Ike Holter News

United FORlando, an evening concert and conversation presented by the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts and the Los Angeles LGBT Center in memory and support of the victims of the recent tragedy at Pulse nightclub, will close the evening tribute with a sing-along performance of Broadway For Orlando's What the World Needs Now is Love.

United FORlando, an evening concert and conversation presented by the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts and the Los Angeles LGBT Center in memory and support of the victims of the recent tragedy at Pulse nightclub, will close the evening tribute with a sing-along performance of Broadway For Orlando's What the World Needs Now is Love.

Victory Gardens Theater announces the first show of its 42st season, Hand To God by Robert Askins, directed by Gary Griffin. Hand To God runs September 16 - October 16, 2016, with the press performance on Friday, September 23, 2016, at 7:30 pm at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue.

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts and the Los Angeles LGBT Center present United FORlando, an evening concert in memory and support of the victims of the recent tragedy at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, on Saturday, July 16, 2016 at 8:00 p.m. in the Bram Goldsmith Theater at The Wallis. The evening tribute includes special musical performances by the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles and the cast of Hit The Wall by Ike Holter, the award-winning immersive theater production set at NYC's historic Stonewall Inn during the summer of 1969. Actor and activist Wilson Cruz, whose aunt was among the victims on June 12, will moderate 'After Orlando: Reflections and Where We Go From Here,' a conversation featuring panelists Kate Kendell, Executive Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Darrel Cummings, Chief of Staff of the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Single tickets are now available for purchase for $25 - $45 with net proceeds from the concert benefiting the GLBT Community Center of Central Florida (The Center). Any additional donations secured will also be donated in their entirety to The GLBT Community Center of Central Florida.

Stage Left Theatre is pleased to announce the programming for its 35th season. The season begins with the world premiere of The Bottle Tree by Beth Kander directed by ensemble member Amy Szerlong. The Bottle Tree was developed through Stage Left's Downstage Left program, at the Ashland New Plays Festival and and has received an Honorable Mention on The Kilroys List for the past two years. Next, in the winter, Stage Left and Cor Theatre present a co-production of What of the Night? by Maria Irene Fornes, directed by Carlos Murillo. This epic meditation on poverty in America was a Pultizer finalist in 1990. Cor Theatre Artistic Director Tosha Fowler says of the partnership, 'With admiration for Stage Left's longevity and the exciting opportunities they provide to artists through their strong commitment to mission, we at Cor are thrilled to announce a collaboration of theatre that is bound to leave you breathless. Combining Stage Left's strength with our fearless aesthetic, Fornes' poetically primal voice, and Carlos Murillo's passionate vision, What of the Night is going to be our biggest leap yet.' Finally, the company will present LeapFest, its annual developmental festival featuring workshop productions of new plays, at a time to be announced later.

First Floor Theater (FFT) is thrilled to remount THE AWAKE, Ken Urban's lyrical and highly theatrical exploration of interrogation, government control, and the compulsive power of dreams, directed by Josh Altman, as part of the Chicago Park District's Theater on the Lake 2016 Festival Season at the Berger Park Cultural Center.

Victory Gardens Theater announces the June lineup for The VG Reading Series. This regularly scheduled program of play readings provides playwrights a platform to develop their plays-in-progress, and will give audiences opportunities to experience exciting new work throughout the year. The Reading Series adds to VG's current programming of world premieres and new plays and the IGNITION Festival of New Plays.

Jackalope Theatre Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Gus Menary and Managing Director Nate Silver, announces its 2016/17 season. The company's 9th season features three productions: a world premiere, a U.S premiere, and a Midwest premiere. The season begins with the U.S premiere of Octagon by Kristiana Rae Colon, directed by Tara Branham, continues with the world premiere of The Snare by Samantha Beach, directed by Jackalope Associated Producer Elana Boulos, and concludes with the Midwest premiere of Ideation by Aaron Loeb, directed by Jackalope Artistic Director Gus Menary.

Hell in a Handbag Productions is pleased to announce casting for its Chicago premiere of THE DIVINE SISTER, the hilarious comic homage to nearly every Hollywood nun film ever made, by the divine high priestess of camp Charles Busch and directed by Shade Murray.

Jackalope's 8th season concludes with the world premiere of PROWESS, written by Ike Holter, directed by Marti Lyons.

?Due to popular demand, A Red Orchid Theatre adds six performances to the run of the world premiere of Sender by Ike Holter, directed by Ensemble Member Shade Murray. Featuring Ensemble Member Steve Haggard, the cast of Sender also includes McKenzie Chinn, Mary Williamson and Steven Wilson. The extension includes Saturday matinees as well as additional weeknight performances. Sender will now run through June 4, 2016. A Red Orchid Theatre is located at 1531 N Wells. Tickets to extension performances go on sale Thursday, May 12, 2016.  

First Floor Theater (FFT) is thrilled to announce its fourth annual literary festival, FITZFEST, a festival of eight world premiere plays, by some of the country's most exciting playwrights, inspired by the life and work of F. Scott Fitzgerald. FITZFEST will play August 5 - August 13, 2016 at Collaboraction's Pentagon Theatre in The Flat Iron Arts Building. Tickets will be available at http://firstfloortheater.com/.

The Chicago theater community will present a wide variety of plays and musicals, as well as dance and concert offerings this summer. In support, the League of Chicago Theatres will once again create a comprehensive Summer Theater Guide that will be available at hotels, theaters, events, and destinations across the Chicago area.

This week, we go around our Broadway World to feature stories in Chicago, St. Petersburg, Sydney and more. Check out our top 10 stories around our Broadway World below, which include the World Premiere of Ike Holter's SENDER in Chicago, SPAMALOT in St. Petersburg, and SHUT UP AND DRIVE in Sydney, just to name a few.

Jackalope's 8th season concludes with the world premiere of PROWESS, written by Ike Holter, directed by Marti Lyons, with the full cast and production team announced below.

Ike Holter's new play SENDER, now in its world premiere production at A Red Orchid Theatre, thrives on the contrast between order and chaos. Or, more precisely in the millennial world of the play, the tension between wanting to remain in childhood and the need to face the realities of adulthood. The crux of SENDER focuses on a group of four friends struggling with this very issue, all of whom are in various stages of growing up. One of the friends disappeared a year ago and has since been presumed dead. The twist? At the beginning of the play, he shows up-and completely offsets the balance that has been established in his absence.

A Red Orchid Theatre concludes its 2015-2016 season with the world premiere of SENDER by Ike Holter, directed by Ensemble Member Shade Murray. Featuring Ensemble Member Steve Haggard, the cast of SENDER also includes McKenzie Chinn, Mary Williamson and Steven Wilson. SENDER will run now through May 29, 2016. The press opening for SENDER is tonight, April 18, 2016, and BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Primary Stages presents EXIT STRATEGY, a New York premiere by Ike Holter (Hit the Wall) and directed by Kip Fagan (Grand Concourse). The limited engagement runs now through May 6, 2016 at Primary Stages at the Cherry Lane Theatre and features Michael Cullen, Aime Donna Kelly,Rey Lucas, Deirdre Madigan, Christina Nieves, Brandon J. Pierce, and Ryan Spahn. BroadwayWorld brings you photos from opening night below!

Primary Stages presents EXIT STRATEGY, a New York premiere by Ike Holter (Hit the Wall)and directed by Kip Fagan (Grand Concourse). The limited engagement runs now through May 6, 2016 at Primary Stages at the Cherry Lane Theatre and features Michael Cullen, Aime Donna Kelly, Rey Lucas, Deirdre Madigan, Christina Nieves, Brandon J. Pierce, and Ryan Spahn. Opening night is tonight, April 12at 8PM. Exit Strategy is produced in association with Philadelphia Theater Company.

Sundance Institute today announced the acting company, dramaturgs and creative advisors participating in its pilot Theatre Lab in the MENA region, including Sandra Oh, Hoon Lee, Deanna Dunagan, Hala Omran and Raeda Taha. The Lab, held in Morocco next month, is part of the Institute's international cultural exchange programs for independent artists and will kick off a new, multi-year commitment to support artists from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). For the Lab, the Institute will provide promising, fresh voices from the U.S. and MENA region with a rigorous artistic retreat and new opportunities for cross-cultural discovery, artistic reflection and creative experimentation.