Rinde Eckert News

Professional singer and music professor Dr. P tries to shake hands with a parking meter and describes a rose as'a convoluted red form with a linear green attachment.' A man who sees, but does not see, Dr. P suffers from visual agnosia. Unable to recognize objects and faces (including his wife's), he finds a way to make sense of his world through music. LBO goes site-specific again with four performances of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat between June 16 and June 24, 2012 at the EXPO Warehouse in Long Beach, CA.

Twenty-one of America's most vital and productive performing artists in contemporary dance, jazz, theatre and multidisciplinary work were announced today as the first class of Doris Duke Artists, sharing a total of $5.775 million awarded in an unprecedented new initiative of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF).

Boston College alumnus and accomplished theater director Tony Taccone-artistic director of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley, California, one of the most prominent regional theaters in the country-returns to campus this month as the special guest and alumni honoree at the University's 14th annual Arts Festival, which will be held April 26-28, 2012. Taccone will make a number of public appearances while on campus.

La MaMa presents Poor Baby Bree in I Am Going to Run Away, a one-woman musical conceived and performed by Bree Benton, with an original book written by Bree Benton and fifteen archival songs from the golden age of vaudeville (1890s-1930s). I Am Going to Run Away is directed by David Schweizer, with musical direction by Franklin Bruno (on piano), and featuring Karen Waltuch (on viola) and Jacob Garchik (on tuba and trombone).

Alfred R. Kahn, in association with Culture Project (Allan Buchman, Artistic Director), will present the Off-Broadway Premiere of Out of Iceland by Drew Larimore, directed by Josh Hecht. Michael Bakkensen, Jillian Crane and Lea DeLaria star. Out of Iceland will begin previews March 24th Off-Broadway at Walkerspace (46 Walker Street, between Broadway and Church). Opening night is set for Sunday April 1st (7pm). This limited engagement runs through Sunday April 22nd.

Now considered a prominent venue for award winning theatre, Culture Project had its humble beginnings in a former piano manufacturing factory on East 91st Street. It then moved to a lumberyard at 45 Bleecker Street which it converted into a two-theater performing arts center with Bombitty of Errors and And God Created Great Whales as its initial attractions. Now Culture Project has officially returned to 45 Bleecker making it its permanent home, and will present And God Created Great Whales, the innovative piece that launched the Culture Project into prominence over a decade ago.

Now considered a prominent venue for award winning theatre, Culture Project had its humble beginnings in a former piano manufacturing factory on East 91st Street. It then moved to a lumberyard at 45 Bleecker Street which it converted into a two-theater performing arts center with Bombitty of Errors and And God Created Great Whales as its initial attractions. Now Culture Project has officially returned to 45 Bleecker making it its permanent home, and will present And God Created Great Whales, the innovative piece that launched the Culture Project into prominence over a decade ago.

REDCAT will launch its dynamic and interdisciplinary 2012 Winter/Spring Season of visual, performing and media arts with the Los Angeles premiere of Rinde Eckert's mesmerizing epic And God Created Great Whales. Hailed as 'total magic' by The New York Times, this Obie Award-winning work of groundbreaking music-theater is a morbidly funny and deeply moving operatic journey into the psyche of an eccentric composer as he desperately tries to complete his final opus: an opera based on Melville's Moby-Dick. Performances will be held at the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater Wednesday, Janaury 25 - Sunday, January 29, 2011.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre begins the New Year with the world-premiere production of Ghost Light, a new play conceived and developed by Jonathan Moscone and Tony Taccone.

Bard College announces the appointment of performing arts curator, artistic director, and dramaturg Gideon Lester to the College faculty, naming him Director of Theater Programs and Professor of Theater.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre begins the New Year with the world-premiere production of Ghost Light, a new play conceived and developed by Jonathan Moscone and Tony Taccone.

In September, the Tony Award-winning Berkeley Repertory Theatre kicks off its new season with the world premiere of Rita Moreno: Life Without Makeup, a captivating new show created specifically for this outstanding actress. Written by Artistic Director Tony Taccone, developed by Rita Moreno and Tony Taccone, and staged by David Galligan, this spectacular production starts previews in the Roda Theatre on September 2, opens September 7, and runs through October 30.

In September, the Tony Award-winning Berkeley Repertory Theatre kicks off its new season with the world premiere of Rita Moreno: Life Without Makeup, a captivating new show created specifically for this outstanding actress. Written by Artistic Director Tony Taccone, developed by Rita Moreno and Tony Taccone, and staged by David Galligan, this spectacular production starts previews in the Roda Theatre on September 2, opens September 7, and runs through October 30.

Yale Repertory Theatre (James Bundy, Artistic Director; Victoria Nolan, Managing Director) presents two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl's new version of Anton Chekhov's THREE SISTERS, based on a literal translation by Elise Thoron with Natalya Paramonova and Kristin Johnsen-Neshati, directed by Les Waters.

La Jolla Playhouse presents Peer Gynt, by Henrik Ibsen, adapted and directed by David Schweizer, running June 28 - July 24 (media night: Wednesday, July 6 at 7:30 pm) in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre. Tickets to Peer Gynt are available by calling the Box Office: (858) 550-1010 or online at LaJollaPlayhouse.org.