August Wilson News

BroadwayWorld.com thought it would be interesting to go a little more 'in-depth' about the recipients, to help you better understand their being chosen and to look more closely into their lives, worlds and work. In addition, we wanted them to be interviewed by someone with whom they shared some sort of history. Next up in the special series is President & CEO of The Actors Fund, Joe Benincasa. In the video below, Joe chats with Fund Chairman Brian Stokes Mitchell, who is currently in rehearsals for Much Ado About Nothing at the Delacorte Theatre!

Coming up this week, 54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz and beyond. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com or call (646) 476-3551.

In honor of the 1st of June, watch Leslie Uggams perform 'June is Bustin' Out All Over' from CAROUSEL, then check out on the next page an interview in which the singer reveals how she almost had to 'invent a new language to cover the 'slipped' lyrics' in the now You-Tube famous performance of the Rodgers and Hammerstein tune. Click below!

The Second National Tour of Jersey Boys, the Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award-winning hit musical, will play its 1,000th performance at the Plaza Theater in El Paso, TX on Sunday, June 1 at 7:30pm, the final performance of the El Paso engagement. Following this historic performance, Jersey Boys will play an engagement at Bass Hall in Fort Worth, TX from June 3 - 15.

This June, 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.

Drama Desk and Tony Award winner Laura Benanti ('The Sound of Music Live!', Gypsy, Women On The Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) will host the 59th Annual Drama Desk Awards tonight, June 1, 2014 at 8:00 PM at The Town Hall (123 W. 43rd Street). BroadwayWorld will be updating you with winners throughout the night. Check back later for the full list!

Craving a show after the show? 54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, is expanding its popular late-night series with fresh faces and hot new performances to keep the party buzzing into the wee hours. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.54Below.com or call (646) 476-3551. 54 BELOW welcomes you to loosen your tie and embrace the night at its upcoming events:

BroadwayWorld.com's SHOW BIZ: Rush, Lottery & Standing Room Only Ticketing Policies - updated on 5/30/2014.

According to the Daily Mail, Mustapha Matura's PLAY MAS is set for Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond next spring, helmed by Paulette Randall, who was among those on the creative team for 2012's London Olympics opening ceremony.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) has announced two productions for its upcoming 36th season: the first New York production in 23 years of Terrence McNally's acclaimed play, LIPS TOGETHER, TEETH APART, directed by Peter DuBois, and the world premiere of Neil LaBute's dark comedy, THE WAY WE GET BY.

Acclaimed playwright August Wilson's New York Drama Critics Circle Award-winning drama, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, will close out the 6th season for The African American Repertory Theater (AART). Vince McGill, a founder of AART and respected veteran of local stages, returns to Dallas to head the cast in this production as Herald Loomis. The play will be presented at KD Studio Theatre in Dallas.

BroadwayWorld.com's SHOW BIZ: Rush, Lottery & Standing Room Only Ticketing Policies - updated on 5/23/2014.

Eight remarkable artists and philanthropists will be hooded and handed their degrees in person when The Juilliard School confers honorary doctorates during its 109th Commencement Ceremony today, May 23, 2014 at 11 AM in Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center (Broadway at 65th Street, NYC).

Artistic Director Kenny Leon and True Colors Theatre Company have announced the 2014-2015 season, opening in October with August Wilson's personal story How I Learned What I Learned co-conceived and directed by longtime Wilson collaborator Todd Kreidler. Following How I Learned What I Learned, True Colors will produce the 2014 Kennedy Award Winner for Drama, Dominique Morisseau's Detroit '67 directed by Hi-ARTS Artistic Director Kamilah Forbes, opening in February and running through March 2015. The season will close in July with Kevin Ramsey's Chasin' dem Blues a musical about the history of Paramount Records.

NEW DRAMATISTS, Tony Honor recipient and the nation's premiere playwright development workshop, proudly announces that they will honor five-time Tony Award winning director/choreographer Susan Stroman with their 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award at its 65th Annual Spring Luncheon tribute, to be held today, May 22 at the New York Marriott Marquis.

NEW DRAMATISTS,Tony Honor recipient and the nation's premiere playwright development workshop, will honor five-time Tony Award winning director/choreographer Susan Stroman with their 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award at its 65th Annual Spring Luncheon tribute. The sold out event will be held tomorrow, today, May 22 at the New York Marriott Marquis.

Olney Theatre Center announces the extension of its current production, August Wilson's THE PIANO LESSON. The show, which opened on May 10, is now set to run an additional week through June 8, 2014. It has been extended due to the positive response it has garnered from audiences since its opening and the multitude of sold-out shows.

Olney Theatre Center has finally taken the plunge in their intimate black-box space with their inaugural August Wilson production, 'The Piano Lesson.' Blessed with a talented cast, they should enjoy a prosperous run; and the choice of play is appropriate, given the role that Baltimore's own Charles S. Dutton had in its first production. And the piano of the title, with its unique and bloody history, endures as one of the most powerful stage metaphors of our time.

To celebrate the O'Neill's 50th anniversary and influence, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts will present Launchpad of the American Theater: The O'Neill Since 1964, a new free multimedia exhibition on display in the Vincent Astor Gallery May 17 through September 16, 2014. The exhibition will chart the journey of American theater at the O'Neill from its past to present and future, and explore the creative development of its playwrights, composers, students, puppeteers and performers.