You don’t have to be a Broadway baby to scratch your onstage acting itch. In fact, all around the country—and outside of it—there are bustling theater communities producing works so vibrant they’d have Edward Albee rolling over in his grave. Want in on that action? You’d be wise to know the ins and outs of industry happenings, and this is a good place to start: From across the pond and back again, here is the week’s biggest regional theater news.
Oh, hello again.
Nick Kroll and John Mulaney, who wrote and starred in Broadway’s “Oh, Hello,” are teaming up for another stage gig. The duo will lead a Los Angeles reading of “My Dinner With Andre,” based on the 1981 film of the same name. Presented by Film Independent, the March 19 event will take place at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are available to the public here.
Steppenwolf upholds its reputation.
Chicago’s renowned Steppenwolf Theatre Company has announced a seriously stacked slate for its 2019–20 season. Among the notable productions will be “Bug,” a new drama by Tracy Letts starring his wife Carrie Coon and directed by Tony winner David Cromer; Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney’s new play “The Brothers Size”; the Chicago premiere of “Dance Nation,” Clare Barron’s scathing coming-of-age drama; and “King James,” a new play by Rajiv Joseph about Lebron James, directed by Steppenwolf artistic director Anna D. Shapiro.
She’s Boston-bound.
Faye Dunaway will make a pitstop in Boston before heading back to Broadway. “Tea at Five,” the new play by Matthew Lombardo in which the Academy Award winner will portray Katharine Hepburn, will play Boston’s Huntington Theatre June 21–July 7. Directed by Tony nominee John Tillinger, the drama will arrive on Broadway later this year.
L.A. will get in on the Broadway action.
Also announcing its 2019–20 season, Center Theatre Group’s upcoming programming slate will include an eclectic mix of both plays and musicals. Among the lineup at the Ahmanson will be Sting’s “The Last Ship,” John Leguizamo’s recent Broadway hit “Latin History for Morons,” and Mike Birbiglia’s “The New One,” also late of Broadway. The season will also include “The Book of Mormon,” in its return to L.A., and the recent Broadway revival of “Once on This Island.” The previously-announced L.A. run of “Torch Song,” which shuttered prematurely on Broadway this season, is no longer on the scheduling slate.
A new kind of “Chorus Line.”
Tony nominee Antonio Banderas will both star in and co-direct a Spanish language production of “A Chorus Line” in Spain this coming fall. The reimagined Marvin Hamlisch musical will be part of the inaugural season of Banderas’ own 900-seat theater Teatro del Soho Caixabank in Spain. Performances will begin in October, with exact dates to-be-announced.
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