Ars Nova News

This July and August, 54 BELOW presents an exciting lineup of the brightest talent from Broadway and beyond. Located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street. For a detailed schedule of upcoming performances at 54 Below and to purchase tickets, visit www.54Below.com.

In anticipation of his concert at the 2015 New York Musical Theatre Festival, award-winning musical theatre writer Joel B. New sat down with Jen Bender, NYMF's Director of Programming and Artists Services.

The Ojai Playwrights Conference (OPC), one of the most acclaimed new play developmental programs in the country, announces its 18th season with an extraordinary program of playwrights, new play workshops and special performance events from August 2 through 9, 2015 in Ojai, California.

MOLLY POPE -- brassy belter/whiskey guzzler/benevolent lunatic -- will continue her acclaimed concert series on Friday, July 10, following her recent acclaimed Off Broadway performances in Found at the Atlantic Theater Company and Horseplay, or the Fickle Mistress at La MaMa ETC / Theatre Askew.

The deVaron Lerangis Family Band (singer/composer/pianist Tina deVaron, and her sons, singer/composer/producer Nick Lerangis of the band, Evening Darling, and teacher/musician/historian Joe Lerangis of the American School of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia) will perform one show at Caffe Vivaldi on July 9th from 7-8pm. Caffe Vivaldi is in Greenwich Village at 32 Jones St, between West 4th and Bleecker. Call (212) 691-7538 for more information. This is a very special event, and advance planning is highly recommended, as the room is small.

The Playwrights Foundation's 38th Annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival (BAPF) runs July 17-26, 2015 at the Tides Theatre in San Francisco. BAPF 2015 builds on the festival's historic legacy of innovation in theater that then moves to theaters across the country.

The Broadway at Birdland concert series, in association with Jacob Langfelder, is excited to announce that "Love Me: Downtown and Downunder - A Pride Celebration" will take place on the historic music stage on this Sunday, June 28 at 10:30pm.

Theater Wit transfers Bad Jews to the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie's 318-seat space for a summer remount, tonight, June 26-July 19.

Premiere Stages at Kean University will present the New Jersey Premiere of Sharyn Rothstein's Off-Broadway hit By the Water from July 16th through August 2nd in the Zella Fry Theatre. In this moving new play directed by Adam Immerwahr, Hurricane Sandy wields its force upon the home of Marty and Mary Murphy, threatening to destroy not only the life they have built together but the neighborhood they grew up in. Will Marty manage to save his neighborhood and his home, or are the secrets unearthed by the storm too powerful to overcome? Described by The New York Times as 'drawn with acute sympathy and in gritty detail," this gripping and affecting play will feature actors Damian Buzzerio, Mike DiSalvo, Billy Finn, Deanna McGovern, Brian O'Neill, Sheila Stasack and Jo Twiss.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University, under the leadership of Artistic Director Diane Paulus, began rehearsals today (pictured, left) for the world premiere musical Waitress. Based on the motion picture written by Adrienne Shelly the new musical has a book by Jessie Nelson, music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles, direction by Diane Paulus, and choreography by Chase Brock.

Following a record-breaking year of success for female and trans* playwrights, LA-based playwright/producer collective THE KILROYS has released its second annual LIST of industry-recommended new plays.

Vineyard Arts Project, a nonprofit performing arts residency center on Martha's Vineyard, has announced its artist lineup for the 2015 season.

The National New Play Network, the country's alliance of nonprofit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays, announced its 2015-16 grant recipients, including the Smith Prize for Political Theatre, the 2015 Annual Commission, two Playwright Residencies, five Producer Residencies, and two Collaboration Fund awards that will support partnership between eight of its members on two productions. In all, NNPN committed over $125,000 to fourteen Core Member Theaters and nine Affiliated Artists.

Geffen Playhouse welcomes Ari Brand (Broadway The Neil Simon Plays; Off-Broadway My Name is Asher Lev), Molly Ephraim (ABC's Last Man Standing, Broadway Into the Woods, Fiddler on the Roof; film Paranormal Activity), Lili Fuller (Hulu's Complete Works) and Raviv Ullman (Off-Broadway Sticks and Bones, title character in Disney's Phil of the Future) as the cast for its West Coast premiere production of Bad Jews by Joshua Harmon, directed by Matt Shakman, who is the artistic director of the Black Dahlia Theatre, a Geffen playhouse alumni (Good People, Wait Until Dark) and a noted television director (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Mad Men).

 Jewish Plays Project (JPP), a development organization committed to putting bold, progressive Jewish conversations on world stages, continues its annual Open: Festival of play readings and workshops at the 14th Street Y including four new full-length plays and one new musical by Margot Connolly, Sarah Gancher, Gary Jaffe, David Hein & Irene Sankoff, and Sam Lahne.

Second Stage Theatre  continues the 2015 Uptown Series with the World Premiere of KING LIZ, written by Fernanda Coppel (Chimichangas and Zoloft) and directed by Lisa Peterson.  KING LIZ will feature MICHAEL CULLEN, JEREMIE HARRIS, RUSSELL G. JONES, CAROLINE LAGERFELT, IRENE SOFIA LUCIO, and KAREN PITTMAN.  Previews begin Monday, July 13th and opening night is Monday, July 27th.

Lincoln Center Theater has announced that Tammy Blanchard, Patrick Breen, John Benjamin Hickey, Alex Hurt, Kellie Overbey, John Pankow, and Stephen Plunkett will comprise the cast of its upcoming production of  DADA WOOF PAPA HOT, a new play by Peter Parnell, to be directed by Scott Ellis.  DADA WOOF PAPA HOT begins performances Thursday, October 15 and opens on Monday, November 9 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater (150 West 65 Street).

Eisa Davis, Gabriel Ebert, Nikki M. James, Joseph Keckler, Chris Sarandon, and Or Matias, on piano, lead LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater production of PRELUDES, a new musical by Dave Malloy, inspired by the music of Sergei Rachmaninov, developed with and directed by Rachel Chavkin. PRELUDES, a world premiere and the first musical to be produced by LCT3 in the Claire Tow Theater, began performances on May 23 and opens tonight, June 15, running through Sunday, July 19 at the Claire Tow Theater (150 West 65th Street).

Broadway star (Pippin, Wicked, Next to Normal, Xanadu), passionate masterclass instructor and co-star on the hit TV series Nashville, Kyle Dean Massey will hold an exclusive masterclass for local performers.

MOLLY POPE - brassy belter/whiskey guzzler/benevolent lunatic - will extend her acclaimed concert series through September, fresh off her acclaimed Off Broadway performances in Found at the Atlantic Theater Company and Horseplay, or the Fickle Mistress at La MaMa ETC / Theatre Askew. With the new show Molly Pope Likes Your Status, she sheds all pretense of humility and shamelessly entreats you to adore her for an hour while she prances about making loud noises. Unable to deny that she defines her self-worth entirely via social media notifications, the 'viscerally thrilling alto' (Time Out New York) exploits her fragile ego and vocal chops for your entertainment. Expect the unexpected juxtapositions of song and substance alongside a healthy helping of her roots in The Great American Songbook. Over-sharing? Of course. Sing-a-long? Yes. Three encores? Why not. After debuting earlier this season, the show will now be performed today nights, June 12, July 10, August 14 and September 11, all 9:30 PM at The Duplex in New York.