Dramatists Guild News

Southern Rep Theatre is pleased to announce Dawn Renee Jones as the winner for the 2015 Ruby Prize for her play, A HEAP SEE.

The second annual Shubert Foundation High School Theatre Festival for New York City Public Schools will take place Monday, March 7 at Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre (1634 Broadway at West 51st Street) at 7 p.m. More than 100 talented students from five select New York City high schools will make their Broadway debuts performing excerpts from their winter productions.

Off-Broadway's acclaimed Classic Stage Company today announced plans for its 2016-17 season, led by incoming Artistic Director John Doyle and Managing Director Jeff Griffin. Doyle, a Tony Award winner for Sweeney Todd and the director of Broadway's highly-praised new production of The Color Purple, assumes the artistic leadership of CSC beginning in July, succeeding Brian Kulick, who has led the company since 2003. For CSC, Doyle has directed Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Passion and Rodgers & Hammerstein's Allegro, and later this season will direct Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt.

Westport Country Playhouse will present a Script in Hand playreading of A. R. Gurney's "The Cocktail Hour," a funny and touching, quasi-autobiographical story about a playwright who writes a new play that presents an unflattering picture of his family, on Monday, March 14, at 7 p.m.  The play will be directed by Anne Keefe, Playhouse associate artist and curator of the playreading series. Tickets are $20 each. 

Cleveland Play House's (CPH) monumental 100th Season continues with the regional premiere of LUNA GALE today. CPH welcomes back film and stage legend Austin Pendleton to direct this contemporary drama that begs the question 'To whom do you belong?' Written by Rebecca Gilman, recipient of the 2015 Roe Green Award, LUNA GALE runs today, February 27 through March 20 in the intimate Allen Theatre.

Didn't have time to check in on your favorite Broadway stars? Well don't worry BroadwayWorld has rounded up some of the biggest stories from this week from Broadway and beyond with BroadwayWorld's 'This Week in Pictures.'

Fort Wayne Civic Theatre presents the 7th annual Northeast Indiana Playwright Festival on Saturday, March 19, 2016, with the winning play presented March 18-27.

TeCo Theatrical Productions, Inc. is excited to announce its inaugural Down For #TheCount play festival that gives a platform to female voices. Production dates are February 26 through March 6, 2016, 7:30 p.m. nightly for two consecutive weekends with a preview night on Thursday, February 25th at the Bishop Arts Theatre Center.

Philadelphia Theatre Company presents the 2016 PTC@Play Festival of New Work celebrating the American playwright in Philadelphia on March 3-6 at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre.  The festival will present staged readings showcasing three new plays by national and local talent including new work by Mark St. Germain, Philadelphia playwright Sam Henderson, and playwright/performer Rinne Groff.  A new addition to PTC@Play will be an evening of short plays, all written and rehearsed within one twenty-four hour period.  All events are free.

On Thursday, April 7, 2016, MY MOTHER, MY SISTER & ME, Sherri Heller's world-class comedy about an indestructible working-class Jewish family in the Bronx, valiantly surviving the Sixties Cultural Revolution, will have its World Premiere at the Bickford Theatre at the Morris Museum (6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown, NJ).

Dramatists Guild Fund President Andrew Lippa and Executive Director Rachel Routh have announced seven upcoming Traveling Masters Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty, Anna Ziegler, Terrence McNally, Lauren Yee, Paula Vogel, and Chisa Hutchinson for events across the country.

The Dramatists Guild of America presented their annual awards on Monday, February 22, 2016, at The American Airlines Theatre Penthouse Lobby in New York. Preceding the awards event was the ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony of the new Mary Rodgers Room at the Guild's 1501 Broadway office. Scroll down for photos from both events!

Radical Gags Theatrics will present the World Premiere of LIKE MONEY IN THE BANK, the first romantic comedy about the founding of the Federal Reserve Bank, by Jerry Polner. Directed by Shana Solomon, previews begin April 7 at Theatre Row Studio Theatre. Opening night is slated for Thursday, April 14.

Playwrights Joshua Young and Phillip Christian along with director Lucia Bellini have formed The Playwriting Collective - a new production company aimed at raising up voices from lower class backgrounds. Specifically, The Collective is playwright driven, with a goal to finance and produce new works that support playwrights from poor economic environments and other marginalized communities.

The award-winning VITAL THEATRE COMPANY is pleased to announce the extension of TWINKLE TAMES A DRAGON through May 22nd, 2016.

Babes With Blades Theatre Company announces their 18th world premiere production, 180 Degree Rule, written by Chicago playwrights Barbara Lhota (playwright, The Double and BWBTC ensemble member) and the late M.E.H. Lewis, to be performed at City Lit Theatre, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., in Chicago. Previews will be Saturday, April 16, Friday, April 22, and Saturday, April 23 at 8PM and Sundays, April 17 and 24 at 3PM. The press opening is Monday, April 25 at 8PM, and the show will run Thursdays-Saturdays at 8PM and Sundays at 3 from April 28 - May 21, plus Wednesdays May 11 and May 18 8pm.

The Dramatists Guild of America has announced that they will present for the first time the new Horton Foote Playwriting Award, which will be awarded to playwright Stephen Karam at the Dramatists Guild's annual awards presentations tonight, Monday, February 22, 2016, at the American Airlines Theatre Penthouse Lobby. The Richenthal Foundation is sponsoring the award.

The Kleban Foundation recently announced the winners of its 26th annual Kleban Prize for the most promising musical theatre lyricist -- Stacey Luftig -- and its 26th annual Kleban Prize for the most promising musical theatre librettist -- Daniel Goldstein. Since its inception, Kleban Prize winners have been selected by judging panels comprised of the theatre's most respected artists and administrators. The judges making the final determination this year were two-time Tony Award-winning actress Judith Ivey, Michael Price (Former Executive Director, Goodspeed Musicals), and Andrew Zerman (Casting Director and Vocal Coach).

The Dramatists Guild of America presents their annual awards at their 2016 meeting today, February 22, at The American Airlines Theatre Penthouse Lobby in New York.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: Three shows -- SMOKEFALL, ANGEL REAPERS and HER REQUIEM -- open off-Broadway, and the Dramatists Guild Awards are presented today!