Paul Sportelli News

Due to huge popular demand for tickets to Stephen Fry's first UK tour in over 40 years - Mythos: A Trilogy - Gods. Heroes. Men. - an extra performance of 'Gods' will take place at London's Palladium on Tuesday 17 September. This trilogy of plays will see one of the country's most loved national treasures telling some of the world's greatest stories about Greek Gods, Heroes and Men whose gripping tales still echo today. Tickets are on sale now.

Viewing a new theatrical production is always an intriguing experience. This is especially true if the offering is a musical and has not had many workshops or readings. It is in these venues that the material is tested and adjusted based on reviewer and audience reactions.

After taking London's West End by storm, comedy thriller The Ladykillers makes its North American premiere under the direction of Artistic Director Tim Carroll. The Shaw Festival's production of Graham Linehan's stage adaptation - based on one of the best-loved British films of all time - begins previews tomorrow at the Festival Theatre.

The mystical land of BRIGADOON has emerged once again at Niagara on the Lake's Shaw Festival, and the now rarely produced musical still brings with it a sense of hope wrapped around Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's hauntingly beautiful lyrics and score. And while re-engaging with this Golden Age of Broadway classic brings with it a sense of familiarity, injecting new life into the work written in 1947 presents some obstacles.

Stephen Fry - one of the world's greatest storytellers - will embark on his first UK tour for nearly 40 years this summer in Mythos: A Trilogy - Gods. Heroes. Men. Opening at the Edinburgh International Festival on 19 August, this trilogy of plays will see one of the country's most loved national treasures telling some of the world's greatest stories about Greek Gods, Heroes and Men whose gripping tales still echo today. The tour continues across the UK until 23 September in Gateshead.

Tartan, kilts and braw melodies from the beloved romantic classic Lerner and Loewe's Brigadoon brings a wee bit of Scottish delight to The Shaw's Festival Theatre beginning May 5. The season's main stage musical, directed by Glynis Leyshon, with a revised book by Brian Hill; brilliantly brings the windswept wonder and ethereal charm of this enduring tale of love to life. A feast of song and dance, the Shaw Festival production also includes music direction by Paul Sportelli and choreography by Linda Garneau, with fight direction by John Stead.

Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith's gift to Baltimore/Washington theater patrons this season is just plain delightful.

Arena Stage presents Corbin Bleu (Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical; In the Heights; Disney Channel's High School Musical) as Billy Crocker and Soara-Joye Ross (Les Miserables, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess National Tour) as Reno Sweeney in Cole Porter's madcap seafaring musical, Anything Goes. Check out Corbin in photos from the shoe below!

Arena Stage presents Corbin Bleu as Billy Crocker and Soara-Joye Ross as Reno Sweeney in Cole Porter's madcap seafaring musical, Anything Goes. Check out the cast in action below!

Arena Stage presents Corbin Bleu (Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical; In the Heights; Disney Channel's High School Musical) as Billy Crocker and Soara-Joye Ross(Les Miserables, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess National Tour) as Reno Sweeney in Cole Porter's madcap seafaring musical, Anything Goes. Watch clips below!

Arena Stage presents  Cole Porter's madcap seafaring musical, Anything Goes, with music and lyrics by Porter; original book by P.G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton, with co-authors Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse; and new book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman.

Arena Stage's Anything Goes is pitch perfect for a world-weary DC audience.

Arena Stage presents Corbin Bleu (Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical; In the Heights; Disney Channel's High School Musical) as Billy Crocker and Soara-Joye Ross (Les Miserables, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess National Tour) as Reno Sweeney in Cole Porter's madcap seafaring musical, Anything Goes. Check out Corbin in photos from the shoe below!

Jay Turvey directs Alice the Magnet, an unsettling new comedy by Erin Courtney about a self-help guru whose vision for Utopia is threatened by an increasingly popular Trump-like demagogue. The Canadian Premiere of Alice the Magnet begins previews on November 28 at The Commons Theatre.

Arena Stage presents Corbin Bleu (Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical; In the Heights; Disney Channel's High School Musical) as Billy Crocker and Soara-Joye Ross (Les Miserables, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess National Tour) as Reno Sweeney in Cole Porter's madcap seafaring musical, Anything Goes.  Check out Corbin in rehearsal for the show below!

This week, Molly Smith and the cast of Anything Goes at Arena Stage chose to honor and support Indigenous Peoples' Day (Oct 8). Just as those at sea use Morse code to send SOS alerts, the cast of Anything Goes -- joined by Molly's partner, Suzanne Blue Star Boy -- taps out a call to action in the video below to bring awareness to the epidemic of murdered, kidnapped, and missing Native women in the United States and Canada:

Arena Stage is now hard at work in rehearsal for Cole Porter's madcap seafaring musical, Anything Goes, with music and lyrics by Porter; original book by P.G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton, with co-authors Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse; and new book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman.

Yesterday, fourth year students in Sheridan's renowned Honours Bachelor of Music Theatre Performance program began workshopping four new musicals as part of the Canadian Music Theatre Project (CMTP), an international centre of excellence for the development of new musicals at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario.

Arena Stage announces casting for Cole Porter's madcap seafaring musical, Anything Goes

Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith and Executive Director Edgar Dobie announce the 2018/19 season lineup for the company's 69th season. The season reflects Arena Stage's commitment to championing diverse voices and producing work that is politically and socially relevant.