American Playwrights News

SALON/SANCTUARY CONCERTS opens its fifth season with Ethan Peck, Florencia Lozano and Steven Rattazzi, joining Grammy-nominated musicians Jory Vinikour and Jose Lemos in the return of 'THE HEIRS OF TANTALUS' tonight, September 19 and the 21st, 2013.

Playwrights Horizons and Symphony Space will present a panel discussion previewing the theater company's new season on Monday evening, September 23 at 7:30 PM at Symphony Space's Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater (2537 Broadway at 95th Street). Moderated by The Washington Post's Chief Theater Critic Peter Marks, joined by Playwrights Horizons Artistic Director Tim Sanford, the 6th annual panel discussion will feature artists representing the six productions of the theater company's 2013/2014 Season.

Due to critical acclaim and popular demand, Playwrights Horizons has announced an extension of its New York premiere production of MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY, a new play by Anne Washburn, with music by Obie Award winner Michael Friedman. Directed by Steve Cosson, the Obie Award-winning Artistic Director of The Civilians, MR. BURNS is being presented as the first production of Playwrights Horizons' 2013/2014 Season.

Laurence Luckinbill, Tony Award-nominated actor, author and Abingdon Theatre Company Honorary Board Member, reads his new one-man show ABRAHAM in the June Havoc Theatre (312 West 36th Street) tonight, September 16 at 7:00pm. All tickets are $25 and include a wine reception following the reading. Proceeds benefit Abingdon's upcoming 21st Season and its mission to develop and produce new plays by American Playwrights.

The Obie and Drama Desk Award-winning Ma-Yi Theater Company -- one of the nation's leading theaters dedicated to developing and producing new and innovative plays by Asian American writers -- has announced March 24, 2014 as the date for the company's 25th anniversary gala celebration, set forMonday evening, March 24 at the Hudson Theater (145 W. 44 St.) in Manhattan. The evening's emcee and entertainment will be announced at a later date.

SALON/SANCTUARY CONCERTS opens its fifth season with Ethan Peck, Florencia Lozano and Steven Rattazzi, joining Grammy-nominated musicians Jory Vinikour and Jose Lemos in the return of 'THE HEIRS OF TANTALUS' on September 19 and 21, 2013.

Motherhood Out Loud is a collection of short theatrical works by award-winning American playwrights, television writers and novelists. It received a triumphant World Premiere at Hartford Stage, a West Coast premiere at the Geffen Playhouse (as In Mother Words) and had a successful New York run at Primary Stages. The show is now being licensed for professional and non-professional productions throughout the U.S. and Canada and has opened to rave reviews in many markets. The show features an unprecedented number of pieces by women....reflecting upon the diversity of the parenting experience in America today, yet at the same time, the universality of it.

The playwright's festival that started it all for Latin American playwrights in Canada is going into its sixth year. To date the one of a kind festival has developed the new works of over 20 Latin American writers in Canada. Featuring works by Bruce Gibbons, Jefferson Guzman, Flavia Hevia and Rosa Laborde, the 6th annually De Colores Festival of New Works will be presented at the Wychwood Theatre, October 16 to 18.

Second Stage Theatre will celebrate its upcoming 35th Anniversary Season with special retro prices and audience perks throughout the season.

The Department of Theater and Dance at UC Santa Barbara has announced another exciting year of new work from its talented faculty and students. The 2013-2014 line-up of drama includes old classics and contemporary work from European and American playwrights. The two annual dance concerts will showcase original choreography from the advanced UCSB dance students in addition to choreography from faculty members.

Abingdon Theatre Company - which has produced more than 80 new American plays in its 21-year history - is set to celebrate its 2013-14 Season with ABINGDON: SWINGING ON A STAR, its Annual Benefit Gala and dinner, on Monday, October 7 at Espace (635 West 42nd Street in Manhattan), beginning at 6pm. Dick Cavett, celebrated author, actor and host of the Emmy Award-winning 'The Dick Cavett Show,' is set to host.

Marin Hinkle, Neal Huff, Olivia Oguma, Okieriete Onaodowan and Sharon Washington will comprise the cast of the upcoming LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater world premiere production of LUCE, by JC Lee, directed by May Adrales. LUCE begins previewsSaturday, October 5, opens Monday, October 21 and will run through Sunday, November 17 at the Claire Tow Theater (150 West 65thStreet).

Master composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim appeared on this evening's new edition of PBS NEWSHOUR WEEKEND. Sondheim's interview with PBS' chief correspondent for arts, culture, and society Jeffrey Brown, featured his thoughts on SWEENEY TODD, songwriting, and a BroadwayWorld mention! Check out his entire appearance below!

Savory Thymes hosts a benefit for Marin Theatre Company's New Play Program on Sunday, October 6, 2013, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. at Hillside Gardens in Mill Valley.

Master composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim will appear on September 8th on the new edition of PBS NEWSHOUR WEEKEND. Below, check out a new sneak peek at Sondheim's interview with PBS' chief correspondent for arts, culture, and society Jeffrey Brown!

Native Voices at the Autry continues its vital role as the country's only equity theatre company dedicated exclusively to developing the work of Native American playwrights with a free staged reading of STAND-OFF AT HWY #37, a new play by Vickie Ramirez (Tuscarora*) on Thursday, September 26, 2013, 7:30 pm, at the Wells Fargo Theater at the Autry National Center in Griffith Park. The reading, which is followed by an audience 'Talk-Back' with Ramirez and the director, Jon Lawrence Rivera, is part of Native Voices' signature FIRST LOOK SERIES: Plays in Proces.

THE EMERGING MASTERS PLAYREADING SERIES will focus on works by established American playwrights in mid-career, whose plays have been honored and widely produced, but whose name may not yet be a household word. Each year, five works by one such American playwright will be highlighted in five public staged readings performed by professional actors. One of the five plays will be considered for full production in a future American Stage season. THE EMERGING MASTERS PLAYREADING SERIES is produced by American Stage and is sponsored by Court and Kitti Hamilton.

The Obie and Drama Desk Award-winning Ma-Yi Theater Company -- one of the nation's leading theaters dedicated to developing and producing new and innovative plays by Asian American writers -- will celebrate its 25th anniversary season in 2013-14, beginning with the New York premiere of BIKE AMERICA by Mike Lew, with previews September 24 prior to an official opening night on October 1 Off-Broadway at The Theater at St. Clement's (423 W. 46 St.) in Manhattan.

Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol by Tom Mula will be presented by Marin Theatre Company, directed by Jon Tracy (It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play) and featuring Khris Lewin (A Steady Rain), Rami Margron (debut), Nicholas Pelczar (The Whipping Man) and Stacy Ross (God of Carnage), November 21 - December 15, 2013.

Cygnet Theatre, in collaboration with Playwrights Project, is proud to present the second annual Playwrights in Process: New Play Festival. Cygnet Theatre has long been committed to celebrating human stories through the medium of live theatre. Playwrights in Process will present four readings of new plays by Rachael VanWormer, Ross Tedford Kendall, Robert John Ford and Todd Goodlett, each of whom is a Southern California playwright or a writer with strong regional connections. The four winners were selected from 54 submissions from across the country.