John Kelly News

10 Hairy Legs, the all male repertory dance company, dèbuts at Baryshnikov Arts Center for its sixth consecutive New York Season for four performances June 7 -10. The program features World Premieres by Bessie Award Nominee and company member Nicholas Sciscione, and Yin Yue. Works by Al Blackstone, Raja Feather Kelly and Christopher Williams complete the program. Sciscione will perform his solo work and Ofer Pelz his original composition at all performances. Tickets are $25 for Adults and $20 for Students and Groups of 10 or more through 10HL.org.

The Neo-Futurists present Ensemble Member Lily Mooney's Empty Threats, directed by Krissy Vanderwarker, in her directorial debut with The Neo-Futurists, playing at 5153 N. Ashland Ave., June 7 - July 14. Previews are Thursday, June 7 - Saturday, June 9 at 7:30 p.m., with opening night Monday, June 11 at 7:30 p.m. The running time is currently 90 minutes. Performances run Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. Ticket prices for previews and Thursdays are pay-what-you-can; for the regular run, tickets are $10-25. Tickets and information are available at neofuturists.org or 773.275.5255.

The Gift Theatre is pleased to continue its 17th season with William Shakespeare's HAMLET. Directed by guest artist Monty Cole, this production of the Bard's great tragedy will crack open the mind of one of western drama's most fascinating and complex characters. HAMLET will play June 1 - July 29, 2018 at 4802 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago's Jefferson Park neighborhood. Single tickets and season subscriptions are currently available by calling the Gift's box office at (773) 283-7071 or visiting thegifttheatre.org. 

Queer|Art|Mentorship was launched in 2011 to develop an intergenerational and interdisciplinary network of support and shared knowledge for LGBTQ artists. Now beginning its eighth year, the program brings together early-career and advanced-career artists for a year-long exchange across five different fields: Film, Literature, Performance, Visual Art, and Curatorial Practice.

Performance Space New York continues its East Village Series' examination of the history, assessment of the present, and radical gaze into the future of the neighborhood in which it was founded and has boldly returned this season. Autonomous, anti-capitalist, gender self-determining collective BRUJAS-who build revolutionary political coalition through youth culture, and express community through skateboarding, art, and political organizing-will be in residence at Performance Space New York from May 25-June 9. With their project, Training Facility, they have enlisted industrial designer Jonathan Olivares to transform the organization's new theater into a skate park and intimate meet-up spot. On May 25, as part of Red Bull Music Festival, the collective will throw their third annual Anti-Prom in the space, kicking off their residency with the gender-queering party described by the New York Times as 'an effervescent celebration of people usually sidelined by traditional prom culture.' Or, as BRUJAS co-founder Arianna Gil herself has described it, 'the Met-Gala of the underground.'

Performance Space New York continues its East Village Series' examination of the history, assessment of the present, and radical gaze into the future of the neighborhood in which it was founded and has boldly returned this season. Autonomous, anti-capitalist, gender self-determining collective BRUJAS-who build revolutionary political coalition through youth culture, and express community through skateboarding, art, and political organizing-will be in residence at Performance Space New York from May 25-June 9.

Legendary Downtown New York artist Penny Arcade is now 50 years into a career in which she continues to turn a mirror back on society with highly original and entertaining investigations into the human condition that perhaps best described as cultural criticism you can dance to. She revives her international hit Bitch! Dyke! Faghag! Whore!: The Penny Arcade Sex and Censorship Show, May 11-19 at Performance Space New York, as part of the institution's East Village Series.

 The MacDowell Colony has awarded fellowships to 84 artists from 18 states and six countries, from Colorado to Virginia and from Portugal to Nigeria. They are working in seven disciplines, and 43 percent identify as culturally diverse while 56 percent are women. The fellowships are for upcoming summer residencies at one of the nation's leading contemporary arts organizations. 

The Jeff Awards announced today a total of 115 nominations in 19 categories for the 45th Annual Non-Equity Jeff Awards.

Amidst Performance Space New York's exhilarating first series of interdisciplinary works under the new leadership of Executive Artistic Director Jenny Schlenzka, the organization's 2018 gala will celebrate game-changing and iconic figures from the arts sector (April 14).

The Kitchen presents a multimedia project from Charles Atlas, continuing the institution's nearly 45-year relationship with the video art pioneer. In The Kitchen's gallery, two new video installations take a retrospective look at Atlas' work while offering a counterpoint to his interactive 2003 show Instant Fame! and its portraits of downtown figures (through May 12).

Griffin Theatre Company continues its 30th anniversary season with two powerful tales of war presented in rotating repertory. The Chicago premiere of GHOSTS OF WAR details a young soldier's tour of duty in Iraq following 9/11, based on Ryan Smithson's best-selling autobiographical novel, adapted for the stage by Artistic Director Bill Massolia (In To America) and directed by Jason Gerace (Great Expectations, Last Train to Nibroc).

Queer|Art, NYC's home to creative and professional development for LGBTQ artists, is pleased to announce "BLACK SUMMER NIGHTS 2: SUMMER IN THE CITY," a special season of Queer|Art|Film at IFC Center (323 Sixth Avenue at West 3rd St.), May 14-August 20.

Griffin Theatre Company continues its 30th anniversary season with two powerful tales of war presented in rotating repertory. The Chicago premiere of GHOSTS OF WAR details a young soldier's tour of duty in Iraq following 9/11, based on Ryan Smithson's best-selling autobiographical novel, adapted for the stage by Artistic Director Bill Massolia (In To America) and directed by Jason Gerace (Great Expectations, Last Train to Nibroc). Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Griffin's LETTERS HOME puts the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq front and center by bringing to life actual letters written by soldiers serving in the Middle East. Written and directed by Bill Massolia, the critically acclaimed production returns home to Chicago after touring the U.S. for more than a decade. 

The Gift Theatre is pleased to announce casting for William Shakespeare's HAMLET, directed by guest artist Monty Cole. The Gift's production of the Bard's great tragedy will crack open the mind of one of western drama's most fascinating and complex characters. 

Amplified Theatre announces the plays and company for it's unique new writing event Six coming to The Bunker in April.

10 Hairy Legs, the all male repertory dance company, dèbuts at Baryshnikov Arts Center for its sixth consecutive New York Season for four performances June 7 -10. The program features World Premieres by Bessie Award Nominee and company member Nicholas Sciscione, and Yin Yue. Works by Al Blackstone, Raja Feather Kelly and Christopher Williams complete the program.

The Kitchen presents a multimedia project from Charles Atlas, continuing the institution's nearly 45-year relationship with the video art pioneer. In The Kitchen's gallery, two new video installations take a retrospective look at Atlas' work while offering a counterpoint to his interactive 2003 show Instant Fame! and its portraits of downtown figures (March 28-May 12).

Strawdog Theatre Company is proud to announce the cast and creative team for the final production in the 2017 - 2018 season, Bennett Fisher's Damascus directed by Cody Estle, May 11 - June 23, at Strawdog Theatre, 1802 W. Berenice Ave.