English National Opera announced Helen Shute, current CEO of Rambert, as its new Chief Executive Officer. She will also lead London Coliseum Limited, succeeding Jenny Mollica, who steps down after six years.
SPID Theatre at Kensal House has been shortlisted for a 2026 RIBA London (West) Award for its restoration and accessibility project. The redevelopment introduced new infrastructure while preserving the historic Grade II* listed building.
Ground UP Productions and Town Hall Theater will present Treaty: A Play About How Not to Blow Up the Planet, a compelling and urgently timely work of documentary theater by acclaimed British playwright Chris Thorpe.
Rub shoulders with some of New York’s legendary politicians, mobsters, molls, and showgirls under the very roof that brought them all together during the Prohibition Era. Tammany Hall, a new, site-specific, immersive theater experience created and directed by Darren Lee Cole (Fleabag, Killer Joe) and Alexander Wright (The Great Gatsby)
As 2018 comes to a close, we are reflecting on those we have lost in the Broadway and theatre communities throughout the year.
Playwright/director Elia Schneider--born in Israel, raised in Venezuela and now an American citizen--is known for hauntingly visual productions that transcend language with strong imagery and a dreamlike fresco of movement and design. Her newest work, 'Citizens of the Gray or the Dark Thing that Sleeps Inside Me,' deals with the war of the sexes in the age of the #MeToo Movement. Hitherto, her theatrical productions have mostly emerged from ideas derived from Kafka. Now she is channeling Strindberg for a new work of ensemble creation with her Teatro Dramma. Theater for the New City will present the world premiere of the piece November 9 to 25. It will be Schneider's Theater for the New City debut.
Chicago Shakespeare Theater announces the cast for the North American premiere of Jessica Swale's exuberant new comedy Nell Gwynn, September 20-November 4, 2018. The music- and dance-filled play took London audiences by storm when it debuted at Shakespeare's Globe, followed by a celebrated run on the West End. Director of the original London production, Christopher Luscombe, helms the new Chicago Shakespeare production. Star of Broadway and the West End Scarlett Strallen appears as Nell; Chicago leading actor Timothy Edward Kane performs the role of King Charles II.
Chicago Shakespeare Theater presents the North American premiere of Jessica Swale's exuberant new comedy Nell Gwynn, September 20-November 4, 2018. The music- and dance-filled play took London audiences by storm when it debuted at Shakespeare's Globe, followed by a celebrated run on the West End. Director of the original London production, Christopher Luscombe, helms the new Chicago Shakespeare production. Star of Broadway and the West End Scarlett Strallen appears as Nell; Chicago leading actor Timothy Edward Kane performs the role of King Charles II.
The Menier Chocolate Factory, in association with Darren Bagert, present a new production of Manuel Puig's ground-breaking novel Kiss of the Spider Woman in a new adaptation by Jose Rivera and Allan Baker. Laurie Sansom directs this iconic play, making his Menier debut. The production opens on 21 March, with previews from 8 March, and runs until 5 May.
First of all, kudos to director James Esposito for discovering the musical DESSA ROSE, based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Sherley Anne Williams. This awe-inspiring musical received its New York premiere at Lincoln Center in 2005 and it's a wonder no other theater group has decided to produce this timely exploration about the universal need for freedom and equality. With book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty, it tells the story of a young black woman (a runaway slave) and a young white woman (an abandoned mother) beginning in the years just prior to the Civil War and continuing through their journey to acceptance in the antebellum South. The audience has the role of playing their grandchildren, to whom the elderly pair tell their story as it is presented to us.
As a way to celebrate International Women's Day this year, I attended the World Premiere of Ngozi Anyanwu's new play GOOD GRIEF at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre. The production is directed by Patricia McGregor, with Anyanwu performing as the lead character, Nkechi. This is the first of Anyanwu's plays to receive a full professional production with great techniical credits including an impressive movable set designed by Stephanie Kerley Schwartz, costumes designed by Karen Perry, lighting designed by Pablo Santiago, with sound design by Adam Phalen. The cast features, in alphabetical order, Dayo Ade, Wade Allain-Marcus, Ngozi Anyanwu, Marcus Henderson, Omoze Idehenre, Carla Renata and Mark Jude Sullivan.
Steve Wynn's ShowStoppers celebrated its grand opening on Saturday, Dec. 20 inside the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas. The vibrant production dazzled audiences with its talented cast of 35 singers and dancers, backed by an on-stage 31-piece orchestra. Check out photos of the event below!
