Ann Noble News

?For the first time in the 35-year history of Jane Wagner's iconic play The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, the author and her creative and life partner Lily Tomlin have given their approval for it to be reinvented as a fully staged production performed by a company of 12 actors as opposed to its original solo format.

?For the first time in the 35-year history of Jane Wagner's iconic play The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, the author and her creative and life partner Lily Tomlin have given their approval for it to be reinvented as a fully staged production performed by a company of 12 actors as opposed to its original solo format.

As it prepares to move to a newly renovated cultural arts complex in Glendale this fall, the Antaeus Theatre Company announces its final production in the North Hollywood space it has called home since 2007: A fully partner cast production ofHedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen's classic drama of passion and desperation, begins previews on May 26 with press openings (one for each cast) set for June 2 and June 3. Steven Robman directs.

Steven Robman's strong hand at brisky directing his very talented ensemble at a snappy pace makes this updated 19th century classic whizz by in its two-hour-and-twenty-minute length. Who knew Hedda Gabler was such a BITCH! As beautifully limmed by Jaimi Paige, her Hedda's the original Mean Girl.

As it prepares to move to a newly renovated cultural arts complex in Glendale this fall, the Antaeus Theatre Company announces its final production in the North Hollywood space it has called home since 2007: A fully partner cast production of Hedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen's classic drama of passion and desperation, begins previews today, May 26 with press openings (one for each cast) set for June 2 and June 3. Steven Robman directs.

As it prepares to move to a newly renovated cultural arts complex in Glendale this fall, the Antaeus Theatre Company announces its final production in the North Hollywood space it has called home since 2007: A fully partner cast production of Hedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen's classic drama of passion and desperation, begins previews on May 26 with press openings (one for each cast) set for June 2 and June 3. Steven Robman directs.

The answer to last year's question of whether the digital arts venture STAGE RAW could bring back its awards ceremony celebrating the best of LA's up-to-99-seat theaters, the answer is YES. STAGE RAW is pleased to announce the SECOND ANNUAL STAGE RAW LOS ANGELES THEATER AWARDS, championing the best work of 2015 in L.A.'s still-embattled theaters of up to 99-seats.

THE HOPE OF CHRISTMAS is a new collection of Christmas songs interpreted by multiplatinum-selling singer, Tony nominated actress, pianist and leading champion of the American songbook, Ann Hampton Callaway, with lyrics by two-time Emmy® Award winner William Schermerhorn, and featuring twenty-nine of the world's best jazz musicians, including Five Play, New York Voices, Hubert Laws, Claudio Roditi, Gerald Albright, The Ted Rosenthal Trio and more. The recording will be released on Friday, October 9 by the MCG Jazz record label (Marty Ashby, producer).

Tonight, December 1st at 7 pm at at Barnes & Noble located at 150 East 86th Street, Ann Hampton Callaway will perform selections from THE HOPE OF CHRISTMAS, a new collection of Christmas songs interpreted by the multiplatinum-selling singer, Tony nominated actress, pianist and leading champion of the American songbook, with lyrics by two-time Emmy Award winner William Schermerhorn. Schermerhorn will join Callaway in the discussion, with Alex Rybeck on piano.

On December 1st at 7 pm at at Barnes & Noble located at 150 East 86th Street, Ann Hampton Callaway will perform selections from THE HOPE OF CHRISTMAS, a new collection of Christmas songs interpreted by the multiplatinum-selling singer, Tony nominated actress, pianist and leading champion of the American songbook, with lyrics by two-time Emmy Award winner William Schermerhorn. Schermerhorn will join Callaway in the discussion, with Alex Rybeck on piano.

Nominees for the 2015 LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards were announced on Thursday, September 24 on @ This Stage Magazine [ThisStage.la]. This year's Ovation Awards ceremony will take place Monday, November 9 at the Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center. The curtain will rise at7:30pm.

All creative components align perfectly in Mike Kindle's Stanley Ann with the primary ingredient of this engrossing one-woman show - the luminous Ann Noble! Using her expressive face, her excellent line readings and her naturalistic miming; Noble allows the audience to actually see all the other characters in this play interacting with her. No easy feat that Noble consistently and seamlessly pulls it off!  Brava, Ms. Noble!

The Los Angeles LGBT Center, Victoria Mudd, and Elizabeth Yng-Wong have announced the world premiere production of Stanley Ann: The Unlikely Story of Barack Obama's Mother. The one-woman play, written by Mike Kindle and directed by Mark Bringelson, chronicles the life of Stanley Ann Dunham from her young adult years in Hawaii to her later professional life in Indonesia. Starring Ann Noble (The Goat or, Who Is Sylvia?), Stanley Ann will play two preview performances on July 7 and 8 at 8pm and opening is set for Thursday, July 9 at 8pm at the Center's Davidson/Valentini Theatre.

April 14, 2015…It was an awards show born in a moment of relevance. An electrified contingent of professional Los Angeles Intimate theater companies and their friends sold out Los Angeles theatre Center to support the first-everSTAGE RAW THEATRE AWARDS. Picking up where the LA WEEKLY Awards, left off, and hosted by the Celebration Theatre and the hilarious duo of Alec Mapa and Parvesh Cheena, it was a night to celebrate the best of 99-seat theatre and a rallying cry against the Equity proposal and referendum that is currently being voted on. Impassioned speeches were given by Steven Leigh Morris and Bill Raden to open the show, followed by an introduction of the original plaintiffs in the Equity wars of 30 years ago who all received a standing ovation. One of those plaintiffs, Gary Grossman, gave a rousing speech as he presented the "Queen of the Angels" award to Rebecca Metz, who brought down the house with her heartfelt message of community and standing up for what is right in the face of adversity. The emotion in the room was palpable from start to finish and it was a fitting start to a tradition that it sure to last for decades to come!

STAGE RAW is pleased to announce the FIRST ANNUAL STAGE RAW LOS ANGELES THEATER AWARDS, championing the best work of 2014 in L.A.'s now embattled theaters of up to 99-seats. (STAGE RAW is using the same jury that was assembled through 2014 for the now dearly departed LA WEEKLY Theater Awards.) Check out the full list of nominees below!

The Best in LA Theatre for 2014 (alphabetical listings; Equity, Equity-waiver & Non-Equity productions are mixed) (artists performing outside LA may be included in performance categories)

Ann Hampton Callaway will be performing selections from her latest CD 'From Sassy to Divine: The Sarah Vaughan Project' to Barnes & Noble at 86th & Lexington Ave, NYC, on Thursday, December 11 at 7 p.m.

Nothing like an idyllic family portrait (at left): father Martin (Paul Witten), mother Stevie (Ann Noble), son Billy (Spencer Morrissey) and close family friend Ross (Matt Kirkwood). They are what one might call perfect. They have everything and adore one another. Martin is a prize-winning architect, Stevie is his loyal, devoted mate, Billy, although a teenager and gay, is a good kid, who is encouraged by his parents to be who he is and to embrace it. Ross, a TV interviewer, is about to interview Martin about his recent award and turning 50, when the taping is botched by Martin's sudden inability to remember anything or to put a few words together intelligibly. He has a problem and who should he turn to but his best friend Ross. When Martin confides that he is having an 'affair' of sorts, Ross is shocked not only by the fact that Martin has always been completely faithful to Stevie, but by the new object of his affection. Martin is in love with a goat named Sylvia.

Samuel Goldwyn Films has entered an agreement with Shout! Factory to release the classic Lesley Ann Warren version of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella on home video. Cinderella comes to life in this 50th Anniversary Edition of the most beloved fairy tale of all time, now available on DVD from Shout! Factory. Warren was promoting the release of the DVD at Barnes & Noble yesterday and you can check out photos from inside the special event below!

Samuel Goldwyn Films has entered an agreement with Shout! Factory to release the classic Lesley Ann Warren version of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella on home video. Cinderella comes to life in this 50th Anniversary Edition of the most beloved fairy tale of all time, now available on DVD from Shout! Factory. Warren was promoting the release of the DVD at Barnes & Noble yesterday and you can check out photos from inside the performance below!