Page 73 Productions - the Off-Broadway company dedicated to producing and developing works by early-career playwrights - will present a reading of their 2013 Interstate 73 member E.M. Lewis' play SONG OF EXTINCTION on Wednesday, May 15 at 4pm at Roundabout Theater Company's rehearsal studios (115 West 45th Street 12th Floor). Calloway Award winner Carolyn Cantor (THE GREAT GOD PAN, AFTER THE REVOLUTION) will direct.
Two years ago, in my generally favorable review of Pamela Lewis' quirky, if flawed, cabaret show Dog Walking Diva, I went a little bit out on the limb with . . . “She has the potential to be a major cabaret star.” Well, as Lewis (who given her bubbly and bold personality performs under the totally appropriate moniker of “Champagne Pam”) remarked often in her newest show, during which she assessed whether she had yet achieved a list of life goals, that particular observation would have to get a “check.” Because with Daddy's Little Girl, Champagne Pam--who proudly admitted to having reached the Big 4-0--is all grown up as a cabaret performer and should be a member of that rarified group who even a reviewer on a press comp should pay to see and hear.
John Heffernan (Lush), Harry Melling (Lamb), Clive Rowe (Tubb), Christopher Timothy (Lobb) and Indira Varma (Miss Cutts) will join the previously announced Simon Russell Beale (Roote) and John Simm (Gibbs) to complete the cast for The Hothouse, Jamie Lloyd Productions' second show for Trafalgar Studios.
Casting has today been announced for Graham Linehan's award-winning comic adaptation of The Ladykillers, which returns to the West End from 29 June. The new cast will include Ralf Little (The Royle Family), Simon Day (The Fast Show), Angela Thorne (To the Manor Born) and Olivier Award winning actors John Gordon Sinclair (She Loves Me and classic film Gregory's Girl) and Con O'Neill (Blood Brothers and Telstar). Chris McCalphy will reprise his role as One Round following the show's recent UK tour.
Premiere Stages, the professional theatre in residence at Kean University, is committed to supporting emerging playwrights through the development and production of new plays. Under the umbrella of the Premiere Stages Play Festival, Premiere produces a biannual commissioning program for New Jersey playwrights entitled Liberty Live. Liberty Live is a unique new partnership with the Liberty Hall Museum that features a production of a new play that celebrates New Jersey history, tours of the Museum, interactive displays, workshops for children and talk-backs with local historians. The focus of the 2013/2014 Liberty Live project will be The 350th Anniversary of New Jersey and will be part of the statewide NJ 350 Initiative.
Last year, Playwrights Theatre began the New Jersey Emerging Women Playwrights Project (NJEWP) as part of its larger ongoing effort to provide meaningful support to playwrights through an authentic development process that focuses on the specific and individual needs of the writer.
Page 73 Productions, which is currently accepting applications on its website (www.page73.org/apply) for three of its signature development programs: the P73 Playwriting Fellowship, the Interstate 73 writers group, and the Page 73 Summer Residency at Yale, will host an information session with its Executive Director Liz Jones and its Associate Director Michael Walkup for interested applicants on Thursday, March 21st at 7pm at the Manhattan Theatre Club Rehearsal Studios (311 West 43rd Street, 8th Floor). Reservations are required; please email info@page73.org to inquire about a reservation.
Interstate 73, Page 73 Productions' writers group supporting early-career playwrights, where selected playwrights meet biweekly to share new pages with their peers and Page 73's Executive and Associate Directors, will welcome Stephen Brown, Meghan Deans, Peter Gil-Sheridan, David Jenkins, Kait Kerrigan, EM Lewis and Caroline V. McGraw (who was also selected as the 2013 P73 Playwriting Fellow) into the group this year.
Caroline V. McGraw has been awarded the 2013 P73 Playwriting Fellowship, it has been announced by Page 73's Executive Directors Liz Jones and Asher Richelli.
Matthew Dunster will direct Rodney Ackland's Before The Party at the Almeida Theatre from 21 March - 11 May 2013. Based on a short story by Somerset Maugham, Before The Party has designs by Anna Fleischle with lighting by Philip Gladwell and sound by Ian Dickinson. Dunster's production of Before The Party will be the first in over 25 years.
I'm lucky enough to see over a hundred shows every year, and I'm happy to report that 2012 was an excellent year for theatre in St. Louis. So, here I am again, offering up my lists for the best productions of 2012. While I'm not going to include the touring companies that came through town this year in my listings, I'd like to give them a shout out just the same.
Off-Broadway's Page 73 Productions - a company dedicated to producing and developing works by early-career playwrights -- has announced 8 finalists for their 2013 P73 Playwriting Fellowship serving early-career playwrights.
Premiere Stages has announced new dates for the production of Talking to Westfield, part of Liberty Live, a new producing partnership with the Liberty Hall Museum, located on the campus of Kean University. Liberty Live dramatizes and celebrates the history that helped make New Jersey what it is today. Rescheduled performances will now be held December 7th-9th in the Little Theatre, located in the University Center on Kean University's main campus.
Due to complications from Hurricane Sandy, Premiere Stages has cancelled all performances of Liberty Live for November 1st-November 4th. The theatre hopes to reschedule the performances and present Talking to Westfield at a future date and will release updated information as soon as it becomes available. Any patrons with questions regarding tickets or adjusted show dates should call 908-737-4092 for further details.
Premiere Stages has announced Liberty Live, a new producing partnership with the Liberty Hall Museum, located on the campus of Kean University. Liberty Live dramatizes and celebrates the history that helped to make New Jersey what it is today. The event features a professional production of a new play about New Jersey, a tour of the Museum grounds and interactive programming and displays. The 2012 event will focus on Westfield and be held at the Liberty Hall Museum Carriage House from November 1st through 4th.
Off-Broadway's Page 73 Productions - a company dedicated to producing and developing works by early-career playwrights - will double the financial award associated with their annual P73 Playwriting Fellowship to $10,000 beginning in 2013, it has been announced by Page 73 Executive Directors Liz Jones and Asher Richelli. "We're thrilled to provide more financial assistance to playwrights who are just starting out and who are trying to make a name for themselves in New York City and all over the country," said Executive Director Liz Jones.
One of the really cool things that HotCity Theatre does every year is their Greenhouse New Play Festival. It not only gives a voice to new playwrights seeking to have their plays produced, but it also provides something fresh and entertaining for the theatre going public. The winner this time around is GOODBYE RUBY TUESDAY by EM Lewis, and it's a funny and touching slice of life that breezes along at a brisk 75 minutes. It's a splendid way to spend an evening, and a very entertaining play.
Today, we have two unique-and we daresay spectacular and wonderful-women who are paired together, thanks to director Paul J. Cook, in helping to bring Pippin to life at the Boiler Room Theatre: Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva and Lynda Cameron-Bayer. Jennifer is part of the powerhouse cast of the Stephen Schwartz musical (which has been acclaimed by every critic in town), while Lynda is the production's costume designer, dressing the ensemble in a gorgeous assortment of circus-inspired garb. Each woman, at any particular time, is sure to knock your socks off, so be prepared to lose 'em…
