Ars Nova News

FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, will present Broadway and concert hall star Daniel Reichard on Friday, February 5th, 2016 at 9:30 PM in his show, Daniel Reichard Celebrates Rodgers and Hammerstein. This one-night-only performance at New York City's popular club will highlight the songs, shows, and history of the iconic songwriting team, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Below, watch as he gives us a sneak peek of the show!

Sundance Institute today announced the seven artists selected for the 2016 Playwrights & Composers Retreat at Ucross Foundation in Wyoming, February 2-20. The retreat is one of the 25 residency Labs the Institute hosts each year for independent artists in theatre, film, new media and episodic content, and is made possible through the generosity of the Ucross Foundation. Over 90 Sundance artists have benefitted from time at Ucross Foundation including Charlayne Woodard, Jeanine Tesori, Doug Wright, Annie Baker, Adam Guettel, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Tanya Saracho.

In Episode 403 of 'Something New' -- a podcast that interviews theatre artists and premieres original songs -- award-winning musical theatre writer Joel B. New sat down with director/choreographer Katharine Pettit.

The Old Globe today announced the complete cast and creative team for the West Coast premiere of THE METROMANIACS by supremely clever playwright David Ives (All in the Timing, Time Flies). This uproarious new 'translaptation' of a classic French farce, Alexis Piron's La Metromanie, will be directed by one of America's most renowned stage directors, Michael Kahn, presented in association with Shakespeare Theatre Company.

Azuka Theatre continues its 16th season with its 10th World Premiere by a local playwright. Emma Goidel's Local Girls is a scream rock fantasia about searching for big-time glory in a small-time town. The play runs February 24-March 13. It opens Saturday, February 27 at 7 p.m. All performances take place in the Proscenium Theatre at The Drake, 1512 Spruce Street.  Tickets are available online at www.azukatheatre.org or by phone at (215) 563-1100.

Before HER REQUIM begins performances Off-Broadway at Lincoln Center's Claire Tow Theater, Robbie Collier Sublett sat down with Broadway World to chat about the new play, his work the amazing cast and comparing it to other parts he's played!

Independent Shakespeare Co. (ISC), presenters of the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival and recipients of the 2015 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in theater, announce the debut of a new works reading series, iambic lab, presented Friday, February 12 and Saturday, February 13 at 7:30pm and Sunday, February 14 at 2pm at Independent Studio in the Atwater Crossing Arts + Innovation Complex, 3191 Casitas Ave., #168 in Atwater Village.

The Amoralists present the world premiere of UTILITY, written by Emily Schwend and directed by Jay Stull. UTILITY runs from January 28 - February 20, 2016 in a limited engagement at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, located at 224 Waverly Place between Perry & West 11th Streets in New York City. Previews begin January 28 for a February 1 opening.

The Sheen Center, New York's new downtown cultural venue at 18 Bleecker Street, presents beloved, rising Broadway star and Tony Award nominee Kate Baldwin (Finian's Rainbow, Songbird) in a two-night concert series, KATE BALDWIN & FRIENDS.

Molly Pope (Found), Christopher Rice (The Book of Mormon), & Bret Shuford (Cirque Du Solei's Paramour) will be joining the line up of amazing performers who will be singing at Feinstein's/54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club, in Broadway Babylon 101: Everything Old Is New Again, Sunday, January 31st at 9:30 P.M.

Theatreworks USA (Barbara Pasternack, Artistic Director; Ken Arthur, Producing Director) will continue its 2016 weekend family performance series this Sunday, January 31st, with The Lightning Thief, a musical adapted from the book The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. The Lightning Thief features a book by Joe Tracz with music, lyrics, & orchestrations by Rob Rokicki. The Off-Broadway premiere of The Lightning Thief was nominated for Outstanding Musical by the Lortel Awards in 2015. This 60-minute musical is recommended for audiences age 8 and up.

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has announced 10 Finalists for its prestigious playwriting award, the oldest and largest prize awarded to women playwrights.

Marin Theatre Company continues its 49th Season with the World Premiere of Rachel Bonds' Rella Lossy Award Winning play, Swimmers. Set in a contemporary office, Bonds' play explores the relationship paradigms of the work space environment through a set of diverse co-workers and their personal lives and habits.

Z Space is pleased to present the world premiere commission of A House Tour of the Infamous Porter Family Mansion with Tour Guide Weston Ludlow Londonderry, a wild comedy and immersive theatrical experience created by Z Space Playwright in Residence Peter Sinn Nachtrieb. Performances run March 29-April 23, 2016. Press Opening is Monday, April 4, 2016 at 7pm.

The University of the Arts' Ira Brind School of Theater Arts announces the 2016 lineup for Polyphone, a "festival of the emerging musical" on the UArts campus in Philadelphia.  Running March 20-27, the 2016 the Polyphone festival produces staged concerts of new musicals and re-imagined canonical works offering professional composers, librettists and directors an opportunity to develop their work among the rich creative community of the Brind School at UArts.  The festival will program five musicals, including both classical and new works, with three performances each.  

Ars Nova continues its support of artists in the early stages of their professional careers through its wide array of unique development programs. Recognizing the critical need for performance as part of the development process, Ars Nova's programs bring bold, innovative new work to the stage all year long, through Project Residencies, concerts, readings, variety shows, workshops, festivals and full productions. Each season, Ars Nova provides audiences over a hundred opportunities to catch something extraordinary.

This just in! Denee Benton has been chosen to lead the Broadway cast of NATASHA, PIERRE, AND THE GREAT COMET OF 1812.

Just announced, AMERICAN SON by Christopher Demos-Brown and DRY POWDER by Sarah Burgess have tied as recipients of the 2016 Laurents / Hatcher Foundation Award. The respective producing theaters will each receive $50,000 towards the production expenses of the premiere works. Burgess and Demos-Brown will each receive an award of $25,000.  

Theater Reconstruction Ensemble presents the world premiere of RHINBECCA, NY, created and performed by Theater Reconstruction Ensemble, and conceived and directed by John Kurzynowski. RHINBECCA, NY runs from March 4 - 19, 2016 in a limited engagement at The Brick, located at 579 Metropolitan Avenue between Union Avenue and Lorimer Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

The Broadway at Birdland concert series is pleased to announce that critically acclaimed vocalist Maxine Linehan will explore the depth and breadth of the songbook of "the biggest band in the world" (Rolling Stone) with One - The Songs of U2 at 7pm on Monday, March 14 at Birdland (315 West 44th Street).