Ars Nova News

La Jolla Playhouse announces the cast and creative team for its upcoming presentation of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival production of Cambodian Rock Band, by UC San Diego MFA Playwriting alumna Lauren Yee, directed by Chay Yew, featuring music by Dengue Fever. A co-production with Portland Center Stage at The Armory, Cambodian Rock Band will run November 12 a?" December 15 (press opening: Sunday, November 17 at 7pm) in the Playhouse's Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre.

Lincoln Center's acclaimed American Songbook series returns for its 21st year, celebrating the expansive scope and intricacy of the popular music canon from January 22 - February 29, 2020. This year's concert series includes lauded singer-songwriters, groundbreaking composers, storytellers speaking truth to power, experimental vocalists, and multitalented performers whose artistic breadth reflects the far-reaching perspectives and experiences of the essential American Songbook.

Edmund Bagnell, 1st Violinist & vocalist of the internationally acclaimed group Well-Strung, will star in the New York premiere of He Plays The Violin at Feinstein's/54 Below on Nov. 25 at 9:30 PM. The show is being developed by New Works Provincetown at The Art House this fall and includes a brand new song written for Mr. Bagnell by Scott Frankel (Grey Gardens & War Paint). Through stories and song, the evening celebrates all things music, from classical to standards and from pop to Broadway, and of course with a good dose of fiddle thrown in. This piece shows a different side of Edmund Bagnell in this personal and uplifting journey through music, and is written by and starring Edmund Bagnell, conceived by Mark Cortale, music directed by Matt Aument and directed by Michael Schiralli.

Geva Theatre Center's 2019-2020 Fielding Studio Series begins with Queen, written by Madhuri Shekar and directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh. The production begins performances on November 6 and runs in the Fielding Stage through November 24.

The Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, in partnership with SHOW- SCORE.COM, recently launched ALL NEW YORK'S A STAGE, the first-ever campaign dedicated to raising the visibility of our vibrant local theater industry, which is made up of small venues, companies and related organizations throughout the five boroughs.

Mallory Portnoy (who plays Gertie Cummings in Daniel Fish's Tony Award © winning revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! at Circle in the Square) and actor-playwright Matthew-Lee Erlbach (Steppenwolf's The Doppelgänger, starring Rainn Wilson and directed by Tina Landau), have created Human Interest, a character-based dry comedy moc doc series inspired by real people, which lovingly turns the camera on the eccentric outliers of New York City and explores, loneliness, community, and our relationship to technology.  Written and directed by Erlbach, the short-form series introduces us to everyone from competitive whistlers and professional cuddlers to neo-luddites and sex robot romantics. The series, which recently won Best Digital ShortSeries at Series Fest, includes actors Michael Cyril Creighton (The Amateurs, High Maintenance, Spotlight), Max Jenkins (The Mysteries of Laura, High Maintenance, Dead to Me), Ryan Spahn (Gloria, Moscow Moscow Moscow…, He's Way More Famous Than You) and Deb Lapidus. It is produced by Erlbach, Portnoy, Anne Troup, Hannes Otto and Gabriel Long.

On June 18, 1983 Dr. Sally Ride, an accomplished astronaut and physicist, became the first American woman in space as a crew member on Space Shuttle Challenger for STS-7. Now, playwright Liza Birkenmeier uses this unforgettable time in history as the backdrop for her latest production. Birkenmeier took the time to chat with BroadwayWorld about the upcoming show.

Theatre Royal Bath Productions today announces three new premieres to open at the Ustinov Studio including Hansol Jung's Wild Goose Dreams which premieres next month (21 November to 21 December) with opening night for press on 27 November, Will Eno's Drama Desk Award winning play The Realistic Joneses (6 February to 7 March), followed by the latest drama from emerging playwright Kate Attwell, Testmatch (2 April to 9 May 2020), in a co-production with English Touring Theatre.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre today announced the five award-winning artists who will lead the creative team for the world premiere of Swept Away.

Andy Grotelueschen is no stranger to profanity, as he gets to perform the now iconic 'Jeff Sums It Up' in Broadway's Tootsie every night at the Marquis Theatre. Now he's taking his character's trademark irreverence to the next level... by recording a solo album? Watch below as the whole Tootsie cast takes part in a hilarious film made by Andy's co-star, John Behlmann, and find out what Broadway's most treasured songs might sound like with a Grotelueschen twist.

This holiday season, Sheen Center for Thought & Culture presents The Gospel of John, conceived and performed by award-winning Broadway veteran Ken Jennings (Sweeney Todd, Grand Hotel, Side Show). Jennings brings the Gospel to life on stage - in just 90 minutes.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, in association with Center for Fiction, will co-present Black Lives/White Gaze: Playwrights Jackie Sibblies Drury and Claudia Rankine in Conversation. 

National Alliance for Musical Theatre announces final casting for the 31st Annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS, which takes place on Thursday, October 24 and Friday, October 25, 2019 at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues).

Tony Award-winning La MaMa presents the world premiere of VIRGO STAR, an intimate interactive performance, written and devised by the Pioneers Go East Collective - Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte and Daniel Diaz, in collaboration with Philip Treviño, Anabella Lenzu and Agosto Machado, and directed by Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte.

Henry Lombino and Those Guilty Creatures are thrilled to announce a new production of DUTCHMAN by LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka will play at Access Theater (380 Broadway) for three performances on November 7, 8, and 9 at 8:00pm.

In October, Maggie-Kate Coleman will join University of the Arts' Ira Brind School of Theater Arts as the Suzanne and Doug Kreitzberg Director of the Polyphone Festival of New and Emerging Musicals, a position that is generously supported by the Kreitzbergs.

The New York Musical Festival (NYMF) will honor Grammy, Tony, and Academy Award-winning composer Stephen Schwartz and Olivier Award-winning choreographer Kelly Devine at its 2019 Benefit Concert on Monday, November 18 at The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036).

Collective Consciousness Theatre (CCT) presents the Regional Premiere of 'Pass Over' by Antoinette Nwandu, October 24-November 10

Nine original independent pilots and their 14 creators, will benefit from holistic support and development at Sundance Institute's sixth annual Episodic Lab, taking place at Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah October 10-15, 2019. With topics that span genres --  from provocative reimaginings of the American dream to  visionary and epic supernatural dramas-- the scope of this year's projects, along with the diverse backgrounds of their creators, speaks to the Institute's broad and visionary support of the episodic format as the industry develops and grows; the Episodic Lab is the centerpiece of the Institute's year-round support program for emerging television writers.

Nine original independent pilots and their 14 creators, will benefit from holistic support and development at Sundance Institute's sixth annual Episodic Lab, taking place at Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah October 10-15, 2019. With topics that span genres --  from provocative reimaginings of the American dream to  visionary and epic supernatural dramas-- the scope of this year's projects, along with the diverse backgrounds of their creators, speaks to the Institute's broad and visionary support of the episodic format as the industry develops and grows; the Episodic Lab is the centerpiece of the Institute's year-round support program for emerging television writers.