Arthur Kopit News

T. Fellowship, in association with Columbia University School of the Arts, announces the next T. Fellow is Rachel Sussman, the seventh fellow in the one year program designed to educate and empower new creative producers. The fellow will receive a stipend of $10,000 with a $20,000 budget for the development of a new theatrical production, and will have access to courses in Columbia's MFA Theatre Management & Producing Program.

NEWPORT HARBOR DRAMA DEPARTMENT presents three very special benefit performances for the Robert S. Wentz Theatre at Newport Harbor High School of ED ASNER starring as God in GOD HELP US!, written by Samuel Warren Joseph & Phil Proctor and directed by Mitch Levine and also starring Stewart J. Zully and Pamela Guest. GOD HELP US! will perform for three performances only, Friday, February 22 at 7pm and Saturday, February 23, 2019 at 2pm & 7pm at the Robert S. Wentz Theater, 600 Irvine Ave. in Newport Beach.   

Che bello! Theater RED proudly announces a new addition to the company! Eric Welch joins Theater RED as Artistic Associate following his collaboration with the company in June of 2018 for the Wisconsin premiere of I'LL EAT YOU LAST: A CHAT WITH SUE MENGERS. Eric Welch directed this one-woman comedic romp as a co-production with his theater company, Untitled Productions.

NINE the musical is playing at Theater Red in Milwaukee from January 25th to 27th, 2019. 

Red Bull Theater today announced that their ninth annual festival of 10-minute plays of heightened language and classic themes will feature two brand new commissions from Kia Corthron and Will Power, alongside six brand new plays chosen from hundreds of submissions from playwrights across the country. Submissions are now open through March 18, 2019.

Che bello! Theater RED proudly announces a new addition to the company! Eric Welch joins Theater RED as Artistic Associate following his collaboration with the company in June of 2018 for the Wisconsin premiere of I'LL EAT YOU LAST: A CHAT WITH SUE MENGERS. Eric Welch directed this one-woman comedic romp as a co-production with his theater company, Untitled Productions.

Manhattan Theatre Club is hosting the Broadway premiere of Choir Boy, by Tarell Alvin McCraney and directed by Trip Cullman. Get to know the cast below as they begin Broadway performances!

Abingdon Theatre Company held their special one-night-only gala event on Monday, October 22 at The Edison Ballroom. The evening, honoring two-time Tony Award winner Donna Murphy (Hello, Dolly!; Passion; Wonderful Town), was hosted by Randy Rainbow.

In a superb offering, Oakdale's CM Performing Arts Center (CMPAC) presents Phantom at the Noel S. Ruiz Theatre. Not to be mistaken for the famous Andrew Lloyd Weber musical Phantom Of The Opera, this is a different take - though based on the same novel - that gives us more insight into who the Phantom, the man, is. Running through November 3rd, Ashley Nicastro directs and choreographs this boffo incarnation.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center announced today that it is now accepting submissions for the 2019 National Music Theater Conference. Writers may submit new musicals to the O'Neill's Open Submissions Process through Friday, November 2, 2018.

This year, a living legend of musical theatre turns 90: Lyricist-bookwriter Tom Jones (who also, under a stage name) appeared in the original company of his most famous and wildly successful record-breaking musical, The Fantasticks. His collaborator, composer Harvey Schmidt, just recently passed away. The production's record-breaking run closed, on January 13, 2002, after 17,162 performances. Their shows also include 110 in the Shade, I Do! I Do!, Philemon, Celebration and many more. And celebration is what it's about when Broadway veterans Carole Demas, who originated the role of Sandy in Grease, and Sarah Rice, who originated the role of Johanna in Sweeney Todd, return to celebrate Jones & Schmidt. Demas and Rice have based the show on their 50 years of work and personal relationships with Tom and Harvey. With very special guest Broadway's Hal Robinson who is also a Fantasticks alumni.

Phantom is returning to The Westchester Broadway Theatre after it made it's New York Premiere there in 1992. The production opened on September 13, 2018 and will be running until November 25th, 2018. Tickets can be purchase online or in person at the box office.

The Kitchen Theatre Company (KTC) presents its second show of the 2018-19 Season: The Piano Teacher by Julia Cho, a play the New York Times called 'A cozy, effective little chiller.' The Piano Teacher is a haunting story of elusive truths that explores the power of memory-both those we recall and those we've chosen to forget. Performances of The Piano Teacher begin at the Kitchen Theatre Company in the Percy Browning Performance Space on October 21st and run through November 4th. Opening night is Thursday, October 25th.

The Lark, a theater company devoted to the support of visionary playwrights and the development of new plays, is thrilled to announce five New York City-based playwrights have been named as the 2018-19 Rita Goldberg Playwrights' Workshop Fellows. The group spans a wide range of backgrounds and professional experiences and will meet regularly throughout the year to develop new plays.

The Off Broadway Corona Theater (OBCT), is performing Yeston & Kopit's PHANTOM through Sunday, September 30th. All performances take place at the historic Corona Civic Center Theater, 815 W. 6th Street. This extraordinary production is not to be missed.

I may be the only serious Broadway fan who has not seen Andrew Lloyd Weber's version of Phantom of the Opera, so I went into Westchester Broadway Theatre's Revival of Maury YestonArthur Kopit's Phantom with a completely open mind.

Acclaimed playwright Sarah Ruhl - who twice has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for drama, a Tony Award nominee and the recipient of a MacArthur 'Genius' Grant - has been named as the 2018-19 Ingram New Works Playwriting Fellow at Nashville Repertory Theatre.

Goodman Theatre's commitment to new works and emerging artists continues in its 2018/2019 Season. Today, the Goodman named four Chicago-based writers to its Playwrights Unit-Georgette Kelly, whose play Ballast was featured on The Kilroys List and received the Craig Noel Award for Outstanding New Play; Dianne Nora, a playwright, dramaturg, theater scholar and comedy writer who works in Chicago, Brooklyn and Dublin; Marisela Treviño Orta, semifinalist for the 2018 O'Neill Theater Center National Playwrights Conference and 2019 Kendeda Finalist (Alliance Theatre); and Stacey Rose, whose work has been presented at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, National Black Theatre and more. The Playwrights Unit, in partnership with Chicago Dramatists, meets bi-monthly to discuss their commissioned plays-in-progress with the Goodman's artistic team. The residency culminates in a public staged reading of each new play in Summer 2019. 

Yeston & Kopit's 'PHANTOM' made its New York Premiere here at WBT in 1992. During our record breaking nine- month run, over 120,000 people attended. Night after night, audiences rose to their feet for the stunning musical thriller. The original production was directed by William Pullinsi and starred Robert Cuccioli as the Phantom and Glory Crampton as Christine Daee. 'PHANTOM' returned to our stage in 1996 and 2007 directed and choreographed by Tom Polum, who had been in the original production. This extraordinary piece will grace our stage once again with Tom Polum at the helm.  

BEN BUTLER by Richard Strand begins Sep 25 through Oct 21, opens for reviewers Friday September 28, 2018. When a runaway slave demands sanctuary at a Union Army garrison, the General in charge is faced with moral quandary: follow the letter of the law, or make a game-changing move that could alter the course of US history? "…Part comedy, part historical drama and part biography… by turns sarcastic, droll and witty." NY Times