Ethan McSweeny News

The Willard Suitcases, a new musical by Julianne Wick Davis, makes its world premiere debut at the American Shakespeare Center on October 4, directed by Ethan McSweeny and featuring Nancy Anderson (Wonderful Town Broadway, Kiss Me Kate West End). Inspired by Jon Crispin's photographs of suitcases discovered abandoned in the derelict Willard Asylum, Davis' song-cycle imagines the lives of the patients who packed those bags.

2014 Wall Street Journal director of the year Eric Tucker brings his irreverent embrace of Shaw's whimsy to American Shakespeare Center (ASC) with a production of Caesar and Cleopatra sure to leave audiences breathless with laughter and enthralled by the ensemble's imagination and versatility.

2014 Wall Street Journal director of the year Eric Tucker brings his irreverent embrace of Shaw's whimsy to American Shakespeare Center (ASC) with a production of Caesar and Cleopatra sure to leave audiences breathless with laughter and enthralled by the ensemble's imagination and versatility.

In a Sunday presentation broadcast from the stage of the Blackfriars Playhouse - the world's only recreation of Shakespeare's indoor theatre - American Shakespeare Center (ASC) Artistic Director Ethan McSweeny announced the fifteen plays produced over three distinct seasons that will comprise the company's 2020 artistic programming, his second year and first full season at the helm.

The American Shakespeare Center (ASC) welcomes guests for a special destination weekend August 9-11 when George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra joins Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra to complete the three-part Roman adventure at the Blackfriars Playhouse.

The American Shakespeare Center (ASC) announces their ensemble for the 2019 Summer Festival Season which runs at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton, Va, June 25 - September 1. The season features three plays in repertory: Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and Antony & Cleopatra, and George Bernard Shaw's Caesar & Cleopatra.

It's easy to see why 'Tosca' is one of the most popular works in opera.Its very musical style, broken free from the strict opera house rules before it, allows it to breathe. Singers are not urgently singing every moment. The supertitles person can take a break as it goes dark from time to time. Still, there is drama to burn in the story of an opera singer in the midst of a divided Italy in 1800.

Puccini's story of the strong-willed diva returns to the Kennedy Center stage in WNO's Tosca, from May 11 25, 2019. Tickets start at $35.

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF), the not-for-profit foundation of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), has appointed Rebecca Hewett as its Executive Director beginning May 13, 2019.

After an acclaimed run in London's West End, the Sheen Center for Thought & Culture presents the American premiere production of Stephen Unwin's new play, All Our Children. Now playing in a limited five-week engagement through May 12 at The Sheen Center (18 Bleecker Street at the corner of Elizabeth Street, NYC) in the Black Box Theater. The official opening is Sunday, April 14 at 3PM.

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF), the not-for-profit foundation of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), will host a One-on-One conversation entitled "State of the Art: Directing Shakespeare in America," moderated by Ethan McSweeny (Artistic Director of American Shakespeare Center), with luminary directors Erica Schmidt and Davis McCallum, on Monday, April 8, from 6:00-8:00PM at Sunlight Studios, 321 W. 44th Street, 2nd Floor, Studio D. The One-on-One series of conversations, presented by SDCF, features prominent artists offering rare insights into the creative process and personal experience of forging an artistic career.

After an acclaimed run in London's West End, the Sheen Center for Thought & Culturepresents the American premiere production of Stephen Unwin's new play, All Our Children beginning this weekend, Saturday, April 6 at 8PM. Tony Award® winner John Glover (Saint Joan, The Drowsy Chaperone,Love! Valour! Compassion! on Broadway; TV's 'Smallville') is featured in a company including Jennifer Dundas (The Little Foxes, Arcadia on Broadway), Karl Kenzler (Fiddler on the Roof, You Can't Take It With You on Broadway; 'Law & Order,' 'House of Cards'), Tasha Lawrence ('The Looming Tower,' Hulu; 'Royal Pains') and Sam Lilja (The Iceman Cometh on Broadway). Directed by Ethan McSweeny (Gore Vidal's The Best Man, A Time to Kill on Broadway), All Our Children plays a limited five-week engagement through May 12 at The Sheen Center (18 Bleecker Street at the corner of Elizabeth Street, NYC) in the Black Box Theater.  The official opening is Sunday, April 14 at 3PM.

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF), the not-for-profit foundation of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), last night presented the 2019 'Mr. Abbott' Award Gala, hosted by SDC Member, and Tony Award winner David Hyde Pierce. In addition, SDC Member, 2015 'Mr. Abbott' Award recipient, and Tony Award winner James Lapine presented a special 'Mr. Abbott' Award to Victoria Traube. 

After an acclaimed run in London's West End, the Sheen Center for Thought & Culturewill present the American premiere production of Stephen Unwin's new play, All Our Children. Tony Award winner John Glover (Saint Joan, The Drowsy Chaperone, Love! Valour! Compassion! on Broadway; TV's 'Smallville') is featured in a company including Jennifer Dundas (The Little Foxes, Arcadia on Broadway), Karl Kenzler (Fiddler on the Roof, You Can't Take It With You on Broadway; 'Law & Order,' 'House of Cards'), Tasha Lawrence ('The Looming Tower,' Hulu; 'Royal Pains') and Sam Lilja (The Iceman Cometh on Broadway).

The American Shakespeare Center (ASC) Winter Season: The Actors' Renaissance began previews this past weekend of The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV, Part 1.

The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture has announced its 2019 winter/spring season, a rich program of theater, film, music, poetry, art, and talk events featuring artists and thought leaders including Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter;Tony Award winner Lena Hall; Grammy Award-winning musician and recording artist Eileen Ivers; Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award nomineeAlexander Gemignani;and journalist and former Wall Street Journal columnist Sohrab Ahmari.

Today's subject, Nancy Anderson, has been living her theater life on Broadway and in regional theaters for many years now. You can currently see her as the tight-fisted, but caring dance teacher Mrs. Wilkinson in Billy Elliot at Signature Theatre. The production plays through January 6, 2019 in the MAX space. Directed and choreographed by Signature Theatre's Associate Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner, it very well may be the largest production the company has presented to date.

The American Shakespeare Center (ASC) commemorates three decades of Shakespeare by honoring Classical Theatre of Harlem Artistic Director Ty Jones and the Citizens of Staunton, Virginia at its 30th Anniversary Gala today, September 22 at the Blackfriars Playhouse and Stonewall Jackson Hotel. The celebration will include a diverse array of ASC artists ranging from members of the original Shenandoah Shakespeare Express touring company to recent ASC Theatre Camp students.

The American Shakespeare Center (ASC) commemorates three decades of Shakespeare by honoring Classical Theatre of Harlem Artistic Director Ty Jones and the Citizens of Staunton, Virginia at its 30th Anniversary Gala on Saturday, September 22 at the Blackfriars Playhouse and Stonewall Jackson Hotel. The celebration will include a diverse array of ASC artists ranging from members of the original Shenandoah Shakespeare Express touring company to recent ASC Theatre Camp students.