Harmony Wheeler - Page 74

Ah, Wilderness!, Eugene O'Neill's joyous and truthful depiction of American family life at the turn of the 20thcentury, will kick off the two-month citywide Eugene O'Neill Festival at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. From a playwright better known for his darker stories comes the brilliant Ah, Wilderness!, O'Neill's singular comedy that represents a fantasy of what his own childhood might have been. Helen Hayes Award winner and former Arena Stage Associate Artistic Director Kyle Donnelly returns to direct her 21st show at Arena Stage, which features an almost entirely local cast led by Rick Foucheux, Nancy Robinette and June Schreiner. Ah, Wilderness! runs March 9-April 8, 2012 in the Fichandler Stage.

Artes de la Rosa announces principle casting for the Regional Premiere of Astor Piazolla's Tango Operita, MARIA DE BUENOS AIRES, which is receiving its Regional Premiere this May at Artes de la Rosa's home The Rose Marine Theater. Starring as Maria, is Grace Neeley making her Artes de la Rosa debut. The actress has been seen through out the North Texas theatre community taking the stage at Circle Theatre (The Great American Trailer Park Musical) and Casa Manana where she played Linda Lou in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, starring Ruta Lee & Ed Dixon.

The Media Theatre Spring session of acting and voice classes begins Saturday March 17. All classes follow the Sanford Meisner Technique. This allows even young ages to focus on a pattern which allows them to be their own unique self, with no pretending in the script situation or copying someone else's performance. The practice also creates a stronger sense of self-awareness, which then applies to life off-stage in daily routines.

The Arvada Center will open the regional premiere of a new restaging of Chess, A Musical directed by Rod A. Lansberry on March 27 running through April 15, 2012 in the Main Stage Theater. Performances are Tuesday - Saturday at 7:30 pm, Wednesday at 1pm, Saturday and Sunday at 2pm. Preview performances are March 23 - 25. Moderated talkbacks with the cast are offered on Friday, April 6 after 7:30 p.m. show and Wednesday, April 11 after 1:00 p.m. show. Ticket prices range from $35 (previews) - $72. Group rates are available. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to www.arvadacenter.org or call 720-898-7200.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey will launch its third annual Lend Us Your Ears play reading series on Monday, March 12 at 7 p.m. with Eve of Ides, a new play by author David Blixt. The series also includes readings of William Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part Two on July 16 and the comedy Wittenberg by David Davalos on September 24. All readings will be held at 7:00 pm at the Shakespeare Theatre's Main Stage, the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, 36 Madison Ave. (at Lancaster Road) in Madison. The Lend Us Your Ears discount subscription series, featuring tickets to all three readings, is $36 for adults and $24 for students. Individual tickets are $15 each for adults and $10 for students. For tickets or more information, call the box office at 973-408-5600 or visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org.

On Monday, February 20, 2012, Mike Daisey announced that his smash hit monologue The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs (TAESJ) would be made available to the public as an "open-source, royalty-free" work, downloadable from his website and available to be adapted and performed by "anyone, anytime, anywhere." Five days following the announcement, A Red Orchid Theatre is proud to announce the Chicago Premiere of Daisey's piece in a one-night-only benefit performance featuring AROT Ensemble Member Lance Baker on Monday, March 5th, 2012 at 8:00PM.

London. One month after World War II has ended. An important election on the horizon...Welcome to the members-only club 'La Vie En Rose' and its colorful cast of bohemian lovers, losers, soldiers, and dreamers who prepare to repair both country & self. Big, bold, and haunting, Absolute Hell was nearly lost forever until a rediscovery led to a revival & inclusion in The Royal National Theatre's 'Top 100 Plays of The Twentieth Century.' The U.S. premiere comes to The Gift in an ensemble-packed production.

ZOE CALDWELL has been entertaining audiences as a cold-hearted Upper East Side matron in David Adjmi's intimateElective Affinitives. Meanwhile she has been seen as an affectionate grandmother in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, one of this year's Academy Award nominees for Best Picture. Caldwell has earned four Tony Awards, most recently as Maria Callas in Terrence McNally's Master Class. She has portrayed such heroines as Lady Macbeth and Medea, not to mention Lillian Hellman and Miss Jean Brodie, and she has worked with such legends as Dame Judith Anderson, Dame Edith Evans, Sir Tyrone Guthrie, Charles Laughton, and Paul Robeson. She has also directed stars such as Eileen Atkins, Glenda Jackson, James Earl Jones, Christopher Plummer, and Vanessa Redgrave. Caldwell is now writing a sequel to I Will Be Cleopatra, a memoir about her early years in Australia, and she'll share a few highlights from her most memorable encounters with Shakespeare with President of the Shakespeare Guild, JOHN ANDREWS, OBE. and answer questions from the audience.

CENTERSTAGE is opening its doors to young, local musicians, inviting them to perform in the Chapel Bar on select nights after A Skull in Connemara. These events are free and open to the public. Come have a drink, enjoy some live music, and start your night in Baltimore's cultural hub: be a part of the conversation!

FRIGID New York presents A D'yan Forest production, I Married a Nun, February 22 - March 3 at UNDER St. Marks. Written by D'yan Forest & Stephen Jobes. Performed by D'yan Forest. Directed by Stephen Jobes.

Peak Performances presents 'Gardenia,' a production based on the real lives of its cast of transgenders, all of whom are between 55 and 65, and each of whom had been or continues to be a professional performer. The American premiere of "Gardenia" takes place at the Alexander Kasser Theater on the Montclair State University campus, March 17-25.

East West Players (EWP), the nation's largest producing organization of Asian American artistic work and the longest-running professional theatre of color in the country, continues its 46h Anniversary season. Themed Languages of Love, the third production of the season carries on with the Mainland Premiere of THREE YEAR SWIM CLUB by Lee Tonouchi. This production is directed and choreographed by Keo Woolford and produced in association with Honolulu Theatre for Youth. The cast of the production features Jared Asato, Kelsey Chock, Aaron Ikeda, John Galmiche, Kaliko Kauahi, Blake Kushi, Mapuana Makia, and Chris Takemoto-Gentile. Check out the opening night footage below!

The Irish Repertory Theatre presents Give Me Your Hand. This poetical stroll through the National Gallery of London by Paul Durcan will run from March 7 to April 1. Check out the behind the scenes video below!

This past week The Michigan Shakespeare Festival held 2012 Season Auditions in Detroit, Jackson, and Chicago. Offers have been made and accepted for some primary roles. Sally Pesetsky, last seen at the MSF as Daisy in Driving Miss Daisy, will be performing as the Duchess of York, the villainous Richard's mother, in Richard III and as Mrs. Higgins, the voice of wit and reason to her son Henry, in Pygmalion. "Sally brings such joy and class to her roles, she's wonderful to work with and I'm elated to have her back in the company," says Artistic Director Janice L Blixt, "I think she'll work very well with David Turrentine-who's playing Richard-and will give a role, that is often about wailing, wonderful dignity."

The subject of a PBS documentary-and a stunning video, Stand By Me- Playing For Change Band is an assembly of street musicians. Originally gathered together by Producer Mark Johnson as a project for world peace, it is now a traveling ensemble that offers a delivery of blues, gospel, reggae, and Afropop.

Cinnabar Theater presents 'Don Giovanni' March 23 - April 15, 2012. Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart / Libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte. Sung in English. Musical direction by Mary Chun. Directed by Elly Lichenstein.

Theatricum Botanicum will present John Reilly and Friends in Concert Sunday, March 18 at 2pm at the The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum.

THE MAN IN BLACK, with Australian Tex Perkins taking to the stage as Johnny Cash, will return for a strictly limited season at The Playhouse, Sydney Opera House from 10 to 22 April. Since its Sydney Opera House season at the end of 2009, the show has taken tours of Australia and New Zealand and won a Helpmann Award for Best Contemporary Australian Concert.

Pulling up in a vintage 1959 red Cadillac Convertible, the Jersey Boys were greeted by employees of Paris Las Vegas performing a special "flash mob" to "Oh What a Night." Upon exiting they were greeted by David Hoenemeyer (Regional President, Paris Las Vegas) who officially welcomed them to their new home. Seeing that David is a native of New Jersey, Jersey Boys saw it only appropriate to make him an honorary "fifth season" and give him his very own (and original) "Sherry" jacket. Check out the photos of the greeting below!

The Bay Area Critics Circle Award nominations are in and Berkeley's Aurora Theatre Company, now celebrating its 20th season, garnered 33 nods for the company's 2011 productions, the most of any company in its theater tier in the Bay Area. Top honors included nominations in the Drama category with recognition going to A DELICATE BALANCE, METAMORPHOSIS, THE ECCENTRICITES OF A NIGHTINGALE, and THE SOLDIER'S TALE. Aurora Artistic Director Tom Ross received two nominations for direction, as well as a co-directing nomination with Muriel Maffre. The 33 nominations are a record number for Aurora, the most nominations received during the company's 20 seasons.