Ars Nova News

Ars Nova announces the lineup of ANT Fest events for June 16-28. Check below for more information. Tickets and more details can be found at our website: www.arsnovanyc.com/antfest/ Tix, info & the full lineup

After a critically acclaimed and extended run in 2013, Award-winning Pipeline Theatre Company will present an encore engagement of CLOWN BAR by Adam Szymkowicz, with music & additional lyrics by Adam Overett. It will be directed by Andrew Neisler. Originally announced to return to its original venue, the production will instead transfer to legendary clown haunt The Box beginning June 14. Opening is slated for June 21.

LUDO'S BROKEN BRIDE: A ROCK OPERA, starring Drew Gasparini (John Lennon Songwriting Award), Alysha Umphress (American Idiot), and Caitlin Kinnunen (Bridges of Madison County), has announced it's complete casting. Joining Gasparini, Umphress and Kinnunen will be Randy Blair (Fat Camp), Brian Charles Rooney (The Threepenny Opera), Nate Begle (John Tartaglia's ImaginOcean), Aymee Garcia (Shrek, Avenue Q), Maddy Jarmon, Dan Kohler (Flashdance), Brendan Malafronte (John Tartaglia's ImaginOcean), Althea Neri (NAA's Oliver), Azudi Onyejekwe (Violet), and Kate Steinberg.

Manhattan Theatre Club's American premiere of THE LION, the new musical written and performed by 2013 ASCAP Cole Porter Songwriting Award winner Benjamin Scheuer, and directed by Sean Daniels, begins performances tonight, June 10 at The Studio at Stage II - Harold and Mimi Steinberg New Play Series at New York City Center - Stage II (131 West 55th Street). The five-week limited engagement for THE LION will open Thursday, June 26.

LUDO'S BROKEN BRIDE: A ROCK OPERA, based on the concept album by the alternative rock band LUDO will be presented in a one night only concert event at The Cutting Room on Monday, June 23, tickets are now on sale. The cast will include Drew Gasparini (John Lennon Songwriting Award), Alysha Umphress (American Idiot), and Caitlin Kinnunen (Bridges of Madison County), Additional casting to be announced at a later date.

Artistic Director Robert Lyons presents the 21st annual Obie Award-winning Ice Factory Festival. Ice Factory 2014 takes place at the New Ohio Theatre, located at 154 Christopher Street between Greenwich and Washington Streets in New York City. Ice Factory 2014 will present six new works over six weeks, running from June 25 - August 2, 2014.

3-Legged Dog has announced the premiere of PLAY/DATE, an immersive theatrical experience that plays out on social media and in live performance, featuring one act plays by seventeen different playwrights including Greg Kotis (Urinetown), Clay Mcleod Chapman (The Pumpkin Pie Show), Chad Beckim (And Miles to Go). Conceived by Blake McCarty, directed by 3LD Creative Director Michael Counts, PLAY/DATE begins preview performances Wednesday, June 18 for a limited open-ended engagement.

The longest running comedy in New York, now in its second smash year, has announced the addition of a Dallas engagement to the first national tour of Buyer & Cellar, the critically acclaimed, award winning play about a (fictional) Los Angeles actor who takes a job working in the (very real) basement shopping arcade of Barbra Streisand's Malibu estate.

In Episode 214, award-winning musical theatre writer Joel B. New sat down with Tiffan Borelli, an actress, singer, teacher, and founding member of Core Artists Ensemble, a New York-based theatre company derived from her years at New York's Acting institute, The Barrow Group.

This June, July and August, 54 BELOW presents an exciting lineup of the brightest talent from Broadway and beyond. Located just below the legendary Studio 54 at 254 West 54th Street.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company will present a special engagement of Buyer & Cellar. Written by Jonathan Tolins, directed by Stephen Brackett and starring Michael Urie, Buyer & Cellar was heralded by The New York Times as "a seriously funny and remarkably sustained slice of absurdist whimsy." Washington, D.C. marks the second stop of the production's national tour, where it will play at Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW), from June 20-29, 2014.

BAX | Brooklyn Arts Exchange is excited to announce our 2014 Summer and Fall Space Grant Recipients. The Space Grant Program is designed to give choreographers, playwrights, and multi-disciplinary artists the opportunity to create new work in a setting that is conducive to working deeply and exploring new territory.

THE KID WHO WOULD BE POPE by brothers Tom and Jack Megan received the 2013 Richard Rodgers Studio Production Award and Ars Nova produced the corresponding workshop presentations. Directed by West Hyler, the reading featured Jeffrey Lodin, Jillian Louis, Alyse Alan Louis, Angela Grovey, Justin Liebergen, Brian Charles Johnson, Dee Roscioli, Henry Hodges and Courter Simmons.

'NCIS: Los Angeles' star and Broadway veteran Barrett Foa (Mamma Mia!, Avenue Q, ...Spelling Bee) will begin performances as Alex More in the smash hit comedy Buyer & Cellar tonight, May 27, 2014 at the Barrow Street Theatre (27 Barrow Street). For the past five seasons, Barrett Foa has co-starred opposite LL Cool J and Chris O'Donnell as tech geek Eric Beale on CBS' top-rated hit series 'NCIS: Los Angeles' which is currently the #2 show on television.

Kathy Evans, Founding Executive Director, announced the nine musicals and twenty-six writers selected for the 2014 Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, its fourth year of providing working retreats for musical theatre writers. For nine consecutive weeks beginning June 29th, each writing team will have an individual weeklong residency in Rhinebeck, New York to write their musical. They are provided with a private home, transportation, food, and a stipend. All costs are fully funded by donors including The ASCAP Foundation, The Dramatists Guild Fund, and The Noel Coward Foundation. Writers participating this year include Broadway's Mindi Dickstein (Little Women), this year's Kleban Prize winner Nathan Tysen (Burnt Part Boys), and Peter Mills, past winner of the Kleban, Fred Ebb Award, and Richard Rodgers prize. The musicals' subjects cover 19th century nautical mysteries, 20th century fairy tales, a 1970's gay bar, and modern-day meth addicts. Every score is original and styles include 16th century Renaissance, big band, folk, rock, and electronic music.

We're featuring one of our favorite singer-songwriters this week, Daniel Zaitchik! Here he is performing 'New Year's Eve' at our concert at 54 Below.

Manhattan Theatre Club's American premiere of THE LION, the new musical written and performed by 2013 ASCAP Cole Porter Songwriting Award winner Benjamin Scheuer, and directed by Sean Daniels is now in rehearsal. The five-week limited engagement for THE LION will begin previews on Tuesday, June 10 and open Thursday, June 26 as the second production of MTC's 2013-2014 season of The Studio at Stage II - Harold and Mimi Steinberg New Play Series at New York City Center - Stage II (131 West 55th Street).

As part of its Production Residencies program, FringeArts will host local theater ensemble The Berserker Residents for three weeks this June. From June 2 - 22, artists Justin Jain, David Johnson and Bradley K. Wrenn will revisit their 2013 Fringe Festival hit The Talkback, deconstructing and reworking three aspects of the piece in preparation for its upcoming presentation at the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the largest arts festival in the world. Free public showings will take place each Sunday of the residency (June 8, 8 p.m.; June 15, 7 p.m.; and June 22, 7 p.m.), offering audiences the opportunity to see the work as it develops and evolves. This program is funded by the Independence Foundation.

Building on Slant Theatre Project's success with last season's The Steadfast, the company presents The Cloud, a world premiere mistaken-identity comedy written by playwright/comedian Matt Moses. Wes Grantom (Eager to Lose, The Steadfast) directs a cast of four including Teddy Bergman* (B'way: Peter and the Starcatcher, Off-B'way: Sex Lives of Our Parents), Mikaela Feely-Lehmann* (B'way: Cyrano de Bergerac), Ryan King* (Now Or Later at Huntington Theatre, The Intelligent Design Of Jenny Chow at the Atlantic Theater Company), and Polly Lee* (Marie Antoinette at Yale Rep, Wasps at Studio 42). Scroll down for a first look at the cast in action!

In Episode 214, award-winning musical theatre writer Joel B. New sat down with David Hudson, an actor, writer, producer, and voice-over artist.