Theatre Development Fund News

The 39th Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards for the 2017-2018 season were handed out in a star-studded ceremony in Toronto on the evening of Monday, June 25 at the Winter Garden Theatre of the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre, hosted by acclaimed actor Astrid Van Wieren, currently starring on Broadway in the award-winning Canadian musical Come From Away.

The Off-Broadway League has announced that Terry Byrne was elected as the new President of The Off-Broadway League. Byrne is the first female president in the nearly 60 year history of the League. The organization also announced three new additions to the Board, including Dean Carpenter, Steven Chaikelson and Casey York.

For theater fans who "Can't Fight the Feeling" of longing for a summer show with hot music and dramatic fireworks, Slow Burn Theatre Company and the Broward Center for the Performing Arts are ready to turn up the volume with Rock of Ages, the hit musical with book by Chris D'Arienzo and arrangements and orchestrations by Ethan Popp. Performances take place in the Amaturo Theatre Today, June 14-Sunday, July 1.

In this episode: Victoria Bailey, Executive Director of TDF, talks about TKTS celebrating 45 years and parent company TDF celebrating 50 years in 2018. TDF (Theatre Development Fund) is an organization that believes the performing arts should be available to everybody. They sell the idea of going to all theatre, not shows in particular and that Broadway is for everyone. Victoria Bailey has been with the company for 17 years, started at Yale, and was the GM at MTC for 19 years. She believes that theatre creates empathy for lives different than our own, that TDF/TKTS has created theatre goers for generations, and is a prime example of having a successful life in the arts separate from the footlights.

TDF, the not-for-profit organization dedicated to bringing the power of the performing arts to everyone, has been serving the performing arts community in New York City and beyond for 50 years. TDF opened its doors in June of 1968 and has since accomplished its mission of sustaining live theatre and dance by engaging and cultivating a broad and diverse audience and eliminating barriers to attendance. Through a variety of program and initiatives TDF expands audiences, cultivates communities and supports the theatre makers. TDF will launch its 50th Anniversary year at its June 18 gala at Gotham Hall honoring Tony Kushner and presenting its first Founders Award to James Lapine.

The Dramatists Guild of America is pleased to announce more recipients of their annual awards, which will be presented at their national conference on Saturday, July 28, 2018, at The Hilton Midtown in New York.

For theater fans who "Can't Fight the Feeling" of longing for a summer show with hot music and dramatic fireworks, Slow Burn Theatre Company and the Broward Center for the Performing Arts are ready to turn up the volume with Rock of Ages, the hit musical with book by Chris D'Arienzo and arrangements and orchestrations by Ethan Popp. Performances take place in the Amaturo Theatre Thursday, June 14-Sunday, July 1.

The American Dance Festival (ADF) will convene a panel titled “Why Do They Fall Down? The Story of Modern Dance in China” to celebrate 30 years of modern dance in China. Panelists include Director Emeritus of ADF Charles L. Reinhart, Yang Meiqi, the founder and former director of the first modern dance company in China, China's foremost dance expert Ou Jian-Ping, Ralph Samuelson, former director of the Asian Cultural Council, Michelle Vosper, former director of the Asian Cultural Council in Hong Kong, internationally celebrated choreographer Shen Wei, and former José Limón Company dancer Sarah Stackhouse.

Thanks to a Jamail Innovation Grant from the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, Houston now has a centralized theater costume storage and rental facility, the Costume Connection. 

The Free Student Matinee Program of Signature Theatre (Paige Evans, Artistic Director; Harold Wolpert, Executive Director; James Houghton, Founder), sponsored byDelta Air Lines, will offer free performances of Dominique Morisseau's Paradise Blue, directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, and Stephen Adly Guirgis' Our Lady of 121st Street, directed by Phylicia Rashad, the company announced today. The student matinee performance of Paradise Blue will take place on Wednesday, May 16 at 1pm and the student matinee performances of Our Lady of 121st Street will take place on Wednesday, May 23 at 1pm and Wednesday, May 30 at 1pm. Performances will take place at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues).

In this episode: Victoria Bailey, Executive Director of TDF, talks about TKTS celebrating 45 years and parent company TDF celebrating 50 years in 2018. TDF (Theatre Development Fund) is an organization that believes the performing arts should be available to everybody. They sell the idea of going to all theatre, not shows in particular and that Broadway is for everyone. Victoria Bailey has been with the company for 17 years, started at Yale, and was the GM at MTC for 19 years. She believes that theatre creates empathy for lives different than our own, that TDF/TKTS has created theatre goers for generations, and is a prime example of having a successful life in the arts separate from the footlights.

The Jimmy Awards is pleased to announce that tickets for the tenth annual Jimmy Awards ceremony are now on sale. The ceremony will take place on Monday, June 25th at 7:30pm at Broadway's Minskoff Theatre. Tickets can be purchased by visiting JimmyAwards.com or Ticketmaster.com, and range from $49 to $100. Premium seats are $325.

Day three of New York Live Arts' Live Ideas 2018: Radical Vision festival, Saturday, April 21, looks at our electoral process through readings, a workshop, panel discussions, and a performance spectacle.  

Friday, April 20, day two of Live Ideas 2018: Radical Vision looks into the role of the press, what it means to be a journalist in an endangered liberal democracy, and what obligations the press has today. Opening the day will be visual artist Huiying B. Chan, who will read words by legendary activist Grace Lee Boggs, followed by author and journalist Moustafa Bayoumi's reading of works by Edward Said and a presentation of speeches by Muhammad Ali read by journalist Greg Tate. The readings will start at 4 pm. Admission is free.

The Broadway League has awarded the New York Education and Engagement Grants to the Broadway productions of Manhattan Theatre Club's Saint Joan, School of Rock: The Musical and The Play That Goes Wrong. Each production received a $3,500 grant toward its 2018 educational and engagement initiatives. The grants aid the growth and development of theatre education in the city in an effort to encourage Broadway productions to create more opportunities for young people.

February 24, 2018, Lindsey Ferrentino and Scott Ellis spoke about Amy and the Orphans with education dramaturg Ted Sod as part of Roundabout Theatre Company's lecture series.

Today is World Theatre Day and the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) fittingly announced the host, date, creative team, and venue for the 39th Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards, the awards show and party that celebrates extraordinary Toronto talent in the performing arts.

The Texas Wesleyan University Department of Theatre's production of 'OKLAHOMA!' will be performed at the W. E. Scott Theatre for one weekend only, April 19-22, 2018.

New York Live Arts presents the world premiere of Bessie Award winner Joanna Kotze's What will we be like when we get there, a new interdisciplinary dance performance with long-time collaborators dancer/choreographer Netta Yerushalmy, visual artist Jonathan Allen, and composer/musician Ryan Seaton. What will we be like when we get there will premiere at New York Live Arts March 28-31, 2018, 7:30 PM. In conjunction with the performance, an exhibition, Knowing that your House is on Fire in the lobby of New York Live Arts, will feature new works by visual artist, Jonathan Allen. Tickets for the performance start at $15 and may be purchased at 212 924 0077 or online at newyorklivearts.

A limited number of Open Caption seats are still available during the Saturday March 24, 2:00pm matinee performance of Jersey Boys at the Palace Theater.