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The finale of Washington National Opera's season, Cinderella, is an enchanting and vibrant retelling of a classic fairy tale with an imaginative twist.

Madcap mayhem and farcical hilarity set the tone for Lantern Theater Company's production of The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, adapted by Steven Canny and John Nicholson which closes the Lantern's season, running May 28-June 28.  Directed by Matt Pfeiffer, the three-person cast features Damon Bonetti, Daniel Fredrick and Dave Johnson in multiple, quick-change roles.

Canadian Stage presents Nongogo, The Meal, Hatched, Ubu and the Truth Commission, Dominion and Chandelier in a three-week festival of South African performance as part of Spotlight South Africa. A tribute to the extraordinary vitality and originality of artistic work produced in the country, the festival will feature a variety of dance, drama, performance art and puppetry from Apr. 8 to 25 at Canadian Stage's two homes, the Berkeley Street Theatre (26 Berkeley St.) and the Bluma Appel Theatre (27 Front St. E).

Classic Stage Company welcomes Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister on HBO's Game of Thrones) and Taylor Schilling (Piper Chapman on Netflix's Orange Is The New Black) in Ivan Turgenev's A Month in the Country, opening tonight, January 29, for a limited engagement through Sunday, February 22. Let's see what the critics had to say...

Bridget Everett, performing a reprise of her one-woman cabaret show, Rock Bottom (at Joe's Pub for an limited run), has become the darling of the alt-cabaret scene because she occupies the clown/fool/buffoon space to the hilt, creating a hilarious and cathartic experience for those who can take it. Everett has not met a taboo she does not dare to decimate.

According to an article on Slate, Stanford University students responded to the cancellation of their production of the satirical musical BLOODY, BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON with a cabaret called DID WE OFFEND YOU? The new show premiered last weekend to a sold-out audience and featured controversial tunes from musicals including RENT, THE PRODUCERS and, of course, 'ANDREW JACKSON'.

Gary Naylor sees a spectacular musical that has its heart, if not always its sense of humour, in the right place as the Essex Girls of 1968 come out on top.

Gary Naylor sees a revival of one of the 90s classic comedies that retains plenty of punch, nearly twenty years on

We've all heard of the plight of Marie Antoinette, but those that make a visit to Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company throughout the next few weeks can perhaps see it in a slightly different light. And that's a good thing.

Selected for inclusion in WQXR's Salute The ARts Initiative, a program that profiles 36 small cultural non-profit organizations in the New York Metropolitan area, we are honored to have earned a place on WQXR's roster. It is with joy and exhilaration that we share our upcoming roster and events with you.

A strong ensemble is crucial in most any play, especially when dealing with commedia dell'arte as each performer takes on typical archetypes which when combined create a solid show. Assuming, that is, there are no weak links. Luckily with STAGEright's current commedia production of "I Gelosi" the ensemble here is quite strong. Furthermore David Bridel's play goes beyond a simple commedia and delves into a potential history of one of Europe's most famous commedia troupes and creates an intriguing and heartfelt piece about the power of theater.

Czech born Thomas Stoppard is a Jewish British playwright who escaped from his birth country in 1939, just before the Nazi occupation. Living, in England, he has gained a reputation as one of modern English language's greatest playwrights. The recipient of an Academy Award and four Tony Awards, it is generally agreed by theatre analysts that 'Arcadia,' a production of which is now on stage at Mamai Theatre, is one of the western world's greatest plays.

Jim Dale's career as an actor grew out of his success as a music hall performer and musician. He put those music hall skills as a wit, singer, musician, and physical comedian to work in performances of William Shakespeare's many clowns and fools.

The newly formed Santa Cruz Shakespeare is proud to present its inaugural summer repertory season starting with previews on July 1 and playing through August 10, in the Sinsheimer-Stanley Festival Glen at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Tickets are available online at www.santacruztickets.com.

The Camden Fringe returns this summer for a 9th consecutive year, and the 2014 festival will be the biggest yet with over 200 different productions taking part.

FoolsFURY, 'one of the brightest stars of the San Francisco experimental theater scene' (San Francisco Arts Monthly), is pleased to announce the program for the fifth FURY Factory festival of ensemble theater, July 6 - 20, 2014.

The newly formed Santa Cruz Shakespeare is proud to present its inaugural summer repertory season starting with previews on July 1 and playing through August 10, in the Sinsheimer-Stanley Festival Glen at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Tickets are available online at www.santacruztickets.com.

Original choreography, clever comic bits, and a strong supporting cast add spark to North Shore Music Theatre's ANYTHING GOES, Cole Porter's fizzy screwball shipboard romance that finds itself somewhat at sea while trying to stay afloat in the round.

Colleen Petrucci's production at the Byham Theatre brings the zany, anything-can-happen edge that Dr. Seuss himself preferred. But does the show work as a show?

Zurich Meets New York: A Festival of Swiss Ingenuity presents 'Dieter Meier: 'Out of Chaos' - U.S. CD Release Concert' on Sunday, May 18, 7:30 pm at Le Poisson Rouge, NYC.

Fiasco Theatre's production of Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona, delights and impresses. Lighthearted and gay (as in 'keenly alive and exuberant'), the six-member ensemble's streamlined presentation of the tale is filled with chuckles and bubbles, buffoonery and romantic jests.

The throw-everything-against-the-wall-and-pray-for-laughs approach to low comedy is a staple of live theater, and certainly, of William Shakespeare's plays. None play would seem to invite a shtick-fest - beg for one even - than the hugely ridiculous THE COMEDY OF ERRORS. At the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, alas, Kent Gash's free-for-all staging of Errors exposes the play's lameness rather than celebrates its lunacy. For ninety non-breezy minutes, every actor on that stage is mugging (or frugging) his or her collective buns off. Some of the players are quite deft and, indeed, the production has its share of laughs. Too often, though, the jokes don't land, the pace slows and the endeavor is dead in the water.

Dieter Meier is the legendary voice behind the Swiss electronic pop pioneers Yello, renowned for the '80s underground hits 'Oh Yeah' (featured in Ferris Bueller's Day Off and, most recently, The Simpsons and South Park) and 'Race' (Billboard's Hot 100). Singer, musician, conceptual artist, experimental filmmaker, professional poker player, organic farmer and entrepreneur, Meier is now launching his first solo album, featuring his latest musical project, Out of Chaos. For this sole New York appearance, he sings electro-chansons in an 'art-act' backed by some of today's best Swiss jazz musicians.

It's tough to decide what I like more, a great production or a great new theater. Thankfully, I got both during my recent trip to Texas State San Marcos Department of Theatre and Dance. Their current production of Anything Goes is stunning, as is the new Patti Strickel Harrison Theatre.

The young, relatively new, City Shakespeare Company is offering a 90-minute modern take on Shakespeare's THE MERCHANT OF VENICE now through April 12, but the well-intentioned effort produces mixed results.