Wilson Chin News

The St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s production of William Shakespeare’s King Lear, directed by Carl Cofield, opened in Forest Park on June 4 in St. Louis, MO. In the title role is Tony, Emmy and Grammy Award winner André De Shields (Hadestown, The Wiz, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Play On!, The Full Monty). 

Yes, André de Shields is playing Lear! His long career in musical theater stretches from the original Hair to The Wiz to Hadestown, and it is bespangled with awards (Emmy, Grammy and others). He’s an icon. Now, at seventy-five, he takes on the most demanding role in all of Shakespeare.

The Lincoln Center Theater production of Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu's play Pass Over, directed by Obie Award winner Danya Taymor will begin performances August 4th, 2021, at Broadway's August Wilson Theatre with opening night scheduled for Sunday, September 12, 2021.

PASS OVER will begin performances August 4th, 2021, at Broadway's August Wilson Theatre with opening night scheduled for Sunday, September 12, 2021. This officially makes PASS OVER the first Broadway show to begin performances since the start of the pandemic, a full month before shows were originally expected to return.

Wingspace Theatrical Design will present two free virtual salons in June on issues of equity in the performing arts community. Representatives from No More 10 out of 12s and the Asian American Performers Action Committee will be in conversation with Wingspace members discussing pressing issues facing the theater community as the industry restarts.

The Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3 production of Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s acclaimed, award-winning play PASS OVER, directed by Obie Award winner Danya Taymor (“Daddy”, Heroes of the Fourth Turning) will reopen Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre (245 W 52nd Street, New York, NY) for a limited engagement, with exact dates to be announced shortly. This will mark the Broadway debut of both Nwandu and Taymor. PASS OVER will be produced on Broadway by Matt Ross, Jujamcyn Theaters, Lincoln Center Theater, Concord Theatricals, Renee Montgomery, Blair Underwood, Madeleine Foster Bersin and Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu.

OPERA America has awarded the seventh cycle of the Robert L.B. Tobin  Director-Designer Prize to four teams of creative artists for their skill in bringing operatic works to life for  contemporary audiences.

Clint Ramos' extraordinary talents as a designer have earned him two Tony nominations this season, for Best Scenic Design of a Play for Slave Play and Best Costume Design of a Play for The Rose Tattoo.

The St. Louis Shakespeare Festival announced today that Tony, Emmy and Grammy award-winner André De Shields will star in King Lear as part of its 21st summer of free Shakespeare in Forest Park. The production marks the theater's return to live outdoor performance, one of the first scheduled in the country.

Tonight at 8pm, Broadway for Biden will present In Our America: A Concert for the Soul of the Nation. The virtual event will bring Broadway together to celebrate hope and benefit the Biden Victory Fund.

Broadway for Biden has just announced an all-star team for upcoming fundraiser In Our America: A Concert for the Soul of the Nation. The one-night only virtual event will bring Broadway together to celebrate hope and benefit the Biden Victory Fund.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) will bring Shakespeare's CYMBELINE, directed by Carl Cofield, on tour for the first time ever to venues across the city in a free four-week tour (April 16-May 15), as part of The Public's commitment to bringing free theater to all and deepening its engagement with communities across the five boroughs. The Mobile Unit's free tours bring Shakespeare and other works to audiences who have limited or no access to the arts by visiting correctional facilities, homeless shelters, social service organizations, and other community organizations. Following the tour to the five boroughs, there will also be a free three-week engagement of CYMBELINE in The Public's Shiva Theater running Monday, May 18 through Sunday, June 7, with an official press opening on Thursday, May 21.

The Old Globe presents West Coast premiere of Little Women by Kate Hamill. This brand-new version of Louisa May Alcott's classic novel about Jo March and her three unforgettably distinct sisters is presented in association with Dallas Theater Center and is directed by Sarah Rasmussen (Artistic Director of Jungle Theater, which originally commissioned the play).

Many American theater-goers have either read Little Women in High School, or seen the play, musical, or recent star-studded film.  When staging this show, the challenge therefore becomes- how do you keep it fresh and original?  Luckily for us, Dallas Theater Center has never had a problem with a lack of creativity, and they didn't start with this production of Little Women! 

Cherry Lane Theatre (Angelina Fiordellisi, Executive Director; Seri Lawrence, Artistic Director) has announced a workshop presentation of a new work, The Making Of) How to Save the World in 90 Minutes by writer/composer Shawn Randall, directed by Alfredo Narciso and mentored by Diana Oh ({my lingerie play}). Performances will run March 4 - 14, 2020, at the Cherry Lane Studio Theatre (38 Commerce Street). For tickets, schedule and more information, please visit www.cherrylanetheatre.org.

Tonight, at a celebration honoring theatre excellence on stages across the Washington area, theatre artists, administrators, patrons, and special guests gathered in the National Theatre's Helen Hayes Gallery for theatreWashington's announcement of nominees for the 36th Annual Helen Hayes Awards, which will be presented on Monday, May 18 at an event at the Anthem.

Dallas Theater Center presents an adaptation of the timeless literary classic, Little Women, at the Kalita Humphreys Theater. A fresh spin on the familiar tale, Little Women begins with a Pay What You Can performance on Feb. 7 and continues through March 1. Press Night will be Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. Tickets to Little Women are on sale now at www.DallasTheaterCenter.org and by phone at (214) 522-8499. Little Women is produced in association with The Old Globe, where it will continue in March.

Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is alive and well at the Huntington Theatrea?"resuscitated beyond the didactic philosophy with which the text is too often approached in academic settings and fully breathing as the comedic bacchanalia of narcissism and self-introspection that Stoppard engineered. The play obsessively examines the tribulations of two ill-fated, minor characters from William Shakespeare's Hamlet, taking the audience on a stroll through the minds of fictional men who seem to realize, not only that they exist within a play, but that they merely exist within that play so that something bad may happen to them. The audience joins the two as they pass the time, waiting for whatever is cominga?? to come.

Racism and homophobia reign in 1950s Houston, the setting of Ricardo Pérez González's world premiere of On the Grounds of Belonging. The play begins as white drag queen Thomas Aston (Jeremiah Clapp) from whites only gay bar, The Red Room, hides from a raid at The Gold Room, a blacks only gay bar. Thomas falls head over his high heels for Russell Montgomery (Calvin Leon Smith), a quiet, erudite journalist who has a not too distant past with fellow patron Henry Stanfield (Blake Anthony Morris). But against the advice of bar manager Hugh Williams (Thomas Silcott), Thomas and Rusty begin a serious love affair. This is not a good time or place to be an interracial gay couple, but their biggest threat is Henry, who bashes Thomas in the head out of jealousy and hurt. Mooney Fitzpatrick (Craig Bockhorn), the gay and bigoted owner of the two gay bars, tells Russell that Thomas, whom he loved like a son, died of his wounds. He threatens to lynch the person who killed him. Sounds a bit like Romeo and Juliet, but neither character dies at the end. They are just separated seemingly forever. Rounding out this excellent ensemble is Tanya Starr (Tracey Conyer Lee), a torch singer at The Gold Room, who helps Henry escape. All the cast members are genuine in their roles, playing them without stereotypes. You can't help but feel their loneliness. Bockhorn is chilling as a man who, with his partner, took in a very young orphaned Thomas, yet is vindictive enough to lynch someone. Lee is a talented singer as well as actress.

Long Wharf Theatre presents the first production in the 19-20 Season, On the Grounds of Belonging, written by Ricardo Pérez González and directed by David Mendizábal.