Deborah Hay News

The theatre shook with applause for Jully Black last night as she opened the musical CAROLINE, OR CHANGE at the Winter Garden Theatre. She was one of many in the cast to give powerhouse performances in a dramatically and musically challenging show.

Following announcements earlier this year of a new annual residency at the historic Winter Garden Theatre and the inaugural production of the residency - a reimagined and expanded staging of their 2012 hit, CAROLINE, OR CHANGE, again in co-production with frequent collaborators Obsidian Theatre  - The Musical Stage Company shares a sneak peek at this hotly anticipated show.

The holiday season is a time for magic and imagination-to see the world with childlike wonder. And what better way to ring in the holiday season than to take in the Grand Theatre's production of Disney and Cameron Mackintosh's Mary Poppins, which flies onto the Spriet Stage, November 26th-December 29th. As P.L. Travers' classic novel comes to life in a stunning visual and musical celebration, audiences of all ages will delight in the timeless story of a family who has lost their way, and is brought back to life through the wisdom and guidance of their mystically lovable nanny.

Over 800 artists and supporters of the New York dance community had gathered to celebrate the nominees, winners, and The Bessies' 35th anniversary gala event on Monday, October 14. Obie and Bessie Award-winning performance artist Justin Vivian Bond hosted this year's ceremony, which was held at NYU's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.

Oklahoma dancer, Gabrielle Hamilton wins a Bessie Award for Outstanding Performer!

Artistic Director Dennis Garnhum has announced principal casting for the 2019/20 season including Deborah Hay and Mark Uhre in Disney and Cameron Mackintosh's MARY POPPINS, Gavin Crawford, who takes on all 40 roles in the hilarious FULLY COMMITTED, Rebecca Northan in EVERY BRILLIANT THING and THIS LONDON LIFE, and Alexis Gordon starring as Ma in the North American premiere in ROOM, based on the award-winning novel by Emma Donoghue.

Museum of Art and Design (MOAD) at Miami Dade College (MDC) will present Black Power Naps/Siestas Negras byNavild and Sosa, a multi-sensory, interactive installation designed to provide joyful and relaxing relief from fatiguing systems of inequality.

Art Cake is pleased to present its inaugural exhibition Suzanne Bocanegra: Wardrobe Test, opening September 7, 2019. Located at 214 40th Street in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, Art Cake is a new organization dedicated to providing space for production and opportunities to explore creative practices.

Dusk Dances proudly presents its 25th annual season, returning to Withrow Park this summer with another week of exquisite dance works from Canada's finest dance makers! Dusk Dances is a renowned and beloved outdoor dance festival presented at Withrow Park each August. Dusk Dances 2019 features some of Canada's top choreographers and dancers, including Hanna Kiel, Meredith Thompson, Mix Mix Dance Collective, Denise Fujiwara and Yuichiro Inouo, Pulga Muchochoma & Naishi Wang, in a diverse program of dance.

Chris Abraham directs a new adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmond Rostand's romantic tale of unrequited and selfless love. Translated from French to English, Associate Artistic Director Kate Hennig's version is presented in prose, yet it thrillingly preserves the poetic beauty of Rostand's original verse. Cyrano de Bergerac begins previews Saturday, July 27 at the Royal George Theatre.

Dusk Dances proudly presents its 25th annual season, returning to Withrow Park this summer with another week of exquisite dance works from Canada's finest dance makers! Dusk Dances is a renowned and beloved outdoor dance festival presented at Withrow Park each August. Dusk Dances 2019 features some of Canada's top choreographers and dancers, including Hanna Kiel, Meredith Thompson, Mix Mix Dance Collective, Denise Fujiwara and Yuichiro Inouo, Pulga Muchochoma & Naishi Wang, in a diverse program of dance. 

The NY Dance and Performance Awards, The Bessies, New York City's premier dance awards honoring outstanding creative work in the field, celebrates a landmark 35th anniversary this year. Today, the nominees for the 2019 Bessie Awards, along with the recipients of the 2019 Juried Bessie Award and 2019 Outstanding Breakout Choreographer Award, were announced and celebrated at the Bessies press conference. (The list of nominations follows.)

Corkscrew Theater Festival, which runs July 10-August 3, inaugurates its Corkscrew Downstairs series of workshop productions this summer in the lower level theater at the Paradise Factory (64 East 4th Street, Manhattan). The four projects all take classic texts as a starting point, including A Doll's House, Twelfth Night, the poetry of Walt Whitman, and Leslie Feinberg's 1993 novel Stone Butch Blues. The Downstairs series shares one team of designers -Dan Daly (sets), Christina Tang (lights), and Cinthia Chen (props)-and one flexible repertory set, deepening the festival's focus on exploring collaboration in different forms.

This Autumn, Southbank Centre showcases some of the most pioneering new artists using performance to challenge societal norms including dancer and choreographer Oona Doherty, performance artists Travis Alabanza and Nicola Gunn, and theatre makers Lisa Hammond and Rachael Spence. Alongside these artists, Southbank Centre welcomes back three important companies experimenting with form and challenging the audience experience; Reckless Sleepers, and two Southbank Centre Associate Companies - Forced Entertainment and Shobana Jeyasingh Dance. Winter sees offerings for all ages with the return of Circus 1903 with new acts for 2019 following its huge success last Christmas, the arrival of a new dynamic interpretation of Black Beauty, and a fresh show from favourites Fascinating A da.

Corkscrew Theater Festival is pleased to announce the mainstage casts for its third annual festival, which runs July 10-August 3 at the Paradise Factory (64 East 4th Street, Manhattan). The festival features four world premieres, four workshop productions, and four readings performed in repertory over four weeks, with 80 performances in all. As in past years, special attention has been given to theater makers who are developing work through tight-knit collaborations. Tickets are now on sale.

Dixon Place presents Unfinished: A Way Out, a new dance commission by Heidi Latsky Dance Company featuring collaborators Meredith Fages, Jerron Herman, Jillian Hollis, Heidi Latsky, and Tiffany Geigel.

Mirvish and Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre's production of A DOLL'S HOUSE PART 2 does for theatre what is usually reserved for blockbusters and novels - it provides a sequel, many years down the road, to one of Henrik Ibsen's more controversial works (A Doll's House). Written more than a hundred years after the original play's debut, Lucas Hnath has composed a script that investigates what Nora, the wife and mother who left her family, has been up to since her prompt departure. While the cast and creative team navigate the fine line between humour and solemnity the show requires well, there are moments where it seems like something's missing from the narrative.

The Grand Theatre, a leading cultural hub in London, Ontario, announces its 2019-20 season. Featuring 11 productions across two stages, including two world premieres, a North American premiere, and new works by exciting Canadian visionaries, the Grand's incredible 2019-20 lineup continues to bring the world to London, and London to the world.

Award winning composer and pianist Dustin O'Halloran (Marie Antoinette, Lion, Transparent) whose “sublime” and “enveloping” (DIS) music creates “altered states” (Mojo) teams with choreographer and Company Wayne McGregor member Fukiko Takase to explore ideas of technology, humanity and mind-body dualism in a new electronics-forward existentialist performance 1 0 0 1. As we approach the age of AI, the collaborators ask: how will a new form of consciousness manifest inside a body? What will happen to our soul? 

David Mirvish in a co-production with the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre presents A DOLL'S HOUSE, PART 2 by Lucas Hnath. Starring four outstanding Canadian actors and directed by Krista Jackson, this brilliant and audacious play is performed March 23 to April 14, 2019 at Toronto's CAA Theatre as part of the Off-Mirvish Season.