American Playwrights News

Responding to the popular demand for tickets, Philadelphia Theatre Company is extending its production of the multiple Tony Award-winning musical, The Light in the Piazz, until Sunday, December 13. Performances for the extension week will follow the current schedule, with shows on Tuesdays at 6:30, Wednesdays at 1:00 and 7:00, Thursdays and Fridays at 8:00, Saturdays at 2:00 and 8:00, and Sundays at 3:00.

Transport Group, the winner of a special 2007 Drama Desk Award and a 2007 Obie Award, has announced that its 2009 Gimme A Break! benefit will honor playwright Terrence McNally and director Joe Mantello on Monday, December 7 at 6:30pm, at Asia Society and Museum, 725 Park Avenue at 70th Street.

Playwright Edward Albee, best known for Who's Araid of Virginia Woolf?, gave a rare public interview at the Sydney Theatre Company, and had not too many complimentary things to say about the state of theater production today, according to a report in moreintelligentlife.com.

The New York Philharmonic will present SONDHEIM: The Birthday Concert on March 15 and Tuesday, March 16, 2010, at 7:30 p.m. This celebration of the 80th birthday of the great Broadway and film composer/lyricist will include his most enduring orchestral music and songs - performed, in some cases, by the stars of the original Broadway cast productions - in addition to rarely-heard material. Joining the celebration will be (in alphabetical order) Michael Cerveris, Victoria Clark, Jason Danieley, Nathan Gunn, George Hearn, Patti LuPone, Marin Mazzie, Audra McDonald, Donna Murphy, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, and others to be announced, including surprise guests. Paul Gemignani, Mr. Sondheim's longtime collaborator, will conduct the New York Philharmonic; Lonny Price is the director; and Mr. Price and Matt Cowart are the producers.

Five years after receiving a Drama Desk nomination for Best Revival of a Play for their production of Pullman Car Hiawatha, two short plays by Thornton Wilder, Keen Company (Artistic Director Carl Forsman, Executive Director Wayne Kelton) kicks of their tenth anniversary season with the New York professional premiere of Such Things Only Happen in Books, an evening of short plays by Thornton Wilder directed by Carl Forsman and Jonathan Silverstein.

The romance of Florence comes to life on stage as Philadelphia Theatre Company continues its 2009-2010 season with the hit Broadway musical The Light in the Piazza with book by Craig Lucas and music and lyrics by Adam Guettel on November 13 - December 6. Directed by Joe Calarco, the ensemble cast features Whitney Bashor, Sherri Edelen, Joe Guzman, Ken Krugman, Kyra Miller, Fran Prisco, Matthew Scott, and Maureen Torsney-Weir.

Marin Theatre Company is delighted to present the comedy BOOM by award-winning Marin native Peter Sinn Nachtrieb.

Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) has announced a two-week extension for the World Premiere of CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION, a new play by Annie Baker ('An original voice' - Daily News; 'A playwright to know' - Newsday) that has just opened to across-the-board rave reviews. Directed by Sam Gold ('A magic-fingered director' - Variety; 'An uncommonly observant eye and ear' - New York Times), the production opened Tuesday, October 13. Originally set to run through Sunday, November 1, the limited engagement will now play through Sunday, November 22 at Playwrights Horizons' Peter Jay Sharp Theater (416 West 42nd Street).

Penumbra Theatre Company, the nation's preeminent African American theatre, announced today that their production of Radio Golf will travel to The August Wilson Center for African American Culture in Pittsburgh, PA to participate in the 'Aunt Ester Cycle.' The cycle will run November 10 - 22, 2009.

Abingdon Theatre Company, in an ongoing effort to recognize excellence in playwriting, is set to present its 2009 CHRISTOPHER BRIAN WOLK AWARD to author Joel Fields, best-known for writing episodes of TV's 'Ugly Betty,' 'Raising the Bar,' 'Commander in Chief' and 'Dirt,' for his new play HOW I FELL IN LOVE, during an award ceremony and staged reading on Monday, November 9 at 7:30pm at Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex's June Havoc Theatre (312 West 36th Street). Jules Ochoa to direct.

Acclaimed theater company Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) has announced nine initial performers who will participate in the return of its unique benefit evening STORIES ON 5 STORIES on Monday, November 9. Among those taking part in the special event will be two-time Academy Award winner and two-time Obie Award winner Diane Wiest (Memory House at Playwrights Horizons/PH, Hannah and Her Sisters, Bullets Over Broadway), Tony Award winner Debra Monk (Assassins at PH, Redwood Curtain, Curtains), Obie Award winner Jason Butler Harner (current Stage Manager in Our Town, Hedda Gabler, The Coast of Utopia), Clarence Derwent Award winner Zoe Kazan (100 Saints You Should Know at PH; Come Back, Little Sheba; Things We Want), Theatre World Award winner Cassie Beck (The Drunken City and Prayer for My Enemy at PH), Cristin Milioti (The Retributionists at PH, the upcoming The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter), Sue Jean Kim (The Drunken City and BFE at PH, 365 Days/365 Plays), Carmen M. Herlihy (The Thugs, Crooked) and Greg Keller (Broadway's Uncle Vanya, The Rainmaker). Additional performers will be announced in the coming weeks.

Acclaimed theater company Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) has announced it will present the return of its popular benefit evening STORIES ON 5 STORIES on Monday, November 9.

Native Voices at the Autry, America's leading Native American theater company, launches its 2009-10 main stage play series with the world premiere of CARBON BLACK by Terry Gomez. The humor-tinged suspenseful psychological drama, directed by Native Voices Founder/Producing Artistic Director Randy Reinholz, runs Saturday, November 7 to Sunday, November 22, 2009 (previews begin Wednesday, November 4). Gripping and enigmatic, the play vividly portrays the relationship between an agoraphobic mother and her precocious son, who claims to have witnessed a horrific murder. The mother's refusal to acknowledge the tale and her crippling dependence on sensationalized media coverage of violence around the globe serve to hold them both hostage and isolated. The award-winning cast includes actress Tonantzín Carmelo, Sheila Tousey, Stephan Wolfert and Michael Drummond.

Native Voices at the Autry, America's leading Native American theater company, launches its 2009-10 main stage play series with the world premiere of CARBON BLACK by Terry Gomez. The humor-tinged suspenseful psychological drama, directed by Native Voices Founder/Producing Artistic Director Randy Reinholz, runs Saturday, November 7 to Sunday, November 22, 2009 (previews begin Wednesday, November 4). Gripping and enigmatic, the play vividly portrays the relationship between an agoraphobic mother and her precocious son, who claims to have witnessed a horrific murder. The mother's refusal to acknowledge the tale and her crippling dependence on sensationalized media coverage of violence around the globe serve to hold them both hostage and isolated. The award-winning cast includes actress Tonantzín Carmelo, Sheila Tousey, Stephan Wolfert and Michael Drummond.

Penumbra Theatre Company, the nation's preeminent African American theatre, announced today that their production of Radio Golf will travel to The August Wilson Center for African American Culture in Pittsburgh, PA to participate in the 'Aunt Ester Cycle.' The cycle will run November 10 - 22, 2009.

The Horton Foote Festival will honor critically acclaimed playwright Craig Wright as the 2009 recipient of the Horton Foote Excellence in American Playwriting Award, according to notes on the Horton Foote Festival website. Amongst the events taking place during the festival weekend will be readings of Wright's plays ‘Grace' and ‘The Pavilion', academic panel discussions of his work, and a tribute to Horton Foote.

Abingdon Theatre Company, in an ongoing effort to recognize excellence in playwriting, is set to present its 2009 CHRISTOPHER BRIAN WOLK AWARD to author Joel Fields, best-known for writing episodes of TV's 'Ugly Betty,' 'Raising the Bar,' 'Commander in Chief' and 'Dirt,' for his new play HOW I FELL IN LOVE, during an award ceremony and staged reading on Monday, November 9 at 7:30pm at Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex's June Havoc Theatre (312 West 36th Street). Jules Ochoa to direct.

The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust presented the 2nd Annual ‘Mimi' Awards in a ceremony on Monday, October 26th, at Lincoln Center Theater's Vivian Beaumont Theater.

Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) is now accepting entries for its popular LIVEforFIVE online lottery for $5 tickets to its next production, the World Premiere of THIS, a new play by Obie Award winner Melissa James Gibson (Suitcase, [sic]).

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) is proud to announce its fourth David Mamet Writing Contest in conjunction with its West Coast premiere production of November, Mamet's newest satire on the buffoonery of presidential politics.