Ensemble Studio Theatre News

Erica Saleh's plays have been produced and developed by theaters including Ensemble Studio Theatre, The 52nd Street Project, Studio 42, 3 Graces and The Claque. She is the recipient of a Michener Fellowship and commissions from the EST/SLOAN project and Dramatics Magazine. Erica is a member of the Ars Nova Play Group, the Ensemble Studio Theatre, and an alumna of Youngblood. She is a graduate of the Michener Center at the University of Texas and Brown University.

After winning the FringeNYC Overall Excellence Award and Best Production at Prague Fringe Festival, HUMAN FRUIT BOWL makes the leap to Off-Broadway. This acclaimed portrait of live nude modeling is written by Andrea Kuchlewska, performed by Harmony Stempel, and directed by Jessi D. Hill. Presented by Baruch Performing Arts Center in association with terraNOVA Collective & soloNOVA Arts, performances of this limited engagement begin tonight, March 27 at the Rose Nagelberg Theater. Opening night is March 30.

The Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company (BETC) is proud to present the world premiere production of 'And the Sun Stood Still' by acclaimed writer and Pulitzer-finalist Dava Sobel, tonight, Mar 27- Apr 17. This production is the second world premiere presented by BETC in the company's eight-year history and marks the culmination of a multi-year development process between Sobel and the company that began with a workshop in 2012.

INTAR (Lou Moreno, Artistic Director/John McCormack, Executive Director) today announced that Adoration of the Old Woman by Jose Rivera and directed by Patricia McGregor, starring Raul Castillo (HBO's 'Looking'), Danielle Davenport, Jose Joaquin Perez, Socorro Santiago and Carmen Zilles, will continue through April 19th only.

force/collision announces its current performance project, Jarman (all this maddening beauty) will be livestreamed on HowlRound TV on April 20th at 4:00pm. Inspired by queer avant-garde artist, activist and filmmaker, Jarman (all this maddening beauty) invades the mind and artistic aesthetic of Derek Jarman (The Last of England, Sebastiane, The Tempest) to create a poetic and visually dynamic mash-up of video and live performance. This project will premiere in 2014 to coincide with the 20th anniversary of Jarman's death.

After winning the FringeNYC Overall Excellence Award and Best Production at Prague Fringe Festival, HUMAN FRUIT BOWL makes the leap to Off-Broadway. This acclaimed portrait of live nude modeling is written by Andrea Kuchlewska, performed by Harmony Stempel, and directed by Jessi D. Hill. Presented by Baruch Performing Arts Center in association with terraNOVA Collective & soloNOVA Arts, performances of this limited engagement begin March 27 at the Rose Nagelberg Theater. Opening night is March 30.

Sheena Metal, an entertainment icon who has anchored numerous radio shows for 20 years in Los Angeles and was named one of Talkers Magazine's 2013 Frontier Fifty (an exclusive selection of outstanding talk media webcasters) has added a television show and another radio program to her already full broadcasting schedule. She is also serving as emcee of the new monthly Comedy Carnivale event, featuring a stellar line-up of comics from television and films at the Hollywood Improv.

F*It Club, the New York Innovative Award-winning film and theatre company, continues its annual series of short, commissioned world-premiere plays at the brand new Sheen Center in lower Manhattan with The Spring Fling: First Love, six new short plays by Halley Feiffer (How to Make Friends and Then Kill Them), Kate Gersten (Benefit of the Doubt), Jason Grote (Mad Men, Smash, Hannibal, 1001), Mark Sitko (Rocky Philly, Tube), Tommy Smith (White Hot, Pigeon), and Lauren Yee (The Hatmaker's Wife). Performances will be Thursday, May 1st through Sunday, May 11th with Wednesday through Saturday night performances at 8pm and Sunday matinees at 2p. Tickets are $18 and available at ovationtx.com and at the door.

Silk Road Rising, Golden Thread Productions, and Lark Play Development Center are proud to announce that Mona Mansour, author of Urge for Going, The Hour of Feeling and The Way West, has been chosen to receive the 2014 Middle East America Distinguished Playwright Award. Honorable mentions went to playwrights Bianca Bagatourian, Ismail Khalidi, Daria Polatin, Mishael Shulman and Zohar Tirosh-Polk.

Flux Theatre Ensemble will present the World Premiere of August Schulenburg's (Lesser Seductions of History; DEINDE) JANE THE PLAIN, May 9-24 at the 4th Street Theatre (83 East 4th Street between 2nd Avenue and Bowery). The production will be directed by Kelly O'Donnell (NYIT Award nomination for Hearts Like Fists) with Assistant Director Emily Hartford (Co-founder, Rabbit Hole Ensemble) and will feature Becky Byers* (NYIT Award nomination for Hearts Like Fists), Sol Crespo (nytheatre.com 2012 Person of the Year; August Schulenburg's DEINDE), Chester Poon (Job at The Flea; Adam Szymkowicz's Hearts Like Fists), Alisha Spielmann* (Johnna Adams' Sans Merci), Isaiah Tanenbaum* (August Schulenburg's Honey Fist), and Chinaza Uche* (Indie Theatre Now 2013 Person of the Year; Ellen McLaughlin's Ajax in Iraq). The creative team will include Sound Design by Janie Bullard (2014 USITT/LDI Rising Star Award; Indie Theatre Now 2013 Person of the Year), Set Design by Will Lowry (Ajax in Iraq), Costume Design by Stephanie Levin (Hearts Like Fists), and Lighting Design by Kia Rogers (2012 nytheatre.com Person of the Year). The Production Stage Manager will be Jodi M. Witherell. *Actor appears courtesy of the Actors' Equity Association.

The Falcon Theatre, Abbie Phillips and Jan Kallish in association with the Lookingglass Theatre Company are thrilled to announce a very special event to benefit Lookingglass Theatre Company. On Saturday, March 29 at 4 pm, a performance of the West Coast Premiere of THE LAST ACT OF LILKA KADISON, written by Nicola Behrman, David Kersnar, Abbie Phillips, Heidi Stillman and Andrew White and directed by Dan Bonnell, followed by a post-show Q & A with members of the creative team, and a private dinner following. This is the first association between the Falcon Theatre and Lookingglass Theatre Company of Chicago, 2011 recipient of the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre.

In today's New York Times In Performance video, actor Steven Boyer, along with puppet Tyrone, share a scene from Robert Askins's dark comedy HAND TO GOD

Carla Ching's comedy Fast Company, about a family of Asian American con artists on the trail of a million-dollar comic book, opens tonight (March 17) at 7:00pm for its New York premiere at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, 549 West 52nd Street.

The 33rd William Inge Theatre Festival kicks off with a staged reading of Kopit's comedic techno-thriller BecauseHeCan, directed by Jane Unger. The reading is to be held at Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas at 7:30 p.m. March 26. The Inge Festival runs March 26-29. The cast includes Barry Bostwick, George West Carruth, John Gleeson Connolly, Nathan Darrow, and Elyse Knight.

Proud Theater is pleased to welcome playwright L. Robert Westeen back to Wisconsin for 4 showings of his hit one-person show 'Cocaine and Ethel Merman: The New Homo Guide', a humorous romp through the life of a man who spends an evening with a cocaine-addicted Ethel Merman female impersonator and ends up developing a new outlook on his own life, past and present.

Concrete Temple Theatre proudly presents the World Premiere of Alone in Triptych, written by Renee Philippi and co-directed by Eric Nightengale and Renee Philippi. Alone in Triptych runs from March 13 - 30, 2014 in a limited engagement at HERE, located at 145 6th Avenue (Enter on Dominick, 1 block south of Spring) in New York City. Previews begin March 13 for a March 16 opening.

The Deer Players (Producers Julia Piker and Peter Staley) will present the World Premiere of THE BRINK OF US by Delaney Britt Brewer (Wolves at 59e59) April 25-May 17 at South Oxford Space (138 South Oxford Street between Atlantic Ave and Hanson Place, Brooklyn). The production will be directed by Kara-Lynn Vaeni (AliceGraceAnon with New Georges) and feature Daniel Cuff, Tom Kelsey, Starr Kirkland, Annelise Nielsen, Julia Piker, Peter Staley, Zachary J. Smith, and Linda Tardif. The creative team will include Set and Lighting Design by Nick Francone (Vampire Cowboys) with assistance from Rachel Schapira, and Costume Design by Ethan Berube. The production is presented with support from New Georges.

Pioneer Theatre Company presents the second installment in its new play reading series, called Play-By-Play: A Public Education by Jeff Talbott tonight and tomorrow, March 14 and 15, 2014. Guest artist Shana Gold directs the production.