The Sundance Institute News

Today in 2008, Passing Strange closed at the Belasco Theatre, where it ran for 165 performances. Passing Strange is a rock musical about a young African American's artistic journey of self-discovery in Europe, drawing on heavy elements of existentialism, metafictional comedy, and the Künstlerroman. The musical's lyrics and book are by Stew with music and orchestrations by Heidi Rodewald and Stew. It was created in collaboration with director Annie Dorsen. The musical was developed at the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab in 2004 and 2005, one of the only works there ever to be invited back for a second round of development. It had productions in Berkeley, California and Off-Broadway before opening on Broadway in 2008, garnering strong reviews and several awards. Spike Lee filmed the musical on Broadway as a documentary, premiering the film in 2009.

Lemon, a new documentary about the acclaimed New York poet/playwright Lemon Andersen, will have its broadcast premiere on PBS as part of Latino Public Broadcasting's arts and culture series VOCES on Friday, October 19, 2012 from 10:00-11:00 p.m. ET (check local listings), in conjunction with Hispanic Heritage Month. Produced and directed by Laura Brownson and Beth Levison, Lemon is a Russell Simmons presentation in association with Impact Partners.

Sundance Institute today announced the acting company and creative advisors for the eight projects being developed at its 2012 Theatre Lab, July 9-29 at the Sundance Resort. Under the supervision of Philip Himberg, Producing Artistic Director, and Associate Director Christopher Hibma, the Lab is the centerpiece of the Theatre Program's year-round work and is designed to support emerging and established artists and to create a place where their original work can be effectively mentored and challenged.

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) announced today the eight musicals selected to be part of the 24th Annual Festival of New Musicals at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street).

Producers Carole Black and Pat Mitchell announced today that EMOTIONAL CREATURE, the new play written by Tony Award®-winning playwright, performer, activist, and The Vagina Monologues author Eve Ensler, will get a New York premiere this fall.

Indhu Rubasingham has announced her inaugural season at The Tricycle, which will launch with the World Premiere of Red Velvet, written by Lolita Chakrabarti with Adrian Lester in the role of Ira Aldridge; followed by The Tricycle's first festive family show, The Arabian Nights, written by Mary Zimmerman and adapted from The Book Of The Thousand Nights and One Night. In 2013, The Tricycle present an Eclipse Theatre production of One Monkey Don't Stop No Show, by Don Evans, followed by another World Premiere: Paper Dolls, written by Philip Himberg and adapted from the award-winning documentary by Tomer Heymann, produced by Stanley Buchthal.

Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Michael Ritchie has set the 2012-2013 season at the CTG/Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. In a season of contrasts - of surprising comedy and startling drama, the 2012-2013 season at the Kirk Douglas Theatre will include the magical and mystical hi-jinks of the CTG-commissioned "Elephant Room" by Trey Lyford, Geoff Sobelle and Steve Cuiffo; the acclaimed Gate Theatre Dublin production of the Beckett classic "Krapp's Last Tape" with one of Britain's greatest actors, John Hurt; the comic genius of The Second City with their unique, satirical twist on a Dickens's favorite - "A Christmas Carol: Twist Your Dickens!" written by Peter Gwinn and Bobby Mort; the world premiere of the otherworldly drama "The Nether" by the 2012 Susan Blackburn Smith prize-winning playwright Jennifer Haley; and the world premiere of the powerful boxing drama "The Royale" by Los Angeles playwright Marco Ramirez.

BAFTA LA, as part of its commitment to professional and community education, is once again bringing the Bard to Ladera Heights, reteaming with Washington Preparatory High School for a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream on June 9 and 10 at 3:30 pm at Ladera Height's Park located at 6027 Ladera Heights Boulevard in Los Angeles. Last year BAFTA LA's Education and Outreach Program partnered with Washington Preparatory High School to stage Shakespeare's classic, Romeo and Juliet.

Sundance Institute today announced that the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, which took place in Park City, Utah, in January, generated an overall economic impact of $80 million for the State of Utah, according to the independent annual economic and demographic study conducted by the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the David Eccles School of Business (BEBR).

Paul Gross, one of Canada's acclaimed actors, leads the cast of Are You There, McPhee? a world premiere by John Guare at McCarter Theatre Center. Directed by Sam Buntrock, the production runs now through June 3, 2012.

Columbia University School of the Arts will hold its Celebration of Graduates at 2:00pm on Wednesday, May 16, 2012, in Miller Theatre on the Morningside Campus. Graduates of the School's Master of Fine Arts programs in Film, Theatre Arts, Visual Arts and Writing, and the Master of Arts in Film Studies will be recognized by Carol Becker, Dean of Faculty, program chairs Ira Deutchman, Arnold Aronson and Gregory Amenoff, and poetry concentration director Lucie Brock-Broido.

Paul Gross, one of Canada's acclaimed actors, leads the cast of Are You There, McPhee? a world premiere by John Guare at McCarter Theatre Center. Directed by Sam Buntrock, the production runs tonight, May 4 through June 3, 2012. (Opening Night: Friday, May 11.)

Ashok Amritraj's Hyde Park Entertainment and Image Nation Abu Dhabi will finance and co-produce the Arctic adventure MIDNIGHT SUN. Directed by Hugh Hudson (CHARIOTS OF FIRE, GREYSTOKE: THE LEGEND OF TARZAN, LORD OF THE APES), the film is from a script by Hudson and Bart Gavigan. Jake Eberts (DANCES WITH WOLVES, GANDHI) and Brando Quilici (Iceman Autopsy) will produce alongside Hyde Park Entertainment's Ashok Amritraj (GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE

The Old Globe's 2012-13 Season will feature the World Premieres of two new musicals: Allegiance - A New American Musical by Jay Kuo and Lorenzo Thione and A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder by Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak. The season also includes George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion in celebration of the classic play's 100th anniversary and the World Premiere of a new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House by Anne-Charlotte Hanes Harvey and Kirsten Brandt. Two recent Broadway hits will make their San Diego debuts at the Globe: David Lindsay-Abaire's Good People and Jon Robin Baitz's Other Desert Cities. Rounding out the season are the West Coast Premiere of Bekah Brunstetter's Be a Good Little Widow and the Southern California Premiere of Tarell Alvin McCraney's The Brothers Size.

Sundance Institute and The O2 announced today the programme of events and performances that will take place in the unique Cinema Café and Music Café spaces at the first-ever Sundance London film and music festival, 26-29 April at The O2.

Sundance Institute today announced the eight artists currently participating in the 2012 Theatre Stage Directors Workshop in Addis Ababa.

As the 15th Annual Pacific Playwrights Festival draws near, South Coast Repertory announces the directors for this years' staged readings. They include Evan Cabnet (Warrior Class), Matt Shakman (You Are Here), Meredith McDonough (I And You), Casey Stangl (The Few) and Anne Kauffman (Smokefall).

Paul Gross, one of Canada's acclaimed actors, will lead the cast of Are You There, McPhee? a world premiere by John Guare at McCarter Theatre Center. Directed by Sam Buntrock, the production will run from May 4 through June 3, 2012. (Opening Night: Friday, May 11.)