Diana Amsterdam News

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) in association with Diana Amsterdam, presents Practical PLAYWRITING: How to Write for Commercial Production, a one-day intensive on Saturday, August 22, 2015 from 11:00am to 5:30pm at the Desotelle NuBox Theatre, 300 W. 43rd Street, 3rd floor. This is a unique writer's workshop with a happy ending: a chance to pitch your work to a panel of producers, and is part of The TRU Beginnings series of opportunities for works in early development.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, AKA Studio Productions just presented an industry reading of Diana Amsterdam's The Dodgers. Dave Solomon directed the project, which starred Into the Woods stars Billy Magnussen and Mackenzie Mauzy, along with American Horror Story's Finn Wittrock and Hannah Bos, Greg Hildreth and Preston Sadleir. BroadwayWorld is excited to bring you exclusive photos from inside the reading below!

'I was at the Police Reunion Concert at Madison Square Garden in 2008 and the energy was through the roof,' says vocalist/actress/writer Rosemary Loar at the start of her new show, STING-chronicity, at the Metropolitan Room. 'We were 18,000 strong, each of us challenging ownership of this man's music.' Loar feels special rapport with the oeuvre of Sting (Gordon Sumner, who was Police's lead singer and principal songwriter from 1977-1986, before he launched an incredibly successful solo career) as represented by her earlier show and CD, the celebratory Sting, Stang, Stung (see video of the 2010 show, below). 'We're onto the same zeitgeist,' Loar recently revealed in an interview. 'We're both Catholics and some of his writing is about obsession, guilt and penance.'

STING*chronicity offers an unexpected combination of monologues with a stunning variety of musical arrangements of the music of brilliant contemporary songwriter, Sting. The show is "set" in Madison Square Garden on the occasion of the final reunion concert of the iconic band, The Police, which was headed by Sting. STING*chronicity surveys the diverse audience, and their very varied interpretations of his music as the words of his songs are filtered by their unique lives and experiences. "A concert always brings people together who couldn't be further apart."

Mildred's Umbrella Theater Company is currently producing Diana Amsterdam's new, darkly comic drama CARNIVAL ROUND THE CENTRAL FIGURE. As part of their mission, Mildred's Umbrella puts on 'bold, innovative and fresh theatrical works,' and CARNIVAL ROUND THE CENTRAL FIGURE perfectly upholds this banner. The work is a cacophony of noise and events told in a seemingly stream-of-consciousness chronology as it leaps through time and place with the bat of an eye. Some parts occur 10 years prior to the central plot, while others occur simultaneously. In effect, Diana Amsterdam's writing and Jennifer Decker's directing creates a living, breathing fever dream or bizarre, almost surreal events that deal with how we cope with mortality and death.

Mildred's Umbrella Theatre Company presents the Houston premiere of Carnival 'Round the Central Figure by Diana Amsterdam, tonight, November 8-23, 2013.

Mildred's Umbrella Theatre Company presents the Houston premiere of Carnival 'Round the Central Figure by Diana Amsterdam, November 8-23, 2013 with a preview and after party tonight, November 7.

Continuing their 2013-14 season, Mildred's Umbrella Theatre Company is producing Diana Amsterdam's CARNIVAL ROUND THE CENTRAL FIGURE. In the play, Kate visits the deathbed of a close friend and through a series of theatrical dreams and nightmares must acknowledge that no matter how much denial, positive thinking or prayer people practice to avoid death, the existential fears that every human being holds about the end of life will result in the same end… death. In anticipation of the play's opening, I chatted with Jennifer Decker, Mildred's Umbrella's Artistic Director and Director of the show, and playwright Diana Amsterdam about the piece.

Mildred's Umbrella Theatre Company presents the Houston premiere of Carnival 'Round the Central Figure by Diana Amsterdam, November 8-23, 2013 with a preview and after party on Thursday, November 7.

Mildred's Umbrella Theatre Company presents the Houston premiere of Carnival 'Round the Central Figure by Diana Amsterdam, November 8-23, 2013 with a preview on Thursday, November 7.

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) announces that instead of the usual September panel they are hosting a free and friendly Introduction to TRU: Free-for-Everyone Seasonal Kick-off plus Networking Meet-and-Greet tonight, September 17, 2013 at 7:30pm at The Players Theatre's Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre, 3rd floor, 115 MacDougal Street, NYC. Doors open at 7pm for networking and refreshments, presentations and roundtable introductions start at 7:30pm.

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) announces that instead of the usual September panel they are hosting a free and friendly Introduction to TRU: Free-for-Everyone Seasonal Kick-off plus Networking Meet-and-Greet on Tuesday, September 17, 2013 at 7:30pm at The Players Theatre's Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre, 3rd floor, 115 MacDougal Street, NYC. Doors open at 7pm for networking and refreshments, presentations and roundtable introductions start at 7:30pm.

Mildred's Umbrella Theater Company announced the lineup for their 2013-2014 season - check out the full listings below!

Cynthia Silver, the unwitting star of the inaugural season of FOX TV and WE Network's hit series 'Bridezillas', returns to the stage with her award-winning Reality TV expose BRIDEZILLA STRIKES BACK! Co-written by Kenny Finkle, this cautionary tale was awarded Outstanding Solo Show at the 2005 New York International Fringe Festival. This newly updated version, directed by Paul Urcioli, begins previews April 21 with opening slated for April 28.

This winter, Diana Amsterdam's Carnival Round the Central Figure brings the macabre back to New York City.

This winter, Diana Amsterdam's Carnival Round the Central Figure brings the macabre back to New York City.

This winter, Diana Amsterdam's Carnival Round the Central Figure brings the macabre back to New York City.

The Common Tongue announces casting for CONNECT FIVE, an evening of one-act plays that unites new writers with established playwrights.

This winter, Diana Amsterdam's Carnival Round the Central Figure brings the macabre back to New York City.

This winter, Diana Amsterdam's CARNIVAL ROUND THE CENTRAL FIGURE brings the macabre back to New York City. In a staging by Karen Kohlhaas reminiscent of the carnal exorbitance of carnivale's heyday, featuring a cast of characters pulled straight from the murky depths of the human psyche. Carnival is a hilarious, bizarre, and poignant story of the meaning of death, of dying with dignity, and the ancient dilemma of living for a life after death. Presented by IRT Theater (Kori Rushton, Artistic Director).