Geffen Playhouse News

Bay Street Theatre has announced the first production of the 2012 Mainstage Season. Polly Draper stars in MY BRILLIANT DIVORCE, by Geraldine Aron. This American Premiere begins Tuesday, May 29 and runs through Sunday, June 24. The production is directed by Matt McGrath, one of Bay Street’s Artistic Associates. See photos of Draper on stage below! (more...)

BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge was thrilled to sit down and speak with nearly all of this year's Tony Award nominees at the official Tony Brunch on May 2, 2012, and we will be bringing you special coverage on all of them throughout the awards season. Today we bring you Jon Robin Baitz, nominee for Best Play for writing Other Desert Cities. (more...)

The world premiere of Mona Golabek in The Pianist of Willesden Lane has once again been extended an extra month through July 22, 2012 in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at the Geffen Playhouse. Adapted and directed by L.A. audience favorite Hershey Felder and featuring award-winning concert pianist Mona Golabek, this music-filled evening recounts the personal story of Ms. Golabek’s mother in Nazi-occupied Europe. (more...)

Bay Street Theatre is pleased to announce the first production of the 2012 Mainstage Season. Polly Draper stars in MY BRILLIANT DIVORCE, by Geraldine Aron. This American Premiere runs May 29 – June 24. The production is directed by Matt McGrath, one of Bay Street’s Artistic Associates. (more...)

It was announced yesterday that stage and screen stars Brooke Shields and Richard Chamberlain will take on the iconic roles of Chris MacNeil and Father Merrin in playwright John Pielmeier’s world premiere of The Exorcist at the Geffen Playhouse. Helmed by acclaimed director John Doyle, who won a Tony Award for his striking reimagining of Sweeney Todd, this stage adaptation of William Peter Blatty’s famous 1971 novel transforms the unsettling battles of good versus evil, faith versus fact and ego versus ethos into a theatrical experience. This got us thinking, what other horror film would you like to see turned into a stage production? (more...)

Stage and screen stars Brooke Shields and Richard Chamberlain will take on the iconic roles of Chris MacNeil and Father Merrin in playwright John Pielmeier’s world premiere of The Exorcist at the Geffen Playhouse. Helmed by acclaimed director John Doyle, who won a Tony Award for his striking reimagining of Sweeney Todd, this stage adaptation of William Peter Blatty’s famous 1971 novel transforms the unsettling battles of good versus evil, faith versus fact and ego versus ethos into a uniquely theatrical experience as sophisticated as it is suspenseful. (more...)

Deadline.com reports that NBC has officially picked up INFAMOUS, previously titled NOTORIOUS from Universal TV and BermanBraun. The project is penned by Liz Heldens. Broadway veterans Victor Garber and Tate Donovan will star. (more...)

RUBICON THEATRE continues the company’s 14th season May 24 with August Wilson’s powerful and poignant drama GEM OF THE OCEAN (first preview May 16). (more...)

The New Group presents the world premiere of An Early History of Fire, a new play by Tony Award-winning playwright David Rabe. Directed by Jo Bonney, this production features Gordon Clapp, Erin Darke, Jonny Orsini, Devin Ratray, Dennis Staroselsky, Theo Stockman and Claire van der Boom. Limited Off-Broadway engagement is slated April 5 - May 26 at The New Group @ Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street). The official Opening Night was Monday, April 30 at 7:00 PM. Check out the after-party photos below featuing Meryle Streep and all the cast. (more...)

Arena Stage today announced an addition to the 2012/13 season, Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins, starring the iconic stage and screen actress Kathleen Turner as the feisty, unforgettable political journalist. (more...)

Many plays have been written about Europe in the throes of the Holocaust and its devastating effect on the Jews who lived not only in Germany, but in other German-speaking countries such as Austria and Vienna. The future of those children was severely limited or drastically cut short. Mona Golabek is the daughter of Lisa Jura, a consummate concert pianist who, unlike many, was given a ticket to freedom via the Kindertransport... she was offered the chance to make a difference and did, as told in The Pianist of Willesden Lane, now onstage in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theatre backspace of the Geffen Playhouse. This is stunning theatre that will leave you emotionally breathless. Marvelously adapted and directed by Hersehy Felder, Lisa Jura's story is a theatrical experience not to be missed. (more...)

The New Group presents the world premiere of An Early History of Fire, a new play by Tony Award-winning playwright David Rabe. Directed by Jo Bonney, this production features Gordon Clapp, Erin Darke, Jonny Orsini, Devin Ratray, Dennis Staroselsky, Theo Stockman and Claire van der Boom. Limited Off-Broadway engagement is slated April 5 - May 26 at The New Group @ Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street). Official Opening Night is set for Monday, April 30 at 7:00 PM. See the photos below for a first look at the production! (more...)

Emmy Award winning actress Jane Lynch will host this year’s Backstage at the Geffen fundraiser, which recognizes leadership in the theater community while raising support for the theater’s artistic and outreach initiatives, honoring Hollywood legend Carol Burnett and Chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment Jim Gianopulos. Ms. Burnett will receive the Distinction in Theater Award and Mr. Gianopulos will be presented with the Distinction in Service Award by entertainment icon and longtime colleague Warren Beatty. The star-studded event will be co-chaired by Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company Robert A. Iger and his wife, journalist Willow Bay. This irreverent evening of laughter, music and stories, which is sponsored by City National Bank, will be held on Monday June 4, 2012 at the Geffen Playhouse. (more...)

On the heels of their 2011 Best Production Awards sweep for Small Engine Repair (Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, LA Weekly, Ovation, and Garland Awards), Rogue Machine have announcesd the first production of their new season. Seen for the first time on the West Coast, Mark Roberts’ Where The Great Ones Run, will include an award winning cast of actors led by Jeff Kober from May 26 at Rogue Machine, 5041 Pico Blvd., LA, CA 90019. (more...)

The Shakespeare Educational Tour adapted version of “Twelfth Night” will be presented this coming Saturday, April 21 at 11 am at the Geffen Playhouse Gil Cates Theatre in Los Angeles, 10886 Le Conte Ave. The show is geared toward an elementary school audience and has been presented to 16 elementary schools in Ventura County this spring. The 16th season of the Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival will feature performances of “Much Ado About Nothing” and “Romeo and Juliet” at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks beginning in June. (more...)

As the 15th Annual Pacific Playwrights Festival draws near, South Coast Repertory announces the directors for this years’ staged readings. They include Evan Cabnet (Warrior Class), Matt Shakman (You Are Here), Meredith McDonough (I And You), Casey Stangl (The Few) and Anne Kauffman (Smokefall). (more...)

The Geffen Playhouse announces an unprecedented eight plays – five in the Gil Cates Theater and three in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater – for its 2012/2013 season. With an ongoing focus on introducing audiences to new plays, reimagined classics and emerging voices, the Geffen’s season features three world premieres – including a commission by Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Margulies (Coney Island Christmas), a classic adaptation by Tony Award nominee Neil LaBute (August Strindberg’s Miss Julie) and a new work by Michael Golamco (Build); two American premieres – one marking the return of Olivier Award nominee Joanna Murray-Smith (The Gift) and the other a riotous British import by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn (Yes, Prime Minister); two West Coast premieres – including Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage’s new work (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark) and comedienne Judy Gold’s acclaimed off-Broadway memoir (The Judy Show); and a brand new production of David Mamet’s defining work American Buffalo helmed by Geffen Playhouse Artistic Director Randall Arney. (more...)

The Geffen Playhouse announces an unprecedented eight plays – five in the Gil Cates Theater and three in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater – for its 2012/2013 season. With an ongoing focus on introducing audiences to new plays, reimagined classics and emerging voices, the Geffen’s season features three world premieres – including a commission by Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Margulies (Coney Island Christmas), a classic adaptation by Tony Award nominee Neil LaBute (August Strindberg’s Miss Julie) and a new work byMichael Golamco (Build). (more...)

Artistic Directors Joe Jahraus and Darrell W. Cox have announced Profiles Theatre’s 2012 - 2013 Season. They also announced that acclaimed playwright Neil LaBute and Steppenwolf ensemble member Rick Snyder joined Profiles as Resident Artists. Five productions are planned for the upcoming 24th season, including the Midwest premieres of the award-winning Blood from a Stone in a newly revised version by playwright Tommy Nohilly, After by Chad Beckim, The Dream of the Burning Boy by David West Read and the Midwest premiere of Neil LaBute’s controversial 2010 play The Break of Noon revised exclusively for Profiles Theatre. Additionally, one of Chicago theatre’s longest running hits, Hellcab by Will Kern, returns for its 20th Anniversary production. These five productions alternate between Profiles’ two venues, The Main Stage at 4139 N. Broadway and The Alley Stage at 4147 N. Broadway. (more...)