Melissa James Gibson News

Playwrights Horizons announced the appointment of Liz Fallon Culp as the institution's new Director of Development. Ms. Culp joins the acclaimed theater company direct from New York Public Radio (WNYC/WQXR), where she served as the Senior Director of Major Gifts and Legacy Giving. She began with the theater company this month, leading its seven-person Development department.

Playwrights Horizons announced today that their New York premiere production of the acclaimed new play Bootycandy, written and directed by Obie Award winner Robert O'Hara, would extend an additional week. The production is the season opener of the theater company's 2014/2015 Season. After opening on Wednesday, September 10, the limited engagement -- originally scheduled to play through Sunday, October 12 -- will now play through Sunday, October 19 at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street).

Tickets go on sale to the general public and rehearsals begin today, Tuesday, September 16 for the Playwrights Horizons World Premiere production of GRAND CONCOURSE, a new play by playwright and two-time Obie Award-winning actress Heidi Schreck (There Are No More Big Secrets, Creature). Directed by Kip Fagan (The Revisionist, Asuncion), the play is the second production of the acclaimed theater company's 2014/2015 Season. It follows the critically-acclaimed Bootycandy, a new play written and directed by Robert O'Hara, now playing on the Mainstage.

The Douglas Morrisson Theatre (DMT) is excited to announce the first production in the 2014-2015 'Bare Bones' staged reading series: the West Coast premiere of "WHAT RHYMES WITH AMERICA" by Melissa James Gibson, a quirky, poignant funny-sad play about lost souls and the partially examined life.

Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) has announced casting for POCATELLO, the World Premiere of a new play by Obie, Drama Desk and Lortel awards winner Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale at PH, The Few, A Bright New Boise). Directed by Davis McCallum (The Whale at PH, The Few, London Wall, A Bright New Boise, Water by the Spoonful), the play will be the third production of the theater company's 2014/2015 Season.

After a national search, Playwrights Horizons announced today the appointment of Kyle Sircus as the institution's new Director of Marketing. Beginning Monday, September 22, Mr. Sircus will join the acclaimed theater company direct from Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley, CA, where he currently serves as Marketing Manager, a position created especially for him in July 2012. Mr. Sircus will lead the theater company's seven-person Marketing Department.

Epic Theatre Company's just-announced 2014-2015 season will include works by playwrights including Ruhl, Chekhov, Harmon, and more. The upcoming season will feature nine plays, including six Rhode Island Premieres.

Tickets go on sale to the general public starting today, Wednesday, July 23 for the Playwrights Horizons New York premiere production of BOOTYCANDY, a new play written and directed by Obie Award winner Robert O'Hara (director of In the Continuum, author of Antebellum and Insurrection: Holding History). Rehearsals for the season opener of the acclaimed theater company's 2014/2015 Season are set to begin next Friday, August 1.

On March 31, 300 friends, artists and supporters gathered to celebrate and honor Soho Rep.'s Board Chair Jon Dembrow at their annual spring gala. Forty-five minutes into the evening, the beam supporting a second-story balcony at the event venue, Angel Orensanz Center, cracked. The building was deemed unsafe and all the guests were evacuated by the FDNY. The cancellation of the event and on-site auction left Soho Rep. with a projected end-of-the-fiscal-year deficit of $68,000.

Playwrights Horizons, under the leadership of Artistic Director Tim Sanford and Managing Director Leslie Marcus, has announced the sixth production of its upcoming 2014/2015 Season. As previously-announced, the season will conclude with a new work by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Bruce Norris (Clybourne Park and The Pain and the Itch at PH, Domesticated). That play will be the New York premiere of THE QUALMS, directed by Tony Award and Obie Award winner Pam MacKinnon (Clybourne Park and Completeness at PH; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; Dinner with Friends; the current When We Were Young and Unafraid).

Playwrights Horizons has announced initial casting for its upcoming 2014/2015 Season. The announcement includes casting for the first two shows of the season: initial casting for BOOTYCANDY, the New York premiere of a new play written and directed by Obie Award winner Robert O'Hara (In the Continuum, Antebellum, Insurrection: Holding History); and initial casting for GRAND CONCOURSE, the World Premiere of a new play by playwright and two-time Obie Award-winning actress Heidi Schreck (There Are No More Big Secrets, Creature), directed by Kip Fagan (The Revisionist, Asuncion).

Seattle Repertory Theatre's Board of Trustees announced today Braden Abraham's appointment as Acting Artistic Director, effective immediately. Abraham formerly served as Associate Artistic Director and has been on the artistic staff of Seattle Rep since 2003. The appointment, extending through June 30, 2016, comes on the heels of the death of Artistic Director Jerry Manning, who passed away suddenly in April.

Playwrights Horizons is now accepting entries for its popular LIVEforFIVE online lottery for up to two $5 tickets each to the New York premiere of FLY BY NIGHT: A NEW MUSICAL, conceived by Kim Rosenstock (Tigers Be Still); written by Will Connolly (performer, Once), Michael Mitnick (Sex Lives of Our Parents, the upcoming film The Giver) and Ms. Rosenstock; choreographed by Sam Pinkleton (Mr. Burns at PH; Natasha, Pierre…); and directed by Carolyn Cantor (The Great God Pan and After the Revolution at PH, Pumpgirl, Orange Flower Water).

Playwrights Horizons is now accepting entries for its popular LIVEforFIVE online lottery for up to two $5 tickets each to the New York premiere of FLY BY NIGHT: A NEW MUSICAL, conceived by Kim Rosenstock (Tigers Be Still); written by Will Connolly (performer, Once), Michael Mitnick (Sex Lives of Our Parents, the upcoming film The Giver) and Ms. Rosenstock; choreographed by Sam Pinkleton (Mr. Burns at PH; Natasha, Pierre…); and directed by Carolyn Cantor (The Great God Pan and After the Revolution at PH, Pumpgirl, Orange Flower Water).

People's Light is proud to announce new play commissions for Eisa Davis, Colman Domingo, Kate Fodor, Karen Hartman, Dominique Morisseau, and Kathryn Petersen. These six playwrights are the first participants in our New Play Frontiers residency program. New Play Frontiers is an initiative to conceive, develop, and produce new plays that explore our American identity through stories of deep meaning to specific populations in the five-county region that surround our theatre.

After a season of through-the-roof ticket sales and critical acclaim, the Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company (BETC) now presents the final play of Season Eight. In true BETC style, "This" by Melissa James Gibson is a thought-provoking, heartrending, and laugh-filled examination of some of the most difficult years of our lives.

Acclaimed Off-Broadway theater company Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) has announced additional top items for the 2014 edition of its popular, annual online auction. Bidding for the auction, which features an eclectic array of items and unique opportunities continues at www.biddingforgood/playwrightshorizons now through Monday, April 28 at 8PM.

Acclaimed Off-Broadway theater company Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) has announced initial details for its 2014 special online Auction. Bidding for the auction, which will feature an eclectic array of items and unique opportunities, begins today, Friday, April 11 at 10AM at www.biddingforgood/playwrightshorizons. Online bidding will continue through Monday, April 28 at 8PM.

Theater Wit Artistic Director Jeremy Wechsler has confirmed Theater Wit has secured the exclusive rights to present the Midwest premiere of Anne Washburn's unforgettable new work, Mr. Burns, a post-electric play.

Playwrights Horizons presents the World Premiere production of YOUR MOTHER'S COPY OF THE KAMA SUTRA, a new play by Kirk Lynn (Co-Artistic Director, Austin's Rude Mechanicals), directed by Obie Award winner Anne Kauffman (Detroit, Maple and Vine at PH; Belleville; This Wide Night; The Thugs), which begins previews this weekend.