John Pierson News

 The Neo-Futurists are proud to announce, in addition to a new HVAC system at The Neo-Futurarium, a special pre-season showing of Ensemble Member Kirsten Riiber's Neo-Lab production Tangles and Plaques, Thursday, June 15 at 7:30 p.m.

The just fired FBI Director James Comey made his first public outing today at none other than the touring production of FUN HOME, currently playing at the National Theatre in Washington, DC. 

Theatre enthusiasts will be thrilled by the LaBute New Theater Festival now onstage at 59E59 Theaters. There are four distinctive one-act plays being performed in the venue's intimate theater space through February 5th.

Produced by the St. Louis Actors' Studio, the LaBUTE NEW THEATER FESTIVAL, an evening of one-act plays, features the NYC premieres of short plays by Gabe McKinley, CaRy Pepper, and Adam Seidel as well as a world premiere short play by Neil LaBute.

Check out the shows coming on at 59E59 Theaters in January and February and a top dining destination close to the theater, Blu on Park.

Due to ticket demand, the LaBUTE NEW THEATER FESTIVAL is adding a performance on Sunday, January 15 at 7:30 PM.

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer; Brian Beirne, Managing Director) is thrilled to welcome the return of St. Louis Actors' Studio with their acclaimed LaBUTE NEW THEATER FESTIVAL, an evening of one-act plays featuring the NYC premieres of short plays by Neil LaBute, Gabe McKinley, Cary Pepper, andAdam Seidel. Directed by Kel Haney, Michael Hogan, and John Pierson, the LaBUTE NEW THEATER FESTIVAL begins performances on Friday, January 13 for a limited engagement through Sunday, February 5.  The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7:30 PM; Friday at 8:30 PM; Saturday at 2:30 PM & 8:30 PM; and Sunday at3:30 PM & 7:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $35 ($24.50 for 59E59 Members).  To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org. 

59E59 Theaters will welcome the return of St. Louis Actors' Studio with their acclaimed LaBUTE NEW THEATER FESTIVAL, an evening of one-act plays featuring the NYC premieres of short plays by Neil LaBute, Gabe McKinley, Cary Pepper, and Adam Seidel.

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer; Brian Beirne, Managing Director) is proud to announce the line-up of shows for the 2015 Winter Season.  All performances take place at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues).  Ticket prices and performance schedules vary. For tickets, call Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or online at www.59e59.org. 

Broadway In Chicago and Producers Fox Theatricals (Kristin Caskey, Mike Isaacson) and Barbara Whitman have announced that individual tickets go on sale to the general public on Sunday, August 28 for the first National Tour of Fun Home, the groundbreaking, Tony Award-winning Best Musical.

Producers Fox Theatricals and Barbara Whitman just announced casting for the first National Tour of FUN HOME, the groundbreaking, Tony Award-winning Best Musical. The tour will premiere in Cleveland at Playhouse Square October 2 - 22, 2016, as part of the Key Bank Broadway Series.

As BroadwayWorld reported last night, the first National Tour of FUN HOME will star Robert Petkoff (Broadway's Ragtime, All The Way, Anything Goes) as Bruce, Susan Moniz (Broadway's Grease, Chicago's Marriott Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater) as Helen and Kate Shindle (Broadway's Legally Blonde, Cabaret, and Miss America 1998) as Alison. Joining them will be ABBY CORRIGAN as Medium Alison, Alessandra Baldacchino (Broadway's Fun Home) as Small Alison, Karen Eilbacher as Joan, Robert Hager as Roy, LENNON NATE HAMMOND as John, PIERSON SALAVDOR as Christian, Anthony Fortino, Amanda Naughton, SOFIA TRIMARCHI and Michael Winther. At certain performances, CARLY GOLD will play the role of Small Alison.

Producers Fox Theatricals (Kristin Caskey, Mike Isaacson) and Barbara Whitman just announced casting for the first National Tour of FUN HOME, the groundbreaking, Tony Award-winning Best Musical. The tour will launch in Cleveland, OH at Playhouse Square and will then travel North America playing multi-week and week-long engagements. For more information on the production, please visit FunHomeBroadway.com.

We're so lucky to have the privilege of having the St. Louis Actors' Studio present the Labute New Theater Festival each year. Submissions come from around the country, are whittled down to a few, and then presented in two parts, with each section receiving a full two week run. In addition, there are staged readings of the High School finalists who also submit their new works. While I was unable to attend the first part, I did get a chance to see the second, and was pleased with the results of this years' choices. It was a good mixture of styles and approaches, and it continues to be something our region should be very proud of.

Richard Linklater - DREAM IS DESTINY will make its World Premiere at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival today, January 26 in the documentaries category.

The LABUTE NEW THEATER FESTIVAL is now onstage at 59E59 Theaters through February 7th. Six fascinating one-act plays are receiving their New York Premiere.

Richard Linklater - DREAM IS DESTINY will make its World Premiere at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival on Tuesday, January 26 in the documentaries category.

59E59 Theaters will welcome the St. Louis Actors' Studio?with the NYC premiere of their acclaimed LaBUTE NEW THEATER FESTIVAL, an evening of one-act plays featuring new plays by Neil LaBute, Lexi Wolfe, Peter Grandbois & Nancy Bell, G.D. Kimble, JJ Strong, and John Doble. Directed by Milton Zoth and John Pierson, the LaBUTE NEW THEATER FESTIVAL begins performances on Wednesday, January 13 for a limited engagement through Sunday, February 7.  Press opening is Sunday, January 17 at 7:30 PM.  The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7:30 PM; Friday at 8:30 PM; Saturday at 2:30 PM & 8:30 PM; and Sunday at 3:30 PM & 7:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $30 ($21 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org. 

When you're a creative person it's very important to have other people check out your work, not just for validation, but to give you good, honest feedback. It's a vital part of the process, because it's a way for you to tweak the things that are good to make them better, and also to cut the things that just don't work for whatever reason. Playwright Theresa Rebeck applies this notion to fiction writers in her work SEMINAR. The St. Louis Actors' Studio is currently presenting a production of this play, and it's an interesting, if only fitfully amusing, look at how a group of writers react to the various criticisms they receive once they've signed up and paid for seminar with someone who's achieved a modicum of success in his given field. I think this will mostly appeal to those prospective authors who are curious about how such a seminar would function, and I think the general public will find it fairly entertaining, but not nearly as funny, or serious, as it could be.

The St. Louis Actors' Studio is presenting the first part of their annual LABUTE NEW THEATER FESTIVAL, where a group of one act plays are chosen from a group of submissions, and includes a new work by Neil Labute himself. I wish I could say they were all exciting pieces, and maybe the second part will showcase some real gems, but the first group is a mixed bag. But despite this, I think it's an important festival our town should be very proud to be hosting. And, I think there are moments that definitely make this worthy of your time and attention, particularly if you like seeing fresh new works.