A small-town Illinois native, Zina Ellis has been described as "very Midwestern," and she fully embraces that identity. She got her first taste of life on the wicked stage in her preschool production of The Nutcracker and has been performing ever since. She recently graduated with a degree in Theater Studies from Yale University, where, in addition to acting in on-campus productions, she was heavily involved in a cappella and sketch comedy, and dabbled in aerial arts. When not performing, Zina enjoys cooking, reading, crafting, and spending way too much time on the internet. Follow her on Instagram, Facebook, or Youtube to get to know her better!
PROSPECT THEATER COMPANY has revealed the full cast & creative team for its annual Musical Theater Lab POTLUCK: A MUSICAL FEAST at Peter Norton Symphony Space.
The 16th season of New York Theatre Barn's award-winning New Works Series concludes on Monday, October 16th, 2023 at 7PM ET at the Robert Moss Theatre at Playwrights Horizons Downtown. Learn more about the upcoming season here!
The Fine Arts Center Theatre Company is proud to present “The Legend of Georgia McBride,” by Tony Award-winning playwright Matthew Lopez on stage April 21–May 15, 2022; directed by Marisa D. Hebert.
This unique event invited audience members to walk through the Crabapple Grove in Riverside Park guided by an ensemble of artists, and choose from a selection of original flash-fiction short stories penned by 15 theater writers.
Prospect Theater Company has announced its first in-person, live arts program of 2021: TREE TALES. This unique event invites audience members to walk through the Crabapple Grove in Riverside Park guided by an ensemble of artists, and interact with original flash-fiction short stories penned by 15 theater writers.
The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues will return tonight with an all new series of unforgettable monologues. Thirteen actors have been paired with thirteen writers, who have crafted unique pieces especially for their actors. From 6 PM until 10 PM, new monologues will be published every 15 minutes.
TigerBear Productions presents Playing at the Intersection of Pride & Joy: 6 new short plays by emerging voices benefiting 6 nonprofits in need.
Today (April 16) in live streaming: Ben Cameron counts down duets, National Theatre streams Treasure Island, Jessie Mueller visits Stars in the House and so much more!
Following an initial reading presentation in March 2018, Luna and the Gold River Docks, a musical by Eric Dietz inspired by the documentary The Whale by Michael Parfit and Suzanne Chisholm, will present two developmental reading presentations on Tuesday, November 5 at 11:30am and Wednesday, November 6 at 11am, by invitation only.
A recipient of DCA's inaugural CreateNYC Disability Forward Fund, IRT Theater will present six work in progress presentations of the new musical, Stepchild. This fully accessible piece is a radical retelling of Cinderella, seen through the eyes of a young Deaf woman coming of age in a kingdom violently intolerant of difference. All presentations will take place at IRT's Greenwich Village home from May 29- June 2, 2019.
'Impossible things are happening every day,' or at least they are for Zina Ellis.
No doubt you will see tiaras, beautiful ball gowns, slippers made of glass, pumpkins, a Prince, and a clock striking midnight in the current touring production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella. Yes, the modern production keeps all those familiar things from the fairytale and the original 1957 musical starring Julie Andrews intact. However, this production - like the most recent Broadway revival on which it is based - features a new book by Douglas Carter Beane (2013 adaptation). He gives the audience new characters and a more sympathetic stepsister. He also provides the Prince with a story/personality and grants Cinderella the power to decide her own destiny. Put succinctly, there are many socio-political undertones within the story and the characters that inhabit it.
A little after the clock struck on the half hour, the national touring production of Cinderella began. At the top of show, puppetry ensues with a massive praying mantis taking center stage that is eventually defeated by Prince Topher, played by Lukas James Miller. Then the audience quickly understands that we are in for one magical night of folderol and fiddle dee that somehow becomes entirely possible live on stage. From start to finish, the fairytale is richly presented with wonderfully well-cast performers, delightful performances, and gorgeous classic music and lyrics by the famed writing team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.
Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II, the fathers of the modern American musical, were advocates of social responsibility. In OKLAHOMA, they stressed the building of community. In SOUTH PACIFIC they pegged prejudice. In THE KING AND I, the duo examined intercultural understandings.
Broadway San Jose welcomed the touring company of Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella, which made a short stop at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, bringing with it the magical music of Rodgers and Hammerstein.
Casting has been announced for the 2018-19 national tour of Cinderella launching in November.
Producers John Lant and Cornell Christianson with ICFB Productions are pleased to announce the East Coast Off-Broadway premiere of IT CAME FROM BEYOND, a 1950's sci-fi, musical comedy with book by writer / producer Cornell Christianson, music and lyrics by Stephen M. Schwartz and Norman E. Thalheimer and directed by Jim Blanchette.
OBIE-winner Rick Burkhardt (Three Pianos, The Great Hymn of Thanksgiving) conjures an America in which the government sends its teenagers to camps to undergo rigorous education in sexual experience. The Panels is a public discussion featuring campers and counselors sharing memories and dispelling myths around this successful (some would say controversial) public health initiative. By showing us what we aren't, Burkhardt - in the great tradition of Wallace Shawn, Caryl Churchill and others - shines a light on what we are, tickling at other possibility.
The Tank will host the world premiere of PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, co-written by Skylar Fox and Simon Henriques, and directed by Skylar Fox.
The 24 Hour Company (producers of The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway and around the world, as well as The 24 Hour Musicals) and their longtime collaborator The New School College of Performing Arts, School of Drama will present The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals in New York City this summer.
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