John Ritter News

Reelz Announces Fall 2018 Slate with New Series, New Specials and New Episodes of Returning Series

'You're never going to see yourself onstage unless you write for yourself.' That's what Becca Blackwell was told by their friend, Michelle Matlock, who had written THE MAMMY PROJECT as a solo show for herself. That idea, coupled with encouragement from Blackwell's partner and 'prolific' fellow artist, Erin Markey, led Blackwell to write THEY, THEMSELF AND SCHMERM.

Dennis Grimaldi will present Tony®Award-winner Len Cariou (Sweeney Todd) in two staged readings ofHarry Townsend's Last Stand, a new play by George Eastman.  Directed by two-time Emmy®Award-winner Peter Scolari (Wicked) and featuring Warren Bub ('Gotham'), the readings will be held on Monday, May 21 and Tuesday, May 22 at 3pm at Nola Studios (250 West 54th Street - 10th Floor/Studio 1).

Casting has been announced for the World Premiere of THE BABY DANCE: MIXED, a new adaptation by Emmy Award-winner JANE ANDERSON ("Olive Kitteridge") of her acclaimed 2004 play The Baby Dance. A drama delicately laced with comic overtones, THE BABY DANCE: MIXED is a compelling and urgent play about race, class, and wanting the perfect child. In the story, Regina and Richard, an affluent mixed-race couple in Los Angeles, have everything except a baby. Wanda and Al, an African-American couple living in an overcrowded trailer in modern-day Louisiana, are too poor to keep their soon-to-be-born child. Through an adoption attorney, the two couples broker a deal. However, circumstances arise that affect their decision and the situation spins out of control. The Wall Street Journal described The Baby Dance as "filled with emotional power and nimble humor." The L.A. Times called it "a stunner…funny as well as perceptive."

SHARE Inc. announced today that their annual Boomtown Gala will be headlined by The Righteous Brothers with additional performances by Martha and the Vandellas, Louis Van Amstel of "Dancing with the Stars" and the SHARE ladies. This year's honoree is Loreen Arbus, President of The Loreen Arbus Foundation and disability rights activist, philanthropist, producer, writer and author. The event's MC, a SHARE legacy, will be Natalie Lander (ABC's The Middle) - the daughter of famed actors David Lander and Kathy Fields and granddaughter of Hollywood agent Freddie Fields and actress Polly Bergen. The event will be held on May 20th 2018 at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.  

Casting has been announced for the World Premiere of THE BABY DANCE: MIXED, a new adaptation by Emmy Award-winner JANE ANDERSON ('Olive Kitteridge') of her acclaimed 2004 play The Baby Dance. A drama delicately laced with comic overtones, THE BABY DANCE: MIXED is a compelling and urgent play about race, class, and wanting the perfect child.

Walnut Street Theatre continues its landmark 209th season with Michael Frayn's classic backstage comedy, NOISES OFF. Directed by Frank Anzalone, this production begins previews on March 13th, opens on March 21st, and runs through April 29th on the Walnut's Mainstage.

Singer/songwriter duo Sylvie Davidson and Trevor Wheetman first met each other while performing in Lonesome Traveler at Rubicon Theatre. Seven years later they return to the stage, married, and with a brand new album to celebrate. Join them for an evening of love and laughter as they share the stories and songs of their lives together.

Laurel Little Theatre continues their 57th season with the Michael Frayn comedy "NOISES OFF" running the first weekend of March under the direction of Sam Buchanan.

Rubicon Theatre Company presents the outrageously funny, critically-acclaimed comedy Buyer & Cellar by Jonathan Tolins. The production is directed by Ovation Award-winner Stephanie A. Coltrin and stars award-winning actor and Rubicon's Associate Artistic Director Brian McDonald. Inspired by Barbra Streisand's book My Passion for Design, Tolins' one-man, tour-de-force is described by the N.Y. Times as a seriously funny slice of absurdist whimsy about the price of fame, the cost of things, and the oddest of odd jobs. Winner of the 2013 Drama Desk Award for Best Play, this Off-Broadway sensation follows a struggling actor named Alex who winds up working for an unnamed show-business legend in her Malibu basement mall. An unlikely friendship develops between the two from which Alex learns profound lessons about himself.

Hailed as an icon of style, grace and strength, Jacqueline Jackie Kennedy Onassis was known for her alluring mystery and piercing sensuality. Much has been written and said about America's most famous First Lady. However, one detail usually omitted from the story is that she was human. Award-winning playwright Tom Dugan's one-woman drama Jackie Unveiled starring Saffron Burrows (Amazon's Mozart in the Jungle ) dares to peek behind the fa ade of America's most private public figure.

A week ago, the artists of Rubicon Theatre of Ventura were in final dress rehearsals for the first show of the company's 20th Anniversary Season - an original adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol by Producing Artistic Director Karyl Lynn Burns. The next day, rehearsals came to a halt when the electricity went out in the building; staff, cast and crew were evacuated, and fires throughout the area came within blocks of the theatre. The Thomas Fire, as it has come to be called, has since engulfed more than 230,000 acres and destroyed more than 500 homes and structures in the area (135 in the City of Ventura). At this time, the fire is 15% contained. Recognizing that the whole community is affected and that local support must go to basic needs in Ventura, Rubicon is reaching out across the nation to ask for support from other theatre communities.

Laguna Playhouse has announced the fourth show in the Laguna Playhouse 97th season, I AM MY OWN WIFE, written by Doug Wright and directed by Jenny Sullivan and starring John Tufts.

Tony nominees Ann Hampton Callaway and Liz Callaway bring their acclaimed cabaret show, SIBLING REVELRY, to Rubicon Theatre Company as part of the 2017 Janet and Mark L. Goldenson Broadway Concert Series.

Tony nominees Ann Hampton Callaway and Liz Callaway bring their acclaimed cabaret show, SIBLING REVELRY, to Rubicon Theatre Company as part of the 2017 Janet and Mark L. Goldenson Broadway Concert Series.

Tenille Arts made waves with her self-titled debut EP last year, resulting in streaming giant Pandora naming her one of their new artists to watch and other media outlets touting her insightful songwriting and powerful vocals.

Rubicon Theatre Company (RTC) opens the company's 2017-2018 20th Anniversary Season with a provocative and gripping drama based on the story of German conductor and composer Wilhelm Furtw ngler, who remained in Germany after Hitler's rise to power and was later accused of being a Nazi sympathizer.

Tony-nominated actor Alan Campbell (Sunset Blvd.) will appear as famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright in a staged reading of Truth Against the World: The Life and Loves of Frank Lloyd Wright, a new solo play by writer-director Christine Toy Johnson.

Tenille Arts made waves with her self-titled debut EP last year, resulting in streaming giant Pandora naming her one of their new artists to watch and other media outlets touting her insightful songwriting and powerful vocals.

Director Chase Ramsey saw the movie "Noises Off" as a kid and thought it offered a brilliant master class on farce and pacing.  He loved it, and was "obsessed" with the comedic talents of Carol Burnett, John Ritter and Michael Caine.