Tony Torn News

Commissioned for the 100th Anniversary of the Abrons' Playhouse, SISTERS' FOLLIES: BETWEEN TWO WORLDS is a spooktacular musical extravaganza direct from the unlimited imagination of Basil Twist and stars the legendary Downtown icons Joey Arias (Arias With A Twist, Lincoln Center's AmericanSongbook) and Julie Atlas Muz (Beauty and the Beast).

On February 12, 1915, the Abrons Arts Center's Henry Street Settlement Playhouse opened its doors on the Lower East Side. Since that day, it has remained a vital cultural resource, providing audiences with artistically bold work while offering artists opportunities to dynamically grow. Since becoming Abrons Director in 2006, Jay Wegman has done much more than maintain 'one of the last standing locations for avant-garde performance downtown' (The New York Times, 2009). He has created an arts venue that is unique on the city's cultural landscape, presenting an international mix of cutting-edge performing and visual artists, both established and emerging, from across the country and around the world, as well as from New York City.

The American Repertory Theater expands its 2015/16 Season programming with the OBERON Presents series, featuring a range of artists, companies, and programs. As the second stage of the A.R.T., a unique club theater venue, OBERON challenges artists to explore new relationships with space, performance, and audience experience. OBERON hosts a range of experimental work -- these shows invite audiences to listen to new voices and to hear old stories in new ways. This exploration is integral to A.R.T.'s mission to expand the boundaries of theater.

American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) announced its 2015-16 season today, including the world premiere of the new musical WAITRESS, Mark Rylance's NICE FISH, NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812, and more.

Witness Relocation presents Charles Mee's Daily Life Everlasting, directed and choreographed by Dan Safer, at La MaMa's Ellen Stewart Theatre tonight, April 2, through April 19, 2015.

The hit rock musical UBU SINGS UBU returns for two late-night performances in January! Called "LOUD, INSPIRED, AND MORE THAN A LITTLE DERANGED" by the New York Times, and "SPLENDID, ENRAGED, HILARIOUS AND f**kING WELL PLAYED" by Time Out NY, UBU SINGS UBU plays two late night shows at the legendary downtown burlesque club, the Slipper Room, 167 Orchard St, NYC Sunday January 11th & Monday January 12th at 11PM. Tickets are priced at $18 advance sale, $22 at the door, and available at The Slipper Room box office and online at http://www.slipperroom.com/search/?q=ubu

Tony Torn (Karen Coonrad's The Tempest, Jay Scheib's The Disinherited, Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's on Broadway) joins the cast of The Velvet Oratorio, an original opera/theater piece commemorating the 25th anniversary of The Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. The show will be presented in the grand ballroom at the current home of the Czech Center and the Czech Consulate: The Bohemian National Hall. The Velvet Oratorio is an evocative retelling of the Velvet Revolution through found text, choral music, and scenes inspired by Vaclav Havel's Van?k plays. Torn will be playing a secret service officer who interrogates Van?k but later disclaims his Communist past.

La MaMa - the world-renowned theatre complex in the heart of New York City's East Village - today announced the cast for its first production of its 53rd Season entitled "LA MAMA EARTH," featuring works that raise awareness of world ecology and social justice both locally and globally. The centerpiece will be three diverse, international productions and adaptations of William Shakepeare's The Tempest from the US, Korea and Italy. All performances will be at the Ellen Stewart Theatre (66 East 4th Street, between Bowery & 2nd Avenue).

This week, Shopping Books publishes The Reverend Billy Project, the most extensive account of the eco-televangelists and his collaborators' years of activism. The book, released here as an e-book, is written by the director of the troupe's performances, Savitri D, and Bill Talen, the writer/actor who inhabits the title character Reverend Billy, and features an introduction by Alisa Solomon. A chapter on the fight to stop the clear-cutting of Boreal forests by paper suppliers of Victoria's Secret catalogues anticipates the Stop Shopping Choir's current earth activism-their HoneyBeeLujah! campaign and The HoneyBeeLujah Show, which they are performing each Sunday through June 22 at Joe's Pub at The Public (425 Lafayette St, NYC).

The Civilians' Annual R&D reading series kicks off with five readings from today, May 21 to May 30. The series features new work by R&D members Jeanine Oleson, Sean E. Cunningham, Riti Sachdeva, Mary Kathryn Nagle, Juliana Francis Kelly and Tony Torn. Melissa Crespo, Mia Rovegno, and Michael Leibenluft will direct these presentations, all at various stages in their development process. These readings are free and open to the public, and take place in the Great Room at 138 South Oxford Street in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

The Civilians' Annual R&D reading series kicks off with five readings from May 21 to May 30. The series features new work by R&D members Jeanine Oleson, Sean E. Cunningham, Riti Sachdeva, Mary Kathryn Nagle, Juliana Francis Kelly and Tony Torn. Melissa Crespo, Mia Rovegno, and Michael Leibenluft will direct these presentations, all at various stages in their development process. These readings are free and open to the public, and take place in the Great Room at 138 South Oxford Street in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. To make a reservation please email rdgroup@thecivilians.org. Please visit The Civilians' website (www.thecivilians.org) for dates, times, and presentation descriptions.

Ubu Sings Ubu is a theatrical mash up of Alfred Jarry's absurdist satire Ubu Roi and the art punk songs of the cult experimental band Pere Ubu.

Ubu Sings Ubu is a theatrical mash up of Alfred Jarry's absurdist satire Ubu Roi and the art punk songs of the cult experimental band Pere Ubu.

Looking ahead at Joe's Pub at The Public, now, March 24, through April 6, performances will feature: VINCENT D'ONOFRIO & DANA LYN - TRANS FORMATIVE: AN EVENING OF SONGS THAT PROPEL US - PT WALKLEY - UBU SINGS UBU - CHARLES YANG - COMPANY FREAK - JUSTIN VIVIAN BOND - BRIDGET EVERETT - NEVER SLEEP ALONE - MATES OF STATE - JESUS ON THE MAINLINE / NATALIE CRESSMAN - CARMEN SOUZA - SUSANNA - KYRA MILLER - THE STRAY BIRDS - BEN WATT W/ BERNARD BUTLER - ROY NATHANSON & SOTTO VOCE - STORM LARGE - THE LOSERS LOUNGE - CHAMPAGNE JERRY - ISLE OF KLEZBOS and EARL DAX & FRIENDS. Details below!

At Joe's Pub at The Public has announced its upcoming indie/pop/rock offerings for March-May 2014. Check out full details below!

Looking ahead at Joe's Pub at The Public, performances running today, March 18, through March 30 include: A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN - JOHN CAMERON MITCHELL & HOLLY HUNTER - PAUL LOREN - FIRST ANNUAL FEMINIST BALL - FLAMENCO FESTIVAL 2014: SONIA OLLA's TIEMPO AL AIRE - MOBY DICK, PART III: THE BALLAD OF PIP - ARBOREA W/ CASSANDRA JENKINS - THE HOT SARDINES - BENJI HUGHES - FLAMENCO FESTIVAL 2014: SILVIA PEREZ CRUZ & RAUL FERNANDEZ REFREE's CRUZ MIRO - FUEL FANDANGO - OUR LADY J - VINCENT D'ONOFRIO & DANA LYN - TRANS FORMATIVE: AN EVENING OF SONGS THAT PROPEL US - PT WALKLEY - UBU SINGS UBU - CHARLES YANG - COMPANY FREAK - JUSTIN VIVIAN BOND - BRIDGET EVERETT - NEVER SLEEP ALONE - MATES OF STATE - JESUS ON THE MAINLINE / NATALIE CRESSMAN - CARMEN SOUZA. Details below!

Actor/director Tony Torn and Julie Atlas Muz star in Ubu Sings Ubu, an immersive theatrical mash up of Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi and the songs of experimental cult band Pere Ubu. Adapted from a version of the original French text, and run through the Google Translateengine, Torn and company are fueled by the giddy, angular new wave rock of Pere Ubu, the cult band whose name and style were inspired by the play. Torn, who co-directs with Dan Safer of Witness Relocation, plays Pere Ubu while Muz is Mere Ubu, in a bizarre parody of Shakespeare's Macbeth, set in Poland instead of Scotland.

Actor/director Tony Torn and Julie Atlas Muz star in Ubu Sings Ubu, an immersive theatrical mash up of Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi and the songs of experimental cult band Pere Ubu. Adapted from a version of the original French text, and run through the Google Translate engine, Torn and company are fueled by the giddy, angular new wave rock of Pere Ubu, the cult band whose name and style were inspired by the play. Torn, who co-directs with Dan Safer of Witness Relocation, plays Pere Ubu while Muz is Mere Ubu, in a bizarre parody of Shakespeare's Macbeth, set in Poland instead of Scotland.

The Kitchen welcomes back director-designer Jay Scheib for the premiere of an innovative new "live cinema performance," Platonov, or The Disinherited, adapted from Chekhov's unfinished first play, found in a safe-deposit box after his death. The work is produced by ArKtype / Thomas O. Kriegsmann and consists of two integral halves: Platonov, a live theatrical event performed by an ensemble that includes Mikeah Ernest Jennings, Sarita Choudhury and Tony Torn in The Kitchen's black box theater; and The Disinherited, the live feature film of the performance that will be live-edited and broadcast in real time each night to movie theaters including BAM Rose Cinemas, AMC Empire 25 in Times Square and others to be announced.