Jason Michael Webb News

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Happy Tony Nominations Day!

The Tony Awards Administration Committee has announced that Sonny Tilders and Creature Technology Company the creators of the character/puppet 'Kong' for King Kong; musical director and arranger Jason Michael Webb and the late actress and advocate Marin Mazzie; will be each be presented with a Special Tony Award for their outstanding contributions to the theatre and community.

Over the course of each Broadway season, unexpected and unique storylines inevitably pop up. This morning, with the announcement of the 2019 Tony Award nominations, a number of new narratives have come to life.

This year's TONY AWARDS nominations have just been announced by Bebe Neuwirth and Brandon Victor Dixon and here they are, celebrating the best of the 2018-19 theatre season (and what a season it's been!) The 2019 TONY AWARDS will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall in New York City, on Sunday, June 9th on CBS. Our official Tony coverage kicks off - NOW!

In the past few weeks, we've watched the nominations roll in. Today the final crop of nominees have been revealed, all leading to next week's ultimate announcement- the 2019 Tony nominations.

The Apollo Theater Salon Series in partnership with Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre (NBT) will present WiLDFLOWER, the staged concert reading of the full-length musical with book, music and lyrics by Jason Michael Webb and Lelund Durond Thompson. The performance, directed by Logan Vaughn and starring Broadway stars Tshidi Manye (The Lion King) and Quentin Earl Darrington (Once on this Island), will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 26, and Saturday, April 27, on the Apollo Theater Soundstage.

Just yesterday, the American Theatre Wing presented the 2019 Jonathan Larson Grants to Julia Gytri & Avi Amon (book, music and lyrics), Emily Gardner Xu Hall (book, music and lyrics), Andy Roninson (music and lyrics), and Ben Wexler (music and lyrics). Four prestigious grants of $10,000 each, as well as additional support in the form of residencies, concerts, and recording grants, totaling over $50,000, were presented at a private event at the WNYC Greene Space. 

The 2019 theatre awards season is quickly approaching, and keeping track of all of the important dates for the many ceremonies and their corresponding nomination announcements is no easy feat. Stay up to date on all the need-to-know facts with BroadwayWorld's Awards Season Calendar below!

In Her Shoulders is pleased to present a staged reading of Wine In The Wilderness by Alice Childress, directed by Bianca LaVerne Jones today, March 15, 2019. Doors open at 6:45pm for a 7:00pm start with The Play in Context by Arminda Thomas, who situates the script in its historical time and place, followed by the reading and a post-performance Q&A with refreshments. Admission is by Donation ($10 suggested).The performance is at The New School, Starr Foundation Hall, 63 Fifth Avenue, Room UL102. R.S.V.P. to OnHerShouldersReservations@gmail.com.

Manhattan Theatre Club's Broadway premiere of Choir Boy plays its final performance today, March 10. Choir Boy is written by Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney (Moonlight, The Brother/Sister Plays) and directed by Drama Desk Award nominee Trip Cullman.

Currently on tour with her new work 'Ink' -- the final installation of her company's trilogy that follows the Bessie Award-winning 'Mr. TOL E. RAncE' (2012) and Bessie-nominated 'BLACK GIRL:Linguistic Play' (2015) -- we chatted with Camille A. Brown via telephone about her process, and her work with Oscar-winning screenwriter Tarell Alvin McCraney's Choir Boy (closing March 10th),

In Her Shoulders is pleased to present a staged reading of Wine In The Wilderness by Alice Childress, directed by Bianca LaVerne Jones on Friday, March 15, 2019. Doors open at 6:45pm for a 7:00pm start with The Play in Context by Arminda Thomas, who situates the script in its historical time and place, followed by the reading and a post-performance Q&A with refreshments. Admission is by Donation ($10 suggested).The performance is at The New School, Starr Foundation Hall, 63 Fifth Avenue, Room UL102. R.S.V.P. to OnHerShouldersReservations@gmail.com.

The American Theatre Wing announced today that the 2019 Jonathan Larson Grants recipients are Julia Gytri & Avi Amon (book, music and lyrics), Emily Gardner Xu Hall (book, music and lyrics), Andy Roninson (music and lyrics), and Ben Wexler (music and lyrics). Four prestigious grants of $10,000 each, as well as additional support in the form of residencies, concerts, and recording grants, totaling over $50,000, will be presented on Monday, March 19, 2018 at a private event at the WNYC Greene Space. The event will feature special performances of the recipients' work.

In celebration of its 50th anniversary as it's poised for a major capital redevelopment project of its current site, Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre (NBT) is taking it to the streets with a robust season of programming and partnerships that transcends the walls of its building. As a cultural anchor in Harlem for the last half century, NBT has been at the forefront of transforming lives and community through the power of theater. Through its new program, NBT Beyond Walls, the institution will now produce activities citywide, nationally and internationally. Highlights of NBT's 50th season include partnerships and programming with Carnegie Hall, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the World Famous Apollo Theater; the national tour of the critically acclaimed one-woman show The Peculiar Patriot; and the ongoing cultural exchange with the international sister institution, the National Black Theatre of Sweden, established in Stockholm in November 2018. Founded in 1968, the oldest continually run Black theater in New York City and one of America's longest continually operated theaters run by women of color will celebrate its half-century mark through October 2019.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Yesterday was a big day for Broadway news. Catch up on everything below!

The Tony Award winner has found a provocative story in Tarell Alvin McCraney's passionate play about outsiders' struggle for acceptance.

Manhattan Theatre Club's Broadway premiere of Choir Boy, by Tarell Alvin McCraney and directed by Trip Cullman, will extend for two additional weeks, now playing through Sunday, March 10 at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.

Manhattan Theatre Club's Broadway premiere of Choir Boy, by Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney and directed by Drama Desk Award nominee Trip Cullman, will extend for one additional week of performances, playing through Sunday, February 24

Make a joyful noise! Last night, January 8, Manhattan Theatre Club's Broadway premiere of Choir Boy, written by Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney(Moonlight, The Brother/Sister Plays) and directed by Drama Desk Award nominee Trip Cullman, officially opened at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street).

"When I was little, my grandmother would sing songs to me that she told me freed slaves," says Pharus Jonathan Young, the central character of Tarell Alvin McCraney's emotionally thick coming-of-age drama, CHOIR BOY.