The Light in the Piazza

Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook returns in January for its eleventh season celebrating the diversity of American popular song. For 17 nights of pop, folk, cabaret, R&B, country, rock, show tunes, bluegrass and multimedia, the series will explore the best of the golden age of musical standards through to today's most dynamic contemporary songwriting. The 2009 season - January 14 through March 6 - will bring to the stage some of today's most gifted interpreters of song, including top vocalist Kurt Elling and country's winning Patty Loveless. It will feature the rare opportunity to hear Paulo Szot, star of Broadway's South Pacific, and film and stage star Alan Cumming, in intimate concert settings.

Rehearsals are now underway for the Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) New York premiere of PRAYER FOR MY ENEMY, a new play by two-time Tony Award nominee, Pulitzer Prize finalist and two-time Obie Award winner Craig Lucas (Small Tragedy at Playwrights Horizons, The Light in the Piazza, Prelude to a Kiss, Reckless, The Dying Gaul).

Visionary director Martha Clarke brings Hieronymus Bosch's provocative painting to life in Garden of Earthly Delights, exploring heaven, hell, and the beauty and sins amid, beginning performances Saturday, November 8 at Off-Broadway's Minetta Lane Theatre, 18 Minetta Lane.

Visionary director Martha Clarke brings Hieronymus Bosch's provocative painting to life in Garden of Earthly Delights, exploring heaven, hell, and the beauty and sins amid, beginning performances Saturday, November 8 at Off-Broadway's Minetta Lane Theatre, 18 Minetta Lane.

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) welcomes Jeff Harnar with critically acclaimed cabaret show THE 1959 BROADWAY SONGBOOK.

Starting Wednesday, November 5 at 10:00 AM, Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) will be accepting entries for its popular LIVEforFIVE online lottery for $5 tickets to its next production, the New York premiere of PRAYER FOR MY ENEMY.

The North American tour of WICKED, Broadway's biggest blockbuster, welcomes Donna Vivino as Elphaba starting tomorrow, November 5th at The Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis.

Broadway's Aaron Lazar will guest star on the Thursday, December 4th episode of the ABC hit sitcom 'Ugly Betty', he'll be playing the role of 'Claudio'. The episode airs at 8pm (EST).

Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) New York premiere of PRAYER FOR MY ENEMY began previews on November 14th. The new play is by two-time Tony Award nominee, Pulitzer Prize finalist and two-time Obie Award winner Craig Lucas (Small Tragedy at Playwrights Horizons, The Light in the Piazza, Prelude to a Kiss, Reckless, The Dying Gaul).

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) announced today that A FREE MAN OF COLOR, the world premiere play by John Guare scheduled for late winter, has been postponed due to a loss of significant individual funding and a few key donations brought on by the current economic climate. The Public is still committed to producing this monumental play and expects to be mounting it next season.

Ventura's new holiday tradition 'A RUBICON FAMILY CHRISTMAS' Conceived and Directed by Brian McDonald With Musical Arrangements by Steven Cahill Opens Saturday, December 6th at the Rubicon Theater in Ventura! Move over Scrooge...here comes Santa Claus! From December 4 through December 28, Rubicon Theatre Company swings and sings its way through the holidays with the delightful musical presentation of A Rubicon Family Christmas. Enjoy complementary warm cider and sweet treats as the stellar cast of Broadway performers and a choir of the region's brightest young stars serenade you with fanciful renditions of traditional Christmas classics and favorite holiday songs. This magical concert, framed in a glorious wintery wonderland is sure to bring a smile to the face and warmth to the heart.

Previews will begin tomorrow, Friday, November 14 at 8PM for the Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) New York premiere of PRAYER FOR MY ENEMY, a new play by two-time Tony Award nominee, Pulitzer Prize finalist and two-time Obie Award winner Craig Lucas (Small Tragedy at Playwrights Horizons, The Light in the Piazza, Prelude to a Kiss, Reckless, The Dying Gaul).

Previews will begin today, Friday, November 14 at 8PM for the Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) New York premiere of PRAYER FOR MY ENEMY, a new play by two-time Tony Award nominee, Pulitzer Prize finalist and two-time Obie Award winner Craig Lucas (Small Tragedy at Playwrights Horizons, The Light in the Piazza, Prelude to a Kiss, Reckless, The Dying Gaul).

The new Broadway production of GUYS AND DOLLS has launched the show's official website. The first joint Broadway project by two-time Tony Award winning director Des McAnuff and choreographer Sergio Trujillo since their collaboration on the Tony Award winning musical Jersey Boys, GUYS AND DOLLS will begin previews on February 3, 2009 at Broadway's newly refurbished Nederlander Theatre (208 West 41st Street). Opening Night is March 1, 2009.

In its Los Angeles Regional Premiere, the Tony Award winning musical The Light In The Piazza will open at the Covina Center for the Performing Arts on January 23, 2009. The Covina Center for the Performing Arts is proud to present a brand new production of this Tony award winning musical, directed by Brady Schwind.

Variety is reporting that FOX has picked up 13 episodes of the hourlong comedy from 'Nip/Tuck' creator Ryan Murphy. Fox hopes to schedule the show -- which is set in the world of high school glee clubs -- as soon as this spring, in order to take advantage of the 'American Idol' lead in reports the entertainment publication.

Shoshana Bean (Broadway and LA 'Wicked'), Rex Smith ('Pirates of Penzanze', 'Sunset Boulevard', 'Scarlet Pimpernel'), Eric Kunze ('Miss Siagon', 'Les Miserables', 'Damn Yankees'), Marissa Perry ('Hairspray'), Lindsay Mendez ('Grease'), Terron Brooks ( 'The Lion King' and NBC-TV's movie 'The Temptations') and Tony-nominated actors Cathy Rigby ('Peter Pan', 'Seussical') and Jonelle Allen ('Two Gentlemen of Verona') will join 40 talented students from The California Conservatory of the Arts and its sister school, The McCoy Rigby Dance Academy, in 'Defying Gravity --- The Music and Lyrics of Stephen Schwartz' for two performances, January 24 and 25, at the Irvine Barclay Theatre on the campus of the University of California, Irvine.

The box office will open today, Monday, January 5, 2009 for the new Broadway production of GUYS AND DOLLS. The first joint Broadway project by two-time Tony Award winning director Des McAnuff and choreographer Sergio Trujillo since their collaboration on the Tony Award winning musical Jersey Boys, GUYS AND DOLLS will begin previews on February 3, 2009 at Broadway's newly refurbished Nederlander Theatre (208 West 41st Street). Opening Night is March 1, 2009.

Artistic Director, Brady Schwind announced full casting today for the Neighborhood Playhouse's West Coast Premiere production of Charles Busch's acclaimed new comedy, OUR LEADING LADY. The production opens the Neighborhood Playhouse's 2009 season, running February 19 - March 8. Reserved tickets are $22-34 and are available by calling 310.378.9353 or online at www.neighborhoodplayhouse.net A critical and audience hit in its initial run at New York's Manhattan Theatre Club, The Playhouse production marks the first major regional staging of this demanding and hilarious new comedy (from Charles Busch, the outrageous mind behind PSYCHO BEACH PARTY, SHANGHAI MOON and THE TALE OF THE ALERGIST'S WIFE) which gives whole new meaning to the quip: 'other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?...' April, 1865. The week the Civil War Ends, legendary actress Laura Keene has only one ambition. President Lincoln simply must attend her closing night performance at the Ford's Theatre! Her only obstacle - the hackneyed group of supporting players she's been saddled with. As Laura moves ruthlessly towards her goal, she and her theatrical troupe must face an inevitable collision with history. 'Hilarious, delicious fun,' cheered the New York Times of the original New York production. 'A testament to playwright Charles Bush's belief that theatre can and should reflect the human comedy at its most ridiculous and its most uplifting.'

La Jolla Playhouse productions heading for national exposure fared well as the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle on Monday, Jan. 26, 2009, presented the annual Craig Noel Awards for Theatrical Excellence, honoring the best local stage work of 2008. Noel, the 93-year-old founding director of the Old Globe Theatre, was in attendance for his namesake awards, which were presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, in La Jolla, attended by some 350 theater industry members and supporters. Moises Kaufman's '33 Variations,' about to open on Broadway with Jane Fonda in the lead role, was honored for David Lander's lighting and Derek McLane's set. The Playhouse's premiere of Joe DiPietro and David Bryan's 'Memphis' (now in production at Seattle's Fifth Avenue Theatre) was honored as outstanding new musical and for Chad Kimball's lead performance. A fresh staging of 'Xanadu,' which Playhouse artistic director Christopher Ashley first directed on Broadway, was named outstanding resident musical, and Bill T. Jones won for his choreography in the Playhouse's hip-hop musical 'The Seven.' Old Globe productions garnered four mentions, including Steven Drukman's boxing-themed drama about Joe Louis, 'In This Corner,' which was named outstanding new play. 'Dancing in the Dark,' a debut musical with Broadway aspirations (based on the classic film 'The Band Wagon'), won for Patrick Page's featured performance and Larry Hochman's orchestrations. A revival of 'The Women,' directed by Old Globe resident artistic director Darko Tresnjak, was honored for Anna Oliver's costumes. And the national touring production of 'Spring Awakening,' produced by Broadway/San Diego, a Nederlander Organization, won for best touring show.

On March 12, 2009 at 7:00 p.m., The Collegiate Chorale appears with The New York City Opera Orchestra at the newly renovated Alice Tully Hall in a performance of Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin's 1945 Broadway operetta The Firebrand of Florence. The performance, led by guest conductor Ted Sperling, stars baritone Nathan Gunn, soprano Anna Christy, baritone Terrence Mann, and soprano Victoria Clark. Krysty Swann, David Pittu and Patrick Goss complete the cast, and narration will be provided by Stage Director Roger Rees. Boasting a score by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and a book by playwright and screenwriter Edwin Justus Mayer, The Firebrand of Florence had a short run on Broadway in 1945. The work was subsequently not heard for over a half-century until three presentations - Ohio Light Opera (1999), the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London (2000) and the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vienna (2000) - shed new light on the relatively obscure work. The performances were not only accepted, but widely acclaimed, thus giving hope for a new life in a new century. Variety's theater critic Steven Suskin says 'I have long believed that Firebrand in concert should be a dazzling delight.' Benvenuto Cellini, the great Florentine artist, is sentenced to hang, but he is pardoned when the duke realizes that he has not completed a previously commissioned sculpture. Freed, he is able to turn his attention to his favorite model (and object of his affections), Angela. The Duke also is interested in Angela. In a typical operetta plot, Cellini swashbuckles around the stage, keeping the Duke away from Angela, keeping himself away from the Duchess, and escaping yet another death sentence by fleeing to Paris, as the end of the show recapitulates the beginning.

Kelli O'Hara will make her Cafe Carlyle debut March 31. O'Hara is currently starring in the revival of South Pacific at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theater. According to the New York Times, O'Hara will play the Carlyle March 31-April 11. http://www.thecarlyle.com/entertainment.cfm Kelli O'Hara has appeared in The Pajama Game, The Light in the Piazza, Dracula, Sweet Smell of Success, Sondheim's Follies, and Jekyll and Hyde. Off-Broadway she has appeared in My Fair Lady, Sunday in the Park with George, My Life with Albertine and many more. Shes appeared on TV in Numb3rs and All My Children. It was recently announced that O'Hara will take a leave of absence from South Pacific in March as the actress and her husband are expecting their first child. The Caf? Carlyle is located in The Carlyle Hotel at 35 East 76th Street at Madison Avenue. For reservations call (212) 744-1600 or visit www.thecarlyle.com.

Shoshana Bean (Broadway and LA 'Wicked'), Rex Smith ('Pirates of Penzanze', 'Sunset Boulevard', 'Scarlet Pimpernel'), Eric Kunze ('Miss Siagon', 'Les Miserables', 'Damn Yankees'), Marissa Perry ('Hairspray'), Lindsay Mendez ('Grease'), Terron Brooks ( 'The Lion King' and NBC-TV's movie 'The Temptations') and Tony-nominated actors Cathy Rigby ('Peter Pan', 'Seussical') and Jonelle Allen ('Two Gentlemen of Verona') will join 40 talented students from The California Conservatory of the Arts and its sister school, The McCoy Rigby Dance Academy, in 'Defying Gravity --- The Music and Lyrics of Stephen Schwartz' for two performances, January 24 and 25, at the Irvine Barclay Theatre on the campus of the University of California, Irvine.

In its Los Angeles Regional Premiere, the Tony Award winning musical The Light In The Piazza will open at the Covina Center for the Performing Arts on January 23, 2009. The Covina Center for the Performing Arts is proud to present a brand new production of this Tony award winning musical. The Light In The Piazza takes place in Italy in the summer of 1953. Margaret Johnson, the wife of an American businessman, is touring the Tuscan countryside with her daughter, Clara. While sightseeing, Clara - a beautiful, surprisingly childish young woman - loses her hat in a sudden gust of wind. As if guided by an unseen hand, the hat lands at the feet of Fabrizio Naccarelli, a handsome Florentine, who returns it to Clara. This brief episode, charged with coincidence and fate, sparks an immediate and intense romance between Clara and Fabrizio. Margaret, extremely protective of her daughter, attempts to keep Clara and Fabrizio apart. As the story unfolds, a secret is revealed. In addition to the cultural differences between the young lovers, Clara is not all that she appears to be. Unable to suppress the truth about her daughter, Margaret is forced to reconsider not only Clara's future, but her own. Directed by Brady Schwind. The Light In The Piazza will feature Brooke Tansley as Clara Johnson (Broadway: Belle in Beauty In The Beast, Penny Pingleton in Hairspray); Christopher Callen as Margaret Johnson (Broadway: Fiona in Brigadoon, Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof with Zero Mostel, Lend Me A Tenor and 1776); and Craig D'Amico (Broadway: Tommy Keeler in Annie Get Your Gun with Reba McEntire, Vladek in Fiddler On The Roof with Harvey Fierstein) as Fabrizio Naccarelli in their CCPA debuts. Joining this trio of Broadway performers will be David Fairchild (Signor Naccarelli); Lois Bourgon (Signora Naccarelli); Eric Snodgrass (Giuseppe Naccarelli); Abigail Kinnahan (Franca Naccarelli); and Michael Tatlock (Roy Johnson). Mark Gamez, Matt Ervien, Karin Frasier, Marisa Copeland, Taylor Tracey and Madelyn Jones comprise The Light In The Piazza ensemble.

In its Los Angeles Regional Premiere, the Tony Award winning musical The Light In The Piazza will open at the Covina Center for the Performing Arts on January 23, 2009. The Covina Center for the Performing Arts is proud to present a brand new production of this Tony award winning musical, directed by Brady Schwind.

In its Los Angeles Regional Premiere, the Tony Award winning musical The Light In The Piazza will open at the Covina Center for the Performing Arts on January 23, 2009.

In its Los Angeles Regional Premiere, the Tony Award winning musical The Light In The Piazza will open at the Covina Center for the Performing Arts on January 23, 2009. The Covina Center for the Performing Arts is proud to present a brand new production of this Tony award winning musical. The Light In The Piazza takes place in Italy in the summer of 1953. Margaret Johnson, the wife of an American businessman, is touring the Tuscan countryside with her daughter, Clara. While sightseeing, Clara - a beautiful, surprisingly childish young woman - loses her hat in a sudden gust of wind. As if guided by an unseen hand, the hat lands at the feet of Fabrizio Naccarelli, a handsome Florentine, who returns it to Clara. This brief episode, charged with coincidence and fate, sparks an immediate and intense romance between Clara and Fabrizio. Margaret, extremely protective of her daughter, attempts to keep Clara and Fabrizio apart. As the story unfolds, a secret is revealed. In addition to the cultural differences between the young lovers, Clara is not all that she appears to be. Unable to suppress the truth about her daughter, Margaret is forced to reconsider not only Clara's future, but her own. Directed by Brady Schwind. The Light In The Piazza will feature Brooke Tansley as Clara Johnson (Broadway: Belle in Beauty In The Beast, Penny Pingleton in Hairspray); Christopher Callen as Margaret Johnson (Broadway: Fiona in Brigadoon, Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof with Zero Mostel, Lend Me A Tenor and 1776); and Craig D'Amico (Broadway: Tommy Keeler in Annie Get Your Gun with Reba McEntire, Vladek in Fiddler On The Roof with Harvey Fierstein) as Fabrizio Naccarelli in their CCPA debuts. Joining this trio of Broadway performers will be David Fairchild (Signor Naccarelli); Lois Bourgon (Signora Naccarelli); Eric Snodgrass (Giuseppe Naccarelli); Abigail Kinnahan (Franca Naccarelli); and Michael Tatlock (Roy Johnson). Mark Gamez, Matt Ervien, Karin Frasier, Marisa Copeland, Taylor Tracey and Madelyn Jones comprise The Light In The Piazza ensemble.

Kelli O'Hara, the Tony nominated star of South Pacific is has a new 'production' in the works that will demand she take leave from the Lincoln Center hit starting in March, she is expecting her first child with husband Greg Naughton. No exact date has been announced for her departure, but production representatives confirmed the news of her upcoming exit. The hope is that she will return to the production at a future date after her leave of absence. She married her husband in 2007, an actor and the son of Tony winning actor James Naughton. Kelli O'Hara was nominated for a TONY for her current role as Nellie Forbush in South Pacific. She was also TONY nominated for The Pajama Game opposite Harry Connick Jr. (Tony, Drama Desk, OCC nominations) and The Light in the Piazza (Tony and OCC nominations). Other Broadway credits include Sweet Smell of Success opposite John Lithgow, Sondheim's Follies, Dracula, and Jekyll & Hyde. She recently released her first album Wonder in the World on Ghostlight Records.

It was announced today that Marin Ireland, Steven Pasquale, Piper Perabo and Thomas Sadoski will comprise the four-person cast of this season's production of Neil LaBute's new play, reasons to be pretty, under the direction of Terry Kinney. Perabo and Sadoski appeared in this summer's smash Off Broadway world premiere for MCC Theater, with Ireland and Pasquale slated to join the cast for the Broadway production. Preview performances begin Friday, March 13, 2009 at the Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street) with an official opening night scheduled for Thursday, April 2, 2009. Tickets are on sale now through www.telecharge.com. reasons to be pretty confronts America's obsession with physical beauty headlong. In Neil LaBute's new play, Greg's (Sadoski) tight-knit social circle is thrown into turmoil when his off-handed remarks about a female co-worker's pretty face (and his girlfriend's lack thereof) get back to said girlfriend (Ireland). But that's just the beginning.

Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook returns in January for its eleventh season celebrating the diversity of American popular song. For 17 nights of pop, folk, cabaret, R&B, country, rock, show tunes, bluegrass and multimedia, the series will explore the best of the golden age of musical standards through to today's most dynamic contemporary songwriting. The 2009 season - January 14 through March 6 - will bring to the stage some of today's most gifted interpreters of song, including top vocalist Kurt Elling and country's winning Patty Loveless. It will feature the rare opportunity to hear Paulo Szot, star of Broadway's South Pacific, and film and stage star Alan Cumming, in intimate concert settings.

The first joint Broadway project by two-time Tony Award winning director Des McAnuff and choreographer Sergio Trujillo since their collaboration on the Tony Award winning musical Jersey Boys, GUYS AND DOLLS will now begin previews on February 4, 2009 at Broadway's newly refurbished Nederlander Theatre (208 West 41st Street). Opening Night is March 1, 2009.

Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) New York premiere of PRAYER FOR MY ENEMY, a new play by two-time Tony Award nominee, Pulitzer Prize finalist and two-time Obie Award winner Craig Lucas (Small Tragedy at Playwrights Horizons, The Light in the Piazza, Prelude to a Kiss, Reckless, The Dying Gaul) officially opens tonight Off-Broadway.

Ventura's new holiday tradition 'A RUBICON FAMILY CHRISTMAS' Conceived and Directed by Brian McDonald With Musical Arrangements by Steven Cahill Opens Saturday, December 6th at the Rubicon Theater in Ventura! Move over Scrooge...here comes Santa Claus! From December 4 through December 28, Rubicon Theatre Company swings and sings its way through the holidays with the delightful musical presentation of A Rubicon Family Christmas. Enjoy complementary warm cider and sweet treats as the stellar cast of Broadway performers and a choir of the region's brightest young stars serenade you with fanciful renditions of traditional Christmas classics and favorite holiday songs. This magical concert, framed in a glorious wintery wonderland is sure to bring a smile to the face and warmth to the heart.

In its Los Angeles Regional Premiere, the Tony Award winning musical The Light In The Piazza will open at the Covina Center for the Performing Arts on January 23, 2009.

According to the web site for the Lincoln Center Theater (under the direction of Andre Bishop, Artistic Director, and Bernard Gersten, Executive Producer) it's new production of August Wilson's award-winning play Joe Turner's Come And Gone has finally found a home - at Broadway's Belasco Theater. The show will open on April 16, 2009, with previews beginning March 19, 2009.

The producers of Garden of Earthly Delights have announced that the show has extended its run through Sunday, March 1 at the Minetta Lane Theatre (18 Minetta Lane).

Betsy Morgan, who recently performed the role of Ariel in Broadway's The Little Mermaid, will joins the cast of the Off Broadway revival of The Fantasticks as Luisa tonight Monday, December 22, 2008. She replaces Margaret Anne Florence, who played her final performance on Wednesday, December 17.

Visionary director Martha Clarke brings Hieronymus Bosch's provocative painting to life in Garden of Earthly Delights, exploring heaven, hell, and the beauty and sins amid, began performances Saturday, November 8 at Off-Broadway's Minetta Lane Theatre, 18 Minetta Lane.

Variety is reporting that FOX has picked up 13 episodes of the hourlong comedy from 'Nip/Tuck' creator Ryan Murphy. Fox hopes to schedule the show -- which is set in the world of high school glee clubs -- as soon as this spring, in order to take advantage of the 'American Idol' lead in reports the entertainment publication.

Betsy Morgan, who recently performed the role of Ariel in Broadway's The Little Mermaid, will join the cast of the Off Broadway revival of The Fantasticks as Luisa on Monday, December 22, 2008. She replaces Margaret Anne Florence, who will play her final performance on Wednesday, December 17.

Producer Howard Panter for Ambassador Theatre Group and co-producers Tulchin/Bartner/Jenkins, Bill Kenwright, Northwater Entertainment, Darren Bagert, and Tom Gregory announced the complete cast and design team for the new Broadway production of the greatest musical comedy GUYS AND DOLLS. The first joint Broadway project by two-time Tony Award winning director Des McAnuff and choreographer Sergio Trujillo since their collaboration on the Tony Award winning musical Jersey Boys, GUYS AND DOLLS will begin previews on February 3, 2009 at Broadway's newly refurbished Nederlander Theatre (208 West 41st Street). Opening Night is March 1, 2009.

The Canadian Premiere of Adam Guettel's Myths and Hymns will replace the previously announced Rob Roy (In Concert) in Talk Is Free Theatre's (TIFT) current season. There will be a limited three- performance run at Gryphon Theatre in Barrie on March 25 and 26, 2009.

Lincoln Center Theater (under the direction of Andre Bishop, Artistic Director, and Bernard Gersten, Executive Producer) has announced that it will present a new production of August Wilson's award-winning play Joe Turner's Come And Gone, to be directed by Bartlett Sher this spring , while its production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific continues its run at the Vivian Beaumont Theater.