Power Plays 1998 - Articles Page 7.4

Housed on Main Street in Hopkins, Minnesota, Stages Theatre Company (STC) persevered for almost 35 years by producing exceptional, professional theater for young audiences. Believing in the enchantment, images and power of theater, especially for youth, the company produces world premiere productions commissioned especially for their home stage.

AstonRep Theatre Company is pleased to conclude its 2017-18 season with THE LARAMIE PROJECT, a community's deeply-moving response to the 1998 murder of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard, written by Moises Kaufman and the Members of Tectonic Theater Project and directed by Associate Artistic Director Derek Bertelsen. THE LARAMIE PROJECT will play June 7 - July 8, 2018 at The Raven Theatre (West Stage), 6157 N. Clark St. in Chicago.

Shakespeare by the Sea announces productions, cast and creatives for its 21st Season. Beginning at the seaside Pt. Fermin Park in San Pedro, and continuing on to tour at twenty-two parks throughout Southern California, Shakespeare by the Sea continues its notable mission to create enduring theatrical experiences for audiences in culturally diverse communities, making quality theatre accessible to all. For 2018, SBTS has chosen two of William Shakespeare's most intriguing plays, The Merry Wives of Windsor and The Winter's Tale.

Casting has been announced for the World Premiere of THE BABY DANCE: MIXED, a new adaptation by Emmy Award-winner JANE ANDERSON ("Olive Kitteridge") of her acclaimed 2004 play The Baby Dance. A drama delicately laced with comic overtones, THE BABY DANCE: MIXED is a compelling and urgent play about race, class, and wanting the perfect child. In the story, Regina and Richard, an affluent mixed-race couple in Los Angeles, have everything except a baby. Wanda and Al, an African-American couple living in an overcrowded trailer in modern-day Louisiana, are too poor to keep their soon-to-be-born child. Through an adoption attorney, the two couples broker a deal. However, circumstances arise that affect their decision and the situation spins out of control. The Wall Street Journal described The Baby Dance as "filled with emotional power and nimble humor." The L.A. Times called it "a stunner…funny as well as perceptive."

The Artistic Home has announced a summer production of Jean Genet's THE MAIDS. Genet's subversive drama in which two maids fantasize killing their mistress was inspired by a real-life murder committed by two sisters working as maids who killed their employer and her daughter.  In the play, the maids construct elaborate sadomasochistic rituals when their mistress (Madame) is away. The focus of their role-playing is the murder of Madame and they take turns portraying both sides of the power divide.

A collective of perspectives. A public outcry. The establishment of a movement. This month, two new plays- Until the Flood by Dael Orlandersmith, directed by Neel Keller and florissant & canfield by Kristiana Rae Colon, directed by Derrick Sanders-bring a national dialogue to the stage.

Today, Carole Shorenstein Hays announced that single tickets are now available for SOFT POWER, the play featuring a musical by David Henry Hwang (play and lyrics) and Jeanine Tesori (music and additional lyrics). SOFT POWER will make its Bay Area premiere at San Francisco's Curran (445 Geary Street) June 20 - July 8, 2018. SOFT POWER is a Center Theatre Group co-commission with The Public Theater and will perform at the Curran following its world premiere at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles

Jones Street Productions presents the New York premiere of Moolah, a new comedy by Arje Shaw (The Gathering, Magic Hands Freddie). Directed by Charles Messina (A Room of My Own), the limited engagement plays 16 performances only, April 5 - 29 at Roy Arias Stage II (777 Eight Avenue, between 47th - 48th Streets). The official opening night is April 12 at 7:30PM. Tickets are currently on sale at Ovationtix.com.

MCC Theater is thrilled to announce four new productions for its 32nd Season in the Theater's new, permanent home. The season includes an exciting mix of world and New York premieres from artists both familiar and new to MCC audiences-each fulfilling MCC's longtime commitment to bold, risk-taking works from the most vital voices working in theater today.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces the full cast and creative team for the world-premiere musical Snow Child, based on Eowyn Ivey's Pulitzer Prize-nominated novel. Infused with a score that combines Alaskan string band-traditions with contemporary musical theater, Snow Child follows a couple rebuilding their lives in the Alaskan wilderness when they meet a magical and mysterious snow child who transforms them.

Today, Curran announced the cast of SOFT POWER, a play with a musical by David Henry Hwang (play and lyrics) and Jeanine Tesori (music and additional lyrics). SOFT POWER will make its Bay Area premiere at San Francisco's Curran theater (445 Geary Street), June 20 - July 8, 2018. Produced by Center Theatre Group, SOFT POWER comes to Curran after its world premiere at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles from May 3 through June 10, 2018. Tickets for SOFT POWER are currently only available to #CURRAN2018 subscribers. Single tickets will be announced at a later date.

No, it's not that Frozen - although the immortal words 'Let it go' do appear in the second half. Otherwise this is a far cry from the Disney juggernaut. Bryony Lavery's 1998 play deals with the abduction of a child, and asks whether evil can be easily defined - or forgiven.

National New Play Network, the country's alliance of nonprofit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays, announces its 74th Rolling World Premiere (RWP): The Madres by Stephanie Alison Walker. The Roll will run through Skylight Theatre Company (March 10-April 29 in Los Angeles, CA) and Teatro Vista (April 21-May 27 in Chicago, IL), MOXIE Theatre (May 13-June 10, in San Diego, CA), and Shrewd Productions (August 24-September 15 in Austin, TX). The Madres was presented at NNPN's 2016 National Showcase of New Plays, hosted by the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas-Austin.

Veteran Broadway actor, Richard Waits, is bringing Jon-Marc McDonald's anticipated play, Relatively Conscious, to the stage in February at the New York Theater Festival. The play, which centers around the murder of James Byrd Jr in 1998, will run February 6, 7, and 10th at the Hudson Guild Theater in New York City.  

Elizabeth Birnkrant, known for her roles in JESUS HOPPED THE A TRAIN for Eclipse Theatre, 1984 at Steppenwolf, VICES AND VIRTUES: THE GREAT WAR at Profiles Theatre and other roles with Sideshow, First Floor and Roadworks theatre companies, has been cast in the leading role of L'il Bit in The Artistic Home's production of Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize winning HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE. The Artistic Home co-founder John Mossman will play Uncle Peck, the family member who has a sexual relationship with his niece Li'l Bit during her pre-teen and teenage years. Mossman, who directed The Artistic Home's BY THE BOG OF CATS last year, as an actor has most recently appeared as Leontes in THE WINTERS TALE and O'Trigger in THE RIVALS at Lakeside Shakespeare Theatre.  He has also appeared with The Artistic Home as MACBETH and as Shannon in NIGHT OF THE IGUANA. He played Atticus Finch in Oak Park Festival Theatre's TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and performed in the Steppenwolf production of THE MARCH.

The Artistic Home will continue its 2017-18 season with Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize winning HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE, to be directed by The Artistic Home's Associate Artistic Director Kayla Adams. It will open to the press Sunday, March 25 at 7:00 pm, following previews from March 21-24. HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE, which premiered in 1997, was a Pulitzer Prize winner and a pioneering drama for its examination of pedophilia and sexual abuse of women. It follows a young woman, named L'il Bit, from age 11 to age 18 and her friendship and sexual affair with her uncle. Director Adams says, this courageous and surprising script reminds me again and again of the healing power of storytelling. In reviewing the 2017 production by the Cleveland Playhouse, the Cleveland PLAIN DEALER said, We can rejoice that 'How I Learned to Drive' feels as fresh and fearless as it did two decades ago - and mourn for the same reason.

Veteran Broadway actor, Richard Waits, is bringing Jon-Marc McDonald's anticipated play, Relatively Conscious, to the stage in February at the New York Theater Festival. The play, which centers around the murder of James Byrd Jr in 1998, will run February 6, 7, and 10th at the HudsonGuild Theater in New York City.

Mary Kathryn Nagle's daring new work Sovereignty makes its world premiere at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater.

Gallery Players will begin 2018 with William Finn and James Lapine's A New Brain. It is an autobiographical musical exploring illness and the healing power of art. A New Brain features music and lyrics by William Finn; book by William Finn and James Lapine. The show started as a concert at The Public Theater in 1996, then premiered Off-Broadway at Lincoln Center in 1998, directed by Graciela Daniele and featuring Malcolm Gets. In 2015 City Center presented A New Brain in their Encores! series with the cast headed by Jonathan Groff.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater will host a special post-show conversation with Gloria Steinem on Sunday, January 28 following the 7:30 p.m. performance during the run of Mary Kathryn Nagle's world premiere Power Play Sovereignty.

From Friday, February 2 through Sunday, February 18, BAMcin matek presents Fight the Power: Black Superheroes on Film.

Kris Kringle The Musical, featuring Tony Award nominees Cathy Rigby and Pamela Myers (Company, Into the Woods), and Broadway's Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Tuck Everlasting, Newsies) and Kim Crosby (Into the Woods,Guys & Dolls) plays two performances, today, November 24 at 3PM and 8PM, at The Town Hall (123 W. 43rd Street, NYC).

Mary Kathryn Nagle's daring new work Sovereignty makes its world premiere at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater.

A friendly reminder that KRIS KRINGLE The Musical, featuring Tony Award nominees Cathy Rigby and Pamela Myers (Company, Into the Woods), and Broadway's Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Tuck Everlasting, Newsies) and Kim Crosby (Into the Woods,Guys & Dolls) plays two performances, Friday, November 24 at 3PM and 8PM, at The Town Hall (123 W. 43rd Street, NYC).

Continuing its cross-country tour, John Strand's critically-acclaimed political drama The Originalist, based on the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, will play at 59E59 Theaters under the direction of Artistic Director Molly Smith.