Peter Shaw News

Possum Point Players and director John Hulse, will hold auditions for the drama 'Silent Sky' Monday, March 29, and Tuesday, March 30; both auditions are at 6 pm in Possum Hall, 441 Old Laurel Road, Georgetown.

Today’s subject Richard W. Kidwell has been living his theatre life in DC theatre professionally since1966. He has been the Theatre Manager at the Opera House at Kennedy Center since it’s very first performance back in 1971 which makes him one of if not the longest running employees working in the DC theatre scene.

Theatre Pro Rata will offer a one-night-only, live-streaming, actors-only encore performance of the critically-acclaimed production of Silent Sky this Saturday. In keeping with directives from Governor Walz and health officials the actors will each be performing their roles their own homes to an audience gathered in cyber space.

Blackfriars Theatre's fifth show of its 70th Anniversary Season tells the true story of 19th-century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt. Silent Sky is written by Lauren Gunderson, one of America's most produced living playwrights.

The city lights of Washington may typically obscure the night sky, but a portal to the cosmos has opened in downtown DC. Playwright Lauren Gunderson has gifted us a corner of the galaxy through the telescopic lens of astronomer Henrietta Leavitt's life and scientific discoveries. Leavitt's work may have been rooted in facts and figures, but SILENT SKY is bursting with imagination.

Ford's Theatre Society announced full casting and the design team for Silent Sky by Lauren Gunderson, a captivating play based on the life of trail-blazing astronomer Henrietta Leavitt. The Ford's Theatre production is directed by Seema Sueko and features Laura C. Harris (Arena Stage's The Heiress, Signature Theatre's The Flick) as Henrietta Leavitt, Nora Achrati as Annie Jump Cannon, Emily Kester as Margaret Leavitt, Jonathan David Martin as Peter Shaw and Holly Twyford as Williamina Fleming. Performances are January 24 to February 23, 2020. A media performance is scheduled for January 29, 2020 at 7:00 p.m.

An old fashioned hearing aid and a strong willed woman at its helm with dreams as big as the universe she wishes to discover is one of many centralized themes presented in this brilliant staging of Lauren Gunderson's Silent Sky at American Stage Theatre. At the center of the stage two desk faced by numerous books on shelves in a workspace for women at Harvard University, where women are paid a mere .25 cents on the hour to a?oecomputea?? and manually log the patterns of stars in the galaxy given on glass plates by their male counterparts. At this point in Harvard's history women were not allowed to work alongside the men no matter their prior education or status. Men had their place, and women had theirs and men liked to make sure the women knew their place in the hierarchy. It was one women's dream to be credited amongst the likes of men in the Astrology department, and through sheer will power she set out to prove just that.

During the holiday season, Lauren Gunderson's Silent Sky opens at American Stage. Sometimes described as the Hidden Figures of astronomy, like Katherine Johnson in the 2017 movie, Henrietta Leavitt received little credit for her discovery.

The League of Professional Theatre Women (Shellen Lubin and Catherine Porter, Co-Presidents), an organization which has been championing women in the professional theatre for over three decades, will present an Oral History Project event with the legendary, five-time Tony Award-winning actress, Angela Lansbury on Thursday, November 14 starting at 6pm (doors at 5:30pm) in the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (111 Amsterdam Avenue at 65th Street). Admission to the FREE event is currently sold out.

Raise your hand if you have ever discovered something new, Googled it, found the Wikipedia page, which then made you go off on a flurry of related topics and suddenly time has just passed by? I'll raise both hands because I'm not ashamed to say that this happens to me often. Sunday was one of those days, all thanks to the fantastic production of Silent Sky at Detroit Mercy Theatre Company who educated me on Henrietta Leavitt. The Lauren Gunderson play is the fascinating true story about the 19th century astronomer who was hired to join a group of women a?oecomputersa?? and living in an age when women could neither vote nor express an original idea. Despite not being allowed to touch a telescope, Leavitt and her female colleagues at the Harvard Observatory made ground-breaking discoveries about the universe that remain vital more than a century later. The simplicity and elegance of this production of Silent Sky made the importance of Gunderson's words stand out to the audience and the cast of five worked seamlessly together to bring this impactful and moving production to life. It is a brilliant piece of Michigan theatre.

The League of Professional Theatre Women an organization which has been championing women in the professional theatre for over three decades, will present an Oral History Project event with the legendary, five-time Tony Award-winning actress, Angela Lansbury on Thursday, November 14 starting at 6pm in the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (111 Amsterdam Avenue at 65th Street). Admission to the event is FREE and seats are available on a first-come-first-seated basis. Doors will open at 5:30pm. 

Arizona Theatre Company (Sean Daniels, Artistic Director; Billy Russo, Managing Director) announces that Silent Sky, written by the nation's most-produced playwright two of the last three years, Lauren Gunderson,is coming to stages in Tucson and Phoenix.

The Philadelphia Orchestra launches its 120th season on Wednesday, September 18, at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Artswith a special Opening Night Concert and Gala, featuring a performance by award-winning singer and actor Audra McDonald. Led by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Fabulous Philadelphians officially kick off the 2019a?"20 season with a celebratory program featuring selections by Gershwin, Sondheim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and more. Acclaimed soprano Adela Zaharia will make her Philadelphia Orchestra debut, performing an aria from Verdi's La traviata. The concert will also include audience participation in the first Philadelphia Orchestra performance of Pauline Oliveros's a?oeTuning Meditation,a?? from Four Mediations for Orchestra.

The Des Moines Community Playhouse presents the new drama Silent Sky, May 31-June 16, 2019. Tickets may be purchased online at dmplayhouse.com, by phone at 515-277-6261, or at the Playhouse ticket office, 831 42nd St.

When a family of shepherds in the suburbs of Corinth learns their adopted son Oedipus has ascended the throne of Thebes, they plan a bender to end all benders. But who's on cleanup after the party's over? Equal parts irreverent comedy and emotional journey into family dysfunction, Dionysus Was Such A Nice Man by Kate Tarker examines with horror and humor the lasting effects of personal trauma. The first ever World Premiere commissioned for Wilma's HotHouse, this searing new play directed by French physical theater master Dominique Serrand runs April 23 - May 12 at The Wilma Theater.

Evergreen Players presents 'Silent Sky' March 15 through April 7 at Center Stage, 27608 Fireweed Drive, Evergreen, CO. Performances are Today and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25 Adults; $20 students/seniors (60+), Youth (12 and under) $15 by calling 303-674-4934 or online at www.evergreenplayers.org. Group discounts are also available.

Evergreen Players presents 'Silent Sky' March 15 through April 7 at Center Stage, 27608 Fireweed Drive, Evergreen, CO. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25 Adults; $20 students/seniors (60+), Youth (12 and under) $15 by calling 303-674-4934 or online at www.evergreenplayers.org. Group discounts are also available.

The play's director Claudia Billings says 'Gunderson in the most exciting playwright working today. She has made it her career focus to bring the stories of women who didn't get the recognition they deserved - to the forefront. The script has found huge success across the nation since it's release in 2011. We are beyond excited to bring it to the Las Cruces area. With NMSU's rich history and research in Astronomy, we feel like this is the perfect story to tell.'

The play's director Claudia Billings says 'Gunderson in the most exciting playwright working today. She has made it her career focus to bring the stories of women who didn't get the recognition they deserved - to the forefront. The script has found huge success across the nation since it's release in 2011. We are beyond excited to bring it to the Las Cruces area. With NMSU's rich history and research in Astronomy, we feel like this is the perfect story to tell.'

Astronomer Henrietta Leavitt trades the comforts of her rural home for a job at the Harvard Observatory in Massachusetts. Her ambition leaves both her family and her new colleagues (women known simply as "computers") perplexed. But with a single discovery, their views of themselves, each other, and the universe itself will be upended for all time. An incredible story of bold love, boundless determination, and the vast grandeur of the cosmos-an unparalleled treat for the heart, mind, and senses.