Dorothy Silver News

The Open Fist Theatre Company presents their First Ever, FIRST LOOK FESTIVAL OF NEW PLAYS, with new works written by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, Steven Haworth, Karen Hartman, Julie Hebert, Neil LaBute, Rick Pagano and directed by Bjorn Johnson, Neil LaBute, Marya Mazor, Charles Otte and Randee Trabitz. The Festival will begin on Thursday, July 23 and run through Sunday, September 13 at The NEW Open Fist Theatre, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd. (former home of The Actor's Gang) in Hollywood.

Manhattan Movement & Arts Center (MMAC) presented the world premiere of Freckleface Strawberry the Musical. The show is an adaptation of the best-selling children's book written by award winning actress Julianne Moore. MMAC Productions, located on the Upper West Side, debuted the musical on July 1st for a two-day workshop run. The first of many MMAC productions, Freckleface is about childhood, acceptance and friendship. The producers will announce a commercial run in the upcoming weeks.

For the fourth consecutive year, The Cleveland Play House presents FusionFest, the only multidisciplinary performing arts festival at a regional theatre in the country, from April 29-May 10, 2009. The festival will offer a sampling of international and 'other-worldly' works, including an ancient Japanese art form, Dogugaeshi, by master puppeteer Basil Twist, performances by Charles Ross of his One-Man Star Wars Trilogy, and a world-premiere adaptation of Thorton Wilder's comic novel Heaven's My Destination, by Tony-award nominee Lee Blessing and commissioned by The Play House expressly for FusionFest with support from The Roe Green Foundation.

The best way to experience the variety of FusionFest is with our new Festival Pass. You choose what you want to see, when you want to see it. All nine FusionFest productions, plus free festival parking -- a $284 value - is on sale for only $99. Not sure when to see a show?

For the fourth consecutive year, The Cleveland Play House presents FusionFest, the only multidisciplinary performing arts festival at a regional theatre in the country, from April 29-May 10, 2009. The festival will offer a sampling of international and 'other-worldly' works, including an ancient Japanese art form, Dogugaeshi, by master puppeteer Basil Twist, performances by Charles Ross of his One-Man Star Wars Trilogy, and a world-premiere adaptation of Thorton Wilder's comic novel Heaven's My Destination, by Tony-award nominee Lee Blessing and commissioned by The Play House expressly for FusionFest with support from The Roe Green Foundation.

The National Asian American Theatre Company (NAATCO) -- whose revivals of western classics performed by all Asian-American casts since 1989 include such acclaimed productions as BERNARDA ALBA, OTHELLO, A LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT, OUR TOWN, YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU and IVANOV -- will expand its mission to include world premieres about non-Asian peoples performed by an all-Asian cast with the world premiere of LEAH'S TRAIN, Karen Hartman's play about three generations of women from a Jewish family whose lineage spreads from Russia to present-day San Francisco, previewing February 6th prior to opening February 10th Off-Broadway at the TBG Theatre (312 West 36th Street) in Manhattan.

The National Asian American Theatre Company (NAATCO) -- whose revivals of western classics performed by all Asian-American casts since 1989 include such acclaimed productions as BERNARDA ALBA, OTHELLO, A LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT, OUR TOWN, YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU and IVANOV -- will expand its mission to include world premieres about non-Asian peoples performed by an all-Asian cast with the world premiere of LEAH'S TRAIN, Karen Hartman's play about three generations of women from a Jewish family whose lineage spreads from Russia to present-day San Francisco, previewing February 6th prior to opening February 10th Off-Broadway at the TBG Theatre (312 West 36th Street) in Manhattan.

Artistic Director Russ Tutterow announced Chicago Dramatists' 30th anniversary season, featuring three productions of world premiere plays, and the fourth annual Many Voices Project. Each year Chicago Dramatists, 'the playwrights' theatre,' produces three of the best new plays from the hundreds developed through its many developmental programs. This year, 'Ten Cent Night' by resident playwright Marisa Wegrzyn, 'How I Became an Interesting Person' by resident playwright Will Dunne, and 'Hope VI' by resident playwright Nambi E. Kelley, will make up its production season.