Ars Nova News

? The American Theatre Wing announced today that the 2016 Jonathan Larson Grants recipients are Cesar Alvarez (book, music and lyrics), Nikko Benson (music and lyrics), Carson Kreitzer (book and lyrics), and Sam Salmond (book, music, and lyrics). Four prestigious grants of $10,000 each, totaling $40,000, will be presented on Monday, March 21, 2016 at a private event at the WNYC Greene Space. The event will feature special performances of the recipients' work.

59E59 Theaters will welcome the Ricochet Collective with HAPPILY AFTER EVER, written by Laura Zlatos and directed by Sherri Eden Barber. HAPPILY AFTER EVER begins performances on Wednesday, March 30 for a limited engagement through Saturday, April 16.  Press opening is Wednesday, April 6 at 7:30 PM.  The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7:30 PM; Friday - Saturday at 8:30 PM; and Sunday at 3:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $18 ($12.60 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org. 

The Play Company's (PlayCo) Idea Lab series complements the productions in their 2016 season by bringing together artists, scholars, writers and community leaders for stand-alone events to examine themes raised in the shows. Following performances of the world premiere of The Wildness, a co-produced with Ars Nova, Playco will present three post show events over three Thursdays, March 3, 10 & 17.

Theater Reconstruction Ensemble presents the world premiere of RHINBECCA, NY, created and performed by Theater Reconstruction Ensemble, and conceived and directed by John Kurzynowski. RHINBECCA, NY runs from tonight, March 4, through March 19, 2016 in a limited engagement at The Brick, located at 579 Metropolitan Avenue between Union Avenue and Lorimer Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in costume below!

Women's Project Theater, under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Lisa McNulty and Managing Director Maureen Moynihan, is thrilled to announce the complete lineup for the inaugural Pipeline Festival, showcasing the work of the celebrated WP Lab residency for playwrights, directors and producers from March 24 - April 23 at the McGinn/ Cazale Theater at Broadway & 76th Street.

First Draughts is a developmental reading series produced by Amios, a theater collective whose mission is to build community through art. First Draughts is dedicated to expanding first produced at Shotz (Amios' monthly short-play series) into full-length plays over the course of a six-month development process.

After performances that generated standing ovations from SRO crowds, and subsequently earned a 2015 BroadwayWorld.com New York Cabaret Award nomination for "Best Alt Cabaret Show," Raquel Cion is bringing Me & Mr. Jones: My Intimate Relationship with David Bowie back to The Slipper Room, the popular burlesque/variety club on New York's Lower East Side (167 Orchard Street), for a three-show run beginning Thursday, March 24 at 8 pm (with additional shows on April 21 and May 15, also 8 pm). Tickets are $15 General Admission; $25 for Reserved. www.slipperroom.com

Southern Rep Theatre is pleased to announce Dawn Renee Jones as the winner for the 2015 Ruby Prize for her play, A HEAP SEE.

Encores! Artistic Director Jack Viertel today announced casting for the Encores! production of 1776, the classic Tony Award-winning musical about how the founding fathers drafted the Declaration of Independence and gave birth to a new nation. 1776 will star Terence Archie, John Behlmann, Larry Bull, Nikki Renee Daniels, Andre De Shields, Macintyre Dixon, Santino Fontana, Alexander Gemignani, John Hickok, John Hillner, John Larroquette, Kevin Ligon, John-Michael Lyles, Laird Mackintosh, Michael McCormick, Michael Medeiros, Christiane Noll, Bryce Pinkham, Wayne Pretlow, Tom Alan Robbins, Robert Sella, Ric Stoneback, Jubilant Sykes, Vishal Vaidya, Nicholas Ward, and Jacob Keith Watson. 

New Ohio Theatre presents the world premiere of Glass Bandits Theater Company's An Intimate Evening with Typhoid Mary, written by Carl Holder and directed by Knud Adams, which begins performances on Friday, March 18 and continues through Saturday, March 26 at   the New Ohio Theatre (154 Christopher Street between Greenwich and Washington Streets).

?Five-time Obie Award-winning theater company Clubbed Thumb has announced the line-up for SUMMERWORKS, its annual series of new plays. Now in its 21st season, SUMMERWORKS will run May 27 through July 9 at The Wild Project (195 E 3rd Street) in Manhattan, and will feature productions of three new plays: EVERY ANGEL IS BRUTAL by Julia Jarcho and directed by Knud Adams; THE TOMB OF KING TOT by Eric Dufault and directed by Portia Krieger; and TUMACHO by Ethan Lipton and directed by Leigh Silverman. Festival passes are now on sale at: https://www.artful.ly/clubbedthumb/store/passes.

The world premiere of THE WILDNESS: SKY-PONY'S ROCK FAIRY TALE, with text by Obie Award winner Kyle Jarrow and Lauren Worsham and songs by Kyle Jarrow, opens tonight, February 29, 2016. Presented by Ars Nova in collaboration with The Play Company, a limited Off-Broadway engagement is slated through March 19.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: Two shows open off-Broadway, Roundabout marks its 50th anniversary, and a Happy Leap Year to all!

Cleveland Play House's (CPH) monumental 100th Season continues with the regional premiere of LUNA GALE today. CPH welcomes back film and stage legend Austin Pendleton to direct this contemporary drama that begs the question 'To whom do you belong?' Written by Rebecca Gilman, recipient of the 2015 Roe Green Award, LUNA GALE runs today, February 27 through March 20 in the intimate Allen Theatre.

Azuka Theatre continues its 16th season with its 10th World Premiere by a local playwright. Emma Goidel's Local Girls is a scream rock fantasia about searching for big-time glory in a small-time town. The play runs through March 13. It opens today Saturday, February 27 at 7 p.m. All performances take place in the Proscenium Theatre at The Drake, 1512 Spruce Street. Tickets are available online at www.azukatheatre.org or by phone at(215) 563-1100.

Second Stage Theatre will present the world premiere of Sofia Alvarez's FRIEND ART, directed by Portia Krieger, and the New York premiere of Lucy Teitler's ENGAGEMENTS as part of the company's fourteenth annual SECOND STAGE THEATRE UPTOWN SERIES this summer.

Veteran director Andy Sandberg's newest project is the play STRAIGHT, which he is bringing to life Off-Broadway. Straight tells the story of Ben, a 26 year old investment banker, and his relationships with his longtime girlfriend Emily and a new young guy named Chris. The new play is turning heads Off-Broadway and is proving to be quite the conversation starter.