Lynn Nottage News

Westport Country Playhouse has been awarded a $20,000 Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for the autumn production of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage's "Mlima's Tale."  Directed by Mark Lamos, the drama will run from October 1 - 19. 

Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere of Continuity, the new play by Lortel and Drama Desk Award nominee Bess Wohl (Small Mouth Sounds, American Hero) and directed by Tony Award nominee Rachel Chavkin (Hadestown; Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812), opens tomorrow night at The Studio at Stage II - Harold and Mimi Steinberg New Play Series at New York City Center (131 W. 55th Street).

Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park Artistic Director Blake Robison announced today the appointment of Karen Zacarias and Nicole A. Watson as new Associate Artists for the theatre. They will join Wendy C. Goldberg on the Playhouse artistic team, working closely with Robison on season planning, new play development and community engagement.

Deciding where to go for college or university is nothing short of daunting. To help out, we're rounding up some of the top theatre schools to give students some stats to consider when getting ready to apply or even transfer.

The Drama League (Gabriel Stelian-Shanks, Executive Artistic Director) today announced the 2019 Drama League Awards Nominees for Outstanding Production of a Play, Outstanding Revival of a Play, Outstanding Production of a Musical, Outstanding Revival of a Musical, and the much-coveted Distinguished Performance Award. The nominations were announced this morning by the current stars of Waitress, Shoshana Bean and Jeremy Jordan, at the official announcement event at Sardi's Restaurant, which was streamed live online here at BroadwayWorld.

Westport Country Playhouse will stage the gripping drama, "Skeleton Crew," written by 2018 MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellow Dominique Morisseau and directed by LA Williams, from June 4 through June 22. 

It's that time of the week, theater lovers! With the weekend set to kick off at any moment - personally, we like to consider Thursday morning at 12:01 a.m. the official start of the weekend (that's directed primarily to the Dowager Countess of Grantham who quite clearly didn't understand what actually constitutes a 'weekend') - so we are back with a few suggestions of our own to help make your job easier. There are some new shows opening, others which are continuing their runs and still more which will be winding up their slate of performances this weekend!

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham; Board Chair, Arielle Tepper) announced casting today for The Public's Annual Gala, WOMEN OF THE PUBLIC onMonday, June 3 at the Delacorte Theater. Directed by Leigh Silverman, with music direction by Mary-Mitchell Campbell, the highly-anticipated summer gala under the stars will celebrate those who shaped our past and guide our future. The evening of dinner and performances at the Delacorte Theater will be hosted by Gala Co-ChairsKathryn Chenault, Faith Gay, Suzan-Lori Parks, Julie Rice, and Lauren Rosenkranz.

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston announces the final play  in its 45th Season: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS

Santa Monica Repertory Theater presents #hysteria, a weekend festival of play readings, written and directed by women, including a post-show conversation with the director, cast, and audience after each reading, June 7 - 9, 2019.

In 1995, a group of writers, directors and actors gathered on Manhattan's Lower East Side for what was supposed to be a one-time only event: write, direct, produce and perform new plays within the span of 24 hours. Twenty-four years later, The 24 Hour Plays and The 24 Hour Musicals are regularly performed around the world, touching everyone from celebrities to student artists and raising millions of dollars for charities. Today, The 24 Hour Plays announced that they'll mark their anniversary with an intimate production of The 24 Hour Musicals on Monday, June 17th at 8 PM on the Irene Diamond Stage at the Pershing Square Signature Center.  

Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company and Jujamcyn Theatres announce the winners for the 11th Annual August Wilson Monologue Competition National Finals, held on Monday, May 6th at the August Wilson Theatre in New York. The first-place winner was Trajan Clayton from Perry, GA; second-place, Katara Willis from Buffalo, NY; and third place, Abad Viquez from Chicago, IL.

It's another busy weekend in Nashville - but when is Music City not packed with events, festivals, affairs? - and we're back with our Critic's Choice recommendations to have you cut through the theatrical flotsam and jetsam and find a cultural opening that's a good fit for your harried lifestyle. Nashville Opera opens its staging of Marc Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock at Noah Liff Opera Center, Way Off Broadway Productions unveils its version of Les Liaisons Dangereuses at Music Valley Event Center, Street Theatre Company invites you to the see their staging of Lynn Nottage's Sweat at their new venue on Elm Hill Pike and Nashville Rep continues its celebration of 10 years of The Ingram New Works Festival at Nashville Children's Theatre.

True Colors Theatre Company and Jujamcyn Theaters announce the winners of the 11th Annual August Wilson Monologue Competition National Finals.

The League of Professional Theatre Women, an organization which has been leading the gender parity conversation and championing women in the professional theatre for over 35 years, presented an Oral History Project event with six-time Emmy and Tony nominee Tovah Feldshuh on Monday, May 6 at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (111 Amsterdam Avenue at 65th Street). Ms. Feldshuh discussed her life and prolific career with award-winning drama critic Linda Winer.

Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere of Continuity, the new play by Lortel and Drama Desk Award nominee Bess Wohl (Small Mouth Sounds, American Hero) and directed by Tony Award nominee Rachel Chavkin (Hadestown; Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812), begins performances tomorrow at The Studio at Stage II - Harold and Mimi Steinberg New Play Series at New York City Center (131 W. 55th Street). Opening night is set for Tuesday, May 21.

The 2019 Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway were handed out last night to recipients in 19 categories, with one special award and three honorary awards also bestowed. The Lortel Awards were distributed in a ceremony at NYU Skirball Center hosted by Drama Desk Award-nominated writer and performer of The New One, Mike Birbiglia. The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League by special arrangement with the Lucille Lortel Theatre Foundation. Additional support is provided by TDF.

The Off-Broadway League today announced nominations in 19 categories - and bestowed one special award - for the 34th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway. The Awards will be handed out on Sunday, May 5, 2019 at NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts, beginning at 7:00pm EST. The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League by special arrangement with the Lucille Lortel Theatre Foundation. Additional support is provided by TDF. Beloved and celebrated entertainer, Wayne Brady, will emcee the ceremony.

Award-winning artists' collective Rogue Artists Ensemble is thrilled to announce the Inaugural Rogue Lab Readings Series, a four-day event that includes readings of seven new works written, directed, and designed by emerging LA artists, as well as post-show discussions and receptions. The reading series will feature new plays by 2018-2019 Rogue Lab playwrights Lisa Sanaye Dring, Eric Fagundes, John Guerra, Mildred Inez Lewis, Chelsea Sutton, and Jennie Webb, and a special new play presentation by writing team Taylor Coffman and Z. Lupetin.

TimeLine Theatre Company presents the Chicago premiere of Too Heavy for Your Pocket, which doubles as the Chicago debut of rising young playwright and TV writer Jireh Breon Holder, recently named one of "Tomorrow's Marquee Names, Now in the Making" by The New York Times.