WILSON WORLD PREMIERE

RADIO GOLF, August Wilson's latest play, will have its world premiere at the Mark Taper Forum, Aug. 11-Sept. 15. Directed by Kenny Leon, RADIO GOLF is set in Pittsburgh's Hill District in the 1990s and deals with the gentrification of that working-class neighborhood. Wilson introduces a new character in his ten-play cycle chronicling the African-American experience: Harmond Wilkes II, an idealist who dreams of teaching inner-city kids how to play golf and of becoming the city's first black mayor.

Wilson is a two-time Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner.

The Taper also announced that Alfred Molina has been cast in its production of THE CHERRY ORCHARD, which will be directed by Sean Mathias and runs Feb. 12-March 19. Molina joins the previously announced Annette Bening in the Anton Chekhov masterpiece set in Czarist Russia.

Center Theatre Group--of which the Taper is a part--has tapped Casey Nicholson, the Tony-nominated choreographer of Broadway's Spamalot, to direct THE DROWSY CHAPERONE, the second production of the Ahmanson Theatre's 2005-2006 season (Nov. 18-Dec. 24). The musical, which has book by Bob Martin & Don McKellar, music by Greg Morrison and lyrics by Lisa Lambert, has been described as a "deliciously silly and affectionate lampoon of the great musicals of the 1920s."

The Ahmanson production will be both a United States premiere and a pre-Broadway engagement.

The Ahmanson's first 2005-2006 production will be Sidney Kingsley's rarely produced American epic, DEAD END. It runs from Aug. 28-Oct. 16, 2005.

For tickets and information visit MarkTaperForum.org

IS THIS ANY WAY TO START A MARRIAGE?

Continuing at the Lonny Chapman Group Repertory Theatre in N. Hollywood is the world premiere of the fast-paced romantic musical comedy, IS THIS ANY WAY TO START A MARRIAGE? With book by Carolanne Marano, music by Wayland Pickard, lyrics by Pickard & Perry Lambert, and direction by Stan Mazin, the show deals with newlyweds Meg (Danielle Vernengo) and Mike (James Hobert) who become trapped in their NYC hotel room during an electrical blackout, along with both sets of their parents and an over-zealous bellhop.

Pickard, an award-winning entertainer, national recording artist, instrumentalist and humorist, will also present his one-man show MUSIC AND COMEDY TONIGHT as a one-time benefit performance for the GRT on Sun. July 10 at 7 pm. Pickard, who Phyllis Diller called the "Piano Variety Artist of the Decade," has worked with such showbiz notables as Jay Leno, Andy Williams and Dionne Warwick.

The GRT is located at 10900 Burbank Blvd. For tickets and information call (818) 700-GURU or TheaterMania at (866) 811-411 or visit lcgrt.com