Bekah Brunstetter News

National Alliance for Musical Theatre announces the line-up of directors for their 30th Annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS, which takes place on Thursday, October 25 and Friday, October 26, 2018 at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues). The Festival events will kick off on Monday, October 22 with Thank You, 30!, a gala event to celebrate the 30th Annual Festival.

Dael Orlandersmith, "an intense poet, writer and intellectual" (Chicago Tribune), brings her newest work, Lady in Denmark, to the Owen Theatre. Reuniting with director Chay Yew (Black n Blue Boys/Broken Men, 2012), Orlandersmith's world premiere production is a reflection on love and adversity starring stage and screen actress Linda Gehringer in a 90-minute solo performance. Helene (Gehringer) is a Danish American woman coping with the death of her husband who finds solace in the hauntingly beautiful music of their favorite singer, Billie Holiday. This is her journey through the couple's time together-from the smoky jazz clubs of post-war Copenhagen to the home they shared in present-day Chicago. Lady in Denmark is one of five world premieres this season, all originally developed as a part of the Goodman's New Stages Festival. The creative team includes Andrew Boyce (set), Christine Pascual (costumes), Lee Fiskness (lighting) and Mikhail Fiksel (original music and sound). Donald E. Claxon is the Production Stage Manager. Lady in Denmark appears October 19 - November 18, 2018 (opening night is October 29 at 7pm) in the Goodman's Owen Theatre (170 N. Dearborn); tickets ($15-45; subject to change) go on sale Friday, August 31, by telephone 312.443.3800 or online GoodmanTheatre.org/LadyInDenmark.

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (Betsy King Militello, Executive Director) is celebrating its 30th Annual Festival of New Musicals this year, and in recognition of that milestone, NAMT will host a month-long new musicals celebration this September. During New Musicals Month, NAMT will celebrate and honor the groundbreaking work their members do year-round to develop new work.

A new season fit for a new stage. After undergoing a cosmetic overhaul-from lobby to stage and beyond-The Ringwald Theatre is thrilled to announce the lineup for its twelfth season.

Samuel French has announced the winners of the 2018 Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival, the nation's premier short play competition.

The 2018 Stage Raw Theater Awards celebrate excellence on the Los Angeles stages in venues of 99-seats or under. This fourth annual edition included productions that opened between January 1, 2017 and May 31, 2018. Stage Raw is a community funded professional journalism website that was created in response to the decline of arts coverage in local mainstream and alternative media.The Awards ceremony was held Monday night, August 20, at Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles, hosted by Coeurage Theatre Company, and co-directed by Jer Adrianne Lelliott, Thaddeus Shafer and Lauren Ludwig. Winners notated in red below.

Geffen Playhouse today announced the full cast for its encore production of The Cake, directed by Jennifer Chambers (Bed, Better), who also directed the world premiere for the Echo Theater Company in 2017. The cast features Morrison Keddie (Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream) as George, Shannon Lucio (The Eccentricities of a Nightingale, American Horror Story) as Jen, Rod McLachlan (What the Butler Saw, Wait Until Dark) as Tim, Carolyn Ratteray (The Imaginary Invalid, Pygmalion) as Macy and Debra Jo Rupp (That 70's Show, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) as Della, reprising the role for which she received an LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award for Lead Actress in a Play.

The Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival, the nation's premier short play competition, takes place August 21-25 at The Vineyard's Dimson 15th Street Theatre. Chosen from over 850 submissions from the U.S. and abroad, 30 finalist plays and musicals, each running 10-30 minutes in length, will be presented. The Saturday, August 25th presentation is the culmination of the week-long festival at which the Samuel French staff will choose the winning six pieces for licensing and publication in an anthology.

Crowded Outlet announces its next production, beep boop, a multimedia clown show created by physical comedian Richard Saudek (Balls at 59E59), TV and film composer Jesse Novak ("BoJack Horseman," "The Mindy Project") and director Wes Grantom (Lone Star Spirits, Eager to Lose). beep boop will play a limited engagement at HERE (145 6th Ave, New York, NY 10013; enter on Dominick, 1 Block South of Spring), performing Thursday September 6th through Sunday, September 30th. The Opening is Saturday, September 8th.

59E59 Theaters (Val Day, Artistic Director; Brian Beirne, Managing Director) presents the NYC premiere of AGNES, written by Catya McMullen and directed by Jenna Worsham. Produced by Lesser America, in association with Hugh Hayes, AGNES begins performances on Saturday, September 8 for a limited engagement through Saturday, September 29. Press Opening is Thursday, September 13 at 7:30 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Friday at 7:30 PM; Saturday at 2:30 PM and 7:30 PM; and Sunday at 2:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Single tickets are $25 ($20 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or visit www.59e59.org.

Stripped Scripts in association with Long Island City Artists Inc. and The Plaxall Gallery has announced that it will present Aaron Posner's STUPID F##KING BIRD, a satirical spin on the Chekhov's classic text, 'The Seagull', directed by Adam Knight ('In The Room, 'Naperville'), running July 6th - July 21st, Wednesdays, Fridays and Todays at The Plaxall Gallery (5-25 46 Avenue, Long Island City).

The 2018 Stage Raw Theater Awards celebrate excellence on the Los Angeles stages in venues of 99-seats or under. This fourth annual edition includes productions that opened between January 1, 2017 and May 31, 2018.

Unexpected Stage Company's Be a Good Little Widow is a tear-jerking and heartbreaking to watch, but there are moments of humor brings a bit of relief from the intensity.

The Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) at Shepherd University is the proud recipient of a grant from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation to support the Rural Arts Collaborative (RAC). Supported by the Foundation, students from Magnolia High School in Wetzel County, West Virginia will tour their immersive art exhibition, Where?, to Shepherdstown for an arts residency this month during the Contemporary American Theater Festival. The student artists will showcase and share their work with Eastern Panhandle residents and visitors.

It is plain that Della's resolution of the issue whether to bake a cake for Jen's same-sex wedding will call for a gingerly reassessment of her faith and her life. Realistically, it will not be solved wholesale by Della's discarding of her allegiance to what Macy dismisses as 'a book that's thousands of years old.' If Della is to find a way, it will require more subtlety and compromise.

The 2018 Stage Raw Theater Awards celebrate excellence on the Los Angeles stages in venues of 99-seats or under. This fourth annual edition includes productions that opened between January 1, 2017 and May 31, 2018.

Stripped Scripts in association with Long Island City Artists Inc. and The Plaxall Gallery has announced that it will present Aaron Posner's STUPID F##KING BIRD, a satirical spin on the Chekhov's classic text, 'The Seagull', directed by Adam Knight ('In The Room, 'Naperville'), running July 6th - July 21st, Wednesdays, Todays and Saturdays at The Plaxall Gallery (5-25 46 Avenue, Long Island City).

In her third production at JACK, playwright Amina Henry shares a ghost story (with songs) about a homeless man who is approached in the park by the ghost of a murdered prostitute.  The ghost enlists him on a quest to find her remains so that her grieving mother can finally bury her and move past her mourning. Hunter John and Jane approaches trauma, mental illness and violence towards women in a whimsical way, giving the audience the opportunity to engage with difficult topics through poetic language as well as through a rich musical and visual landscape. With this work, Henry re-imagines what a love story can be, re-imagines what a musical can be, and proposes a world in which all lost or missing individuals are worthy of being found.

THE ROAD THEATRE COMPANY and Taylor Gilbert, Founder/Artistic Director together with Sam Anderson, Artistic Director, remain committed to their meaningful mission to produce and develop New Work for the Stage

Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in the Berkshires (Pittsfield, MA) under the leadership of Artistic Director Julianne Boyd, is pleased to announce additional casting for the 2018 Season.