Ars Nova News

Cult-hit Brooklyn band Sky-Pony is led by the husband-and-wife team of Tony nominated writer Kyle Jarrow (bookwriter of Broadway's SpongeBob SquarePants, also creator of the CW television series Valor) and Tony nominated actress-singer Lauren Worsham (Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder). 

Flying Elephant Productions is pleased to conclude its inaugural season with the Chicago premiere of DEFACING MICHAEL JACKSON, Aurin Squire's racially-charged comedy about adolescence, sexual discovery and the conflict between community and culture.

Fast-talking Tupperware Lady Dixie Longatebrings her hilarious show Dixie's Tupperware Party to Feinstein's at the Nikko for three performances only on Thursday, November 15 (8 p.m.), Friday, November 16 (8 p.m.), and Saturday, November 17 (8 p.m.).

Musical theatre actor, bookwriter, and lyricist, Randy Blair, took to Twitter to release a personal project that 'came to [him] in a dream,' The Periodic Table of Belting.

The Playwrights Realm (Katherine Kovner, Founding Artistic Director; Roberta Pereira, Producing Director) kicks off its 2018-2019 season with the world premiere of Jonathan Payne's The Revolving Cycles Truly and Steadily Roll'd, directed by Awoye Timpo (Sept. 7-Oct. 6, at The Duke on 42nd Street, a New 42nd Street project). Having fostered the careers of breakout playwrights such as Sarah DeLappe (Pulitzer Prize finalist The Wolves), Lauren Yee (The Hatmaker's Wife), Jen Silverman(Crane Story, The Moors), Mfoniso Udofia (Sojourners), and Donja R. Love(Sugar in Our Wounds), The Realm continues to spotlight new playwrights setting the tone for the future of American theatre. This world premiere marks the first full production from the mordantly funny and unsparing voice of Jonathan Payne.

Award-winning playwright Patricia Loughrey and composer Thomas Hodges announce that five-time NYMF alum Erin Leigh Peck (Motherfreakinghood, Grease! on Broadway) will step into the lead role of Margaret Evans in their original LGBTQ musical Sonata 1962.The production, which will make its Off-Broadway debut this August as part of the 2018 New York Musical Festival's Next Link Project, was originally slated to star Becca Ayers who has had to step out of the show due to booking a Broadway contract.

Peak Performances kicks off its 2018-19 season with the world premiere of Hatuey: Memory of Fire, a rousing Afro-Cuban-Yiddish opera performed in English, Yiddish and Spanish, with music by Frank London, libretto by Elise Thoron, direction by Mary Birnbaum, and choreography by Maija Garcia.

Theatre of NOTE continues its 2018 season with the West Coast premiere of MARIAN, OR THE TRUE TALE OF ROBIN HOOD, written by Adam Szymkowicz and directed by Christopher Johnson.

Casting is complete for SUMMER SHORTS 2018, produced by Throughline Artists (J.J. Kandel, Producing Artistic Director) at 59E59 Theaters (Val Day, Artistic Director; Brian Beirne, Managing Director). SUMMER SHORTS 2018 begins on July 20 and runs through September 1. Two series featuring three one-act plays in each will play in rotating repertory Tuesday - Friday at 7:15 PM; Saturday & Sunday at 2:15 PM and 7:15 PM. Please note, there are no matinee performances on Saturday, July 21, Sunday, July 22, or Saturday, July 28.

59E59 Theaters (Val Day, Artistic Director; Brian Beirne, Managing Director) is thrilled to welcome Gianmarco Soresi's unromantic comedy LESS THAN 50%, directed by Jen Wineman. Produced by Robin Milling in association with James Brent White, Todd & Elizabeth Donovan, Joann Farda, Jesse Kearney, and New Light Theater Project, LESS THAN 50%, begins performances on Friday, August 3 for a limited engagement through Sunday, September 1.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater has announced the line-up for performers and post-show facilitators for NEW SONGS NOW, an unplugged concert series taking place July 22 through July 26 at 7:00pm at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater.

The Tank is now accepting applications for LIT Council (Akin Salawu, Founder/Creator; and Beto O'Byrne and Jerome A. Parker, Co-creators) a development intensive for male playwrights of color. During their time with the Council (September 2018 through April 2019), writers will hone a play guided by the Bechdel Test to ensure gender equity in storytelling. The program will culminate in a reading workshop of each participant's play, hosted at The Tank (312 West 36th Street between 8th and 9th Avenue). In order to further promote collaboration and communication between genders, each play will be attached to a female director of color, chosen from a group of professionals and mentors, who will be active presences throughout the process.

Stripped Scripts in association with Long Island City Artists Inc. and The Plaxall Gallery has announced that it will present Aaron Posner's STUPID F##KING BIRD, a satirical spin on the Chekhov's classic text, 'The Seagull', directed by Adam Knight ('In The Room, 'Naperville'), running July 6th - July 21st, Wednesdays, Todays and Saturdays at The Plaxall Gallery (5-25 46 Avenue, Long Island City).

In her third production at JACK, playwright Amina Henry shares a ghost story (with songs) about a homeless man who is approached in the park by the ghost of a murdered prostitute.  The ghost enlists him on a quest to find her remains so that her grieving mother can finally bury her and move past her mourning. Hunter John and Jane approaches trauma, mental illness and violence towards women in a whimsical way, giving the audience the opportunity to engage with difficult topics through poetic language as well as through a rich musical and visual landscape. With this work, Henry re-imagines what a love story can be, re-imagines what a musical can be, and proposes a world in which all lost or missing individuals are worthy of being found.

Bay Street Theater and Sag Harbor Center for the Arts is pleased to announce the first ever summer intern production, OBAMA-OLOGY by Aurin Squire, directed by Bay Street's Directing/Producing intern Shea King and starring Bay Street Theater's 2018 Acting Apprentices. This production will run as the first show ever directed, produced, designed, and acted entirely by the summer intern company at Bay Street Theater. Performances run from August 9 - 11, 2018, with twilight performances at 4 pm.  Tickets are $12 or $10 for students (available at the Box Office only, with student ID.)

The Drama League (Gabriel Stelian-Shanks, Executive Artistic Director) announced today that Mia Rovegno and Mia Walker have been named this year's recipients of The Drama League's Directing Fellowship in Film and Television, which gives early- and mid-career theater directors their first opportunities to shadow on professional film and television projects. Ms. Rovegno and Ms. Walker will receive financial support, travel allowances, expert mentors, and a shadow directing assignment as part of their fellowship.

THE ROAD THEATRE COMPANY and Taylor Gilbert, Founder/Artistic Director together with Sam Anderson, Artistic Director, remain committed to their meaningful mission to produce and develop New Work for the Stage

The american vicarious will present the world premiere of Jonathan Leaf's Pushkin. This limited Off-Broadway engagement will begin performances on July 25th and continue through August 25th only, at at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (18 Bleecker Street). Opening Night is scheduled  for August 5th. The performance runs 90 minutes with no intermission.

Join Strangemen Theatre Company this summer at Guild Hall in East Hampton for the first of two presentations of new plays, set for production off-Broadway for the company's 2018-2019 season!

Interrobang Theatre Project is pleased to announce its ninth season, featuring three knockout dramas presented at its new resident home, Rivendell Theatre, 5779 N. Ridge Ave. in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood. This season, Interrobang explores "identity/crisis," with three plays featuring characters on the edge of something new, battling old demons and making room for fresh starts.