

This spring, Berkeley Repertory Theatre concludes its season with another new play, Dael Orlandersmith's BLACK N BLUE BOYS/BROKEN MEN. This world premiere introduces audiences to children and adults forging identities in families fractured by abuse. Each relates a story that transforms these challenges into a celebration of our capacity to survive. (more...)

Crafty con-man Harold Hill brings mischief and the magic of music to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater this spring in Meredith WillsonÂ’s The Music Man. This five-time Tony Award-winning musical is directed by Artistic Director Molly Smith, whose cultural dynamism made Oklahoma! a record-breaking audience favorite last season. With choreography by Parker Esse and music direction by Lawrence Goldberg, The Music Man runs May 11-July 22, 2012 in the Fichandler Stage, with all performances in May already sold out. (more...)

This July, 40 of the nationÂ’s most prominent and promising writers, directors, and composers will be in residence at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in a new laboratory for collaboration. Today, the renowned nonprofit announced 13 selections for the inaugural summer lab at The Ground Floor, Berkeley RepÂ’s Center for the Creation and Development of New Work. During an intense four-week period, dozens of artists will live, dine, create, and collaborate at the TheatreÂ’s new campus in West Berkeley. (more...)

Today, Berkeley Repertory Theatre announced that it is extending its latest show for two weeks. Originally scheduled to close on April 29, RED adds 12 performances due to popular demand and now runs through May 12. (more...)

PICT launches its 2012 season with the Pittsburgh premiere of Sarah RuhlÂ’s Pulitzer finalist In the Next Room or the vibrator play. The production features Brad Heberlee as Dr. Givings, Megan McDermott as Catherine Givings, Jessica Frances Dukes as Elizabeth, and Melinda Helfrich as Sabrina Daldry. Alan Stanford directs. (more...)

Boston College alumnus and accomplished theater director Tony Taccone—artistic director of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley, California, one of the most prominent regional theaters in the country—returns to campus this month as the special guest and alumni honoree at the University’s 14th annual Arts Festival, which will be held April 26-28, 2012. Taccone will make a number of public appearances while on campus. (more...)