American Place Theatre News

Esteemed American playwrights Ed Bullins, Constance Congdon, and Philip Kan Gotanda have been announced as the inaugural recipients of the Legacy Playwrights Initiative Award(s). The winners will be recognized by their friends and peers at the Dramatists Guild Foundation “Write in the Dark” virtual benefit on December 21, 2020.

Woodie King Jr. Producing Director of New Federal Theatre (NFT), has appointed actress, director and producer Elizabeth Van Dyke as Artistic Director.

Woodie King Jr., founder of New Federal Theatre has penned an article exclusively for BroadwayWorld, discussing New Federal Theatre's past, present and more.

Tune in right here at 7:30pm to watch The 65th Annual Drama Desk Awards and check back for a full list of winners, updating live!

Association of Performing Arts Professionals has selected Lisa Richards Toney as President and CEO, following an executive search process led by Arts Consulting Group (ACG). She will begin her tenure on July 1, 2020.

On Tuesday, May 19, presenters Charles Bush and Julie Halston, along with OBA President Peter Breger, announced the 10th Annual Off Broadway Alliance. The Off Broadway Alliance plans on celebrating this year's winners with a reception this Fall.

Charles Busch and Julie Halston will announce the winners of the 10th Annual Off Broadway Alliance Awards on Tuesday, May 19 at 11:30 am. The winners will be announced via streaming on Facebook and YouTube.

Michael Musto, joined the Off Broadway Alliance's Nominating Committee this morning and announced this season's Off Broadway Alliance Award nominees.

The 65th Annual Drama Desk Awards has partnered with 'Stars in the House' to live stream this year's Nominations. Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley, the hosts of the virtual daily series benefiting the Actors Fund, will announce the nominees.

Wynn Handman, the famed New York acting teacher and Artistic Director of The American Place Theatre, died at home April 11, 2020 of Covid-19 related pneumonia. He was 97.

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that Wynn Handman, co-founder of the American Place Theatre, has died at age 97. Handman's daughter, Laura Handman, confirmed that his cause of death was COVID-19-related illness.

The League of Professional Theatre Women (Shellen Lubin and Catherine Porter, Co-Presidents), an organization which has been championing women in the professional theatre for more than three decades, has announced that one of their co-founders, Julia Miles, passed away on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, following a long illness.

In 'Grandma's Quilt' by Karen A. Brown, an elderly poor, unpretentious Black woman in rural Arkansas is sewing a quilt as the final act of her life. Each scrap of material is a prism into a chapter of her family's past. As she reflects on each period, she transforms into younger versions of herself to lead us through the history that she intends to pass on to her granddaughter. One actress portrays the old woman at six points in her life as well as the granddaughter. Negro Ensemble Company, Inc. will present the play's New York premiere March 11 to 21 at Theatre 80 St. Marks, 80 St. Marks Place. Two performers will share the unusual acting challenge of playing what is essentially seven characters: author Karen A. Brown from March 11 to 14 and actress Deidre Monique Benton from March 18 to 21. Director is Anthony Jay Hamilton.

What happens when 1880 Western bandits are brought back to life in Azusa, CA by a space alien? Sam Shepard's The Unseen Hand joins Odyssey Theatre Ensemble's 50th Anniversary “Circa '69” Season of significant and adventurous plays that premiered around the time of the company's inception, coupled with Shepard's gritty and audacious Killer's Head. Longtime Shepard collaborator Darrell Larson directs both plays for a Jan. 25 opening at the Odyssey Theatre in West L.A., where performances will continue through March 8.

Today we're flashing back to 1979 with this throwback photo of Berry Berenson Perkins and Tony Perkins!

What happens when 1880 Western bandits are brought back to life in Azusa, CA by a space alien? Sam Shepard's The Unseen Hand joins Odyssey Theatre Ensemble's 50th Anniversary a?oeCirca '69a?? Season of significant and adventurous plays that premiered around the time of the company's inception, coupled with Shepard's gritty and audacious Killer's Head. Longtime Shepard collaborator Darrell Larson directs both plays for a Jan. 18 opening at the Odyssey Theatre in West L.A., where performances will continue through March 8.

The Old Globe's 2020 Summer Season brings to Balboa Park an extraordinarily talented group of artists who will delight audiences with their unique takes on four great works of theatre. The season incudes a classic American musical, a new adaptation of a 20th century thriller, and two of Shakespeare's masterworks on our outdoor stage.

Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA, Jeffrey Horowitz, Founding Artistic Director) is pleased to announce a first and final extension of Fefu and Her Friends, one of the most beloved plays of the late, nine-time Obie Award-winning Cuban-American playwright and director María Irene Fornés, 'arguably the most influential American dramatist whose work hasn't become a staple of the mainstream repertoire' (LA Times). Lileana Blain-Cruz, winner of two Obie Awards (Suzan-Lori Parks' The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World and Jackie Sibblies Drury's Marys Seacole) stages the play in her TFANA directing debut, the first Off-Broadway revival of Fefu and Her Friends since American Place Theatre's 1978 staging. Fefu now plays on the Samuel H. Scripps Mainstage at TFANA's home, Polonsky Shakespeare Center (262 Ashland Place, Brooklyn), through December 12, 2019, with four performances added Tuesday, December 10 at 7:30pm, Wednesday, December 11 at 2pm and 7:30pm, Thursday, December 12 at 7:30pm.

Theatre for a New Audience presents Fefu and Her Friends, one of the most beloved plays of the late, nine-time Obie Award-winning Cuban-American playwright and director María Irene Fornés. Lileana Blain-Cruz, winner of two Obie Awards (Suzan-Lori Parks' The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World and Jackie Sibblies Drury's Marys Seacole) stages the play in her TFANA directing debut, the first Off-Broadway revival of Fefu and Her Friends since American Place Theatre's 1978 staging.

Rubicon Theatre Company has just extended the company's acclaimed, sold-out production of Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which now continues through November 17, 2019. Directed by Kirby Ward, with a company of 24, the production runs Wednesdays through Sundays in Ventura's Downtown Cultural District at the company's home at 1006 E. Main Street, Ventura, CA  93001.