Pamela Brown News

The New-York Historical Society is proud to announce a partnership with Bank of America to bring free cultural programming to the Upper West Side on Friday nights in the spring of 2013.

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein have announced the world premiere of Gnit by Will Eno, directed by Artistic Director Les Waters. The play will run in the Pamela Brown Auditorium and will begin previews on March 15, open March 17 and run through April 7. Tickets are on sale now to the public and can be purchased at the Actors Theatre Box Office by calling 502-584-1205 or online at ActorsTheatre.org. The 37th Humana Festival of New American Plays is made possible by a generous grant from the Humana Foundation. Gnit is presented as part of the Brown Forman Series, by special arrangement with Signature Theatre and was developed at The Pershing Square Signature Center, with thanks to the J.A.W. Festival, Portland Center Stage. Director is underwritten by Todd P. Lowe and Fran C. Ratterman; Bruce Merrick and Karen McCoy.

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein are pleased to announce the cast and creative team for Girlfriend. This irresistible rock musical begins previews January 29 and 30, opens January 31 and runs through February 17. Girlfriend, with book by Todd Almond and music and lyrics by Matthew Sweet, will be directed by Les Waters and run for three weeks in the Pamela Brown Auditorium at Actors Theatre of Louisville as part of the Brown-Forman Series.

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein have announced the lineup of plays, playwrights and directors for the 37th annual Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville, running February 27-April 7, 2013. The Festival, underwritten for the 33rd consecutive year by the Louisville-based Humana Foundation, will feature fully-produced world premieres by Jeff Augustin, Mallery Avidon, Will Eno, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and Sam Marks; a suite of three one-act plays by Rinne Groff, Lucas Hnath and Anne Washburn commissioned by Actors Theatre and performed by the Acting Apprentice Company; and an evening of ten-minute plays featuring a new play by Sarah Ruhl, among others yet to be announced.

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein have announced that Waters will stage his inaugural production as Artistic Director with Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill. O'Neill's epic drama will play a limited engagement of 24 performances in the Pamela Brown Auditorium at Actors Theatre of Louisville as part of the Brown-Forman Series. It opens tonight, October 11 and runs through October 28.

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein have announced the cast and creative team for Actors Theatre's 2012-2013 season opener Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. This high-octane and energetic contemporary retelling of one of the greatest love stories ever told features a dynamic cast of thirteen, a stellar team of designers and is directed by Louisville native and Drama Desk nominee Tony Speciale. Romeo and Juliet plays only 30 performances in the Pamela Brown Auditorium at Actors Theatre of Louisville as part of the Brown-Forman Series.

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein have announced that Waters will stage his inaugural production as Artistic Director with Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill. O'Neill's epic drama will play a limited engagement of 24 performances in the Pamela Brown Auditorium at Actors Theatre of Louisville as part of the Brown-Forman Series. It begins previews on October 9, opens October 11 and runs through October 28.

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein have announced the cast and creative team for Actors Theatre's 2012-2013 season opener Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. This high-octane and energetic contemporary retelling of one of the greatest love stories ever told features a dynamic cast of thirteen, a stellar team of designers and is directed by Louisville native and Drama Desk nominee Tony Speciale. Romeo and Juliet plays only 30 performances in the Pamela Brown Auditorium at Actors Theatre of Louisville as part of the Brown-Forman Series.

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein are pleased to announce the cast and creative team for Actors Theatre's 2012-2013 season opener Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein are have announced that Actors Theatre will present the world premiere of Will Eno's Gnit, directed by Waters, as part of the 37th annual Humana Festival of New American Plays. Performed in the Pamela Brown Auditorium,Gnit begins previews March 15 & 16, opens March 17, 2013 and runs through April 7, 2013. This announcement completes the lineup for the 2012-2013 Brown-Forman Series.

Mayor Michael Nutter announced today that James Earl Jones-one of the country's most critically acclaimed stage and screen actors-will receive the 2012 Marian Anderson Award. Mr. Jones will accept the Award at a Gala Concert produced in partnership with The Philadelphia Orchestra on Monday, November 19, 2012, at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein have announced the Actors Theatre's 49th season lineup. The 2012-2013 Brown-Forman Series, Waters' inaugural season at the helm, runs the gamut thematically from forbidden love and sibling rivalry to familial dysfunction and adolescent innocence in an exhilarating program sure to entertain, engage and delight audiences.

Actors Theatre of Louisville's Artistic Director, Les Waters and Managing Director, Jennifer Bielstein announce the complete schedule of panel discussions during the 36th annual Humana Festival of New American Plays, running now through April 15, 2012. The Festival, which annually has a lineup of up to ten new world premieres will host four dynamic panel discussions that will feature national-known playwrights, theatre professionals, artists and local business leaders listed below. All panel discussions are FREE and open to the public. Tickets are required and can be reserved by calling the Actors Theatre Box Office at 502-584-1205 or in-person at 316 West Main Street, Louisville, 40202. Visit http://actorstheatre.org/ for more information.

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein have announced the line-up of events that comprise the annual College Days Weekend as part of the 36th annual Humana Festival of New American Plays. This year, College Days Weekend is slated for March 16 - 18, as part of the Humana Festival of New American Plays that runs February 26 -April 1, 2012.

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein have announced the line-up of events that comprise the annual College Days Weekend as part of the 36th annual Humana Festival of New American Plays. This year, College Days Weekend is slated for March 16 - 18, as part of the Humana Festival of New American Plays that runs February 26 -April 1, 2012.

Actors Theatre of Louisville is thrilled to announce the lineup of the 36th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays. This year's Festival will feature 10 world premieres that celebrate 14 vital voices in American theatre today. Described by Gordon Cox at Variety as "one of the most prominent showcases of fully staged new plays in the U.S." the Festival is a driving force of new play development in America and attracts a national and international audience of nearly 40,000 theatre professionals and enthusiasts each year. This season, the Humana Festival runs February 26 through April 1, 2012. Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein states,"I am incredibly proud of our artistic team and the selections in the 2012 Humana Festival. The plays that we announce today will join a prestigious catalogue of work we have launched into the American theatre repertoire. The Humana Festival remains a standout event in the American theatre, drawing local, national and international attention and attracting arts professionals and theatre enthusiasts from across the country. Last year's Humana Festival boasted more than 100 performances and attracted visitors from 44 states and 9 countries. We are extremely grateful to the Humana Foundation, whose commitment to support the Festival's mission is unmatched.' This year's Festival showcases seven full-length plays, including a play by five writers commissioned by Actors Theatre and featuring the Acting Apprentice Company, and an evening of three ten-minute plays (yet to be announced). The productions will run in rotating repertory in Actors Theatre's 633-seat Pamela Brown Auditorium, 318-seat Bingham Theatre and 159-seat Victor Jory Theatre. "We are tremendously excited to support an array of remarkable voices in this festival lineup that brings together a diverse collection of aesthetics, cultural perspectives and original stories," remarked Amy Wegener, Actors Theatre's Literary Director."This constellation of amazing playwrights includes a mix of men and women, experiences that range from the suburban Midwest to the Middle East, veterans of Broadway and writers who'll see their work produced on this scale for the first time. The Humana Festival's commitment to production as a vital stage of new play development, with the writer's imagination as our compass, allows the creative teams to fully engage with the possibilities of the plays' rich theatrical worlds-and for audiences to share in that discovery." Idris Goodwin, who will make his Humana Festival debut, said, "How We Got On launches my most recent theatrical endeavor: to pay homage to Hip Hop in the Midwest, the culture that shaped me as a writer. What greater affirmation than to participate in this country's most essential new play festival.' 'I'm tremendously grateful and thrilled that my odd play about a vampire with second thoughts will premiere at the Humana Festival," said playwright Greg Kotis on having his play selected. "I've had the honor to participate in the Festival twice before, first as a co-author of BRINK! (an anthology show written for and performed by Actor Theatre's Acting Apprentice Company), and then as a performer in and an author of one of the ten-minute plays. The Humana Festival continues to be one of the essential events of our national theatre season, and I'm very happy to be a part of it once again.' Mona Mansour said, "I am thrilled to be invited to be in this year's festival, where so many plays I admire were launched. And I am equally thrilled to be there with Mark Wing-Davey, who directed the very first reading of The Hour of Feeling at the Public Theater." This year's festival program will feature (in chronological order): Seven full-length world premieres, including The Veri**on Play by Lisa Kron How We Got On by Idris Goodwin The Hour of Feeling by Mona Mansour Eat Your Heart Out by Courtney Baron Death Tax by Lucas Hnath Michael von Siebenburg Melts Through the Floorboards by Greg Kotis Oh, Gastronomy! by Michael Golamco, Carson Kreitzer, Steve Moulds, Tanya Saracho and Matt Schatz, performed by the Actors Theatre Acting Apprentice Company. An evening of three Ten-Minute Plays (to be announced) The 2012 Humana Festival schedule also features special industry weekend packages, networking opportunities, discussions and soiree events, making Louisville the place to be in American theatre this spring. For more information on individual plays, see below. Actors Theatre celebrates the 36th Annual Humana Festival with its underwriter The Humana Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Humana, Inc. Additional support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust. Editor: The involvement of The Humana Foundation in the Humana Festival of New American Plays is very important to us. We would greatly appreciate inclusion of its participation in your coverage. The Humana Festival represents the largest and longest-running active partnership between a corporation and a theatre in the United States.

Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein is pleased to present The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in a lively new adaptation by Laura Eason and directed by Jeremy B. Cohen, playing in the Pamela Brown Auditorium at Actors Theatre of Louisville as part of the Brown-Forman Series, previewing October 4 & 5, then opening October 6 and running through October 29. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online at ActorsTheatre.org or by calling 502-584-1205.