Bill T. Jones News

One year after its sold-out world premiere, Opera Philadelphia seeks an encore engagement for We Shall Not Be Moved, “a rare work in the genre to be created by artists of color” (New York Times). When it first played to seven sold-out Wilma Theater audiences during O17, Opera Philadelphia's inaugural annual festival, the opera – a company commission from Daniel Bernard Roumain, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and Bill T. Jones – was a hit with audiences and critics alike, being hailed as a “deeply moving” (Washington Post), “poignant and genre-bending” (Wall Street Journal), “highly polished piece of theater” (Philadelphia Inquirer). “One minute I was on the verge of tears,” said a local high-school student; “next minute I was on the edge of my seat.” As Opera News noted, with its “compelling score utilizing classical, jazz, music theater, hip-hop and dance music vocabulary,” We Shall Not Be Moved “succeeds on the level of art and not just polemic.”

The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage announced 45 grants today in support of the Philadelphia region's cultural organizations and artists. The 2018 awards total more than $8.7 million and provide funding for 12 Pew Fellowships and 33 Project grants.

The Guthrie Theater (Joseph Haj, artistic director) proudly announced the cast and creative team for the theater's summer musical, West Side Story. Directed by Haj, this major revival of a timeless classic will play June 16 - August 26, 2018, on the Wurtele Thrust Stage. Single tickets for West Side Story start at $15 for preview performances (June 16-21) and are on sale now through the Box Office at 612.377.2224, 877.44.STAGE (toll-free), 612.225.6244 (group sales) and online at guthrietheater.org.

Zullo/RawMovement presents the Queerly Contemporary Festival today, June 9, 2018 at 7:30pm at City Center Studio 4, 130 West 56th Street, NYC. Doors open at 7pm for a gallery exhibit with works by Ricardo Francis. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at https://www.zullorawmovement.com/.

Classic Stage Company's new production of the musical CARMEN JONES featuring Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose begins performances Today, June 9 at CSC (136 East 13th Street).

Classic Stage Company's new production of the musical CARMEN JONES featuring Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose begins performances Saturday, June 9 at CSC (136 East 13th Street).

The American Dance Festival (ADF) kicks off its 85th anniversary season on Thursday, June 14 at 7:00pm at Reynolds Industries Theater with the return of Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC) performing classic repertoire and a new ADF-commissioned piece by Abby Zbikowski.

In a special collaboration for New York Live Arts, artists Nick Cave and Bob Faust create a kaleidoscopic mural from one of Cave's iconic Soundsuits constructed entirely of woven bags collected from around the world. These bags we carry are filled with promise is a through-the-looking-glass interpretation that the baggage we all walk through life with is anything but weighty. In this manifestation, the bags seem to defy gravity, and rather than weighing us down, actually carry the hopes, dreams, and aspirations that fuel us for our choices ahead. From the single source image of Cave's work, Faust selects and manipulates key details that seem to morph seamlessly into multiple patterns, shape-shifting across the 31 linear feet of lobby wall. The mural acts as a conditioning agent for audiences, preparing them for the performative experience on Live Arts' mainstage that awaits on the other side.

The Guthrie Theater (Joseph Haj, artistic director) proudly announced the cast and creative team for the theater's summer musical, West Side Story. Directed by Haj, this major revival of a timeless classic will play June 16 - August 26, 2018, on the Wurtele Thrust Stage. Single tickets for West Side Story start at $15 for preview performances (June 16-21) and are on sale now through the Box Office at 612.377.2224, 877.44.STAGE (toll-free), 612.225.6244 (group sales) and online at guthrietheater.org.

The Dirty Blondes, the feminist theater company behind the critically acclaimed production of The American Play at Soho Playhouse, will celebrate their six years of creating theater with a special event called DRAG. Featuring some of the most exciting and emerging drag performers in New York City, DRAG will celebrate inclusivity by deconstructing stereotypes, defying expectations and honoring individuality - everything The Dirty Blondes stands for as a theater company. DRAG will be held on Thursday, May 31, 2018, at The Gallery at Le Poisson Rouge (located at 158 Bleecker Street, between Sullivan and Thompson Streets) with doors opening at 7:00pm and performances beginning at 7:30pm.

 Live Arts Pride 2018 - THE HOUSE PARTY is New York Live Arts' premier Pride celebration; a building wide and sidewalk performance party in the historic "gayborhood" of Chelsea, just blocks from the Pride March. The epic 6-hour event honors the historical importance and unwavering power of collectives in LGBTQAI culture. Young families from NYC's queer nightlife and art scene come together under one roof to serve up the city's most colorful and fierce performance, music, and more for a multi-space, nonstop party for the ages.

PBS recently unveiled a list of America's 100 best-loved novels, chosen in support of THE GREAT AMERICAN READ, a new PBS series and multi-platform initiative that celebrates the joy of reading and the books we love. THE GREAT AMERICAN READ, hosted by television personality and journalist Meredith Vieira, launches with a two-hour episode on Tuesday, May 22, 2018, at 8 p.m. on PBS stations and will introduce viewers to the full list of America's 100 favorite novels selected through a demographically representative national survey conducted by YouGov.

PBS today unveiled a list of America's 100 best-loved novels, chosen in support of THE GREAT AMERICAN READ, a new PBS series and multi-platform initiative that celebrates the joy of reading and the books we love. THE GREAT AMERICAN READ, hosted by television personality and journalist Meredith Vieira, launches with a two-hour episode today, May 22, 2018, at 8 p.m. on PBS stations and will introduce viewers to the full list of America's 100 favorite novels selected through a demographically representative national survey conducted by YouGov. The series will also feature interviews with celebrities, authors, superfans and everyday Americans discussing the way particular books have influenced them and their significance in American popular culture. Then, after a multi-platform initiative throughout the summer, which will include live public events, social media components and national reading clubs, the series will resume in the fall with several themed episodes, including an exciting finale, culminating in the first-ever national vote to choose 'America's Best-Loved Novel.' It will be the most expansive national celebration of books and reading aimed at engaging multi-generational readers across multiple platforms ever created.

Glitter in the Gutter is an intimate evening of bawdy dance-theater created and performed by Catherine Cabeen and Kristina Berger. Performances are Friday and Saturday, June 22 and 23, at 7pm, at Pangea, 178 Second Avenue (between 11th and 12th Streets), in Manhattan.

Next month ODC Theater provides an early kickoff to the summer with the seventh anniversary of its signature dance festival. Highlights include a West Coast premiere from filmmaker and choreographer Yara Travieso, the Bay Area solo debut of Toronto native Belinda McGuire and a world premiere from Kiandanda Dance Theater.

Bethany Arts Community (BAC),  a new space and environment located at 40 Somerstown Road, Ossining, NY, where the many forms of art can be learned, produced and flourish, is pleased to announce a four week residency, this May, with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, a world-class dance-theater company.

Zullo/RawMovement presents the Queerly Contemporary Festival on Saturday, June 9, 2018 at 7:30pm at City Center Studio 4, 130 West 56th Street, NYC. Doors open at 7pm for a gallery exhibit with works by Ricardo Francis. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at https://www.zullorawmovement.com/.

Classic Stage Company announced today that Clifton Duncan, most recently seen on Broadway in The Play That Goes Wrong, will play the role of Joe in the company's new production of the musical CARMEN JONES, now beginning performances Saturday, June 9 (8pm) at CSC (136 East 13th Street).

Zullo/RawMovement presents the Queerly Contemporary Festival on Saturday, June 9, 2018 at 7:30pm at City Center Studio 4, 130 West 56th Street, NYC. Doors open at 7pm for a gallery exhibit with works by Ricardo Francis.

Legendary choreographer Bill T. Jones and renowned jazz master Wynton Marsalis are celebrated throughout the world, honored with numerous awards including the National Medal of Arts (2013 Jones, 2005 Marsalis), Pulitzer Prize (1997, Marsalis), and MacArthur "Genius" Award (1994, Jones). In addition to their artistic contributions, both are heading important cultural institutions: Marsalis leads Jazz at Lincoln Center and Jones is the artistic director of New York Live Arts.