Ars Nova News

Producers Daniel Nardicio and Andy Brattain will honor Edith Piaf, the iconic French songstress on her actual 100th Birthday with PIAF: A CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION with stars from Broadway, London's West End, Jazz, Cabaret and Rock 'n' Roll.

THE GREAT COMET is currently playing a limited engagement (must end January 3, 2016) at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, where its innovative design has been expanded to bring the show's signature intimate staging to a traditional proscenium-style theatre. Let's see what the critics had to say...

Critically-acclaimed cabarettist MOLLY POPE will return to JOE'S PUB at The Public for the live recording of her very first album, An Audience with Molly Pope on Wednesday, January 20 at 9:30 PM and Wednesday, January 27 at 7:00 PM. Drawing from a catalogue of  recontextualized pop, theater and standards, the "viscerally thrilling alto" (Time Out New York) brings a mix of favorite repertoire and new material for the album.  With her signature neo-retro style, she takes the evening back to the heyday of New York City nightclubs. Music Director Tedd Firth will lead a six piece band. Audience members who participate in the sing-a-long will be credited as back up artists.  You are hereby invited to an audience with Molly Pope.

Amphibian Stage Productions (Kathleen Culebro, Artistic Director) has announced the cast and creative team for its first main stage play of the 2016 season, Isaac's Eye by Lucas Hnath. Featuring actors Michael Linden, Greg Holt, Patrick Bynane, and Ashlee Elizabeth Bashore, the play will run Thursday, February 11 through Sunday, March 6 at the Berlene T. and Jarrell R. Milburn Theatre at Amphibian Stage Productions.

Ghostlight Records and Two River Theater announce the release of the Original Cast Recording of the new musical BE MORE CHILL, with physical CDs in stores and online today, December 18.

Abrons Arts Center and New York City Players' American Playwrights Division present Really, a new play written by Jackie Sibblies Drury, directed by Richard Maxwell and designed by photographer Michael Schmelling. Performances of Really will take place March 16 - April 2 at Abrons Arts Center (466 Grand St. Manhattan). Full performance schedule, press dates and casting will be announced at a later date. For more information visit abronsartscenter.org or call 212.352.3101.

Following the unprecedented success of Stephen Karam (Roundabout Underground's inaugural playwright) and his Roundabout-commissioned play THE HUMANS moving to Broadway, Roundabout Theatre Company has announced the Underground will now produce two new works each season.  The program's expansion will begin in fall 2016 with the world premiere of Jenny Rachel Weiner's Kingdom Come.

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein are proud to announce the 2016 lineup for the Apprentice/Intern Company evening of new ten-minute plays. The Tens runs January 12-16 in the Victor Jory Theatre at Actors Theatre of Louisville.

The Meeting* hosted by Justin Sayre, the acclaimed comedy/variety show, will return to JOE'S PUB at The Public Theater for two shows -- Sunday, December 20 at 9:30 PM and Monday, December 21 at 7:00 PM -- for the Seventh Annual Holiday Spectacular. Sunday's 9:30 PM show will feature Cole Escola, Molly Pope, Aaron Jackson, Liam Forde and Dane Terry. The Monday 7:00 PM show will feature Shaina Taub, Aaron Weinstein, Mark Nadler, Molly Pope, Dane Terry, and Rob Maitner.  Tracy Stark serves as the show's Music Director.

The New York premiere of Pulitzer Prize finalist and Emmy Award nominated writer Rolin Jones and Tony Award nominee and Grammy Award winning Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong's new play with music THESE PAPER BULLETS!, directed by Jackson Gay, opens tonight, December 15, at Atlantic Theater Company.

The Old Globe today announced the complete cast and creative team for the West Coast premiere of THE METROMANIACS by supremely clever playwright David Ives (All in the Timing, Time Flies). This uproarious new 'translaptation' of a classic French farce, Alexis Piron's La Metromanie, will be directed by one of America's most renowned stage directors, Michael Kahn, presented in association with Shakespeare Theatre Company.

The Meeting* hosted by Justin Sayre, the acclaimed comedy/variety show, will return to OASIS (298 Eleventh Street, San Francisco CA) tonight, December 12 at 7:00 PM after two packed shows earlier this year.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University, under the leadership of Artistic Director Diane Paulus, presents Dave Malloy's musical adaptation of an excerpt from Leo Tolstoy's monumental novelWar and Peace, directed by Rachel Chavkin, with choreography by Sam Pinkleton. Check out a behind the scenes look at the making of the show below!

As part of the eleventh edition of the COIL festival, Performance Space 122 and The Chocolate Factory present I Understand Everything Better, by recent Bessie Award Winner David Neumann. I Understand Everything Better is a deeply personal reflection on the consciousness of dying and interrupted narratives within the context of a cataclysmic storm. Combining personal narratives, traditional Japanese Noh theater and Neumann's virtuosic movement and humor, collaborators Tei Blow and Sibyl Kempson unite with Neumann to reveal the shimmer of attention to realms unseen, the concurrence of unrelated events and the body as evidence of a will having to let go.

The Public Theater announced today that after three years of successful programming and community engagement, PUBLIC WORKS will grow on both a local and national level. Three new community partners join PUBLIC WORKS 2016, which will include Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education (Bronx), Military Resilience Project (all boroughs), and Center for Family Life in Sunset Park (Brooklyn), who join Public Works partners Brownsville Recreation Center (Brooklyn), DreamYard Project (Bronx), and The Fortune Society (Queens), in addition to alumni partners Domestic Workers United (all boroughs, including Staten Island) and Children's Aid Society (Manhattan), as additional community partner organizations.

Chicago's Halcyon Theatre announces casting for the Chicago Premiere of Estrella Cruz [the junkyard queen] by Charise Castro Smith. Directed by Tony Adams, Halcyon's Artistic Director, the company continues its 10th Anniversary season with this contemporary satirical twist on the classic Greek myth of Persephone and her journey to the underworld. The cast of Estrella Cruz features Johnny Garcia, Robert N. Isaac, Noe Jara, Tamika Lechee Morales, Kelly Opalko, and Allyce Torres. Estrella Cruz [the junkyard queen] runs January 21 - February 27 at Halcyon Theatre, in residence at Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, 3253 W. Wilson Avenue. The official opening night performance is Thursday, January 28, at 8pm; the running time is approx. 70 minutes.

The first national tour of THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY opens at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre tonight, December 10, 2015, and plays through January 17, 2016. 

The Meeting* hosted by Justin Sayre, the acclaimed comedy/variety show, will return to OASIS (298 Eleventh Street, San Francisco CA) on Saturday, December 12 at 7:00 PM after two packed shows earlier this year.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University, under the leadership of Artistic Director Diane Paulus, presents Dave Malloy's musical adaptation of an excerpt from Leo Tolstoy's monumental novelWar and Peace, directed by Rachel Chavkin, with choreography by Sam Pinkleton. Check out a first look at the cast in action below!

La MaMa presents Pioneers Go East Collective's production of HILDEGARD (vision), an intimate and immersive performance installation inspired by the life and work of visionary nun Hildegard Von Bingen, written by Abby Felder and directed by Gian Marco Lo Forte with sound design/composition by John Sully, and choreography by Ellen Fisher,  December 3 - 20th at LaMaMa, 74A East 4th Street in Manhattan with opening on Sunday, December 6th.