News

World Premier of BOB & JEAN, A Love Story, at Arizona Theatre Company!

Thrilled at the upcoming Premier in the 2025/26 Season in Tempe, AZ! https://atc.org/show/bob-jean-a-love-story/

ZACH SCOTT announces BOB & JEAN, A Love Story for 2024/25 Season

Very pleased that this brand new play will be available to Austin audiences! https://tickets.zachtheatre.org/overview/15943

Cast Announced for Goodspeed’s New Musical The 12

The musical will appear on the Goodspeed stage from September 8 – October 29 in East Haddam, Conn.

Latest Musical from Internationally Acclaimed Director John Doyle

EAST HADDAM – Goodspeed Musicals announces the cast for the new musical The 12, the third production of its 60th anniversary season. The 12 explores a moment in one of the greatest stories of all time and will appear on the Goodspeed stage from September 8 – October 29 in East Haddam, Conn. 

Jerusalem. The disciples are in disarray. Torn apart by the unthinkable death of their leader, see how twelve ordinary individuals come together to create one of the most powerful movements ever known. Filled with power and passion, The 12 is a universal story of love and how each of us must eventually navigate the loss of whatever we hold most dear. Join us for a profoundly moving musical that you will never forget!

The 12 features book & lyrics by Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Schenkkan (Broadway: All The Way (Tony Award® for Best Play); The Great Society; The Kentucky Cycle (Pulitzer Prize for Drama)), with music & lyrics by Neil Berg (Off-Broadway: The Prince and the Pauper; Regional: Grumpy Old Men: The Musical, Tim and Scrooge).

Pete will be played by Akron Lanier Watson (Broadway: Hamilton, The Color Purple, The Play That Goes Wrong). Andrew will be played by Wonzaā Johnson (Broadway: MJ The Musical; National Tour: Hamilton). Tom will be played by Wesley Taylor (Broadway: SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical, The Addams Family, Rock of Ages). Jimmy will be played by Etai Benson (Broadway: Company, On Broadway, The Band’s Visit; Broadway/National Tour: Wicked). Simon will be played by Gregory Treco (The Terris: The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd; Broadway: Hamilton). John will be played by Kyle Scatliffe (Broadway: Hamilton, The Color Purple, Les Misérables). James will be played by Kelvin Moon Loh (Broadway: Beetlejuice The Musical, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical, The King and I). Tee will be played by Mel Johnson Jr. (Broadway: Kiss Me, Kate; Jekyll and Hyde; Hot Feet). Phil will be played by Brandon J. Ellis (Broadway/National Tour: Bandstand, The Play That Goes Wrong, Once). Bart will be played by Rob Morrison (Goodspeed: Big River; Off-Broadway: Assassins, Frankenstein, Avenue Q). Matt will be played by F. Michael Haynie (The Terris: Band Geeks!; Broadway: Wicked, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Holler If Ya Hear Me). Mags will be played by Adrienne Walker (Broadway: The Lion King; Kiss Me, Kate). Mother Mary will be played by Rema Webb (Broadway: Fat Ham, The Music Man, Escape to Margaritaville).

Understudies for this production are Matt Caplan (Broadway: Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, South Pacific, High Fidelity), Dion Simmons Grier (Off-Broadway: Stardust Road) and Aurelia Williams (Goodspeed: Anne of Green Gables; Broadway: Parade, Once On This Island, In Transit).

Known for masterfully reinventing the stage musical, The 12 will be directed by Tony Award®-winning director John Doyle, who will also musically stage and design the set for the production. Doyle has been Artistic Director of four prestigious regional theatres in the U.K. and has an extensive directing career in theatre, film and opera. His Broadway credits include Sweeney Todd (Tony Award® for Best Director of a Musical), Company (Tony Award® for Best Revival of a Musical), The Color Purple (Tony Award® for Best Revival of a Musical).

Music supervision will be by Drama Desk Award-nominated Greg Jarrett (Broadway: Gigi, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Dames at Sea). Music Direction will be by Goodspeed’s Resident Music Director Adam Souza (Goodspeed: Over 20 productions including Summer Stock, Gypsy, 42nd Street, Cabaret, A Grand Night for Singing, Because of Winn Dixie; Broadway/National Tour: Wicked, Kinky Boots). Costume Design will be by Ann Hould-Ward (Goodspeed: Red, Hot and Blue!; Fiorello!; The Terris: Jokers, Harrigan ‘n Hart; Broadway: The Color Purple, The Visit). Lighting Design will be by Japhy Weideman (Broadway: Shucked; Summer, 1976; The Piano Lesson). Sound Design will be by Jay Hilton who has designed countless productions at both The Terris Theatre and The Goodspeed and serves as Goodspeed’s Audio Supervisor/Resident Sound Designer.

Chris Zaccardi will be the Production Stage Manager. Casting for this production is by Craig Burns, CSA, for The Tesley Office.

The 12 is produced by special arrangement with Joe Grano and Cody Lassen.

The 12 will run September 8th – October 29th, 2023. [Official Press Opening: September 27, 2023.] Curtain times are Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 7:30 p.m. (with select performances at 2:00 p.m.), Friday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. (with select performances at 5:30 p.m.).

Tickets are available through the Box Office (860.873.8668), open weekdays at 10:00 a.m. and weekends at 11:00 a.m., or online at goodspeed.org. For show highlights, exclusive photos, special events and more, visit us at goodspeed.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Honor Awards on Opening Night of SR Socially Relevant Film Festival

Gale Anne Hurd – Vania Exerjian Award for Women’s Leadership in Film — Tonya Lewis Lee – Vania Exerjian Award for Empowering Women — Robert Schenkkan – Vania Exerjian Award for Writing Social JusticeSRFF2023 the 10th-anniversary edition of SR Socially Relevant™Film Festival NY, SRFF 2023, red carpet opens March 16, at the Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater at 5:30 PM. The Opening Ceremony, and Honor Awards at 6:00 PM.The honorees are Gale Anne Hurd (Award-winning Film and TV Producer), Tonya Lewis Lee (producer, film director, writer, entrepreneur, and women’s health advocate), and Robert Schenkkan (Pulitzer and Emmy Award-winning author). The Vania Exerjian award is named after Festival Founding Artistic Director Nora Armani’s cousin who was the victim of a hate crime. To read more, click here.

Pulitzer Prize Winner Robert Schenkkan Talks About His Writing Process at Bay Street

The event is on Sunday, April 23, at 5 p.m. at Bay Street Theater.

Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts has announced Page to Stage: The Craft of Adaptation, a New Perspectives Series panel discussion with playwright and director Vincent Murphy and Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan on Sunday, April 23, at 5 p.m. at Bay Street Theater. The conversation immediately follows the culmination of the one-day creative writing workshop, Page To Stage, led by Murphy from 1 to 4 p.m., and will be facilitated by Artistic Director, Scott Schwartz. To read more click here

Schenkkan adds new Theatrical Representation at UTA

Robert Schenkkan is now represented for Theater by Patrick Herold at UTA. 

THE 12 – first marketing/branding meeting with AKA

The Musical, THE 12, book/lyrics by Robert Schenkkan and music/lyrics by Neil Berg is now scheduled for full production at The Goodspeed Opera House in September 2023. It will be directed by multiple Tony-award winning director, John Doyle. The creative team met with AKA to discuss the marketing and branding campaign. More to come!

Robert Schenkkan to Develop ‘For Those I Loved’ Limited Series for Hideaway Entertainment

The Hideaway Entertainment’s adaptation of Martin Gray’s best-selling book For Those I Loved has found a writer. Robert Schenkkan, co-screenwriter of Hacksaw Ridge and a Tony winner for his Lyndon Baines Johnson bio-drama All the Way, will develop and pen a script for the limited series based on the life story of Martin Gray. Schenkkan will also executive produce and adapt the bestselling book by the father of Jonathan Gray, The Hideaway Entertainment founder and CEO. To read more, click here.