Martha Graham News

Saperstein Productions is proud to present BIRDSEED, an original new musical at The Producers Club. Performances are March 25th through March 28th at 8pm and March 20th at 6pm. Tickets are $15.00 and are avaialble at www.smarttix.com, or call 212-868-4444. Birdseed is the tale of two young children who, living with their ailing Grandfather in the tenement district of a big city, find solace in a small garden they have grown and nurtured themselves in an empty lot. It is a place where they can find happiness. It is only when their garden has been condemned by the city, that they learn how dreams can really exist. The garden brings them greater understanding of life itself, friendships and the true meaning of miracles. This 'miracle on 44th Street' is a musical for children and grownups alike. Cast: Katt Alexander, Dante Orlando Brown, Christina Boas, Priscilla Holbrook, Tina Jetter, Adam Kaufman, Sherelle Moore, Mark Singer, Brennan Spector, Lacey Upton, and Otto Walberg.

The Emergency Fund for Student Dancers (EFSD) announces our annual benefit concerts by advanced students of its member schools - The Ailey? School, Merce Cunningham Studio, Dance Theatre of Harlem School, Lim?n Institute, Houston Ballet, and Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. The concert is on Saturday, February 28 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, March 1, 2008 at 3:00 PM at the Dance Theatre of Harlem School, 466 West 152nd Street (between Amsterdam and St. Nicholas Avenues). This annual event called by The New York Times 'one of the happiest dance rituals in town,' brings together the best of the professional studio schools in New York and provides a rare opportunity to see a broad range of dance technique and choreographic variety in a single evening, while raising money to provide emergency support to these same students as they train for professional dance careers. The concerts feature original work by legendary choreographers and respected faculty from member schools. Among the featured works are: Diversion of Angels by Martha Graham, performed by the Martha Graham Ensemble; an excerpt from Joplin Dances by Robert Garland, Lowell Smith's Fragments, and Peter Pucci's Episode, performed by the Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble; MinEvent by Merce Cunningham, staged by Robert Swinston, performed by the Cunningham Repertory Group; an excerpt from A Choreographic Offering by Jose Lim?n, directed by Roxanne D'Orleans-Juste, performed by Professional Studies Program students of the Lim?n Institute; and 4 YOU, by Pedro Ruiz danced by the Ailey/Fordham Student Dancers of The Ailey School. Program is subject to change.

The internationally acclaimed Elisa Monte Dance will present another exciting season of dance featuring the New York premiere of 'Zydeco, Zar?,' the world premiere of 'Arrow's Path,' a romantic duet featuring renowned modern composer, Kevin Keller, as well as revivals of 'Audentity' and last year's Joyce commissioned piece, 'Slope of Enlightenment,' when the company returns to New York City's Joyce Theater (175 Eighth Avenue) January 21st through January 25th.

Pig Iron is proud to bring you In-Hog-Ural Ball, a glitzy, hope-and-change-fueled benefit cabaret and auction, guaranteed to set us up for a brand new era. For the Love of Pig Iron: In-Hog-Ural Ball will be held at the Trocadero Theatre, 1003 Arch Street, on Friday, January 16, 2009. Doors open at 7:00pm, show starts at 8:00pm. Tickets are a measly $20 before January 9, $30 afterwards. $75 preferred-seating tickets and $500 tables for 6 (including a pre-show reception with heavy appetizers and drinks) are also available.

The Cedar Lake Theater in West Chelsea will come to life on Friday, January 24 with a thrilling evening of dance to benefit Dancers Responding To AIDS (DRA), a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BCEFA). Hosted by Tony Award winning choreographer Rob Ashford, this gala event guarantees to be a soul-stirring showcase of the best and brightest from today's varied dance landscape with performances by American Ballet Theatre, Battleworks, Broadway's 'Billy Elliott,' Camille A. Brown, Dresden Ballet, Les Ballet Grandiva, Paul Taylor Dance Company, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. The program will also feature the world premiere of TITLE by choreographer Chase Brock performed by NYCB principal Tiler Peck.

The internationally acclaimed Elisa Monte Dance will present another exciting season of dance featuring the New York premiere of 'Zydeco, Zar?,' the world premiere of 'Arrow's Path,' a romantic duet featuring renowned modern composer, Kevin Keller, as well as revivals of 'Audentity' and last year's Joyce commissioned piece, 'Slope of Enlightenment,' when the company returns to New York City's Joyce Theater (175 Eighth Avenue) January 21st through January 25th.

Mauckingbird Theatre Company will present Hedda Gabler as a compelling lesbian drama with the professional premiere of playwright Caroline Kava's explosive new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's classic. After the success of their critically acclaimed and sold-out inaugural season with all-male versions of The Misanthrope and Shakespeare's R & J, Mauckingbird's Hedda Gabler, explores lesbian relationships and the search for personal and sexual identity while exposing class divides, sexism, and the influence of money and status in aristocratic and bourgeois worlds.

Pig Iron is proud to bring you In-Hog-Ural Ball, a glitzy, hope-and-change-fueled benefit cabaret and auction, guaranteed to set us up for a brand new era. For the Love of Pig Iron: In-Hog-Ural Ball will be held at the Trocadero Theatre, 1003 Arch Street, on Friday, January 16, 2009. Doors open at 7:00pm, show starts at 8:00pm. Tickets are a measly $20 before January 9, $30 afterwards. $75 preferred-seating tickets and $500 tables for 6 (including a pre-show reception with heavy appetizers and drinks) are also available.

Performance Space 122 is proud to announce the spring 2009 schedule. Tickets may be purchased online at www.ps122.org or via phone at (212) 352-3101. All programs are subject to change. Performance Space 122 is located at 150 First Avenue at East 9th Street, New York, New York 10009.

The producers of Garden of Earthly Delights have announced that the show has extended its run through Sunday, March 1 at the Minetta Lane Theatre (18 Minetta Lane).

Visionary director Martha Clarke brings Hieronymus Bosch's provocative painting to life in Garden of Earthly Delights, exploring heaven, hell, and the beauty and sins amid, began performances Saturday, November 8 at Off-Broadway's Minetta Lane Theatre, 18 Minetta Lane.

Producer Howard Panter for Ambassador Theatre Group and co-producers Tulchin/Bartner/Jenkins, Bill Kenwright, Northwater Entertainment, Darren Bagert, and Tom Gregory announced the complete cast and design team for the new Broadway production of the greatest musical comedy GUYS AND DOLLS. The first joint Broadway project by two-time Tony Award winning director Des McAnuff and choreographer Sergio Trujillo since their collaboration on the Tony Award winning musical Jersey Boys, GUYS AND DOLLS will begin previews on February 3, 2009 at Broadway's newly refurbished Nederlander Theatre (208 West 41st Street). Opening Night is March 1, 2009.

The Joyce 2009 season kicks off on February 3 with Buglisi Dance Theatre presenting two different programs that will include three NYC premieres and one world premiere. Ronald K. Brown's Brooklyn-based Evidence, A Dance Company returns to The Joyce this year with an exciting NYC premiere, and Doug Varone and Dancers - back for its 10th Joyce season - also will feature a NYC premiere. Following them is the audience favorite Savion Glover, for a three-week season of electrifying tap set to Flamenco music. Then Ballet-Tech, under the Artistic Direction of Joyce founder Eliot Feld, will present two programs of post-classicism work with its 'Mandance Project.'

The internationally acclaimed Elisa Monte Dance will present another exciting season of dance featuring the New York premiere of ?Zydeco, Zar?,? the world premiere of ?Arrow?s Path,? a romantic duet featuring renowned modern composer, Kevin Keller, as well as revivals of ?Audentity? and last year?s Joyce commissioned piece, ?Slope of Enlightenment,? when the company returns to New York City?s Joyce Theater (175 Eighth Avenue) January 21st through January 25th.

Mauckingbird Theatre Company will present Hedda Gabler as a compelling lesbian drama with the professional premiere of playwright Caroline Kava's explosive new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's classic. After the success of their critically acclaimed and sold-out inaugural season with all-male versions of The Misanthrope and Shakespeare's R & J, Mauckingbird's Hedda Gabler, explores lesbian relationships and the search for personal and sexual identity while exposing class divides, sexism, and the influence of money and status in aristocratic and bourgeois worlds.

Women Designing for Theater, Opera, and Dance Take Center Stage in Exhibition at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts! Everyone loves a backstage story, and none so much as the one about the brilliant but unsung talent who finally makes it into the spotlight. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and the League of Professional Theatre Women bring that long-deserved moment to 140 of those stories in Curtain Call: Celebrating a Century of Women Designing for Live Performance . Featuring treasures from the Library's archives, Curtain Call is a multi-media exhibition crackling with creative verve and bursting at the seams with the dazzling works of the little-noted women without whose costume, set, and lighting designs and innovations the show could not have gone on in North America for the past hundred-plus years. This is the stuff that makes the audience gasp in awe. This is the opportunity to meet those responsible for taking our breath away.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD PLAYHOUSE SCHOOL OF THE THEATRE celebrated its 80th Anniversary with a gala and reunion for alumni, patrons, faculty and students of the renowned school which is one of the oldest theatre institutions in New York City. The celebration was held on Sunday, Nov. 9 at 6 PM at Tavern on the Green.

Visionary director Martha Clarke brings Hieronymus Bosch's provocative painting to life in Garden of Earthly Delights, exploring heaven, hell, and the beauty and sins amid, beginning performances Saturday, November 8 at Off-Broadway's Minetta Lane Theatre, 18 Minetta Lane.

27th Anniversary Season, Elisa Monte Dance returns to The Joyce Theater January 21st - 25th. Season to include: 'Audentity,' 'Slope of Enlightenment,' the New York premiere of 'Zydeco, Zare,' & the world premiere of 'Arrow's Path'

THE NEIGHBORHOOD PLAYHOUSE SCHOOL OF THE THEATRE will celebrate its 80th Anniversary with a gala and reunion for alumni, patrons, faculty and students of the renowned school which is one of the oldest theatre institutions in New York City. The celebration will be held on Sunday, Nov. 9 at 6 PM at Tavern on the Green.