Robert Wierzel News

New York City Opera today released full casting details for the 2009-2010 season, its first under the new leadership of General Manager and Artistic Director George Steel. The company will present five operas in 2009-2010, in fall and spring seasons, in the newly renovated David H. Koch Theater (formerly the New York State Theater).

Mint Theater Company today announced that its second offering of the season, So Help Me God! by Maurine Dallas Watkins (the author of Chicago, the play upon which the musical is based), will be directed by Mint Artistic Director Jonathan Bank, taking over for the previously announced Martin Platt, who has left the production for personal reasons.

As previously reported, My Girl's Anna Chlumsky and Kristen Johnston are set to headline the Mint Theater Company's SO HELP ME GOD! The Off-Broadway run, which will begin previews November 18th, opens officially at the Lucile Lortel Theatre Dec. 7 and runs through Dec. 20. Today, the full cast and creative team have been announced.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) kicks off the 2009/10 Subscription Series with Richard III, William Shakespeare's tale of a brilliant, scheming hunchback who murders and seduces his way to the English throne.

Jane Alexander and Stockard Channing will appear in Sir David Hare's witty and elegant 'The Breath of Life' at Westport Country Playhouse, September 29 through October 17. Mark Lamos, named artistic director in February 2009 at the historic theater in Westport, Connecticut, will direct. 'The Breath of Life' will be the final production in the Playhouse's six-play 2009 season.

Jane Alexander and Stockard Channing will appear in Sir David Hare's witty and elegant 'The Breath of Life' at Westport Country Playhouse, September 29 through October 17. Mark Lamos, named artistic director in February 2009 at the historic theater in Westport, Connecticut, will direct. 'The Breath of Life' will be the final production in the Playhouse's six-play 2009 season.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) kicks off the 2009/10 Subscription Series with Richard III, William Shakespeare's tale of a brilliant, scheming hunchback who murders and seduces his way to the English throne.

New York City Opera today released full casting details for the 2009-2010 season, its first under the new leadership of General Manager and Artistic Director George Steel. The company will present five operas in 2009-2010, in fall and spring seasons, in the newly renovated David H. Koch Theater (formerly the New York State Theater).

Glimmerglass Opera's 2009 summer Festival Season features Verdi's La Traviata; Rossini's retelling of the Cinderella story, La Cenerentola; Menotti's The Consul and dramatized concert performances of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, which will run in repertory in July and August in the company's Alice Busch Opera Theater.

Under the new leadership of General Manager and Artistic Director George Steel, and with all performances taking place in the newly renovated David H. Koch Theater (formerly the New York State Theater), New York City Opera will present five operas in 2009-2010, in fall and spring seasons. With repertoire that spans opera history from the early 18th to the late 20th centuries - including the premiere of a new production - the 2009-2010 season reaffirms the company's historic mission to present innovative productions, to champion contemporary works, to rediscover early and lesser-known operas, and to promote American artists.

The full cast and creative team details for The Alliance Theatre production of Jesus Christ Superstar GOSPEL was recently announced. Jesus Christ Superstar GOSPEL, a reconceived version of the Tim Rice-Andrew Lloyd Webber musical will be directed by Susan V. Booth and is set to run January 14-February 22, with an opening on January 21.

The full cast and creative team details for The Alliance Theatre production of Jesus Christ Superstar GOSPEL was recently announced. Jesus Christ Superstar GOSPEL, a reconceived version of the Tim Rice-Andrew Lloyd Webber musical will be directed by Susan V. Booth and is set to run January 14-February 22, with an opening on January 21.

Intellectualism gives way to emotion in Tom Stoppard's complex chronicle of the impact of Cold War politics and social revolution on life, love, and rock and roll

Pittsburgh Opera recently announced the world premiere of the revised version of 'The Grapes of Wrath,' a new opera based on John Steinbeck's novel, by Ricky Ian Gordon and Michael Korie. Taking place at the Benedum Center for the Peforming Arts, 'The Grapes of Wrath' will be performed on Saturday, November 15 at 8:00 p.m., Tuesday, November 18 at 7:00 p.m., Friday, November 21 at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday, November 23 at 2:00 p.m..

Westport Country Playhouse (Joanne Woodward and Anne Keefe, artistic directors, Jodi Schoenbrun Carter, managing director) will stage John Steinbeck's classic drama, 'Of Mice and Men,' directed by Mark Lamos. Peformances began October 7th and will run through November 1. Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 and the Pulitzer Prize for his 1939 novel 'The Grapes of Wrath.' The production will honor the late Paul Newman, who was married to Westport's Artistic Director Joanne Woodward and who participated in many Westport Playhouse productions.

Westport Country Playhouse (Joanne Woodward and Anne Keefe, artistic directors, Jodi Schoenbrun Carter, managing director) will stage John Steinbeck's classic drama, 'Of Mice and Men,' directed by Mark Lamos, October 7 through November 1. Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 and the Pulitzer Prize for his 1939 novel 'The Grapes of Wrath.'

Westport Country Playhouse (Joanne Woodward and Anne Keefe, artistic directors, Jodi Schoenbrun Carter, managing director) will stage John Steinbeck's classic drama, 'Of Mice and Men,' directed by Mark Lamos, October 7 through November 1. Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 and the Pulitzer Prize for his 1939 novel 'The Grapes of Wrath.'

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) launches its 2008-09 Season with Tom Stoppard's critically acclaimed Rock 'n' Roll in a West Coast premiere directed by Artistic Director Carey Perloff, who has had a celebrated artistic partnership with Stoppard for over a decade. A rapturous, decades-spanning tale of Prague's rock revolution, Rock 'n' Roll follows the passions and politics of a Marxist professor in Cambridge and his Rolling Stones-obsessed protege fighting for freedom in Soviet-dominated Czechoslovakia.

REVIEW: CENTERSTAGE's starry revival of A Little Night Music opens triumphantly in Baltimore.

New York City Opera's 64th season comes to a close with its final performing weeks, beginning with the revival of Bernstein's Candide opening on Tuesday, April 8 at 7:30PM. Mark Lamos' production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly continues with Yunah Lee as Cio-Cio San on Wednesday, March 26 at 7:30PM.