Ars Nova News

The coffeehouse meets the cabaret in "Poetry/Cabaret: CHILLY" at The Green Room 42. Come in from the cold, but prepare to be chilled by poems, songs, and stories about frosty receptions, tingles along the spine, and cool, smooth characters. Curated and hosted by Thomas March, author of the newly-released collection Aftermath, Poetry/Cabaret brings together poets and performers in an evening of wild variations on a theme. Joining us onstage to celebrate all things 'CHILLY' will be-poets Ryan Foster Casey, Cat Fitzpatrick, & Hafizah Geter; singers Lauren Elder, Daniel Nolen, & Stephanie Weeks; and comedians Alex English, Sophie Santos & Jes Tom-& with Scottie Hawley returning on piano.

Back by popular demand, On The Rocks Theatre Company remounts their festive holiday bar pageant, Edelweiss, in the Dixon Place Lounge. The production is written by On The Rocks co-founders Christopher Ford & Dakota Rose with original music by their frequent collaborator Andrew R. Butler. Ms. Rose helms the production as director. Edelweiss will play four performances only - December 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd at 7:30p, in the Dixon Place Lounge. Admission is FREE. Tickets can be reserved by visiting www.dixonplace.org.

Two of NYC's most beloved underground acts join forces to bring a monthly, intimate evening of entertainment to the legendary Slipper Room. Charming troubadour and raconteur Corn Mo brings his patented combination of original songs, quirky, off-kilter anecdotes, and charisma, framed by The Love Show Dancers' dance performance, burlesque, and saucy surprises! Trivia contests entertain questions charaded by the Love Show Dancers with prizes of insignificant worth! Our special guest is Chris Rozzi!

BroadwayCon has announced the award-winning Mean Girls cast and creative team has joined the BroadwayCon 2019 lineup.

Get Ready to 'Say Yeah' when you and your lucky guest enjoy two 2 orchestra seats to the Broadway's Tony-winning Best Musical Kinky Boots and a special private backstage tour with long-running Kinky Boots cast member Natalie Joy Johnson, who plays 'Pat' in the show!

The Tank will present the World Premiere of Real, written by Rodrigo Nogueira (The Ideal Obituary at The Tank) and directed by Erin Ortman (One Thousand Nights and One Day with Prospect Theater Company) in the 99-seat theater at The Tank (312 West 36th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues), January 3-20, 2019.

Hartford Stage Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak and Managing Director Michael Stotts announced today the cast and creative team for Samuel Baum's The Engagement Party, directed by Tresnjak. Zach Appelman, Richard Bekins, Mia Dillon and Beth Riesgraf lead the cast. The world premiere play will perform Thursday, January 10, through Sunday, February 3, 2019.

New Brooklyn Theatre, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2012 to democratize the American theatre, has announced Raja Feather Kelly as its new Artistic Director. Kelly currently serves as the Founding Artistic Director of the dance-theatre-media company the feath3r theory, which has formally merged with New Brooklyn Theatre. He is the recipient of two Princess Grace Foundation Awards and most recently, the Breakout Award from the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation and Dance Magazine's inaugural Harkness Promise Award. the feath3r theory shares the ethos of New Brooklyn Theatre in the mission to broaden space for unheard voices and repressed histories in theatre. Since 2009, the feath3r theory has been recognized as a unique cross-disciplinary theatre company that aims to challenge its audience and creators to interrogate and celebrate their shared relationship to human empathy and personal ethics as expressed in popular media.

New Light Theater Project is thrilled to present the world premiere of THE AMERICAN TRADITION written by Ray Yamanouchi and directed by Axel Avin, Jr. THE AMERICAN TRADITION begins performances on Friday, January 25 for a limited engagement through Saturday, February 16. 

New year, new Kilroys! For the past five years The Kilroys, an LA-based collective of playwrights/producers continuing the fight to achieve gender balance in the American theater, have been advocating for equal representation on our American stages, and have released an annual list of under-produced plays by women, trans, and non-binary writers. Despite some measurable progress, we still have a long way to go before we strike that balance. So, as we approach 2019, we are beyond thrilled to introduce a fresh new gang of fearless badass leaders. These women will seize our reins and continue the fight for equality, creating random acts of disruption along the way, while the OG Kilroys will serve as an advisory board supporting the current class. 

Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3 has announced that Gabby Beans, Marceline Hugot, and Ismenia Mendes will join Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Karen Kandel, and Lucy Taylor for the world premiere of MARYS SEACOLE, a new play by Jackie Sibblies Drury, directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz, at the Claire Tow Theater (150 West 65 Street).  MARYS SEACOLE will begin performances Saturday evening, February 9 and run for six weeks only through Sunday, March 24.  Opening night is Monday, February 25.

Lucy Jackson in association with Dutch Kills Theater Company will present the World Premiere of INTELLIGENCE by John Golden Playwriting Award winner Helen Banner. Directed by 2017 Lucille Lortel Award winner Jess Chayes (Home/Sick, Half Moon Bay), previews begin January 12 at Next Door at NYTW. Opening is slated for Thursday, January 17.

BroadwayWorld has teamed up with Broadway alum Ilana Levine, who makes her entrance onto the podcast stage with her new show Little Known Facts. Ilana's unique brand of celebrity interview, 'Podcast Verite,' is unfiltered, raw, honest and uniquely funny.

Dutch Kills Theater (In Quietness, The Sister, The Providence of Neighboring Bodies) will present the World Premiere of SELKIE by Krista Knight (Hissifit, Primal Play). Directed by Matt Dickson (Disco Pigs, We The People), performances run through December 22 at The Wild Project.

Due to overwhelming demand, Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jon Steingart and Jill Furman announced today that the highly-anticipated return engagement of FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME, which sold-out quickly last month, has been able to add four additional performances to the strictly limited run at the Greenwich House Theater, 27 Barrow Street. In addition, a TodayTix lottery for 15 tickets a performance will be offered during the five-week run to help fans get tickets.

Four new works for the stage, with a global cohort of theatremakers, have gathered for development at the two-week Sundance Institute Theatre Lab at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), convening December 2-16, 2018, including a public performance on December 7. The Labs process, rigorous and generative, is founded on concentrated and abundant time and resources; projects are cast individually and rehearsed daily.

The Drama League (Gabriel Stelian-Shanks, Executive Artistic Director) has announced the theater directors chosen to develop new plays and musicals as part of the 2019 Drama League Artist Residency Program. Public work-in-progress presentations of each residency will be held periodically throughout the year at The Drama League Theater Center, 32 Avenue of the Americas, in Tribeca. Schedules for the presentations, which are open to the public, will be available throughout 2019 at www.dramaleague.org or by calling (212) 244-9494.

Art House Productions is proud to announce its winter mainstage production of Allison Gregory's Not Medea, directed by Adin Walker. Performances run, December 6,7,8, 13, 14, 15 at 8:00pm, and Sundays, December 9 and 16 at 3:00pm for a total of eight performances, with ASL and Audio Interpretation at the Friday, December 14th performance. Beginning at 6:30pm prior to the December 14th performance, the Art House Access Committee will host a free mixer for artists with and without disabilities. Wine and hors d'oeuvres included. In concurrence with Not Medea, the Art House Gallery will be open for its inaugural Affordable Art Show featuring over 75 fine art pieces all selling for $500 and under. Art House Productions is located at 262 17th St, Jersey City, NJ 07310. For tickets and more information visit www.arthouseproductions.org

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) continues its 2018-19 season with Paula Vogel's 'A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration.' Elizabeth VanDyke will direct. Performances will be held in the Harriet S. Jorgenson Theatre from November 29th - December 9th, 2018. For tickets and information please visit crt.uconn.edu or call (860) 486-2113.

Vineyard Theatre Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern announce that the 2018 Susan Stroman Directing Award will be presented to Whitney White on Sunday, December 16 at The Vineyard's 2nd annual Open House from 3-7pm.