Denzel Washington News

According to abc.com, actor Denzel Washington confessed he was a bit scared before giving his commencement speech at the University of Pennsylvania this week. Addressing about 5,000 graduates at the Ivy League school in Philadelphia, the Oscar- and Tony-winning actor said the ceremony was 'a little overwhelming and out of my comfort zone,' which he said is why he accepted the invitation to speak.

The Public Theater and 3-Legged Dog have been invited by Director General Noam Semel to perform their acclaimed production of THE HUMAN SCALE at The Cameri Theatre in Tel Aviv, Israel, making it the first American production at The Cameri in its 66-year history. Written and performed by Pulitzer Prize-winner Lawrence Wright and directed by Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis, THE HUMAN SCALE will make its Israeli premiere on Wednesday, May 18 and run through Saturday, May 21 at Cameri Theatre 4, located at 18 Shaul Hamelech Boulevard.

Denzel Washington, internationally renowned actor and director, will deliver the address at the University of Pennsylvania's 255th Commencement on Monday, May 16, Leslie Laird Kruhly, Secretary of the University announced.

David Hyde Pierce and S. Epatha Merkerson are set to co-host the 56th annual Obie Awards. The ceremony will be held at Webster Hall May 16. Additionally, Nina Arianda, Alec Baldwin, Margaret Colin, Mamie Gummer, Rose Hemingway, John Larroquette, Robert Sean Leonard, Patina Miller, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Arian Moayed, Lee Pace, Jim Parsons, and Andrew Ranells are set to present.

Buffalo native, Broadway actor and film star Stephen McKinley Henderson will be the guest of honor at a Saturday, April 30, 2011 special event hosted by Road Less Traveled Productions (RLTP). The April 30th event, An Evening with Stephen McKinley Henderson, will feature an intimate look into Henderson's life and work. Henderson also will attend the RLTP Annual Spring Gala on Saturday, May 14, 2011.

Nominated for a Tony for Best Revival of a Play, the New York production drew a great deal of attention for the performers' extended period of nudity in the first act.

The Museum is housed in a building owned by the City of New York and its operations are made possible in part by public funds provided through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the New York State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Natural Heritage Trust (administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation). The Museum also receives generous support from numerous corporations, foundations, and individuals. For more information, please visit http://movingimage.us.

The Public Theater and 3-Legged Dog have been invited by Director General Noam Semel to perform their acclaimed production of THE HUMAN SCALE at The Cameri Theatre in Tel Aviv, Israel, making it the first American production at The Cameri in its 66-year history. Written and performed by Pulitzer Prize-winner Lawrence Wright and directed by Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis, THE HUMAN SCALE will make its Israeli premiere on Wednesday, May 18 and run through Saturday, May 21 at Cameri Theatre 4, located at 18 Shaul Hamelech Boulevard.

The Museum is housed in a building owned by the City of New York and its operations are made possible in part by public funds provided through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the New York State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Natural Heritage Trust (administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation). The Museum also receives generous support from numerous corporations, foundations, and individuals. For more information, please visit http://movingimage.us.

Woodie King, Jr.'s New Federal Theatre (NFT) will celebrate its 40th anniversary with a special Gala at the historic Edison Ballroom (240 West 47th Street) on Sunday evening, May 22nd. This special event saluting NFT for 40 years a seminal force in Black Theater, will be co-hosted by Randall Pinkston (CBS News) and Emmy Award-winner Lynn Whitfield.

Following five seasons of sold-out concerts, KEYS TO THE FUTURE-New York's only festival of contemporary solo piano music-is back with 10 'front-rank soloists' (The New Yorker) who will perform 27 classical and jazz-inspired works by an aesthetically diverse group of modern masters and emerging composers over the course of three evenings.

The Village Voice, the nation's largest alternative weekly newspaper, announced that the 56th Annual Obie Awards will take place on Monday, May 16, 2011 at Webster Hall in the East Village (125 East 11th Street). The awards will be co-hosted by S. Epatha Merkerson and David Hyde Pierce.

A.C.T. Conservatory Director Melissa Smith announced today that honorary master of fine arts degrees will be conferred on longtime A.C.T. artistic family member Marco Barricelli and Senator Mark Leno, D-San Francisco.

'The Start of Dreams', directed by The Horne Brothers, is the story of award-winning director Kenny Leon bringing aspiring teenage actors to a Broadway stage in his annual August Wilson Monologue competition. View the trailer below!

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) announced that Norm Lewis, Audra McDonald, and David Alan Grier are joining the A.R.T. to play Porgy, Bess, and Sportin' Life in the A.R.T.'s new production of The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess. Performances will begin August 17at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge. Further casting will be announced at a later date.

Woodie King, Jr.'s New Federal Theatre (NFT) will celebrate its 40th anniversary with a special Gala at the historic Edison Ballroom on Sunday evening, May 22nd. This special event saluting NFT, for 40 years a seminal force in Black Theater, will be co-hosted by Randall Pinkston (CBS News) and Lynn Whitfield. Chairmen for the event are Laurence Fishburne, John Morning and Susan Taylor. The Honorary Chair is Dr. Maya Angelou. In addition to celebrating NFT's vital contribution to the arts internationally, the Gala will feature special awards for 13 individuals that changed the cultural life of our nation: Sidney Poitier, Ntozake Shange, Ruby Dee, Alicia Keys, Mayor David Dinkins, Imhotep Gary Byrd, George Faison, Amiri Baraka, Rev. Malcolm Boyd, Elizabeth McCann, Carla Pinza, Terrie Williams and Sylvia Sprinkle-Hamlin (for the National Black Theatre Festival).

American film's finest have confirmed their participation on the American Film Institute (AFI) Gala Benefit Committee honoring 39th Life Achievement Award recipient, Morgan Freeman.

David Hyde Pierce and S. Epatha Merkerson are set to co-host the 56th annual Obie Awards. The ceremony will be held at Webster Hall May 16. Additionally, Nina Arianda, Alec Baldwin, Margaret Colin, Mamie Gummer, Rose Hemingway, John Larroquette, Robert Sean Leonard, Patina Miller, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Arian Moayed, Lee Pace, Jim Parsons, and Andrew Ranells are set to present.

Woodie King, Jr.'s New Federal Theatre (NFT) will celebrate its 40th anniversary with a special Gala at the historic Edison Ballroom (240 West 47th Street) on Sunday evening, May 22nd.

FELA!, the landmark Broadway musical, which won three Tony Awards (Broadway's highest honor) including Best Choreography (Bill T. Jones), is coming to Lagos from April 20th to 25th.