Arthur Kopit News

An original play commissioned by The Rose Theater has been selected by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for inclusion in the biennial festival, New Visions/New Voices. The event will take place April 27-29, 2018, marking the 15th showcase of this renown industry workshop.

T. Fellowship, in association with Columbia University School of the Arts, announces the next T. Fellow is Allison Bressi, the sixth fellow in the one year program designed to educate and empower new creative producers.

Abingdon Theatre Company has announced that it is offering a limited number of $250 and $125 tickets for the performance-only portion of their 25th Anniversary Gala on Monday, October 23 at 8PM at The Edison Ballroom (240 W. 47th Street).

Broadway veterans Carole Demas, who originated the role of Sandy in Grease, and Sarah Rice, who originated the role of Johanna in Sweeney Todd, have teamed up to celebrate the music of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, composers of THE FANTASTICKS, 110 IN THE SHADE, and I DO! I DO! and more. Demas and Rice have based their show on their 50 years of work and personal relationships with Jones and Schmidt.

The Lark, a theater company devoted to the support of visionary playwrights and the development of new plays, has announced five New York City-based playwrights have been named as the 2017-18 Rita Goldberg Playwrights' Workshop Fellows. The group spans a wide range of backgrounds and professional experiences and will meet regularly throughout the year to develop new plays.

Frank M. Young, 77, the founder of Houston's Theatre Under The Stars, Seattle's 5th Avenue Musical Theatre Company, and the New York-based National Alliance for Musical Theatre, died Wednesday in Palm Springs, California. Young directed the activities of TUTS from its inception in 1968 until his retirement in 2006. For two years in a row he was named by the national Theatre Week magazine as one of the 100 most powerful people in American theatre.

Emily Stilson (Juliet Stevenson) is suspended in a void. She analyses this strange situation with wry perspicacity and occasional breathless panic. She's a prisoner, a specimen. She's fallen, trapped. She's flying.

Abingdon Theatre Company has announced additional casting for their upcoming 25th Anniversary Gala on Monday, October 23 at The Edison Ballroom (240 W. 47th Street). Honoring two-time Tony and Emmy Award winner Bebe Neuwirth (Chicago, Sweet Charity, 'Cheers,' 'Frasier'), the event will feature a special concert performance of the John Kander and Fred Ebb musical revue And The World Goes 'Round.

Goodman Theatres honors the life and legacy of Howard Witt, one of the American theater's most accomplished actors, by hosting a public celebration event on Monday, October 2. Witt, whose six-decade theatrical career began and ended at the Goodman, passed away peacefully on June 21 at the age of 85. The celebration includes remarks and artistic presentations by Witt's family, including his three children-Deborah, Robin and Joshua Witt-close friends and artists.

The Theatre Hall of Fame announced today its 2017 class of eight inductees, led by Audra McDonald and including (in alphabetical order) Matthew Broderick, Oskar Eustis, Tina Howe, Arthur Kopit, Marin Mazzie, Daryl Roth and Ernie Schier.

A new production of Arthur Kopit's Chamber Music directed by Emily Moler will be presented from tonight, September 7, through September 16 (Thursday - Sunday at 8pm) in the basement of St. John's Lutheran Church in Brooklyn, NY.

Abingdon Theatre Company celebrates the launch of their 2017-2018 season at their 25th Anniversary Gala on Monday, October 23 at The Edison Ballroom (240 W. 47th Street). The evening honors two-time Tony and Emmy Award winner Bebe Neuwirth (Chicago, Sweet Charity, 'Cheers,' 'Frasier').

A new production of Arthur Kopit's Chamber Music directed by Emily Moler will be presented from September 7 through September 16 (Thursday - Sunday at 8pm) in the basement of St. John's Lutheran Church in Brooklyn, NY.

While concepts in High Society may have been viewed as 'kitschy' when the play premiered two decades ago, in the age of Instagram stars and The Real Housewives, these characters, who are charming in their relative innocence as compared to the shameless celebrities of the information age (even our president is a faux-lebrity real estate mogul-turned-reality show host), seem tame. High Society is a pleasant enough way to spend an evening, but it doesn't really go anywhere. There are no risks, no extraordinary thrills: just a very safe presentation of feel-good music from a bygone era.

Red Bull Theater (Jesse Berger, Artistic Director/Jim Bredeson, Managing Director) today announced that their seventh annual festival of 10-minute plays of heightened language and classic themes will feature two brand new commissions from Dael Orlandersmith and Arthur Kopit, alongside 6 brand new plays chosen from hundreds of submissions from playwrights across the country. The 2017 Short New Play Festival will be presented on Monday July 24th (7:30pm) at Lucille Lortel Theatre, directed by Craig Baldwin and Evan Yionoulis. Casts will include Tina Benko, Bill Buell, Robert Clohessy, Emily Donahoe, Clifton Duncan, Teresa Avia Lim, Joan MacIntosh, Nadine Malouf, Howard W. Overshown, Alfredo Narciso, and Linda Powell.

By popular demand Steppenwolf's LookOut Series extends its rock 'n' roll production of the solo play, How To Be A Rock Critic (Based on the Writings of Lester Bangs) by award-winning theatre artists Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, starring Erik Jensen (The Walking Dead, Mr. Robot) as Lester Bangs and directed by Jessica Blank (Made in Jersey, The Namesake). Described as "a fascinating window into one of the last century's most compelling and fearless critics," (Chicago Tribune), the 80-minute production continues for three additional performances through July 29, 2017 in the 1700 Theatre, situated behind Front Bar: Coffee & Drinks (drinks permitted in the theater).

The new 2017-18 season at Young Vic was announced today.

Tonight, July 12th, 6-7pm, International Goodwill Cultural Ambassador/performing artist Ronald Rand will be joined by legendary film star Brian Cox, stage and screen actress Nicole Ansari, one of America's greatest sculptors Carolyn D. Palmer, singer extraordinaire Julie Budd, Encompass New Opera Theatre artistic director Nancy Rhodes, Broadway and film director Michael Pressman, historian Louise Hirschfeld, and legendary portrait painter Everett Raymond Kinstler for an exciting panel discussion about creativity in film, theater, music and art at Barnes & Noble-Union Square, 33 East 17th Street, NYC.

The Theatre Group at SBCC opens the 17/18 season with Cole Porter's sparkling musical, HIGH SOCIETY, July 12-29 in the Garvin Theatre.

Red Bull Theater today announced that their seventh annual festival of 10-minute plays of heightened language and classic themes will feature two brand new commissions from Dael Orlandersmith and Arthur Kopit, alongside six brand new plays chosen from hundreds of submissions from playwrights across the country.