A.R.T.

Artist and theorist Martin Mugar is taking a break from his usual beat to explore the philosophical nuances and cult implications of watching Westerns. The discourse ranges from Hopalong Cassidy, to the Marklborough Man as a hacking and coughing paradigm of manhood, and the ultra vi of Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch. Here he gets his kicks on Route 66. With a left turn through Monument Valley.

The American Repertory Theater/Moscow Art Theater School Institute for Advanced Theater Training announce the productions for the 2013/14 Season. From October 11 through May 30 in Cambridge, Mass.

Lyndon Johnson was one of our most provocative and contradictory presidents. A Southerner who tried to wipe out racial prejudice, a compromiser who only wanted to get his own way and a flawed individual who tried to make America a perfect union. All The Way is a Shakespearean drama that tells the story of the first year of LBJ's presidency with brilliant performances by Bryan Cranston as Johnson as well as by a host of supporting actors. It is a superb story of politics on the precipice and how compromise and cooperation by any means achieves political ends. It is a story set half a century ago that is a lesson for our own politically absurd times.

American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) has scheduled American Sign Language (ASL) interpreted performances and Audio Described performances for blind and low-visioned audiences during the A.R.T.’s 2013-14 Season. Bryan Cranston the star of the hit TV drama Breaking Bad plays President Lyndon B. Johnson in All The Way which opens the season in Cambridge on October 1.

Since seeing John Douglas Thompson in Othello at Shakespeare & Company in 2008 we have tried to see and talk about all of his performances. We met for lunch in Pittsfield to catch up on what will be a fully booked schedule of plays through January , 2015. This entails two Broadway plays and an Off Broadway production.. Thompson is widely regarded as among the foremost theatrical actors of his generation. This is part one of the latest dialogue.

Twenty three years ago Ed Herendeen left an administrative position at Williamstown Theatre Festival to found Contemporary American Theatre Festival for Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. There out of the glare of the urban theatre world he has nurtured the creation of 100 new plays through commissions, premieres and second productions. He strives to create an environment which is review proof and writers are able to experiment without fear of failure.

The 66th Annual Tony Award Ceremony took place on CBS on Sunday, June 9, 2013. One of the most prestigious and coveted honors in the entertainment industry, the Tonys recognize the best of theatrical and artistic achievement on stage in America. This year Boston theatres won five awards. A.R.T.'s Pippin won four and the Huntington Theatre Company won for the Best Regional theatre. Well-deserved on all counts.

OBERON, the American Repertory Theater’s second stage and club theater venue, continues its mission to bring exciting and original programming. A destination for theater and nightlife on the fringe of Harvard Square, OBERON is the home of the A.R.T.’s hit productions of Pirates of Penzance, The Lily’s Revenge, Futurity, The Donkey Show, Cabaret, and Prometheus Bound and Ryan Landry’s Rocky Horror Show. OBERON is also a thriving incubator for local and visiting talent.

Surprise. Like every other regional theatre company Barrington Stage has scheduled Clybourne Park. What are the consequences when theatre companies all over America are presenting a short list of recent Broadway and Off Broadway plays and musicals? Does it mean a dumbing down of American Theatre with long term negative consequence?. Two of Barrington's productions this season On the Town and The Chosen have been recently presented by Boston's Lyric Stage.

Never expecting grandfather's version of the Pirates of Penzance at the American Repertory Theatre, this privateering musical crew gives a very different but rewarding production of the 19th Century English operetta gem. Set in an environment of a Tiki Bar married to a backyard lakeside pier with children's wading pools and and bamboo torches, ten performers go from badly dressed folksong singing beach goers to well-formed characters from the original production. Funny, lively and beautifully sung, this is a treat for the whole family.

OBERON, the American Repertory Theater’s second stage and club theater venue, continues its mission to bring exciting and original programming. A destination for theater and nightlife on the fringe of Harvard Square, OBERON is the home of the A.R.T.’s hit productions of Beowulf, The Lily’s Revenge, Futurity, The Donkey Show, Cabaret, and Prometheus Bound and Ryan Landry’s Rocky Horror Show,OBERON is also a thriving incubator for local and visiting talent.

The 2013/14 Season, includes the previously announced Robert Schenkkan’s play All the Way and the world premiere of the musical Witness Uganda. Also: All the Way – by Robert Schenkkan, The Heart of Robin Hood – by David Farr, The Light Princess – a family show for the holidays, The Shape She Makes – conceived by Susan Misner and Jonathan Bernstein, choreographed by Susan Misner; written and directed by Jonathan Bernstein and The Tempest – adapted and directed by Aaron Posner and Teller (of Penn & Teller).

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University has announced today that William Russo will join the institution as its new Managing Director, effective this July. Russo, who currently serves as the Managing Director of New York Theatre Workshop, will partner with A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus to manage the $13 million non-profit theater.

Transforming the Oberon into a cabaret/21st century mead hall, this very lyrical if not poetic version of the retelling of the Old English epic poem uses song, silliness and a great band to tell a story that we all mostly skimmed when we were assigned it in school. Grendel, his mother and Beowulf sing, dance, strut and fight their way through a poem that has been told for at least 1000 years. Using raw and rowdy songplay and featuring original music that combines Weimar cabaret, 40’s jazz harmony, punk, electronica and Romantic Lieder, the instrumentation and voices are marvelous. It isn't your English teacher's version of the epic.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University will present the world premiere of the musical Witness Uganda, created by Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews, and directed by A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus. The production will begin performances at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge in February of 2014.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) and Harvard University are proud to announce their participation in The National Civil War Project, an ambitious multi-city, multi-year collaboration of four universities and five performing arts organizations to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War, which launched today in Washington, D.C. Inspired by noted choreographer Liz Lerman, The National Civil War Project will include the commissioning of original theatrical works as well as the creation of new arts-integrated academic programs.

Perhaps Tennessee Williams' best work, the Glass Menagerie is starkly presented as an emotionally painful memory play that features the struggling writer Tom and his disfunctional small family. Cherry Jones is note perfect as mother Amanda. Tom is edgily performed by Zachary Quinto. Celia Keenan-Bolger poignantly plays sister Laura going in and out of her shell. A theatrical old chestnut with a new taste and dramatic spice, this is an as good as it gets Glass Menagerie. It should not be missed.

The American Repertory Theater/Moscow Art Theater School Institute for Advanced Theater Training continues its 2012-13 Season with Will Eno’s The Flu Season, directed by A.R.T. Institute director Marcus Stern. The production runs February 22, 23, 27, 28, March 1 and 2 at 7:30pm at the Zero Church Street Performance Space, Harvard Square, Cambridge. Admission in free.

For the second season in a row Williamstown Theatre Festival will premiere a film transformed into a musical. Last summer Kelli O'Hara starred in "Far From Heaven." She returns to the Berkshires in "The Bridges of Madison County." The film paired Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood,. A co star for O'Hara is yet to be announced.

From the first note of the overture to the final bow, this Diane Paulus directed revival of Pippin at A.R.T. is a magnetic effervescent theatrical treat. This is musical theatre as scrumptious life is a circus delight. Along with incredibly talented supporting players, Patina Miller, Andrea Martin and Matthew James Thomas bring athleticism, humor and just plain talent to a new interpretation of a now classic musical score and narrative. This is must-see before it goes to Broadway. There is Magic to do here.

This is a marathon performance by many gifted performers who sing, dance and do comedy schtick. The narrative theme is a theatrically variated and vegetative allegory for love without boundaries. Featuring a 30+ person ensemble, The Lily's Revenge integrates movement, film, performance art, and music into five unique acts that shatter cultural expectations and social norms. A sparkling theatrical experience that embraces the conflict of tradition and stability, love and fulfillment as well as transvestite flower girls and sexual mores.

Marie Antoinette at the A.R.T. is a quirky, surreal and profane tragicomedy that provides a look into the life of cake enthusiast and infamous queen starring a stunning Brooke Bloom as Marie. By David Adjimi, playwright of last year’s Off-Broadway phenomenon, Elective Affinities, A.R.T. presents this world premiere in a co-production with Yale Repertory Theatre. This is history drama as part rock opera, comedy and Samuel Becket surrealism with stream of consciousness autobiography thrown in for good measure. A brilliant theatrical event.

BFA welcomes a new contributor, Dr. Angelika Jansen, who is reporting here about a current Dance Festival, “Dance in August,” from Berlin, now in its 24th year. Various cultural organizations are sponsoring the performances all over the city. The guiding theme is based on the relationship of language and movement in the digital age.

In a storefront on Summer Street in Adams, Ma., formerly a clothing store, five years ago the multi media artists Matt Belanger and Marianne Petit opened the alternative Greylock Arts. This summer they are celebrating with an anniversary exhibition including many of the artists from New York and the Berkshires that have been included in their edgy program. Their alternative, artist run space, is, hands down, the best in the Berkshires.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.), Huntington Theatre Company, and the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston announce additional events and offerings as part of the third Emerging America— an annual festival featuring groundbreaking performance by American artists June 21 to 24.