August: Osage County and South Pacific Win Best Scenic Design

Todd Rosenthal has won best scenic design of a play for his work on August: Osage County

Michael Yeargan has won best scenic design of a play for his work on South Pacific  

Lincoln Center Theater's new production of Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein's prize-winning musical classic South Pacific, directed by Bartlett Sher, began performances Saturday, March 1 at 8PM at the Vivian Beaumont Theater.   Opening night wa Thursday, April 3 at 6:30PM.

Based on James Michener's Pulitzer Prize winning book Tales of the South Pacific, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific has music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan.

Lincoln Center Theater's production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific  features a cast of 40 headed by Kelli O'Hara as Nellie Forbush, Paulo Szot as Emile de Becque with Matthew Morrison (Lt. Joe Cable), Danny Burstein (Luther Billis), Loretta Ables Sayre (Bloody Mary), Sean Cullen, Victor Hawks, Luka Kain, Lu Jun Li (Liat), Laurissa Romain, Skipp Sudduth,  and Noah Weisberg.

The production will have musical staging by Christopher Gattelli, sets by Michael Yeargan, costumes by Catherine Zuber, lighting by Donald Holder, sound by Scott Lehrer and music direction by Ted Sperling, conducting a 30 piece orchestra performing the original orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett and dance and incidental music arranged by Trude Rittmann.

"Set on a tropical island during World War II, the musical tells the sweeping romantic story of two couples -- US Navy nurse Nellie Forbush & French plantation owner Emile de Becque and Navy Airman Joe Cable & a young local native girl Liat – and how their happiness is threatened by the realities of the war and by their own prejudices," describe press notes.

Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific premiered at the Majestic Theatre on April 7, 1949 and went on to enjoy a five-year Broadway run winning countless awards including nine Tony Awards (including Best Musical) and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.  Considered by many the finest musical ever written, the score's songs include such musical theater classics as "Some Enchanted Evening," "Younger Than Springtime," "Bali Ha'i," "There is Nothin' Like A Dame" and "A Wonderful Guy."

Together with Rent, A Chorus Line and Sunday in the Park with George, this revival of South Pacific helps create Broadway history with 4 of 7 Pulitzer Prize-winning musicals running concurrently on the Great White Way.

Tickets to Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific are available at the Lincoln Center Theater box office (150 West 65 Street), at www.telecharge.com, or by visiting www.lct.org. 

Direct from a sold-out engagement at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the highly anticipated new American play by Pulitzer Prize finalist Tracy Letts (Bug, Killer Joe) August: Osage County began previews Tuesday, October 30 at the Imperial Theatre (249 West 45th Street).

"When their patriarch vanishes, the Weston clan must return to their three-story home in rural Oklahoma to get to the heart of the matter. With rich insight and brilliant humor, Letts paints a vivid portrait of a Midwestern family at a turning point," state press notes.

Anna D. Shapiro (The Pain and the Itch, Iron) directs the production. The design team featured sets by Todd Rosenthal, costumes by Ana Kuzmanic, lighting by Ann Wrightson, sound design by Richard Woodbury and David Singer created original music.

The ensemble from Steppenwolf reprised their roles for the Broadway run: Ian Barford, Deanna Dunagan, Kimberly Guerrero,Francis Guinan, Dennis Letts,Mariann Mayberry, Amy Morton,Sally Murphy, Jeff Perry,Rondi Reed and Troy West. Brian Kerwin joins the cast in New York.

The performance schedule is as follows: Tuesdays – Fridays at 7:30PM, Saturdays at 8PM, Wednesdays & Saturdays at 2PM and Sundays at 3PM.

Tickets are priced at $26.50-$99.50 and are available at Telecharge.com or (212) 239-6200.  Visit the official show website here: AugustOnBroadway.com