Ars Nova News

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Adelphi University Performing Arts Center (AUPAC) presents the next installment of the Larson Legacy Concert, showcasing the work of composer/lyricist, playwright, and performer Max Vernon -- a recipient of The American Theatre Wing's 2015 Jonathan Larson Grants -- on Sunday, March 6, 2016.

Broadway Sings at the PS 166, the Richard Rodgers School, has become an Upper West Side tradition, inviting musical theater actors and musicians who's credits span Broadway, Off-Broadway, National Tours, London's West End and the most notable National Theaters. The cabaret style show is crafted with New York families and a multi-generational audience in mind, also featuring Q&A with theater industry professionals who call the neighborhood home.

Meet & Greet, a comedy by Stan Zimmerman (The Golden Girls, Roseanne, Gilmore Girls) & Christian McLaughlin(Married...with Children, The Bold and the Beautiful, Desperate Housewives), will receive industry readings in New York on Thursday, March 3rd. The readings will be held at 11am & 4pm and are by invitation only.

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 runsFebruary 24-March 13. It opens 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.

Director Lilleth Glimcher (The Flea Theater) presents a staged adaptation of the Greek myth CAENIS from Ovid's Metamorphoses. CAENIS will open on Friday, March 11 at Pace Gallery (534 West 25th Street, New York), and will run through Saturday, March 19.

Critically acclaimed vocalist Maxine Linehan announced today that she will release a single of U2's hit 'One' on Monday, March 14 on iTunes. All profits from the sale of the single will be donated to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS in the spirit of giving that U2 laid out when they first released the benefit single to raise money for AIDS research.

THE MEETING* hosted by Justin Sayre, the acclaimed comedy/variety show, will return to Joe's Pub at The Public Theater to continue the Winter/Spring 2016 season on Sunday, February 21 at 9:30 PM.  The February show will honor the iconic musical CABARET with special guests Lesli Margherita, Wesley Taylor, Jessica Phillips and Nathan Lee Graham. Tracy Stark serves as the show's Music Director.