Anna-Deavere Smith News

Berkeley Repertory Theatre today announced the full cast and creative team for Metamorphoses. This co-production with the Guthrie Theater is led by nationally and internationally renowned writer and director Mary Zimmerman.

Next up in the company's 20th Season, Cutting Ball Theater is reprising its original docu-play about its neighborhood for a community tour, The Tenderloin Tour: Prime Cuts from the 2012 Hit in January 2019.

Last night, Renee Taylor won the annual The United Solo Special Award, which recognizes artists who have made significant recent contributions to solo theatre during the year, for her critically acclaimed autobiographical comedy MY LIFE ON A DIET. Along with Ms. Taylor, this year's nominees included Derek DelGaudio (In & Of Itself), Alison S. M. Kobayashi (Say Something Bunny!), John Lithgow (Stories By Heart), Chita Rivera (An Evening with Chita Rivera) and Bruce Springsteen (Springsteen on Broadway).

The Public Theater announced complete casting today for the world premiere of EVE'S SONG, written by The Public's Emerging Writers Group alum and 2017-18 Tow Playwright-in-Residence, Patricia Ione Lloyd.

Leading into the new season, National Geographic is set to produce a special live presentation of four-time Emmy-nominated late-night talk show StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson: Live From the Beacon Theatre with featured guest James Cameron in New York City on Nov. 14, 2018. In addition to National Geographic Explorer and award-winning filmmaker Cameron, guests to include Ellie Kemper ('Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,' author of 'My Squirrel Days'), Kevin Hand (NASA Jet Propulsion Labs), Julie Huber (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) and comic co-host Eugene Mirman ('Bob's Burgers').

Show-only tickets to Second Stage Theater's Fall Benefit Honoring Harvey Fierstein are now on sale to the general public.  Hosted by Michael Urie, the benefit will take place on Monday, November 12 at Terminal 5 (610 West 56th Street).  The evening will feature performances and appearances by Cyndi Lauper, Rosie O'Donnell, Annaleigh Ashford, Keala Settle, Wayne Brady, Christopher Sieber, Michael Urie, Marissa Jaret Winokur, as well as Shoshana Bean, J. Harrison Ghee, Bianca Del Rio, and Gino Emnes.  To purchase tickets, please go to: https://2st.com/support-us/events/fall-benefit.

Bang on a Can All-Stars-joined by the Grammy Award-nominated Choir of Trinity Wall Street, led by Julian Wachner-will perform Julia Wolfe's Pulitzer Prize-winning Anthracite Fields on Saturday, December 1 at 9:00 p.m. in Zankel Hall.

The Gish Prize Trust today announced that the inspired Music and Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel, has been selected to receive the 25th annual Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize in recognition of his ongoing achievements as a conductor and an advocate for music education. Established in 1994 through the will of legendary stage and screen actress Lillian Gish, known as the First Lady of Cinema, the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize is one of the most prestigious honors given to artists in the United States and bears one of the largest cash awards, currently valued at approximately $250,000.

Annenberg Center Live presents two powerful shows this week: Private Peaceful (October 11-13) and Spectrum Dance Theater's A Rap on Race (October 12-13).

Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT) is proud to present Ya Mama! The production is onstage from October 11 - 27, 2018, in CPT's Gordon Square Theatre.

In conjunction with our 20th anniversary production of The Laramie Project, the Provincetown Theater at 238 Bradford Street in Provincetown, MA will sponsor a series of post-performance "Community Conversations" following matinee performances during the show's three-week run (October 11-28, performs Thursdays - Saturdays at 7pm, Sundays at 2pm). The first in the series will begin at 4:15pm, Sunday, Oct 14. Throughout the series, topics will pertain to socially relevant themes coursing through the veins of this modern American classic -- which reveals a community's response to the brutal murder of the openly gay college student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming in 1998. Free of charge, open to the public, each of the "Community Conversations" focuses on a different theme relevant to the play, lead by a moderator and host of panelists in the field.

American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.), under the leadership of Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director Diane Paulus and Executive Producer Diane Borger, is pleased to announce upcoming performances of the next offering in the Live @ OBERON series: Samora Pinderhughes' The Transformations Suite at OBERON (2 Arrow Street, Cambridge) Saturday, October 6 at 7PM and Sunday, October 7 at 8PM.

On this day, we celebrate the birthday of playwright, activist, actor, and educator, Anna Deavere Smith.

WP Theater (formerly known as Women's Project Theater), under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Lisa McNulty and Managing Director Michael Sag, has announced their 2018-2019 Season at WP Theater

The Public Theater announced complete casting today for the world premiere of EVE'S SONG, written by The Public's Emerging Writers Group alum and 2017-18 Tow Playwright-in-Residence, Patricia Ione Lloyd.

On Monday, November 5, 2018, the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) will host its annual New York Fall Gala at Cipriani 42ndStreet in New York City.  At this year's gala, EJAF Founder Sir Elton John and Chairman David Furnish will honor Ford Foundation President Darren Walker, philanthropist Patricia Hearst, and long-time advocate Joe McMillan, CEO and Chairman of DDG, with EJAF's Enduring Vision Award.  Nine-time Grammy Award Winning Singer, Songwriter Sheryl Crow will be the special musical guest, and Bryan Stevenson, Founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) and the new National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, will be the featured speaker. CBS This Morning co-anchor and journalist Gayle King will host the event.

Solo performers from six continents will once again unite in the heart of New York's theatre district. Over 130 productions will be presented at this year's United Solo, the largest festival of its kind in the world, now in its 9th year. With up to five performances every day until November 18 at Theatre Row, this year's robust selection of one-person shows will attract thousands of theatregoers. Over 25 performances have sold out in advance, with more expected to follow. The festival will grant additional performance dates to its most popular productions. This year, United Solo also offers Master Classes with world-famous theatre creators and recognized experts, including Oscar-winning actress Olympia Dukakis, who will give her Master Class hosted by Omar Sangare, founder and artistic director of United Solo, on September 16, and Juilliard School professor Janis Brenner, whose Master Class is scheduled for September 17.

As the school year begins across the country, Broadway Producers Fran Kirmser and Chris Burney team up with area D.C. theater organizations to present AMERICAN SCOREBOARD's back-to-school performance of The Betsy DeVos Confirmation Hearing for The Secretary of Education to take place at The Mead Center for American Theater at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth Street SW, Washington, D.C. on September 17th, 2018 at 6pm. This will mark the first visit of Kirmser and Burney's American Scoreboard educational program to the D.C. area.

Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT) presents Ya Mama! The production is onstage from October 11 - 27, 2018, in CPT's Gordon Square Theatre.

Lisa B. Thompson burst onto the Austin theatre scene in a big way last season with her play UNDERGROUND, which was not only nominated for most of the awards given in Austin, but also managed to walk away with a few. She capped off the season by winning the New Play award from Austin Playhouse's annual playwrighting contest. The contest winning play, MONROE, is opening at Austin Playhouse on September 7th in a World Premiere production. Thompson, besides these two plays, is also the author of the book Beyond The Black Lady: Sexuality And The New African American Middle Class (University of Illinois Press, 2009) which received Honorable Mention in competition for the Gloria E. Anzaldua Book Prize from the National Women's Studies Association. Her work has appeared in Theatre Journal, Theatre Survey, Finding A Way Home: A Critical Assessment Of Walter Mosley's Fiction (University Press of Mississippi, 2008), and From Bourgeois to Boojie: Black Middle-Class Performances (Wayne State University Press, 2011). Her plays include Single Black Female (Samuel French, Inc., 2012) which has been produced throughout the U.S. and Canada. BroadwayWorld recently had the opportunity to sit down with Thompson to talk, in depth, about her new play MONROE, right before it makes its World Premiere at Austin Playhouse to open their season.