John Gassner News

Astoria Performing Arts Center (APAC) presents the New York premiere of Jump following the critically-acclaimed presentation of Marguerite. The award-winning theater company continues their 2019-20 season with this production taking place at APAC Pop Up theater located at 28-21 Steinway Street in Astoria, Queens.

Roundabout Theatre Company has just announced a line-up of all new work Off-Broadway at the Harold & Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre.

The Old Globe today announced the complete cast and creative team for the West Coast premiere of Hurricane Diane, the new unconventional, Obie Award-winning comedy from Pulitzer Prize finalist Madeleine George (The Sore Loser, The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence, Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England).

How do you escape the shadow of your brilliant, infamous father? Do you pursue your own path, a path that leads to envisioning the first computer?  Or do you follow the norm - marry a suitable man and start a family? It may sound like romantic fiction, but it's not. This is the amazing story of Ada Byron Lovelace, in Lauren Gunderson's Ada and the Engine, which begins a 5-week regional premiere run at Stage West on Thursday, January 9.

The Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan has announced that Tony nominated actor Jonathan C. Kaplan and Zoë Winters will complete the cast performing a benefit reading of 'The Wanderers' by Anna Zeigler.The play is a funny, insightful, and mysterious new drama. Ziegler is an award-winning playwright whose widely produced play, 'Photograph 51,' won London's 2016 WhatsOnStage award for best new play.

Obie Award-winning playwright and actor Nilaja Sun will perform her acclaimed solo show, Pike St., at Hartford Stage Thursday, January 9, to Sunday, February 2, 2020. Pike St. will be directed by Ron Russell, who also serves as Sound Designer.

The Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan will welcome a talented cast to its stage on Thursday, December 18 at 7:30 p.m. for a reading of Anna Ziegler's a?oeThe Wanderers,a?? a funny, insightful, and mysterious new drama. Ziegler is an award-winning playwright whose widely produced play, a?oePhotograph 51,a?? won London's 2016 WhatsOnStage award for best new play. It was also selected as a?oeBest of the Yeara?? play by The Telegraph and The Washington Post. The special reading of a?oeThe Wanderersa?? is a benefit for the JCC's Lambert Center for Arts and Ideas. Tickets cost $20 for members and $25 for the public. Visit jccmanhattan.org or call 646.505.5708 to reserve your seat.

Lantern Theater Company continues its 2019/20 season with the Philadelphia premiere of The Last Match, a funny and moving drama from award-winning playwright Anna Ziegler. Lantern resident director M. Craig Getting directs a cast that includes Joanna Liao, Scott Miller, Lee Minora, and Matteo Scammell. Theater critics and members of the press are invited to request press comps for opening night on Wednesday, November 13 at 7 p.m. by contacting Anne Shuff at ashuff@lanterntheater.org. The Last Match runs Thursday, November 7 through Sunday, December 15, 2019; a complete schedule of performances and audience enrichment events is included in the fact sheet below.

This season brings Matthew Lopez' Olivier Award-winning, two-part drama, The Inheritance, to the Broadway stage.

Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern announce that Charly Evon Simpson is the recipient of the 2019-20 Paula Vogel Playwriting Award. Ms. Simpson will be presented with the award at The Vineyard's annual Emerging Artists Luncheon on Monday, November 25 from noon-2:30pm at the National Arts Club (15 Gramercy Park South) in Manhattan.

BroadwayWorld is checking in with the cast to uncover some little known facts about the political giants they play onstage. Today, watch as Nikkole Salter gives us a lesson on Coretta Scott King and Geraldine Whittington.

Can you assume these days that what you see in the media is factually correct?  Is accuracy all that important in an opinion piece? Those questions are central to the timely and very funny The Lifespan of a Fact, by Jeremy Kareken & David Murrell and Gordon Farrell, which begins a 5-week regional premiere run at Stage West on Thursday, November 7.

Project: Transform returns to Education @ Hartford Stage this fall, with acclaimed Pike St. playwright, actor and teaching artist Nilaja Sun serving as guest artist. Connecticut high school students with a talent for writing, acting, dancing, music, poetry or art are encouraged to apply for the free innovative performance program celebrating diversity and acceptance.

Lauren Yee's Hookman is a horror fairytale brought to life by the trauma of sexual assault. a?oeYee is one of the most important new voices in American playwriting today; her recent LA productions of Cambodian Rock Band and King of the Yees showcase her brilliance in telling family dramas in virtuosic and comedic waysa??, says Artistic Director Jeff Janisheski.

Nadine Garner (The Blake Mysteries) stars alongside Gig Clarke (The Code), Nicholas Denton (Wild), Paul Goddard (Pulse), Yalin Ozucelik (Othello) and Dan Spielman (Macbeth) in the Australian premiere of Anna Ziegler's Photograph 51, a delicate exploration of sacrifice in the pursuit of science, love and a place in history.

National New Play Network, the country's alliance of nonprofit theaters that collaborate in innovative ways to develop, produce, and extend the life of new plays, announces the final Rolling World Premiere production of Jump by Charly Evon Simpson opening this week. Following productions at PlayMakers Rep, Milagro/Confrontation Theatre, and Actor's Express, Jump by Charly Evon Simpson concludes its Roll with Shrewd Productions (September 13 - 29, 2019).

To kick off the fall season, Cape May Stage presents The Taming by Lauren Gunderson, a political satire that is a refreshing antidote to today's political climate and non-stop squabbling. The Taming runs September 25, 2019 - November 1, 2019, Wednesday-Saturday at 7:30 PM and Saturday & Sunday at 3:00 PM.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre announced today that 15 young professionals have been awarded fellowships for the 2019-20 season. Theatre graduates from universities across the nation apply for this program that provides a year-long deep dive into the operations of the award-winning theatre. Fellowships cover a variety of artistic and administrative disciplines and provide specialized training that assists fellows with embarking on a professional career in the arts. Additionally, fellows participate in career development seminars, build professional contacts, and even serve as mentors themselves for Berkeley Rep's annual Teen One-Acts Festival.

The Comrades today announced its lineup of plays for the 2019-20 season a?" a trio of dark comedies by playwrights whose works have been well-received in Chicago and will explore various types of power in human relationships. The season will lead off with a one-weekend Midwest premiere of CONTRACTIONS, by Mike Bartlett, the British author of COCK and EARTHQUAKES IN LONDON. CONTRACTIONS is a surreal two-character play concerned with the balance of power in the employer-employee relationship. The four-performance run, directed by Adrienne Matzen, will be the Chicago premiere of this play that was first seen at London's Royal Court Theatre in 2008.

Tony Award & Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan will return to Broadway with the second of his two exhilarating dramas celebrating Lyndon B. Johnson's legacy: THE GREAT SOCIETY. Get to know the cast below as they begin Broadway performances!