American Playwrights News

Passage Theatre, Trenton's premiere professional theater company, is proud to announce the world premiere of Instructions for Breathing by acclaimed playwright Caridad Svich, April 16 through May 10 (Opening Night: Saturday, April 18). Performances are held at the Mill Hill Playhouse, 205 East Front Street, at the corner of Montgomery Street in historic downtown Trenton.

On Sunday evening, April 5, at 8:30 PM, E.D.T., a simple toll-free call will admit anyone in the country to a lively examination of the history, significance and controversy surrounding Native Son, the 1941 stage adaptation of Richard Wright's classic novel that sparked a debate about civil rights, social policy and racism that still burns hotly today.

The production has delayed its first preview originally planned for tonight, Friday 27th, the show will now begin on Saturday, March 28th to allow the company an extra amount of rehearsal time, stated a Transport Group spokesperson.

Two Obie Award-winning theater companies -- The Play Company and Ma-Yi Theater -- will collaborate this spring to present the New York premiere of Lloyd Suh's new play AMERICAN HWANGAP, with previews to begin May 9, prior to an official press opening May 17 Off-Broadway at The Wild Project (195 East 3rd Street) in Manhattan. Trip Cullman directs an ensemble cast featuring some of the country's most accomplished Asian American actors, including James Saito (TV's 'Eli Stone' and Obie winner for DURANGO), Michi Barall (Charles Mee's QUEENS BOULEVARD), Mia Katigbak (DOGEATERS), Peter Kim (THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE), and Hoon Lee (YELLOWFACE).

Emmy and Tony Award winner Tyne Daly, most recently on Broadway in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Rabbit Hole, will preview her cabaret show on Sunday, April 26, 2009, to benefit Abingdon Theatre Company. Her one-time performance in the June Havoc Theatre will be followed by Miss Daly's debut May 12-16 at Feinstein's at Loews Regency.

The Fire Dept Artistic Directors Erica Gould and Audrey Rosenberg have announced that the return of the company's Salon Series-staged readings of new plays, presented in non-proscenium environments that encourage an intimacy between audience and performer, followed by a discussion with the artists and noted guest speakers whose life experiences speak to the issues raised by the material-will begin with The Minotaur by Anna Ziegler (BFF), directed by Erica Gould (Neil LaBute's autobahn and Stand Up), and starring Mario Cantone (Sex and the City), Jill Clayburgh (Dirty Sexy Money, An Unmarried Woman), Campbell Scott (Dying Young, Singles, Longtime Companion), and Jeremy Webb (The Glorious Ones, Kander & Ebb's The Visit) on Friday, March 27 at 7 pm at the historic Players Club, 16 Gramercy Park South at 20th Street. The event will be produced by Audrey Rosenberg (Infamous with Sandra Bullock, upcoming documentary about Barack Obama).

Transport Group, the winner of a special 2007 Drama Desk Award and a 2007 Obie Award, will present the world premiere of Being Audrey, music and lyrics by Ellen Weiss; book by James Hindman; additional book and lyrics by Cheryl Stern; developed with Jack Cummings III and Adam R. Perlman; musical direction, arrangements, and orchestrations by Lanny Meyers; musical staging and choreography by Scott Rink; and directed by Jack Cummings III, beginning Friday, March 27, at 8:00pm at 220 East 4 Street, between Avenues A and B. The opening is set for Sunday, April 5, at 3pm.

Friends of The Abingdon Theatre present 'IT'S THE TALK OF THE TOWN' a Musical Tribute to Jerry Livingston on Wednesday, March 25th at 7:30pm at The Triad Theatre, 158 West 72nd Street (between Broadway & Columbus). This original musical revue conceived and directed by David Flora with musical director Julie Bearden features performers Kyle Gonyea, Jennifer Houston, Holli Leggett, Karen Paulemon and Robert Vest.

The Fire Dept Artistic Directors Erica Gould and Audrey Rosenberg have announced that the cast for The Minotaur, the first installment of the company's 2009 Salon Series, will be Mario Cantone, Jill Clayburgh, Phoebe Neidhardt, Ethan Peck, Campbell Scott, and Jeremy Webb.

The World Premiere of INKED BABY, a new play by 2007 Susan Smith Blackburn nominee Christina Anderson in her Off-Broadway playwriting debut. INKED BABY began previews on Thursday, March 5 at 7:30 PM at Playwrights Horizons' Peter Jay Sharp Theater (416 West 42nd Street).

The Bull presents a pulp revival of Fool for Love wherein two lovers, Eddie and May, trapped in a motel room that only exists on the horizon of the desert, battle to the death of their love in order to escape their lurid past. Fool for Love is arguably the hippest love story to hit the stage in three decades...yet recent renditions have lacked the comedy needed to lighten the weighty themes this play provides. We prefer to take it one step further into the brutal surrealism the play already offers. The characters in our version of Fool for Love are just that, characters.

Marin Theatre Company announces guidelines for submissions and deadlines for its annual playwright prizes, the 2010 Sky Cooper New American Play Prize and the 2010 David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize.

Marin Theatre Company Artistic Director Jasson Minadakis and Producing Director Ryan Rilette are pleased to announce the winners of MTC's American Play Prizes. The 2009 Sky Cooper New American Play Prize has been awarded to Sharr White for Sunlight. He will receive a $10,000 award accompanied by the world premiere of Sunlight during the MTC 2009-2010 season in the Boyer Theatre. The 2009 David Calicchio Emerging American Playwright Prize has been awarded to Emily Schwend for Carthage. Ms. Schwend will receive $2,500 and Carthage will be included in MTC's Nu Werkz staged reading series during the 2009-2010 season.

The Dramatists Guild Fund's annual Benefit Gala, titled 'STAR TURNS: Great Writers Thank Their Lucky Stars!' which will be held on Monday, April 20 at the Hudson Theatre (Millennium Hotel, 145 West 44th St), will honor Rosie O'Donnell and Rosie's Broadway Kids.

World Premiere of INKED BABY, a new play by 2007 Susan Smith Blackburn nominee Christina Anderson in her Off-Broadway playwriting debut. INKED BABY began previews on Thursday, March 5 at 7:30 PM at Playwrights Horizons' Peter Jay Sharp Theater (416 West 42nd Street). Directed by Kate Whoriskey (Fabulation at Playwrights Horizons, the current hit Ruined), INKED BABY will have its official opening on Monday, March 23 at 7:00 PM and continue through Sunday, April 5.

Transport Group, the winner of a special 2007 Drama Desk Award and a 2007 Obie Award, will present Mary Testa and Emily Skinner in special one-night-only events, at 220 East 4 Street, between Avenues A & B. On Sunday, April 5 at 7pm two-time Tony Award nominee Mary Testa will perform her new one-woman show, Sleepless Variations, which tells a tale of one woman's sleepless night of fears, fantasies, and dreams, expressed through a cycle of songs by composers as varied as Jimi Hendrix, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Bj?rk.

Friends of The Abingdon Theatre present 'IT'S THE TALK OF THE TOWN' a Musical Tribute to Jerry Livingston on Wednesday, March 25th at 7:30pm at The Triad Theatre, 158 West 72nd Street (between Broadway & Columbus). This original musical revue conceived and directed by David Flora with musical director Julie Bearden features performers Kyle Gonyea, Jennifer Houston, Holli Leggett, Karen Paulemon and Robert Vest.

The SF Playhouse (Bill English, Artistic Director; Susi Damilano, Producing Director) and Lorraine Hansberry Theatre (Stanley Williams, Artistic Director; Quentin Easter, Executive Director) are pleased to announce casting for their co-production of The West Coast Premiere of The Story. 'A riveting drama about race, reporting and the truth'-Associated Press

The Bull presents a pulp revival of Fool for Love wherein two lovers, Eddie and May, trapped in a motel room that only exists on the horizon of the desert, battle to the death of their love in order to escape their lurid past. Fool for Love is arguably the hippest love story to hit the stage in three decades...yet recent renditions have lacked the comedy needed to lighten the weighty themes this play provides. We prefer to take it one step further into the brutal surrealism the play already offers. The characters in our version of Fool for Love are just that, characters.

Playwrights Horizons, under the leadership of Artistic Director Tim Sanford and Managing Director Leslie Marcus, is proud to announce four World Premieres for its 2009/2010 Season. Presented at the theater company's home at 416 West 42nd Street.