After 15 years, 240 world premiere theater pieces, and being hailed 'the premiere short play festival in the Midwest' by the Chicago Reader, Collaboraction will stage its 15th and final SKETCHBOOK Festival at the place where it all started, the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago, today, January 14, through January 24, 2016.
BroadwayWorld is excited to announce the cast for BOY, Keen Company's spring production, featuring Bobby Steggert (Ragtime, Mothers & Sons) Heidi Armbruster (Time Stands Still, Disgraced), Paul Niebanck (A Walk in The Woods, Barbecue, In the Next Room or the vibrator play), and Rebecca Rittenhouse (Commons of Pensacola,'Blood & Oil').
Due to critical acclaim and popular demand, Playwrights Horizons has announced an extension of their New York premiere production of 2015 Pulitzer Prize finalist MARJORIE PRIME, a new play by Jordan Harrison (Maple and Vine, Doris to Darlene at PH; staff writer for 'Orange is the New Black'). Commissioned by Playwrights Horizons, the play is directed by Obie Award winner Anne Kauffman (Detroit, Maple and Vine, Your Mother's Copy of the Kama Sutra at PH; Belleville; This Wide Night; The Thugs).
Playwrights Horizons presents the New York premiere of 2015 Pulitzer Prize finalist Marjorie Prime, a new play by Jordan Harrison (Maple and Vine, Doris to Darlene at PH; Amazons and Their Men; Kid-Simple; 'Orange is the New Black'). Commissioned by Playwrights Horizons and directed by Obie Award winner Anne Kauffman (Detroit, Maple and Vine, Your Mother's Copy of the Kama Sutra at PH; Belleville; This Wide Night; The Thugs), the play is the third production of the theater company's 2015/2016 Season. The production opens tonight, December 14, at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street), and will play a limited engagement through Sunday, January 3.
The Drama League presents DirectorFest 2015: The 32nd Annual One-Act Festival, an evening of four short plays staged by the Drama League Directors Project Fall Directing Fellows Estefania Fadul, Annie Tippe, Sarah Elizabeth Wansley, and Brandon Woolf for a limited 5-performance engagement, tonight, December 12 - 15, 2015 at TBG Theatre (312 West 36th Street, between 8th & 9th Avenues).
Classic Stage Company's production of Bertolt Brecht's MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN, starring Tony Award winner Tonya Pinkins, begins performances tonight, December 9 for a limited engagement through January 24. MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN will be directed by Brian Kulick and will feature original music by Tony Award winner Duncan Sheik. The official press opening is Thursday, January 7.
After 15 years, 240 world premiere theater pieces, and being hailed 'the premiere short play festival in the Midwest' by the Chicago Reader, Collaboraction will stage its 15th and final SKETCHBOOK Festival at the place where it all started, the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago, January 14-24, 2016.
Actor/writer Jason Lott and writer Helen Murray Pafumi collaborated on writing Wonderful Life currently onstage at the Malibu Playhouse. I caught up with both of them to see how all of this got started and what they feel they have accomplished with their Christmas play.
What motivated both of you to adapt It's a Wonderful Life?
JL: Honestly, it was all Helen's idea. She wanted to do a one-person holiday show at her theatre, but wasn't finding the right script. She approached me about doing the show (whatever it might turn out to be) and mentioned that she was planning to adapt It's A Wonderful Life. I asked if she'd mind if I co-wrote it with her and she was gracious enough to say 'Yes.' You could make the argument that I only asked to co-write because I knew it would be easier to memorize that way, but that's only half-true (because, honestly, it is easier for me to memorize something I've written). The other side is that I only knew a little bit about It's A Wonderful Life. I knew it was an 'American classic' and I knew that I loved Jimmy Stewart's work in other movies, but the embarrassing fact is that I'd only seen bits and pieces over the years. I'd never watched the whole thing in one sitting. Once I did, though, I fell in love with the movie and absolutely wanted to help bring that story to the stage.
MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY by Anne Washburn, featuring a score by Michael Friedman with lyrics by Anne Washburn, will be directed by Theodore Swetz and co-produced with UMKC Theatre at Unicorn Theatre this December.
Due to critical acclaim and popular demand, Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) has announced a third and final extension of their hit New York premiere production of HIR, a new play by Obie Award-winning theater artist Taylor Mac (A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, The Lily's Revenge, The Walk Across America for Mother Earth, The Be(a)st of Taylor Mac, The Young Ladies Of). Directed by theater director and performance artist Niegel Smith (Artistic Director of The Flea), HIR is the second production of the theater company's 2015/2016 Season.
The Drama League (Executive Director Gabriel Shanks; Artistic Director Roger T. Danforth) has announced full casting for DirectorFest 2015: The 32nd Annual One-Act Festival, an evening of four short plays staged by the Drama League Directors Project Fall Directing Fellows Estefania Fadul, Annie Tippe, Sarah Elizabeth Wansley, and Brandon Woolf for a limited 5-performance engagement, December 12 - 15, 2015 at TBG Theatre (312 West 36th Street, between 8th & 9th Avenues).
Playwrights Horizons presents the New York premiere of 2015 Pulitzer Prize finalist Marjorie Prime, a new play by Jordan Harrison (Maple and Vine, Doris to Darlene at PH; Amazons and Their Men; Kid-Simple; 'Orange is the New Black'). Commissioned by Playwrights Horizons and directed by Obie Award winner Anne Kauffman (Detroit, Maple and Vine, Your Mother's Copy of the Kama Sutra at PH; Belleville; This Wide Night; The Thugs), the play is the third production of the theater company's 2015/2016 Season. The first preview is tonight, November 20 at 8PM at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street). The production has an Opening Night set for Monday, December 14 and will play a limited engagement through Sunday, January 3.
Mr. Burns, a post-electric play asks us to imagine what will happen to humanity after the apocalypse. This imaginative dark comedy follows a new civilization of survivors as they band together to build a community from the rubble of the world we now know. Jump into a wild future where The Simpsonsand the pop culture of today becomes the mythology of tomorrow in this unexpected, musical love-letter to the power of live theatre.
MR. BURNS, A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY by Anne Washburn, featuring a score by Michael Friedman with lyrics by Anne Washburn, will be directed by Theodore Swetz and co-produced with UMKC Theatre at Unicorn Theatre this December.
Members and constituents of United Scenic Artists Local USA 829 have been busy speaking out against The New York Times' recent decision to leave out the names of shows' designers when listing credits for theatre productions at the end of reviews. As of today, their hard work has paid off.
The Dramatists Guild Fund with PlayPenn and University of the Arts will present A Traveling Masters Event with Melissa James Gibson (Placebo, All Is Bright, The Americans) as part of DGF's Traveling Masters Program tonight, November 13 at 6:30 PM at The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA (401 South Broad Street).
Ensemble Studio Theatre and EST's Youngblood are proud to present UNFILTERED 2015-2016, the annual festival series of brand new, full-length plays from emerging playwrights under the age of thirty. This year's Youngblood graduates are also the first beneficiaries of the new exit commission grant, donated this year by Tony-nominated playwright Robert Askins.
Playwrights Horizons begins accepting entries today, Wednesday, November 11, for the LIVEforFIVE online lottery for $5 tickets to their New York premiere of 2015 Pulitzer Prize finalist Marjorie Prime, a new play by Jordan Harrison (Maple and Vine, Doris to Darlene at PH; Amazons and Their Men; Kid-Simple; 'Orange is the New Black').