Liesl Tommy News

If the gang at Madison Avenue were looking for the perfect spokesmodel to help win support for the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s, they couldn't have done better than Rosa Parks, a sweet-looking, modestly dressed woman who spoke with quiet dignity. Or Ezell Blair, Jr., David Richmond, Joseph McNeil and Franklin McCain, the conservatively dressed, well groomed college freshmen who started the Woolworth lunch counter sit-in. White people who feared the consequences of desegregating America could have their views softened with a look at these clean-cut 'credits to their race' (as the old saying went) who were everyday people just like them. And if that sounds like a crass way of referring to the brave souls who put themselves on the front lines in the fight for equality, well that's a major point playwright Tracy Scott Wilson makes with her new drama, The Good Negro.

Eclipsed runs August 31 - September 27, 2009, with Pay-What-You-Can performances on August 31 and September 1 at 8pm. (Note: these performances dates are changed since our original season announcement. No extension possible). Woolly Mammoth is located at 641 D Street, NW (7th & D).

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE (James Bundy, Artistic Director; Victoria Nolan, Managing Director) will present the world premiere of POP!, a new musical with book and lyrics by Maggie-Kate Coleman and music by Anna K. Jacobs, directed by Mark Brokaw, at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street), November 27-December 19, 2009. Opening Night is December 3.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Bill Rauch has put the finishing touches on the design teams for OSF's 75th anniversary year. The 2010 season was announced in March, but a few directors had not yet been announced.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis, Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) will continue to present staged readings of new plays by the inaugural class of the Emerging Writers Group, an annual program that targets playwrights at the earliest stages of their careers and nurtures their artistic growth by providing necessary resources and support.

Shakespeare on the Sound, Connecticut's premier outdoor summer theatre company presenting free Shakespeare in the park, has announced the complete 17-member cast for Artistic Director Joanna Settle's inaugural production of A Midsummer Night's Dream with music by 2008 Tony Award-winning singer-songwriter Stew.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, on the verge of turning the big 3-0, is excited to announce the lineup of plays for the 30th Season (2009-10). Featured are a World Premiere by Danai Gurira (In the Continuum), exciting new works from Mike Daisey (If You See Something Say Something), Rajiv Joseph (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo), and Bruce Norris (The Unmentionables), and a large-scale work by Charles L. Mee (Big Love). In addition, Woolly Mammoth?s favorite out-of-town troupe, The Neo-Futurists, returns to DC for an unprecedented fourth engagement of their hit show, Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind in December.

New Georges (Susan Bernfield, Artistic Director; Sarah Cameron Sunde, Associate Director), the OBIE Award-winning downtown theater company founded in 1992, and Hip-Hop Theater Festival is currently playing OBIE Winning Actress/Pulitzer-nominated playwright Eisa Davis' 'ANGELA'S MIXTAPE,' directed by Liesl Tommy.

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE (James Bundy, Artistic Director; Victoria Nolan, Managing Director) is pleased to announce its 2009-10 Season, which will include Henrik Ibsen's The Master Builder directed by OBIE Award winner Evan Yionoulis (Yale Rep's Richard II and Black Snow); Eclipsed, a new play by Danai Gurira, co-author of the acclaimed In the Continuum, directed by Liesl Tommy (the world premiere of The Good Negro); the world premiere of Compulsion by Rinne Groff directed by Oskar Eustis; Carlo Goldoni's commedia dell'arte masterpiece The Servant of Two Masters directed by Christopher Bayes (choreographer of the hit Broadway production of Alfred Hitchock's The 39 Steps); and Battle of Black and Dogs by Bernard-Marie Koltès directed by Robert Woodruff (co-adaptor and director of 2009's Notes from Underground at Yale Rep).

Variety reports that the Public Theater's Oskar Eustis will direct the world premiere of Rinne Groff's 'Compulsion' next season at New Haven's Yale Repertory Theater.

Due to strong demand, The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) announced today that it would extend Tracey Scott Wilson?s THE GOOD NEGRO an additional two weeks through Sunday, April 19. THE GOOD NEGRO begins previews on Tuesday, March 3 and will now run through Sunday, April 19 with an official press opening on Monday, March 16. Directed by Liesl Tommy and in association with Dallas Theater Center, THE GOOD NEGRO is the first new play to transfer from the Public LAB initiative to a full main stage production at The Public.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis, Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) will present staged readings of 12 new plays by the inaugural class of the Emerging Writers Group, an annual program that targets playwrights at the earliest stages of their careers and nurtures their artistic growth by providing necessary resources and support.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) announced that Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. will host a post-show discussion immediately following the Saturday, April 11 2 p.m. matinee of THE GOOD NEGRO by Tracey Scott Wilson. Directed by Liesl Tommy and presented in association with Dallas Theater Center, THE GOOD NEGRO opened to critical acclaim last month and will continue its extended run through Sunday, April 19.

New Georges (Susan Bernfield, Artistic Director; Sarah Cameron Sunde, Associate Director), the OBIE Award-winning downtown theater company founded in 1992, and Hip-Hop Theater Festival will present the premiere of OBIE Winning Actress/Pulitzer-nominated playwright Eisa Davis' 'ANGELA'S MIXTAPE,' directed by Liesl Tommy. Ms. Davis who was recently seen on Broadway in last season's award-winning musical Passing Strange will portray herself and Linda Powell, last seen on Broadway in the Tony-nominated revival On Golden Pond, will portray her aunt, professor and activist Angela Davis. 'ANGELA'S MIXTAPE' will be performed at the Ohio Theatre, 66 Wooster Street (between Spring and Broome Streets). Previews begin Monday, April 6, and the official Opening Night will be Thursday, April 9 at 7:00 p.m. Performances will run through May 2.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis, Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) will present staged readings of 12 new plays by the inaugural class of the Emerging Writers Group, an annual program that targets playwrights at the earliest stages of their careers and nurtures their artistic growth by providing necessary resources and support.

Today's Broadway Blogs on BroadwayWorld.com from Friday, March 20, 2009.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) began previews on Tuesday, March 3 for Tracey Scott Wilson's THE GOOD NEGRO, which will run through Sunday, April 19. The official press opening took place on Monday, March 16th and BroadwayWorld was there!

New Georges (Susan Bernfield, Artistic Director; Sarah Cameron Sunde, Associate Director), the OBIE Award-winning downtown theater company founded in 1992, and Hip-Hop Theater Festival will present the premiere of OBIE Winning Actress/Pulitzer-nominated playwright Eisa Davis' 'ANGELA'S MIXTAPE,' directed by Liesl Tommy. Ms. Davis who was recently seen on Broadway in last season's award-winning musical Passing Strange will portray herself and Linda Powell, last seen on Broadway in the Tony-nominated revival On Golden Pond, will portray her aunt, professor and activist Angela Davis. 'ANGELA'S MIXTAPE' will be performed at the Ohio Theatre, 66 Wooster Street (between Spring and Broome Streets). Previews begin Monday, April 6, and the official Opening Night will be Thursday, April 9 at 7:00 p.m. Performances will run through May 2.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) will begin previews on Tuesday, March 3 for Tracey Scott Wilson's THE GOOD NEGRO, which will run through Sunday, April 19 with an official press opening on Monday, March 16. Directed by Liesl Tommy and presented in association with Dallas Theater Center, THE GOOD NEGRO is the first new play to transfer from the Public LAB initiative to a full main stage production at The Public.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) will begin previews on Tuesday, March 3 for Tracey Scott Wilson's THE GOOD NEGRO, which will run through Sunday, April 19 with an official press opening on Monday, March 16. Directed by Liesl Tommy and presented in association with Dallas Theater Center, THE GOOD NEGRO is the first new play to transfer from the Public LAB initiative to a full main stage production at The Public.