THE FIRST ANNUAL TRIBECA THEATER FESTIVAL OCTOBER 19 - 31, 2004
By: BWW News Desk Sep. 20, 2004
The two-week Festival will celebrate theater by supporting new voices and new work while furthering the organizers' mission for the economic and cultural revitalization of Lower Manhattan. Highlights of the Festival will include a short play series, "Stage On Screen" programs, and theater panel discussions and play readings.
"Like the Tribeca Film Festival, we hope that the Theater Festival will help draw crowds back downtown," said De Niro. "We're thrilled that American Express, who stood by our side as we launched the film festival, will partner with us again and help launch this new endeavor right here in our neighborhood. We hope to create a new kind of theater festival experience that will appeal to everyone and help create new audiences for theater in the city that serves as the world's theater capital."
"Tribeca is home to dozens of theater companies of all shapes and sizes," said Rosenthal. "By creating the Tribeca Theater Festival we hope not only to draw attention to the quality of theatrical talent in the City but to highlight the variety of performing arts available in lower Manhattan. We are particularly fortunate to be working with Drama Dept. whose theatrical endeavors over the years have proven to be world-class."
"Theater has always been integral to New York," said Charles A. Gargano, Chairman of Empire State Development. "Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff have brought the best in film to lower Manhattan with the Tribeca Film Festival and now they are striving to expand the tradition of theater in New York with the Tribeca Theater Festival while still assisting in the economic recovery of downtown."
"Drama Dept. is thrilled that Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff have chosen us to work with them on the Tribeca Theater Festival," said Artistic Director Douglas Carter Beane. "This festival will be an invaluable boost at a time when many companies are facing extreme challenges."
Executive Director Michael S. Rosenberg added, "We could not be happier that Tribeca has selected theater to extend the enormous impact and success of the Tribeca Film Festival."
"Because the Flea Theater is located in Tribeca, we know first-hand the renewing and revitalizing effects that the Tribeca Film Festival has had on our neighborhood and we're looking forward to these powerful voices joining us in celebrating the vital and adventurous work of theater artists committed to New York's downtown theater scene," said Jim Simpson, Artistic Director of The Flea Theater.
SHORT PLAY SERIES - "The Downtown Plays"
A two-week run of an evening of world-premiere short plays by some of the theater community's leading playwrights, including Douglas Carter Beane, Peter Hedges, David Henry Hwang, Neil LaBute, Warren Leight, Kenneth Lonergan, Frank Pugliese, Paul Rudnick and Wendy Wasserstein. Tony Award-winning director John Rando ("Urinetown") will helm the production, which will feature a stellar ensemble of actors.
Dates and Times: Tuesday,
October 19 - Sunday, October 31
Performance Schedule:
Tuesday-Saturday, 8pm
Sunday 7pm
Saturday 3pm Matinee
Sunday 2pm Matinee
Location: Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University - 1 Pace Plaza (across from City Hall)
Tickets: $35.00
"STAGE ON SCREEN" SCREENINGS
Tribeca Cinemas will be the home for the first annual "Stage on Screen" screening series. The initial year of the series will focus on films that highlight the process and craft of making theater and classic plays adapted for the screen. Among the films slated to be shown are the documentary "Broadway, The Golden Age," directed by Rick McKay, which will be accompanied by a sneak peak at his upcoming follow-up film, "Broadway, The Next Generation," Elia Kazan's "A Streetcar Named Desire," and Christopher Guest's "Waiting for Guffman." All screenings will be held at Tribeca Cinemas (54 Varick Street at Canal Street) and tickets will be $10. Complete schedule of films to be announced shortly.
TRIBECA THEATER FESTIVAL PANEL SERIES
A series of panel discussions on theater-related topics will take place during the Theater Festival. Panels will bring together playwrights, actors, designers, agents, critics and other theater professionals to discuss the state of contemporary theater throughout the country and around the world. Panels will take place at Tribeca Cinemas (54 Varick Street at Canal Street) and tickets will be $20. Complete schedule of panels to be announced shortly.
TRIBECA ALL ACCESS OPEN STAGE
Modeled on the successful Tribeca All Access Connects program that runs during the Tribeca Film Festival, TAA Open Stage will provide exposure for a small number of playwrights of color. A selection committee made up of esteemed theater professionals will select up to six unproduced plays from an "open call" for submissions. The selected playwrights will have excerpts from their plays read by top-tier professional actors in front of an invite-only audience of agents, literary managers, producers, theater company representatives and film development executives. TAA Open Stage will also arrange for a series of meetings for the playwrights with these industry professionals.
DOWNTOWN THEATER OUTREACH
A key objective of The Tribeca Theater Festival is to showcase the abundant arts community below 14th Street. To that end, the Festival will foster awareness and promotion of the tremendous variety of work generated by over seventy theater companies and countless theater professionals in the downtown area.
The Tribeca Theater Festival website will list pertinent information on current and upcoming season performances and events for downtown theater companies, and provide a link to their own "home pages"
A full downtown theater list will also be included in the show program for "The Downtown Plays" at Pace University, along with an information kiosk in the theater lobby o Play readings at Tribeca Cinemas will give a select number of downtown theater companies and artists an opportunity to showcase new works currently under development
DRAMA DEPT. (Douglas Carter Beane, Artistic Director; Michael S. Rosenberg, Executive Director) was founded in 1995 to create original and inventive works of theater for all types of audiences. It was conceived as a collective of actors, writers, directors, designers, musical directors and stage managers. Since its founding, it has created and produced such acclaimed works as As Bees in Honey Drown, As Thousands Cheer, The Book of Liz, June Moon, Les Mizrahi, Rude Entertainment, and Shanghai Moon. Among its illustrious members are actors Patricia Clarkson, Billy Crudup, Peter Gallagher, John Cameron Mitchell, Cynthia Nixon, Dylan Baker and Sarah Jessica Parker; playwrights Charles Busch, Richard Greenberg, Peter Hedges, Paul Rudnick, David and Amy Sedaris and Nicky Silver; and directors Christopher Ashley, Mark Brokaw and Kathleen Marshall.
For tickets and more information about the FIRST ANNUAL TRIBECA THEATER FESTIVAL, visit www.tribecatheaterfestival.com or www.dramadept.org. Tickets go on sale through the Tribeca website during the week of September 20th.
In addition to American Express as the Founding Sponsor, The Tribeca Theater Festival is excited to announce their signature sponsors, the New York Times and WNBC.
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