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Today's highlights:
* Ajax opens at Boston's ART.
* Diary of a Madman, starring Geoffrey Rush, opens at BAM.
* Gigi, starring Millicent Martin, Matt Cavenaugh and Jason Graae, opens at Reprise.
* Carapace, directed by Judith Ivey, opens at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre.
* She Loves Me begins previews at Civic Light Opera South Bay Cities.
* White People begins previews at NYC's Ensemble Studio Theatre.
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Casting is now complete for the Kennedy Center's May 7-June 19 production of Stephen Sondheim's Follies. Signature Theatre artistic director Eric Schaeffer will direct the classic musical with choreography by Warren Carlyle.
The starry company will be headed by two-time Tony winner Bernadette Peters as Sally Durant Plummer, multiple Tony nominee Jan Maxwell as Phyllis Rogers Stone, two-time Tony nominee Danny Burstein as Buddy Plummer, Ron Raines as Benjamin Stone and Olivier Award winner Elaine Paige as Carlotta Campion.
The production will also star Terrence Currier as Theodore Whitman, Christian Delcroix as Young Buddy, Rosalind Elias as Heidi Schiller, Colleen Fitzpatrick as Dee Dee West, Lora Lee Gayer as Young Sally, Michael Hayes as Roscoe, Florence Lacey as Sandra Crane, Linda Lavin as Hattie Walker, Régine as Solange LaFitte, David Sabin as Dimitri Weismann, Kirsten Scott as Young Phyllis, Frederick Strother as Max Deems, Nick Verina as Young Ben, Susan Watson as Emily Whitman and Terri White as Stella Deems.
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Gore Vidal's The Best Man, the 1960 play about presidential candidates, will return to Broadway in spring 2012.
The play ran on Broadway in fall 2000 starring Elizabeth Ashley, Charles Durning, Christine Ebersole, Spalding Gray, Michael Learned, Chris Noth, Mark Blum, Jonathan Hadary, and Jordan Lage. The production was honored with the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Outstanding Revival of a Play.
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Jared Mason will succeed Tony Award winner Levi Kreis as rock pianist Jerry Lee Lewis in the Broadway production of Million Dollar Quartet beginning March 15 at the Nederlander Theatre
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Video: A Priscilla preview: http://bit.ly/eL4y2A
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S.T.A.G.E. — the annual Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event — will be presented April 2 at 7:30 PM at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex on the campus of California State Los Angeles. This year, rather than salute the work of a composer, the annual AIDS benefit will feature artists from theatre, TV and cabaret performing songs they originated in musical productions. David Galligan will direct the evening, which will feature musical direction by Mary Ekler and choreography by Lee Martino and Dan Mojica.
The upcoming evening will also pay tribute to the late musical-comedy star and long-time event co-chair Betty Garrett, who died Feb. 12 at the age of 91.
The concert, titled Original Cast 2, will boast the talents of Carol Channing, Rita Moreno, Robert Morse, Jonelle Allen, Liz Callaway, Philip Casnoff, Patrick Cassidy, Mary Jo Catlett, Carole Cook, Barbara Deutsch, Willy Falk, Danny Gurwin, Bill Hutton, Jane Kean, Dale Kristien, Sean McDermott, Patricia Morison, Pamela Myers, Stephen Nathan, Jennifer Paz, Valarie Pettiford, Charlotte Rae and Lee Roy Reams.
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GN quote of the week: “I'm a skilled professional actor. Whether or not I've any talent is beside the point.” ~ Michael Caine
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Westchester Broadway Theatre’s production of I Do! I Do!, starring Mark Zimmerman and Lauri Landry, continues through March 20. Directed and Choreographed by Richard Sabellico.
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Harmony, Kansas, the new musical about a gay men's chorus that forms in rural Kansas, will get an invitation-only Manhattan reading Feb. 22 at 3:30 PM. Jonathan Rayson, Zak Resnick, Chris Hoch, Howie Michael Smith and Nick Cearley are among its players. Information: harmonyksreading@gmail.com.
The original musical has music by Anna K. Jacobs (POP!) and book and lyrics by Bill Nelson (Bill Nelson's All-Male Revue). The reading will be directed by Richard Biever, artistic director of Singing OnStage Productions, the group that produced a reading of Marvin Harmlisch and Howard Ashman's Smile in fall 2010.
The cast will feature Zak Resnick, Doug Kreeger, Howie Michael Smith as Wiley, Bruce Warren, Jonathan Rayson, Chris Hoch, Nick Reynolds, Nick Cearley and Bryan Scott Johnson.
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Video: Opening night and clips of the show at Pasadena Playhouse’s Dangerous Beauty: http://bit.ly/gxiXdg
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The OBIE Award-winning National Asian American Theatre presents A Number, Caryl Churchill's acclaimed play about human cloning and identity, starring OBIE Award-winner James Saito and Joel de la Fuente, with previews set to begin March 12 prior to it official press opening March 17 at Cherry Lane Studio Theatre (38 Commerce Street) in Manhattan. Maureen Payne-Hahner directs.
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Circle X Theatre’s First Annual Ten-Minute Play Festival is generated from the Circle X writers’ group, nine short plays about Sex / Love or Love / Sex. The group provides an opportunity for playwrights currently working in film and television to develop and complete unfinished plays with Circle X’s group of actors, directors, designers and artists as collaborators.
The Ten-Minute Play Festival is the first public presentation of work generated from within the group. The production runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM, Feb. 25 – March 26.
Writers: Lee Blessing, James Duff, Fielding Edlow, Leo Geter, Jim Leonard, Melanie Marnich, Timothy Mason, Mike O’Malley, Meredith Stiehm.
Directors: Jim Anzide, Matt Bretz, Heath Cullens, Tom Elliott, Leo Geter, Matt McCray, Kiff Scholl, Jonathan Westerberg, Tim Wright
Actors: Larry Clarke, Lisa Dring, Fielding Edlow, Suzy Jane Hunt, Jen Kays, Robert Manning, Jr., Johanna McKay, Bill Salyers, Jennifer A. Skinner, Doug Sutherland, Tim Wright.
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Michelle Clunie (“Queer as Folk”) and Vs. Theatre Company artistic director Johnny Clark star in the Los Angeles premiere of The Mercy Seat, Neil LaBute’s caustically funny examination of opportunism in the wake of tragedy. Ron Klier directs a six-week run, opening March 19 at LA’s [Inside] the Ford. Pay-what-you-can previews take place on March 17 and 18.
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The Falcon Theatre presents, in association with Rita Wilson, the international hit comedy Jamaica, Farewell, written and performed by NAACP award-winner Debra Ehrhardt and directed by Joel Zwick ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding"), the fifth and final production in its 2010-2011 Subscription Season.
Previews begin March 16, with an opening set for March 25, and the run continues to April 17.
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Jeff Talbott, an unproduced New York City playwright, has been named the inaugural recipient of the Laurents-Hatcher Award, which comes with a $50,000 prize for the writer and $100,000 for a producing organization. His aptly-titled work, The Submission — about a frustrated playwright who makes a bold, life-changing move — will be presented by Off-Broadway's MCC Theater next season.
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Additional performers have been announced for the Café Carlyle's 2011 winter/spring season:
* Douglas Hodge, March 15-26
* Nathan Gunn, March 29-April 16
* Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley, May 10-21
* Bettye LaVette, May 24-June 3
* Lea Salonga, June 7-25
* Woody Allen & The Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band continues Monday evenings through June. 7
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Argyle Road Productions presents The Birthday Present 2050 by Tania Wisbar, directed by Jonathan Sanger. The production runs March 19 - April 17 at The Skylight Theatre (1816 ½ N. Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles).
The cast features James Black, Juan Carlos Cantu, Antonio Charity, Elyssa Davalos, Lelia Goldoni, Demetrius Grosse, Cheyenne Haynes, Jossara Jinaro, Katrina Lenk… and Bud Cort as Guy.
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The acting company of the world-premiere production of And the Curtain Rises, the musical about the creation of a new American form called musical comedy, has been announced by Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA. Performances will play March 17-April 10 at Signature's MAX Theatre in Arlington, VA.
With book my Michael Slade (And a Child Shall Lead, ten shows by Theatreworks/USA), lyrics by Mark Campbell (Songs From an Unmade Bed) and music by Joseph Thalken (Was, Harold & Maude), the show is inspired by the true story of the seminal 19th-century musical The Black Crook.
Under the direction of Tony Award nominee Kristin Hanggi (Broadway's Rock of Ages, Off-Broadway's bare), the cast includes Erik Altemus,
Anna Kate Bocknek,
Kristen Calgaro,
Kevin Carolan,
Alma Cuervo,
Nick Dalton,
Suzanne Darling,
Erick Devine,
William Diggle,
Greer Gisy,
Laura Keller,
Rachel Schur,
Jennifer Smith,
Brian Sutherland, Sean Thompson
and Rebecca Watson.
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Two women from Kansas City, MO, who attended the Nov. 23, 2009, performance of Billy Elliot have filed a $4 million lawsuit over injuries sustained while watching the hit musical, according to the New York Post.
While sitting in the front row at the Imperial Theatre, Elaine Rosen and Cynthia Noblit were hit in the face by a prop that flew off the stage during a production number prior to the end of the musical's first act. Both were taken to a hospital following the incident. Fifty-four year-old Rosen now has a "permanent scar" on her face, according to her lawyer Steven Halperin, while 60-year-old Noblit suffered a concussion.
The lawyer told the Post that the production had invited both women to return to the musical; the staging of the first act production number has also been modified to avoid any future incidents.
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The Red Bull Theater's "In the Raw" workshop of Margaret, A Tyger's Heart, which explores the role of the French Queen throughout Shakespeare's history plays, will be presented beginning Feb. 25. Michael Sexton will direct his work, which has been adapted from Shakespeare's Richard III and Henry VI. Performances will take place Feb. 25-27 at the Theatre at St. Clement's.
The cast will include Randy Harrison (Wicked, "Queer As Folk"), as well as Kate Forbes (Othello), Craig Baldwin, Jacob Fishel, Jason Butler Harner, Robert Stanton, Michael Stewart Allen and David Townsend.
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Download the TKTS iPhone app for free through March 1. Download the Android app for free until May 15.
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Polly Draper and Maggie Siff will star in Emmy Award winning playwright Jane Anderson's world premiere of The Escort, at the Geffen Playhouse, April 6-May 8. Lisa Peterson will direct.
The play follows the relationship between Charlotte (Siff), a high-class call girl and Rhona (Draper), her upper West side female gynecologist. The cast will also include James Eckhouse and Gabriel Sunday.
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Amazon.com is now taking pre-orders for the 1954 film version of "Anything Goes," starring Frank Sinatra and Ethel Merman. The film will be released on DVD on March 11. Order here.
GRACE NOTES Amazon.com tip: If you need to add a little more to any order to qualify for free shipping, visit superfiller.com and the site will offer you a large variety of products to make up the difference.
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The Laguna Playhouse is pleased to present Noël Coward's celebrated comedy, Private Lives, March 15 - April 10. The play is directed by Andrew Barnicle. Casting will be announced soon.
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Benefit performances of The Vagina Monologues will take place Feb. 18-20 at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre (4800 Hollywood Blvd in Los Angeles). The cast features Alison Arngrim, Diane Amos, Kate Linder and Tippi Hedren. The performances are part of V Day and Eve's Lime Productions week long benefit to raise funds and awareness to end violence against women and girls.
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The world premiere of the pre-Broadway musical Like Water for Chocolate will be among productions on the 2011-12 schedule at Arena Stage. The musical, running Sept. 9-Oct. 30, will be co-directed by Tony Award winner Ted Sperling and Jonathan Butterell. The libretto is by Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony Award nominee Quiara Alegría Hudes (In the Heights, Elliot – A Soldier's Fugue) with music and lyrics by Lila Downs and Paul Cohen.
The season will also include The Book Club Play (Oct. 7-Nov. 6), Equivocation (Nov. 18-Jan. 1), You, Nero (Nov. 25-Jan. 1), The Elephant Room (Jan. 20-Feb. 26, 2012), Red (Jan. 20-March 11, 2012), Ah, Wilderness! (March 9–April 8, 2012), Long Day's Journey into Night (March 30–May 13, 2012), The Music Man (May 11–July 22, 2012), Mary T. & Lizzie K. (June 1–July 22, 2012) and Trouble in Mind (June 8–July 22, 2012).
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Nominations for Florida's 35th annual Carbonell Awards:
COMBINED (plays and musicals)
Best New Work: Peter Colley, Robert Creighton and Christopher McGovern, Cagney, Florida Stage; Mario Diament, A Report on the Banality of Love, The Promethean Theatre; Terry Lawrence, Speaking Elephant, The Women’s Theatre Project; Carter W. Lewis, The Storytelling Ability of a Boy, Florida Stage; Susan Draus, Everett Bradley, Michael Heitzman and Ilene Reid, Vices: A Love Story, Caldwell Theatre Company
Best Ensemble Production: Bombshells! A Musical Explosion of Life, Love and Telling It All!, Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre; Broadsword, Mad Cat Theatre Company; Farragut North, GableStage; Some Kind of Wonderful, Florida Stage; Viva Bourgeois!, Mad Cat Theatre Company
PLAYS
Best Production of a Play: Broadsword, Mad Cat Theatre Company; Copenhagen, Palm Beach Dramaworks; Speed-the-Plow, GableStage; The Whipping Man, Caldwell Theatre Company; Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them, Mosaic Theatre
Best Director: Joseph Adler, Farragut North, GableStage; Joseph Adler, Speed-the-Plow, GableStage; J. Barry Lewis, Copenhagen, Palm Beach Dramaworks; Richard Jay Simon, Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them, Mosaic Theatre; Paul Tei, Broadsword, Mad Cat Theatre Company
Best Actor: John Archie, The Whipping Man, Caldwell Theatre Company; Todd Allen Durkin, At Home at the Zoo, Palm Beach Dramaworks; Paul Tei, Speed-the-Plow, GableStage; Ricky Waugh, Reasons to be Pretty, GableStage; Gregg Weiner, Dumb Show, The Promethean Theatre
Best Actress: Linda Bernhard, Playhouse Creatures , The Women’s Theatre Project; Barbara Bradshaw, Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them, Mosaic Theatre; Lela Elam, No Child, GableStage; Angie Radosh, Speaking Elephant, The Women’s Theatre Project; Laura Turnbull, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Mosaic Theatre
Best Supporting Actor: Dennis Creaghan, The Voysey Inheritance, Caldwell Theatre Company; Todd Allen Durkin, Reasons to be Pretty, GableStage; Erik Fabregat, Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them, Mosaic Theatre; Gregg Weiner, A Doll’s House, Palm Beach Dramaworks; Gregg Weiner, Farragut North, GableStage
Best Supporting Actress: Elena Maria Garcia, Summer Shorts: Signature Shorts, City Theatre; Patti Gardner, Defiance, GableStage; Erin Joy Schmidt , Viva Bourgeois!, Mad Cat Theatre Company; Deborah L. Sherman, Dumb Show, The Promethean Theatre; Miriam Wiener, In a Dark, Dark House, Mosaic Theatre
MUSICALS
Best Production of a Musical: Barnum, Maltz Jupiter Theatre; Cagney, Florida Stage; Les Miserables, Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre; A Little Night Music, Broward Stage Door; Vices: A Love Story, Caldwell Theatre Company
Best Director of a Musical: David Arisco, Les Miserables, Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre; Bill Castellino, Cagney, Florida Stage; Clive Cholerton, Vices: A Love Story, Caldwell Theatre Company; Gordon Greenberg, Barnum, Maltz Jupiter Theatre; Margaret M. Ledford, Cannibal! The Musical, The Promethean Theatre
Best Actor in a Musical: Matthew William Chizever, Cannibal! The Musical, The Promethean Theatre; Robert Creighton, Cagney, Florida Stage; David Michael Felty, Les Miserables, Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre; Mark A. Harmon, A Little Night Music, Broward Stage Door; Brad Oscar, Barnum, Maltz Jupiter Theatre
Best Actress in a Musical: Natalie Venetia Belcon, Vices: A Love Story, Caldwell Theatre Company; Misty Cotton, Barnum, Maltz Jupiter Theatre; Jodie Langel, Evita, Maltz Jupiter Theatre; Kimberley Xavier Martins, A Little Night Music, Broward Stage Door; Holly Shunkey, Vices: A Love Story, Caldwell Theatre Company
Best Supporting Actor in a Musical: Darrin Baker, Cagney, Florida Stage; Marcus Bellamy, Vices: A Love Story, Caldwell Theatre Company; Nathanial Braga, Barnum, Maltz Jupiter Theatre; Gary Marachek, Les Miserables, Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre; Rudy Martinez, Evita, Maltz Jupiter Theatre
Best Supporting Actress in a Musical: Katherine Amadeo, Cannibal! The Musical, The Promethean Theatre; Miki Edelman, A Little Night Music, Broward Stage Door; Gwen Hollander, Les Miserables, Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre; Melissa Minyard, Les Miserables, Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre; Margot Moreland, Les Miserables, Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
Best Musical Direction: Eric Alsford, Les Miserables, Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre; Helen Gregory, Barnum, Maltz Jupiter Theatre; Helen Gregory, Evita, Maltz Jupiter Theatre; Christopher McGovern, Cagney, Florida Stage; Jon Rose, Vices: A Love Story, Caldwell Theatre Company
Best Choreography: Chrissi Ardito, Bubbling Brown Sugar, Broward Stage Door; Chrissi Ardito, Cannibal! The Musical, The Promethean Theatre; AC Ciulla, Vices: A Love Story, Caldwell Theatre Company; Joshua Rhodes, Barnum, Maltz Jupiter Theatre; Jeff Shade, Cagney, Florida Stage
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Trinity Rep's 2011-12 season:
* His Girl Friday, Sept. 9-Oct. 9
* Clybourne Park, Oct. 14-Nov. 13
* A Christmas Carol, Nov. 18-Dec. 30
* It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, Dec. 9-31
* The Merchant of Venice, Feb. 3-March 4, 2012
* Boeing, Boeing, April 13-May 13, 2012
* Three by Three in Rep: Sparrow Grass, Love Alone and The Mourner's Bench, Feb. 16-May27, 2012
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