Anna-Deavere Smith News

The nominees for THE 44TH NAACP IMAGE AWARDS were announced today during a live press conference from the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills, CA. Anthony Anderson (Guys with Kids), Niecy Nash (The Soul Man), Yvette Nicole Brown (Community), Garcelle Beauvais (Flight), Tyler James Williams (Go On), and Zendaya (Shake It Up!) announced the categories and nominees.

Nominees for the 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® for outstanding performances in 2012 in five film and eight primetime television categories as well as the SAG Awards honors for outstanding action performances by film and television stunt ensembles were announced this morning in Los Angeles at the Pacific Design Center's SilverScreen Theater in West Hollywood.

Nominees for the 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® for outstanding performances in 2012 in five film and eight primetime television categories as well as the SAG Awards honors for outstanding action performances by film and television stunt ensembles were announced this morning in Los Angeles at the Pacific Design Center's SilverScreen Theater in West Hollywood.

The nominees for THE 44TH NAACP IMAGE AWARDS were announced today during a live press conference from the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills, CA. Anthony Anderson (Guys with Kids), Niecy Nash (The Soul Man), Yvette Nicole Brown (Community), Garcelle Beauvais (Flight), Tyler James Williams (Go On), and Zendaya (Shake It Up!) announced the categories and nominees.

Shakespeare & Company has announced The Conservatory at Shakespeare & Company's winter production of King John, directed by longtime Company artist, and star of this summer's critically acclaimed production of Cassandra Speaks, Tod Randolph. Now in its sixth year, the Conservatory, a 13-week professional actor training program includes 10 - 16 promising actors from across the country and around the globe. This year's program features a group of 16 who will join forces in Shakespeare's rarely produced King John for three special performances in the Tina Packer Playhouse.

Soho Rep has again extended the New York premiere of Jackie Sibblies Drury's We Are Proud to Present a Presentation …, directed by Eric Ting, this time to December 16. Tickets to the American premiere of Nature Theater of Oklahoma's epic serial Life and Times: Episodes 1-4-a Soho Rep production presented by The Public Theater as a special engagement of the Under the Radar Festival 2013-are now on sale. And Soho Rep announces the production that will conclude its 2012-13 season: the world premiere of Lucas Hnath's A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney, directed by Soho Rep Artistic Director Sarah Benson (April 30 - May 26, 2013).

The Public Theater's $40 million revitalization of its downtown home at Astor Place will be unveiled October 4 and celebrated through a series of events designed to engage the entire New York community and marking a rededication to its founding principles. The Public Forum - the Company's celebrated new series of lectures, debates, and discussions will mark the rededication with a special series of "Duet" programs, pairing an artist who has been important to the life of The Public and a leading voice from outside the world of theater.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Conservatory Director Melissa Smithannounced today that the A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) Program will present Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party, taking audiences back in time, capturing the edginess and excitement of the roaring '20s. With a book, music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa, the production is directed by Mark Rucker and will play a limited four show engagement. Performances are: December 13 and 14 at 7:30 p.m.; December 15 at 2 & 7:30 p.m. All performances take place at A.C.T.'s Costume Shop (1117 Market Street, San Francisco). Tickets are $15 and are available by calling the A.C.T. Box Office at 415.749.2228 or online at www.act-sf.org.

Centenary Stage Company will present the amazing Bill Bowers in his one man show UNDER A MONTANA MOON November 15-18.

Soho Rep presents the New York premiere of Jackie Sibblies Drury's We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as South West Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915, directed by Eric Ting. The 13-time OBIE-winning theater presents We Are Proud to Present a Presentation…,in association with John Adrian Selzer, from tonight, November 7 to December 2, 2012. Soho Rep will also offer FEED companion programming throughout the run; see details below.

The Public Theater's Artistic Director Oskar Eustis released the following statement today on Hurricane Sandy.

Sundance Institute today announced the seven artists selected for its 2013 Playwrights Retreat at Ucross Foundation, February 4-22, 2013. The annual writing colony at the 20,000-acre working cattle ranch outside of Sheridan, Wyo. provides a supportive environment for artists to create new work and receive guidance and reactions to it at an early stage. Under the supervision of Philip Himberg, Artistic Director of the Theatre Program, and Producing Director Christopher Hibma, the Playwrights Retreat is made possible through the generosity of Ucross Foundation.

The Public Theater will resume all weekend performances and is offering any remaining available tickets for free, beginning at 12 p.m. on Saturday for Saturday matinee and evening shows, and at 12 p.m. on Sunday for Sunday matinee and evening shows. Tickets can be picked up at The Public Theater box office, located at 425 Lafayette Street. Two tickets per person, subject to availability.

Yale Repertory Theatre, in a co-production with American Repertory Theater, presents the world premiere of Marie Antoinette by David Adjmi, directed by Rebecca Taichman. Marie Antoinette will be performed at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street) October 26 through November 17. Opening Night is Thursday, November 1. The cast includes Fred Arsenault, Hannah Cabell, David Greenspan, Marin Ireland, Vin Knight, Jo Lampert, Polly Lee, Steven Rattazzi, Jake Silbermann, Teale Sperling, Brian Wiles, and Ashton Woerz.

Fox Broadcasting Company (FOX) has elevated Shana C. Waterman to Senior Vice President, Current Programming. It was announced today by Marcy Ross, the network's Executive Vice President of Current Programming.

As the nation prepares for the second presidential debate this evening, CENTERSTAGE releases the fourth set of videos in its My America project, an online artistic initiative bringing together 50 of the country's leading playwrights to answer a single question: What is my America?

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Conservatory Director Melissa Smith announced today that the A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) Program has been selected by Anatoly Smeliansky, dean of the Moscow Art Theatre School, to perform at Moscow Art Theatre School's 2012 Stanislavsky Festival, to be held in Moscow today, October 15-21, 2012. This year's festival, titled "Open Class: Stanislavsky Continues," honors the 150th birthday of Konstantin Stanislavsky, founder of the Moscow Art Theatre. The A.C.T. M.F.A. Program has the distinguished honor of being the only theater school selected to represent the United States.

The National Theatre Conference (NTC), an organization founded in 1925 that meets annually in New York to discuss relevant issues in today's theatre community and to celebrate outstanding achievement in the American theatre, has named the recipients of its 2012 awards. Broadway producer Elizabeth McCann has been named Person of the Year; the New Federal Theatre, under the direction of its founder, Woodie King, Jr., is the recipient of the Theatre of the Year Award; and playwright Dominique Morisseau has been selected as the winner of the Barrie and Bernice Stavis Playwright Award. All three will be presented with their awards and honored at the Players and at Signature Theatre during NTC's annual conference in New York October 26-28, 2012.

Soho Rep is pleased to present the New York premiere of Jackie Sibblies Drury's We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as South West Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915, directed by Eric Ting. The 13-time OBIE-winning theater presents We Are Proud to Present a Presentation…,in association with John Adrian Selzer, from November 7 to December 2, 2012. Soho Rep will also offer FEED companion programming throughout the run; see details below.

Alexis Marnel and Artists Collective for Social Change present the New York Off-Broadway premiere of Rock WILK's BROKE WIDE OPEN, a theatrical love letter to his hometown, New York City, and the story of his adoption, his fostering, and his complex search for his biological mother. Directed by Stephen Bishop Seely ("8 Million Protagonists") preview performances of BROKE WIDE OPEN begin October 6th prior to an official press opening of tonight, October 11th at The 45th Street Theatre (354 West 45th Street) in Manhattan.