BroadwayWorld brings you the Best of Washington, DC in the year 2012. Check out the Top Theatre Stories from each month during in the year 2012. We look forward to another exciting year of theatre in 2013!
Six D.C.-area playwrights have been selected to participate in the inaugural Playwrights' Arena as part of the American Voices New Play Institute at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Playwrights' Arena is a collaborative group of local writers dedicated to the support and development of each other's work and practice. The yearlong program commences in January 2013, and the inaugural members include Norman Allen, Randy Baker, Jacqueline E. Lawton, Heather McDonald, Danielle Mohlman and Shawn Northrip. Also in January as part of the Institute's programming will be the next installment of the Kogod Cradle Series featuring readings of The Age of Innocence, a new adaptation for the stage by Resident Playwright Karen Zacarías, January 14-16, 2013.
Following its acclaimed 16-week run at the Lookingglass Theatre Company this fall, Metamorphoses brings the mythical tales of Ovid to life at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, 10 years after the Broadway premiere. Written and directed by Tony Award winner Mary Zimmerman, Metamorphoses is based on David Slavitt's translation and marks the first time Zimmerman will direct the production since its Broadway run. This is also the first time Zimmerman will stage Metamorphoses in the round, and a custom set will be designed with the largest pool of water ever created for this production. Metamorphoses dives onto the Fichandler Stage February 8-March 17, 2013.
Fresh off its acclaimed run at the Cleveland Play House, One Night with Janis Joplin will take D.C. audiences on a musical journey into the life and inspirations of one of rock 'n' roll's greatest legends. The production is led by Cleveland native Mary Bridget Davies, who performs with Joplin's original band Big Brother and the Holding Company, and also features Sabrina Elayne Carten as the Blues Singer who pays homage to the artists that influenced Joplin's incomparable blues-rock blend. Created, written and directed by Randy Johnson, the production is produced in partnership with Cleveland Play House in association with Todd Gershwin and Daniel Chilewich of Premiere Media, with support from The Estate of Janis Joplin and Jeff Jampol of JAM, Inc. One Night with Janis Joplin runs September 28 - November 4, 2012 in the Kreeger Theater. Check out photos from the show's opening night party below!
59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) is thrilled to announce the appointment of Brian Beirne to the newly created position of Managing Director of 59E59 Theaters.
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces that Obie Award-winning playwright Samuel D. Hunter will join the American Voices New Play Institute (AVNPI) as a yearlong resident playwright in 2013.
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater's Community Engagement department has been selected to participate in a pilot program with the United States Department of State to set up theater education workshops in cities across India this fall. These workshops are based on theVoices of Now program, a drama program created 10 years ago at Arena Stage that offers young artists the unique opportunity to devise and perform a piece of theater based on their own writing. Four members of Arena Stage's Community Engagement department will leave October 8 for a two-and-a-half-week journey to four cities in India.
Coinciding with AIDS 2012, the biennial International AIDS Conference in D.C. July 22-27, 2012, Arena Stage hosted a special benefit performance of The Normal Heart along with the Washington AIDS Partnership Monday, July 23 at the Mead Center for American Theater. View photos below!
2011 Tony Award-winning production plays until July 29, 2012
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater's Artistic Director Molly Smith has announced that this July 2012 D.C.-area arts manager and artist David Snider will become the company's Director of Artistic Programming. Snider will be leaving Young Playwrights' Theater (YPT), where he has served since 2005 as producing artistic director and CEO, to bring his multi-faceted, award-winning talents to the artistic team of Arena Stage.
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces that the documentation and dissemination activities of the American Voices New Play Institute (AVNPI) will be relocated to Emerson College's Office of the Arts beginning July 1, 2012 in order to provide the research and academic setting these programs now need for their continued growth.
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater's Artistic Director Molly Smith and Executive Director Edgar Dobie announce thatnationally renowned arts marketer Chad Bauman will return to Arena Stage in July 2012 in the new role of Associate Executive Director. Bauman was most recently Director of Marketing and Membership for The Smithsonian Associates, and before that he led the communication and audience services efforts for Arena Stage for nearly five seasons. Khady Kamara, who was named Interim Director of Communications after Bauman's departure, has recently been appointedSenior Director of Marketing and Communications.
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater produces the 2011 Tony Award-winning production of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart, directed by George C. Wolfe. Wolfe, who directed the show's sold-out Broadway engagement last season, mounts the professional D.C.-area premiere of this production, which features returning Broadway cast members Patrick Breen and Luke MacFarlane, among others. Presented by special arrangement with Daryl Roth, The Normal Heart runs tonight, June 8-July 29, 2012 in the Kreeger Theater.
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater's Artistic Director Molly Smith has announced that this July 2012 D.C.-area arts manager and artist David Snider will become the company's Director of Artistic Programming. Snider will be leaving Young Playwrights' Theater (YPT), where he has served since 2005 as producing artistic director and CEO, to bring his multi-faceted, award-winning talents to the artistic team of Arena Stage.
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater hosts a four-day festival featuring performances by 11 youth ensembles from the Community Engagement program Voices of Now. The festival will bring together more than 150 young artists, ages 11-23, from D.C., Maryland and Virginia who have been working with professional theater artists from Arena Stage for eight months to devise original one-act plays. The ensembles will come together today, May 9 through May 12, 2012 to perform and discuss their work in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle.
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater produces the 2011 Tony Award-winning production of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart, directed by George C. Wolfe. Wolfe, who directed the show's sold-out Broadway engagement last season, mounts the professional D.C.-area premiere of this production, which features returning Broadway cast members Patrick Breen and Luke MacFarlane, among others. Presented by special arrangement with Daryl Roth, The Normal Heart runs June 8-July 29, 2012 in the Kreeger Theater.
Crafty con-man Harold Hill brings mischief and the magic of music to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater this spring in Meredith Willson's The Music Man. This five-time Tony Award-winning musical is directed by Artistic Director Molly Smith, whose cultural dynamism made Oklahoma! a record-breaking audience favorite last season. With choreography by Parker Esse and music direction by Lawrence Goldberg, The Music Man runs May 11-July 22, 2012 in the Fichandler Stage, with all performances in May already sold out.
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces a four-day festival featuring performances by 11 youth ensembles from the Community Engagement program Voices of Now. The festival will bring together more than 150 young artists, ages 11-23, from D.C., Maryland and Virginia who have been working with professional theater artists from Arena Stage for eight months to devise original one-act plays. The ensembles will come together May 9-12, 2012 to perform and discuss their work in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle.
On Monday, March 26, 2012, Arena Stage hosted the Golden Gala: A Glittering Evening of American Musical Theater to celebrate the vibrancy of the performing arts in Washington. This black-tie signature event, chaired by WUSA9 news anchor JC Hayward, supports Arena's robust Community Engagement programs and featured a special performance by two-time Tony Award nominee Kate Baldwin and legendary composer Sheldon Harnick. View photos from the event below!
Edward Gero and Patrick Andrews star in Red at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, produced in association with Goodman Theatre.
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