Movie and theater star Mark Ruffalo (pictured above), who is currently starring in the thriller Zodiac, will also appear in the soon to be released Margaret which was written and directed by playwright Kenneth Lonergan. Ruffalo won acclaim in New York when he appeared in Lonergan’s play This is Our Youth. He subsequently starred in Lonergan’s film You Can Count on Me. After several stage appearances in Los Angeles, Ruffalo made his Broadway debut last season in the revival of Awake and Sing, earning a Tony award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play.

Incidentally, the Clifford Odets classic, Awake and Sing, will be part of the Jewish Repertory Theatre of WNY’s next season, along with Diane Samuels’ Kindertransport which was inspired by the real-life evacuation of Jewish children from pre-war Nazi Germany and their placement in English foster homes.

Rebecca Elkin will be Desdemona and Tim Newell Iago in Shakespeare in Delaware Park’s production of Othello. The production will also star Chris Critelli, Chris Standart, Gerry Maher, Dan Walker and Eileen Dugan. Heading the cast of All’s Well That Ends Well will be Robert Rutland, Joe Natale andy Moss, Tom Loughlin and Kate LoConti.

Shakespeare in Delaware Park’s 13th Annual Fabulous Feast takes place this Saturday, March 31 at the Connecticut Street Armory from 6 to 10pm. Special guests Sam Hoyt, Larry Norton, Loraine O’Donnell and Kathleen Gaffney will be performing short scenes from Shakespeare. Mike Randall will serve as guest auctioneer of the Royal Auction. This annual fund raiser includes a Fabulous Medieval Banquet with five courses of gourmet food and drink.

Studio Arena will present David Hare’s The Vertical Hour as part of its 2007-08 season. The five-character play just finished a successful run on Broadway where it starred Julianne Moore who, incidentally, made her professional debut at Studio Arena many years ago in The Dresser. New next year, Studio will offer a series of Special Performances which will include, in addition to A.R.Gurney’s previously mentioned Love Letters (starring Betsy Palmer); Anne Nelson’s The Guys starring TV stars Wendie Malick (Just Shoot Me) and Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years).

The Amherst Players will present Gurney’s The Dining Room beginning April 14th. The acclaimed group will be celebrating their 60th anniversary in the 2007-2008 season. Gurney’s latest play, Crazy Mary is set to open in New York in May, starring Sigourney Weaver. His previous play, Indian Blood, will have its Buffalo premiere at Studio Arena December 4-23.

If you missed (or want to see again) O’Connell & Company’s production of Wild Women Don’t Get the Blues starring Mary Craig, you’ll get another chance. There are plans for the show to run at Shea’s Smith Theatre this spring. In the mean time, Craig is directing the upcoming Paul Robeson Theatre production, Amen Sister which opens on May 4, starring Renita Chadwick, Sandra Gilliam, Valency Chase-Hill, Debbie Davis and Ebonie Stroud.

The New Phoenix will next present Gilgamesh, an original company-developed production of the world’s oldest epic. Co-directed by Robert Waterhouse and Franklin LaVoie, the production is scheduled to open on April 5. LaVoie won a special

Individual Artist Award from the New York State Council on the Arts which facilitated his work on this project.

Acclaimed actor William Hutt had to withdraw from the Stratford Festival 2007 season due to health reasons. Hutt, who turns 87 in May, was set to star in Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance. By the way, Albee’s new play Me, Myself and I is scheduled to have its world premiere at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton in January 2008.

On Sunday, April 15 the Irish Classical Theatre Company will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of actor/director Chris O’Neill. Beautiful Dreamer—Ten Years On: A Tribute to Chris O’Neill will begin at 7 p.m. at the Andrews Theatre. The event is free but reservations are necessary. Call 853-4282.

April 13-May 5, BUA will present The Tricky Part by Martin Moran, directed by Kelli Bocock Natale and starring Louis Colaiacovo. The one-man play is a journey through the complexities of Catholicism, sexuality and human transgression. Colaiacovo previously starred in BUA’s production of Southern Baptist Sissies and directed the company’s staged reading of Angels in America.