David Schmitz News

Get a first look at the Broadway prpduction of Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s acclaimed, award-winning play PASS OVER, directed by Obie Award winner Danya Taymor.

PASS OVER announced today that it has launched a digital lottery with Lucky Seat for its Broadway run, which began last night, Wednesday August 4, at the August Wilson Theatre (245 W 52nd Street, New York, NY). Opening night is set for Sunday September 12.

PASS OVER announced today it will hold a block party on West 52nd Street in celebration of its first preview, and the first performance of a play on Broadway since March 2020, on Wednesday August 4 outside of the August Wilson Theatre (245 W 52nd Street, New York, NY).

PASS OVER announced today its audience policies and procedures for August performances at the August Wilson Theatre (245 W 52nd Street, New York, NY). Proof of full Covid-19 vaccination with an FDA or WHO authorized vaccine will be required for entry.

PASS OVER will open the box office of Broadway's August Wilson Theatre early for two days only – Wednesday, June 30th and Thursday, July 1st – and offer a special walk-up offer for ticket buyers who can provide proof of vaccination.

Yale Repertory Theatre will welcome audiences back to its theaters beginning in January 2022 for a season of three plays! The season will begin with a new production of Today is My Birthday, a critically-acclaimed comedy about loneliness in the age of connectivity, written by Susan Soon He Stanton and directed by Mina Morita.

The Lincoln Center Theater production of Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu's play Pass Over, directed by Obie Award winner Danya Taymor will begin performances August 4th, 2021, at Broadway's August Wilson Theatre with opening night scheduled for Sunday, September 12, 2021.

PASS OVER will begin performances August 4th, 2021, at Broadway's August Wilson Theatre with opening night scheduled for Sunday, September 12, 2021. This officially makes PASS OVER the first Broadway show to begin performances since the start of the pandemic, a full month before shows were originally expected to return.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival today announced that it will welcome back in-person audiences earlier than planned, on July 1, with Cheryl L. West’s Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer, staged in OSF’s outdoor Allen Elizabethan Theatre by director Henry Godinez and music director Felton Offard.

The Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3 production of Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s acclaimed, award-winning play PASS OVER, directed by Obie Award winner Danya Taymor (“Daddy”, Heroes of the Fourth Turning) will reopen Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre (245 W 52nd Street, New York, NY) for a limited engagement, with exact dates to be announced shortly. This will mark the Broadway debut of both Nwandu and Taymor. PASS OVER will be produced on Broadway by Matt Ross, Jujamcyn Theaters, Lincoln Center Theater, Concord Theatricals, Renee Montgomery, Blair Underwood, Madeleine Foster Bersin and Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival today announced that Laura Burgos is the organization’s new Director of Marketing and Communications, effective immediately. Burgos’s new position is the latest chapter in a dynamic career spanning a diversity of performing arts disciplines, organizations, and roles.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival announced today Anyania (Ahn-ya-nigh-ah) Muse will become its Director of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) on April 12, 2021. In this newly evolved role, Muse will join OSF's leadership team, providing vision and strategy for the integration of IDEA into all facets of OSF's operations. Muse will design, communicate, execute and monitor programs and initiatives that actively promote and foster a radically inclusive culture that is an anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-homophobic, and anti-ableist at the company.

The combination of multi-format programming is a celebration of OSF’s continued commitment to presenting world-class theatre on its stages and its recent foray into groundbreaking digital programming, introducing fans, supporters, and new audiences worldwide to the company’s award-winning artistry.

The 2021 digital on-demand streaming season includes a limited-run schedule for favorites from the OSF archives beginning with Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, directed by Shana Cooper; Manahatta by Mary Kathryn Nagle, directed by Laurie Woolery; and Snow in Midsummer by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, based on the classical Chinese drama The Injustice to Dou Yi That Moved Heaven and Earth and directed by Justin Audibert.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival announced today Amanda Brandes will become its new Director of Development in January 2021.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival announced today that half of the proceeds from donations raised October 23 through October 26, during its virtual 2020 Gala event which included all auction item sales, will be distributed to Rogue Valley organizations providing essential and ongoing fire relief throughout Southern Oregon.

This past Friday evening, Oregon Shakespeare Festival artists, supporters, patrons and arts supporters from around the world gathered for a virtual, fun and inspiring live stream event focused on supporting both OSF and the Rogue Valley communities it serves.

There is big news for Big Cherry! BroadwayWorld has just learned that Steppenwolf's production of The Minutes by Tracy Letts, directed by Anna D. Shapiro, will return to Broadway opening exactly one year after its original opening date of Sunday, March 15, 2020 at the Cort Theatre (138 W 48th Street). The Minutes was a limited engagement and was originally scheduled to close Sunday, July 26.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival announced today David Schmitz will become its fourth executive director in fall 2020. Schmitz succeeds Cynthia Rider, who held the position from 2013 through 2018, and Paul Christy, who became acting executive director in January 2019 and has been leading the Festival's transition throughout the executive search period. Schmitz has worked at Steppenwolf Theatre for the past 15 years, serving in the role of Director of Finance and Administration, General Manager, Managing Director, and currently as Executive Director. 

Steppenwolf Theatre Company announced today that Brooke Flanagan, who previously worked at Steppenwolf for seven years, will return to the organization in the role of Executive Director and will become the first woman to hold the title in Steppenwolf's 45-year history.