Daniel Aukin News

This week at the O'Neill the performances of national playwrights and national music theater conferences continue. There will be a freee Theatermakers performances on Tuesday, July 8th. PERFORMANCES OF NATIONAL PLAYWRIGHTS, NATIONAL MUSIC THEATER CONFERENCES CONTINUE! FREE THEATERMAKERS PERFORMANCE ON TUESDAY, JULY 8 The National Playwrights Conference continues with two new projects, SMUDGE and MAGNOLIA. National Music Theater Conference presents performances of MAX UNDERSTOOD and begins performances of IRON CURTAIN. SMUDGE by Rachel Axler Directed by Daniel Aukin Performances: Thurs., July 10 at 8:15 pm; Sat., July 12 at 8:15 pm When a young couple's first child doesn't turn out as expected, they're forced to revise their notions about what constitutes a life, and figure out -- in their own, specific ways -- how to be parents. A very, very, very dark comedy. CAST: Maria Dizzia* Mike Doyle* Jonathan Walker* MAX UNDERSTOOD Book by Nancy Carlin; Lyrics by Nancy Carlin and Michael Rasbury; Music by Michael Rasbury Directed by Jack Cumming Performances: Fri., July 11 at 8:00 pm; Sun., July 13 at 3:00 pm The transformative journey of a 7-year old autistic boy and those who love him, and how the need to communicate overcomes an unintelligible chasm. This sound-scaped musical may leave you feeling autistic yourself…and that's OK. CAST: Matthew Gumley* Jonathan Hammond* Hannah Laird* Lauren Marcus* Kerry O'Malley* Ben Roseberry* Paul Oakley Stovall* MAGNOLIA* by Regina Taylor Directed by Regina Taylor Performances: Fri., July 11 at 8:15 pm; Sunday, July 13 at 5:15 pm Magnolia is set in winter, 1963, as the schools, stores and real estate markets of Atlanta, Georgia are beginning to desegregate-much to the resentment of the white community. Lily, a white landowner, returns from Paris to find the Forest Estate, her family's land, on the brink of ruin. Thomas, a successful businessman and the descendent of former slaves to the estate, has a plan to save the land: turn it into subdivisions and sell it to the white families fleeing the city. Tensions build as members of the estranged family reunite to try and save their beloved land-magnolia trees and all. *MAGNOLIA is a collaboration with Chicago's The Goodman Theatre, Robert Falls, Artistic Director CAST: Tyla Abercrumbie* Tory Davis* Ted Dasy* Harriett Foy* Mattie Hawkinson* Stephen Henderson* Brandon Miller* Caitlin O'Connell* Tim Rhoze* David Ross* Stephen Schnetzer* Makela Spielman* IRON CURTAIN*** Book by Susan DeLallo, Lyrics by Peter Mills, Music by Stephen Weiner Directed by Cara Reichel Performances: Sat., July 12 at 8:00 pm; Weds., July 16 at 8:00 pm; Fri., July 18 at 8:00 pm; Sat., July 19 at 3:00 pm New York, 1956: two down-on-their luck songwriters are kidnapped by the KGB and brought to Moscow, where they are forced to write Communist Propaganda musicals. A madcap farce about fame vs. freedom, filled with divas and dominatrixes, stooges and spies, mishaps and misdirects as our heroes try desperately to get back home. ***IRON CURTAIN is funded in part through The ASCAP Residency. CAST: David Abeles* Alison Briner* Stephen Bogardus* Monique French* David Gregory Daniel Levine* Anne Torsiglieri* Dan Sharkey* Robby Sharpe* Lucy Sorenson* Gordon Stanley* Jessica Snow Wilson* *member of Actors' Equity Association THE PUB is open to the public before and after all performances. Come enjoy your favorite beverage and spend some time with our artists! COMING UP NEXT WEEK will be performances of THUNDER ABOVE, DEEPS BELOW and MISTAKES WERE MADE at the National Playwrights Conference, and IRON CURTAIN continues the National Music Theater Conference! Also Coming Soon: The Summer Gala Musicals Under the Star:, Celebrating 31 years of the National Music Theater Conference and NMTC co-founder and Artistic Director Paulette Haupt! July 19th at 6:30pm. For tickets and more information see www.theoneill.org or contact Suzanne Hendrix at 860-443-5378 x 217. All schedules and artists subject to change. Please call the O'Neill Box Office at 860-443-1238 for times, prices and reservations. Outdoor performances will be moved indoors in the event of rain. The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, founded in 1964, is the pre-eminent center for the development of new works and new voices for the American theater. It has been home to more than 1,000 new works for the stage and 2,500 emerging artists. Scores of projects developed at the O'Neill have gone on to full productions at other theaters around the world, including Broadway, off-Broadway and major regional theaters. The O'Neill has received a special Tony Award, the National Opera Award, the Jujamcyn Award for Theater Excellence and the Arts and Business Council Encore Award. The O'Neill's programs include the National Playwrights Conference, National Music Theater Conference, Puppetry Conference, Cabaret & Performance Conference, National Critics Institute, and the National Theater Institute, which includes semester-long, fully accredited intensive theater-training programs and a six-week accredited summer program, Theatermakers. In addition, the O'Neill owns and operates the Monte Cristo Cottage, a National Historic Landmark and the childhood home of Nobel Prize-winning and four-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Eugene O'Neill. For more information regarding the Center, please visit the O'Neill website at www.TheONeill.org or call 860-443-5378.

Wendy C. Goldberg, Artistic Director of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference (NPC) and Paulette Haupt, Artistic Director of the National Music Theater Conference (NMTC), announced the actors cast in their 2008 projects. The actors include a mix of award-winning actors from stage and screen, seasoned O'Neill performers, and new talent.

MANHATTAN THEATRE CLUB (Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, Executive Producer; Daniel Sullivan, Acting Artistic Director 2007-2008 Season) is pleased to announce upcoming productions and casting for its 2008-2009 season.

Wendy C. Goldberg, Artistic Director of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference, and Paulette Haupt, Artistic Director of the O'Neill's National Music Theater Conference, today announced the Directors of the projects selected for the 2008 Conference.

Arena Stage will present the Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece Death of a Salesman and A View from the Bridge in rotating repertory as a salute to one of America's best playwrights, Arthur Miller.

Coyote REP at the Players Club will present a free reading of Mat Smart's newest play Telescopes on Monday, July 16th 2007 at 7pm at the Players Club

Armed and Naked in America, a project by non-profit theater organization Naked Angels, is a series of new one-act plays inspired by the current state of American culture and politics

More casting has been announced for the second week of Armed and Naked in America

Armed and Naked in America, a project by non-profit theater organization Naked Angels, will present two politically conscious programs featuring both established playwrights and promising new voices in the theatre world.

The Woolly Mammoth in Washington D.C. has announced its 2007-2008 season

Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith recently announced the lineup for the Arena Stage's 57th theater season, her 10th as Artistic Director.

Armed and Naked in America, a project by non-profit theater organization Naked Angels, will present two politically conscious programs featuring both established playwrights and promising new voices in the theatre world.

La Jolla Playhouse Artistic Director Des McAnuff is proud to announce the complete line-up of shows in the compelling 2007/2008 season.

The complete 2007 La Jolla Playhouse season has been announced, with The Deception, after the quake, The Adding Machine and the Broadway-bound musical Cry-Baby joining the previously announced Carmen and The Seven.

Sarah Benson, the theatre director and dramaturg who has been the Associate Artistic Director of Soho Rep for the past two years, will be Soho Rep's new Artistic Director

Anthony Rapp, Will Chase, Raul Esparza and Michael Stuhlbarg will be among the stars taking part in the 2006 Sundance Institute Theatre Laboratory, which will take place at the Sundance Resort in Utah from July 10-30

The musical The Girl in the Frame will be among the works presented as part of MTC's 6@7 readings series on April 10th

Steve Moore's play Not Clown will be presented off-Broadway from March 16th through 25th

Madelyn Kent's play Peninsula will run off-Broadway from January 12th through February 4th

New plays and theatre pieces will be featured in the Prelude '05 Festival, which runs from September 28th through October 1st