John Arnone News

Undermain Theatre presents GALILEO, Bertolt Brecht's masterpiece, which he translated in English in collaboration with Charles Laughton.  GALILEO will be produced at Undermain's home in Deep Ellum - 3200 Main St. with company member Bruce DuBose in the title role.  DuBose is a recipient of Best Actor awards from the Dallas Critics Forum, D Magazine and the Dallas Observer.  Directed by Undermain's Artistic Director, Katherine Owens, opening night will be Saturday, February 11th with a curtain time of 7:30 pm.  Preview performances will be on February 8th, 9th, and 10th at 7:30 pm. All preview performances are only $15. All evening show times are 7:30 pm with two Sunday matinee performances at 2:00 pm on February 19th and March 5th.  The production will run through March 5th.

Featuring a lively cast of dozens, delightful music, gorgeous costumes, and those deliciously spooky ghosts, the Bay Area's favorite holiday tradition returns with American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.)'s celebrated production of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol. Now in its 40th year, this version of A Christmas Carol-adapted by Paul Walsh and Carey Perloff-stays true to the heart of Dickens's timeless story of redemption and brings a playful sensibility to his rich language. A Christmas Carol runs November 25-December 24, 2016 at A.C.T.'s Geary Theater (415 Geary Street, San Francisco). 

LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT is being produced in Dallas for the first time in over two decades at the Undermain Theatre, 3200 Main Street, Deep Ellum.

Featuring a lively cast of dozens, delightful music, gorgeous costumes, and those deliciously spooky ghosts, the Bay Area's favorite holiday tradition returns with American Conservatory Theater's celebrated production of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol. Now in its 39th year, this version of A Christmas Carol-adapted by Paul Walsh and Carey Perloff-stays true to the heart of Dickens's timeless story of redemption and brings a playful sensibility to his rich language.

Two performances of Anna Deavere Smith's Notes from the Field: Doing Time in Education have been rescheduled: The Tuesday, July 21, 8pm performance has been rescheduled to Sunday, July 26 at 7pm. The Wednesday, July 22, 7pm performance has been rescheduled to Sunday, August 2, 7pm.

Geffen Playhouse has exciting news to announce. The critically acclaimed and popular production Bad Jews by Joshua Harmon and directed by Matt Shakman extends by one week through July 26.

Excessively harsh reality is at the core of most current popular dramedies as it is on television. A character cannot be rude or abrasive enough to arouse a viewer's attention or glean laughs. It's particularly characteristic of the irritating females who talk too fast, too loud and scream their shrewish lungs out. It makes me happy that I live alone; and yes, I do care and respect others and their feelings; but, being pleasant nowadays is considered boring and in drama, it will never win awards, so on with the show. In Joshua Harmon's Bad Jews currently onstage at the Geffen Playhouse there is such a character Daphna (Molly Ephraim), Hebrew for Diana, who with her two cousins Jonah (Raviv Ullman) and Liam (Ari Brand) are in New York to pay homage to their dead grandfather, their beloved Poppy, a Holocaust survivor. Daphna is referred to by Liam as a super Jew.

Geffen Playhouse welcomes Ari Brand (Broadway The Neil Simon Plays; Off-Broadway My Name is Asher Lev), Molly Ephraim (ABC's Last Man Standing, Broadway Into the Woods, Fiddler on the Roof; film Paranormal Activity), Lili Fuller (Hulu's Complete Works) and Raviv Ullman (Off-Broadway Sticks and Bones, title character in Disney's Phil of the Future) as the cast for its West Coast premiere production of Bad Jews by Joshua Harmon, directed by Matt Shakman, who is the artistic director of the Black Dahlia Theatre, a Geffen playhouse alumni (Good People, Wait Until Dark) and a noted television director (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Mad Men).

Today, June 12, Arts in Review welcomes Black Dahlia Theatre co-founder/director Matt Shakman and actress Molly Ephraim, discussing the off-Broadway hit comedy, Bad Jews, opening June 17 at Geffen Playhouse in Westwood.

Bad Jews runs tonight, June 9 through July 19, 2015 (opening night is June 17, 2015) in the Gil Cates Theater at the Geffen Playhouse.

Geffen Playhouse announces Ari Brand (Broadway The Neil Simon Plays; Off-Broadway My Name is Asher Lev), Molly Ephraim (ABC's Last Man Standing, Broadway Into the Woods, Fiddler on the Roof; film Paranormal Activity), Lili Fuller (Hulu's Complete Works) and Raviv Ullman (Off-Broadway Sticks and Bones, title character in Disney's Phil of the Future) as the cast for its West Coast premiere production of Bad Jews by Joshua Harmon, directed by Matt Shakman, who is the artistic director of the Black Dahlia Theatre, a Geffen playhouse alumni (Good People, Wait Until Dark) and a noted television director (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Mad Men).

Katherine Owens, Artistic Director of Undermain Theatre has released the season line-up for 2015-16 saying,  "We are now in our in 32nd year of exploring new writing and revisiting seminal modern works at the Undermain Theatre. Next season we will present a powerful season of premieres, monumental drama, and cutting edge performance with four mainstage productions, each a portrait of a family, bound by blood or by circumstance, confronting the forces of darkness. Two world-premieres bookend a regional premiere of one of the contemporary stage's leading theatrical voices and a masterwork of modern drama by a man some call the father of the American Theater."

Philadelphia Theatre Company's continues its 40th Anniversary season with the Tony Award-nominated play Mothers and Sons by Terrence McNally tonight, February 6, through March 8. Directed by Wendy Goldberg, the cast features Hugh Kennedy, Emmy Award-winning actress Michael Learned, James Lloyd Reynolds, and Patrick Gibbons and Jacob D. Wilner in alternating performances.

This month, Dallas Theater Center will produce the world premiere of the brand new musical Stagger Lee, book and lyrics by Meadows Prize recipient Will Power. Stagger Lee, which takes its title from the century-old folk song, is directed by Patricia McGregor with music by Will Power and Justin Ellington. Stagger Lee was partially developed in workshops in collaboration with the Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas as a part of Will Powers' Meadows Prize residency. Stagger Lee begins previews tonight, January 21 with a Pay-What-You-Can performance and runs through Sunday, February 15.

This January, Dallas Theater Center will produce the world premiere of the brand new musical Stagger Lee, book and lyrics by Meadows Prize recipient Will Power. Stagger Lee, which takes its title from the century-old folk song, is directed by Patricia McGregor with music by Will Power and Justin Ellington. Stagger Lee was partially developed in workshops in collaboration with the Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas as a part of Will Powers' Meadows Prize residency. Stagger Lee begins previews on Wednesday, January 21 with a Pay-What-You-Can performance and runs through Sunday, February 15. Tickets to Stagger Lee are on sale now at www.DallasTheatercenter.org.

Philadelphia Theatre Company's continues its 40th Anniversary season with the Tony Award-nominated play Mothers and Sons by Terrence McNally February 6-March 8. Directed by Wendy Goldberg, the cast features Hugh Kennedy, Emmy Award-winning actress Michael Learned, James Lloyd Reynolds, and Patrick Gibbons and Jacob D. Wilner in alternating performances.

Featuring a lively cast of dozens, delightful music, gorgeous costumes, and those deliciously spooky ghosts, the Bay Area's favorite holiday tradition returns with American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.)'s celebrated production of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol.

As part of their 31st season, Undermain Theatre is thrilled to bring the Regional Premiere of Meg Miroshnik's The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls to their home in Deep Ellum at 3200 Main Street. Performances will run tonight, November 11th through December 6th, 2014.

Featuring a lively cast of dozens, delightful music, gorgeous costumes, and those deliciously spooky ghosts, the Bay Area's favorite holiday tradition returns with American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.)'s celebrated production of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol.

As part of their 31st season, Undermain Theatre is thrilled to bring the Regional Premiere of Meg Miroshnik's The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls to their home in Deep Ellum at 3200 Main Street. Performances will run November 11th through December 6th, 2014.