Lee Blessing News

Roust Theatre Company presents 20th anniversary production of Lee Blessing's TWO ROOMS -- a penetrating political drama about hostage-taking in the Middle East which, despite the twenty intervening years, remains frighteningly relevant -- with previews to begin May 8 prior to its official opening May 11 at The Gene Frankel Theatre (24 Bond Street) in Manhattan.

SECRETS OF A SOCCER MOM, a new play by Kathleen Clark directed by two-time Tony Award winner Judith Ivey, will be hosting two talk backs & book signings with critically acclaimed authors Nancy Star, Adriana Trigiani, Meg Wolitzer and Jill A. Davis respectively, to kick-off the spring soccer season.

Joseph Ruskin and Jacqueline Schultz star in Israel Horovitz's humorous and poignant pas-de-deux, Park Your Car in Harvard Yard, at International City Theatre. Hope Alexander directs the four-week run at ICT's home in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center, May 2 through May 25. Low-priced previews begin April 29.

National Corporate Theatre Fund (NCTF) will hold its Annual Chairman's Awards Gala and benefit on Monday, April 14 at New York's Cipriani's Pegasus (30 Rockefeller Plaza).

The American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) announced yesterday that it has selected Moisés Kaufman's 33 Variations to receive the 2008 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award. The announcement was made at Actors Theatre of Louisville during the Humana Festival of New American Plays. The award includes a commemorative plaque and a cash prize of $25,000-currently the largest national playwriting award. Deborah Zoe Laufer's End Days and Sarah Ruhl's Dead Man's Cell Phone also received citations and $7,500 each. These three were among six finalists selected from 28 eligible scripts submitted by ATCA members. They were evaluated by a committee of 12 theater critics from across the country.

Primary Stages (Casey Childs, Executive Producer; Andrew Leynse, Artistic Director; Elliot Fox, Managing Director), in association with Nancy Cooperstein and Betty Ann Besch Solinger, present the New York premiere of Something You Did by Willy Holtzman (Sabina). The five-member cast features Tony Award-winner Joanna Gleason (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Into the Woods) as Alison, a sixties radical, with Jordan Charney (Hearts) as Arthur, Alison's attorney, Tony Award-winner Adriane Lenox (Doubt) as Lenora, Portia (McReele) as Uneeq and Victor Slezak (Sabina) as Gene. Carolyn Cantor (Pumpgirl) directs the final production of this current 23rd Primary Stages season of new works by American playwrights. Performances begin March 18 for a limited run through April 26, 2008, at Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Opening night is Tuesday, April 1, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. Willy Holtzman returns to Primary Stages with his latest work, the story of a notorious Sixties radical that has served nearly 30 years in prison for her part in the accidental killing of an African-American police officer during an explosive war protest. Now she is eligible for parole in a post 9/11 world where bombing is terrorism and dissent, treason. How much can she be faulted for having a conscience? Is she guilty of bringing the war home? Something You Did is a powerfully topical and provocative drama that examines the responsibility of citizens for the actions of their government. The creative team includes Eugene Lee (sets), Jenny Mannis (costumes), Jeff Croiter (lighting), and Lindsay Jones (sound). The Production Stage Manager is Samone B. Weissman. Single tickets are priced at $60 with a specially priced $20 ticket is available to patrons 35 and under for all performances. Tickets may be purchased by calling Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or online at www.ticketcentral.com. For group sales inquires, please email Kara Hennessey at kara@primarystages.com. Earlier this season, Primary Stages presented the New York premieres of Opus by Michael Hollinger, and Dividing The Estate by Horton Foote, and the world premiere of Hunting and Gathering by Brooke Berman. Primary Stages recently announced the schedule of new plays for its 24th season. The 2008-2009 season will have three New York premieres: Buffalo Gal by A.R. Gurney, A Body of Water by Lee Blessing, and Shipwrecked! An Entertainment - The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (As Told By Himself) by Donald Margulies, and the world premiere of Chasing Manet by Tina Howe at Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street). 4-play subscription packages are now available by calling TicketCentral at (212) 279-4200 or online at www.TicketCentral.com. For additional information about Primary Stages, please visit the website at www.primarystages.com.

This May, Berkeley Repertory Theatre continues its string of solo shows by presenting No Child…, the off-Broadway play that became the breakaway hit of the year. Performed by Nilaja Sun and directed by Hal Brooks, No Child… runs from May 11 through June 1 on Berkeley Rep's Thrust Stage. Opening night is Monday, May 12.

Manhattan Theatre Club Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove announced that Jerry Patch will be joining MTC's artistic team as the company's new Director of Artistic Development.

Willy Holtzman returns to Primary Stages with his latest work, the story of a notorious Sixties radical that has served nearly 30 years in prison for her part in the accidental killing of an African-American police officer during an explosive war protest. Now she is eligible for parole in a post 9/11 world where bombing is terrorism and dissent, treason. How much can she be faulted for having a conscience? Is she guilty of bringing the war home? Something You Did examines the responsibility of citizens for the actions of their government.

Primary Stages has announced the schedule of new plays for its 24th season. The 2008-2009 season will have three New York premieres: Buffalo Gal by A.R. Gurney, A Body of Water by Lee Blessing, and Shipwrecked! An Entertainment - The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (As Told By Himself) by Donald Margulies, and the world premiere of Chasing Manet by Tina Howe at Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters.

The World Premiere of Paul Cohen's Cherubina, a new drama based on a true story, and directed by Alexis Poledouris, begins performances begin February 1 at The Sanford Meisner Theater. Opening night is slated for February 4.

Primary Stages will honor Broadway producer Daryl Roth and Tony Award-winning director Jack O'Brien at Primary Stages' 23rd Anniversary Gala Benefit at a private club in Manhattan on Monday, November 12 at 6:30PM.

The Signature Theatre Company 2006-2007 season productions of August Wilson's Two Trains Running and King Hedley II have been nominated for 16 AUDELCO Awards, which recognize excellence in black theatre. The winners will be announced on November 19 at a ceremony held at Aaron Davis Hall.

Penguin Rep, a suburban Equity house formed in 1977 as a community theater, is presenting 'The Goldman Project' in NYC.

The Stella Adler Studio of Acting will celebrate the 2nd annual Harold Clurman Festival of the Arts from September 14 - 17. The Festival will comprise four days of theater, poetry readings, concerts and symposia.

Michael Hollinger's play 'Opus,' presented by Primary Stages, opened on August 7th and BroadwayWorld was there!

Irish playwright John Austin Connolly has been awarded the inaugural David C. Horn Prize for Playwriting, presented as part of the Yale Drama Series

On April 26, 2007, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee will announce the inaugural winner of the Yale Drama Series competition -- a new annual award for emerging playwrights in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and the Republic of Ireland.

On April 26, 2007, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Goat) will announce the inaugural winner of the Yale Drama Series competition -- a new annual award for emerging playwrights in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and the Republic of Ireland.