Mat Smart's 'Thomas Repair' Will Get Reading at South Coast Rep. South Coast Repertory's first NewSCRipts reading of the 2008-09 season will be Mat Smart's Thomas Repair, the 106th play to receive a staged reading as part of SCR's play reading program. Smart previously kicked off the 2006-07 NewSCRipts season with his play The 13th of Paris.

Wyn Davies, McIntosh to Take Major Roles in 2009 Stratford Season in Canada. Stratford Shakespeare Festival favorite Geraint Wyn Davies will take on choice Shakespeare roles in the 2009 season, the festival announced Oct. 7.

Fogarty, Kelly and Timoney to Perform 'Three Movements', a Play About Dance, Muses and Disease, Off-Broadway. The New York premiere of Martin Zimmerman's Balanchine-inspired drama with dance, Three Movements, will begin performances at Off-Broadway's The Studio Theatre Oct. 17.

New Songs Will Sweeten DC 'Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber', With Bohmer, Callaway and More. Jeffrey Finn Productions will produce a starry holiday-season engagement of The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. The concert will feature music added since the show's sold-out 2004 engagement there.

Musical Theatre Spoof 'What's That Smell' Will Transfer to Commercial Run. Call him the luckiest hack in musical theatre. Jacob Sterling, the fictional no-talent songwriter whose ego, insecurity and dubious gifts were on display at not-for-profit Atlantic Stage 2 in September will get an Off-Broadway commercial home starting this fall.

More Thomas More: One Week Added to 'Man for All Seasons' Run. Roundabout Theatre Company announced on Oct. 9 a one week extension of Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons starring three-time Tony Award winner Frank Langella as Sir Thomas More.

Gyllenhaal Added to CSC's Reading of Kushner 'Good Person' Adaptation Oct. 13. Film star Maggie Gyllenhaal has joined the Oct. 13 staged reading of Bertolt Brecht's The Good Person of Sezuan, adapted by Tony Kushner and directed by Tony Speciale, as part of Classic Stage Company's First Look Festival, a program of one-night only staged readings, performed by notable actors.

Howard Sings Ashman" CDs Will Feature Demos From 'Smile, Babe, Mermaid' and More. PS Classics, the label dedicated to the heritage of Broadway and American popular song, has announced details of its Nov. 11 release of "Howard Sings Ashman" - and show tune fans will have a lot to smile about.

PLAYBILL.COM'S THEATRE WEEK IN REVIEW: A Good Chekhov. Critics like to tell American theatregoers that Chekhov is good for them, like medicine. But then, when reviewing an individual production of the Russian writer, they usually go on to say that this particular dose of medicine will taste terrible.

PLAYBILL ON OPENING NIGHT: 'The Seagull' - Rising Like a Phoenix. The Seagull took wing Oct. 2 for what seems like its annual flight over Manhattan and will hover over the Walter Kerr for a limited stay of 14 weeks, through Dec. 21.

Wartime Drama, 'The Language of Trees', With Hayden, Begins Roundabout Run. Steven Levenson's new play, The Language of Trees, about the homefront during a modern war, begins Oct. 4 as the second production of the Roundabout Underground program, which cultivates emerging writers in a 62-seat space in the midtown Manhattan theatre district.

Canadian Playwright Appears in Premiere of Her Own Story, 'Scratch'. Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman's play Scratch, charting her relationship with her sick mother, makes its world premiere at Toronto's Factory Theatre Mainspace starting Oct. 4 toward an Oct. 9 opening.

Way of the World', With Cox and Innvar, Opens in DC. Broadway's Veanne Cox and Christopher Innvar are scheming lovers Millamant and Mirabell in The Shakespeare Theatre Company's new production of William Congreve's 1700 comedy, The Way of the World, opening Oct. 6 in Washington, DC.

Atlantic Snags Roundabout's Lawson as New Managing Director. Off-Broadway's Atlantic Theater Company announced Oct. 6 that Jeffory Lawson - current director of development of Roundabout Theatre Company - has been appointed the new managing director of ATC. He starts Dec. 1.

Old Globe Will Reach Out to Students with New Hip-Hop Musical 'Kingdom' in 2009. The Old Globe in San Diego will produce the new hip-hop/rock musical Kingdom, with book and lyrics by Aaron Jafferis and music by Ian Williams, directed by Ron Daniels, for 14 performances, Feb. 12-22, 2009.

General Ticket Sales Begin for Broadway's 'Pal Joey'. Following a period of exclusive advance sales to American Express cardholders, the box office for the new Broadway production of Pal Joey opens to the general public Sept. 26.

Chicago 'Caroline' Is Hot; One Week Added. The run of the critically acclaimed new Chicago premiere production of Caroline, or Change by Tony Award-winner Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori, directed by Charles Newell, has been extended. Added performances now take the musical to Oct. 26 at Court Theatre.

Sorge, Finley, Booth and More Will Star in 'Happy Days' Tour. The troupers of the new national tour of Happy Days - A New Musical have been announced. The Milwaukee-set family-friendly musical comedy will launch Oct. 31 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts in California.

Liz Callaway Will Get New Solo Album on PS Classics Label. Liz Callaway, the clarion-voiced Tony Award nominee who starred in Broadway's Baby and Miss Saigon, will be in a Manhattan studio Sept. 29 beginning work on her first solo album in seven years, for the PS Classics label.

X Factor" Finalist Niki Evans to Join 'Blood Brothers' in London. Niki Evans, a finalist of the fourth series of the British version of "The X Factor," is to take over as Mrs. Johnstone in the West End production of Willy Russell's Blood Brothers, now in its 21st year at the Phoenix Theatre.