Donnell E. Smith News

HB Studio Theatre, 124 Bank Street, will present a staged reading of a new musical on Tuesday, June 26th at 7 pm at the HB Studio Theatre as part of their Transgressions series, which features plays selected from the 2018 Rehearsal Space Residency Applicants.

Award-winning playwright James Ijames' "Kill Move Paradise" opened Saturdayto a standing ovation at Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre (NBT). Directed by Saheem Ali, the show starring Ryan Jamaal Swain, Donnell E. Smith, Clinton Lowe and Sidiki Fofana follows victims of police brutality, vigilante justice and racist acts as they suddenly arrive in an otherworld.

The Fools & Kings Project in collaboration with Riverbank State Park opened its free outdoor production of Much Ado About N othing on Saturday, May 6th at Summit Rock at 6:00 PM (entrance at W 86th Street and Centra Park West). This marks the first of the company's fourth season of free, outdoor Shakespeare. Check out photos of the cast below!

The Fools & Kings Project in collaboration with Riverbank State Park opened its free outdoor production of Much Ado About N othing on Saturday, May 6th at Summit Rock at 6:00 PM (entrance at W 86th Street and Centra Park West). This marks the first of the company's fourth season of free, outdoor Shakespeare.

Ryan Jamaal Swain, Donnell E. Smith, Clinton Lowe and Sidiki Fofana will star in the award-winning playwright James Ijames' "Kill Move Paradise," opening at Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre (NBT) this spring. The world premiere production is also the New York City debut of Ijames, a Whiting Award winner. Saheem Ali ("Nollywood," "The Booty Call," and "The Erlkings") will direct. The provocative production closes the historic theater's 48th season, "In Pursuit of Black Joy," and runs from May 31 through June 25.

Award-winning playwright Lynda Crawford's new play Familiar Strangers will have a staged reading at Planet Connections Theatre Festivity on Wednesday, July 6th at 1:30 pm followed by a talk-back. The play was inspired by the book Stranger to the System: Life Portraits of a NYC Homeless Community (Curbside Press) by Jim Flynn. The reading is directed by Terry Greiss, who is the co-founder of Irondale Ensemble Project.

'The Gospel According to F#ggots' is a multimedia queer translation of Biblical text through verse, video, and vogue. It's a Church pageant play remixed and remastered into an epic journey that combines poetry, movement, and music.

'The Gospel According to F#ggots' is a multimedia queer translation of Biblical text through verse, video, and vogue. It's a Church pageant play remixed and remastered into an epic journey that combines poetry, movement, and music.

The two-time Tony Award-winning actress Tammy Grimes (PRIVATE LIVES, THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN) and composer David Amram (scores for the films SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS and THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE) were just honored at Theater for the New City's 12th annual LOVE 'N COURAGE evening. An annual event that benefits TNC's Emerging Playwrights Program, this year's LOVE 'N COURAGE event was hosted by Phoebe Legere and Matt Morillo and featured performances by Ms. Grimes, Mr. Amram, Vinie Burrows, Judy Gorman, Yip Harburg Foundation's Rainbow Troupe, Luba Mason, Human Kinetics Movement Arts, and The Love Show, along with select excerpts from plays by Andrea Fulton, Georges Bizet, Daniel Catan and Seymour Barab. BroadwayWorld brings you photos from the performances below!

The Theatre of a Two-headed Calf Jack Spicer's Billy the Kid (WORLD PREMIERE) By Brendan Connelly, Brooke O'Harra, and Lisa D'Amour Featuring songs by Brendan Connelly performed by Connelly and Rick Burkhardt Mount Tremper Arts (647 South Plank Rd in Mount Tremper, NY) $20; mounttremperarts.org; 845-688-9893 Today and Saturday, July 25 & 26 at 8:00 pm

The Theatre of a Two-headed Calf Jack Spicer's Billy the Kid (WORLD PREMIERE) By Brendan Connelly, Brooke O'Harra, and Lisa D'Amour Featuring songs by Brendan Connelly performed by Connelly and Rick Burkhardt Mount Tremper Arts (647 South Plank Rd in Mount Tremper, NY) $20; mounttremperarts.org; 845-688-9893 Friday and Saturday, July 25 & 26 at 8:00 pm

This winter, Andrea J. Fulton's new stage play UGLY IS A HARD PILL will premiere at Theater for the New City (Executive Producer Crystal Field, TNC Artistic Director) from today, December 19 through January 12, 2014.

This winter, Andrea J. Fulton's new stage play UGLY IS A HARD PILL will premiere at Theater for the New City (Executive Producer Crystal Field, TNC Artistic Director) from 12/19-1/12. Directed by Broadway veteran performer Leslie Dockery (Sophisticated Ladies, The Tap Dance Kid and Eubie!), this dark comedy featuring music and movement is set against the backdrop of heterosexual, bisexual and homosexual relationships in modern urban culture.

Vital Theatre presents another world premiere musical, SHOW WAY. The production tells the story of seven generations of women who pass quilts, or 'show ways,' from daughter to daughter. As these quilts pass -- from slaves who sewed paths to freedom, to civil rights marchers, to a writer in modern-day New York, to a young girl who is eager to hear each generation's stories of bravery and courage -- the women reconnect with the past and look with hope toward the future. Get a first look at the production in the photos below!

Vital Theatre presents another world premiere musical, SHOW WAY. The production tells the story of seven generations of women who pass quilts, or 'show ways,' from daughter to daughter. As these quilts pass -- from slaves who sewed paths to freedom, to civil rights marchers, to a writer in modern-day New York, to a young girl who is eager to hear each generation's stories of bravery and courage -- the women reconnect with the past and look with hope toward the future. Get a first look at the production in the photos below!

Phylicia Rash­ad just may have directed the definitive version of Lorraine Hansbury's A Raisin in the Sun.