Ensemble Studio Theatre News

Premiere Stages at Kean University will present the winner of its 2014 Play Festival, Janice Underwater by Hillside native Tom Matthew Wolfe, September 4 - 21 in Kean University's Zella Fry Theatre. Directed by Jade King Carroll, this delightfully quirky new play tells the story of Janice, who has a sneaking suspicion that she's losing her mind. While waiting for the results of genetic testing that could confirm her fears, Janice struggles to hold it together and pursue her art in the city. With the help of an attractive but troubled super, a devoted brother, and visions of her mentally ill mother, will Janice find her way home? Selected from over 400 submissions as the winner of Premiere's annual competition for unproduced scripts by area playwrights, Janice Underwater received a developmental reading earlier this spring, delighting audiences with its recognizable characters and locales.

After a short series of well-received previews, Saviana Stanescu's Useless opens this weekend at IRT Theater in the West Village (154 Christopher St., #3B). The Romanian-born Stanescu, whose past projects include Aliens with Extraordinary Skills at Women's Project, Waxing West at La MaMa Theatre (2007 New York Innovative Theatre Award for Best Play), and Hurt (published in The Best American ShortPlays: 2012-2013), is considered one of the most exciting writers to emerge from Eastern Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain.

A team of independent producers and a multicultural group of artists have joined forces with Kori Rushton and IRT's Residency Season to bring to life Useless, Romanian-born playwright Saviana's Stanescu's dark humored drama, today, August 14-24.

Creative writing students ages 12 to 16 from Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, the acclaimed summer arts day camp whose alumni include Natalie Portman, Mariah Carey, Jane Monheit and Broadway playwright Michele Lowe, joined for the second season with students of the same age from the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Summer Youth Program in a unique two-week joint workshop from July 21 to August 1.

Join O'Neill Center artistic directors Wendy Goldberg, of the National Playwrights Conference, and Paulette Haupt, of the National Music Theater Conference, distinguished alumni Adam Gwon, Sarah Hammond and Deborah Zoe Laufer, and moderator Anne G. Morgan, for a look at the O'Neill's influential role as a theatrical laboratory over the last 50 years.

Geneva Carr: 'I haven't crested the best part of my career.'

Skylight Theatre Company and Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble present the Los Angeles Premiere of Pulitzer Prize Finalist Bulrusher, written by Eisa Davis and directed by Nataki Garrett. The show opens on 8pm on August 23rd and 3pm August 24th. RECEPTION TO FOLLOW BOTH PERFORMANCES. Runs 8pm Fridays and Saturdays, 3pm Sundays through September 28, 2014 at the Skylight Theatre, 1816 1/2 N. Vermont, LA, 90027

Combined Artform and Matthew Quinn present the return of "WOMEN" - with an official opening of September 5th. After a sold-out run in New York City and the Hollywood Fringe Festival, WOMEN, written by Chiara Atik and directed by Stephanie Ward, is returning to Los Angeles for a full run at the Asylum Theater, August 28th through October 25th.

A team of independent producers and a multicultural group of artists have joined forces with Kori Rushton and IRT's Residency Season to bring to life a new play: Useless by Romanian-born playwright Saviana Stanescu. The production is directed by Jose Zayas and features Ana Grosse, Andy Phelan and Steven Rishard.

The Flea Theater will present the World Premiere of Kim Davies' SMOKE, directed by Flea Resident Director Tom Costello (The Wundelsteipen) and featuring members of The Bats, the resident acting company at The Flea. Previews begin August 22 with opening slated for September 7. Says Producing Director Carol Ostrow, "where 50 Shades of Grey dances on the surface of BDSM, Smoke cuts to the core.

The Old Globe today announced the full cast and creative team for the World Premiere of Bright Star, a new American musical featuring music by Edie Brickell and Steve Martin, lyrics by Brickell, and book by Martin, based on an original story by Martin and Brickell. Directed by Walter Bobbie, Bright Star will run September 13 - November 2, 2014 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run September 13 - September 27. Opening night is Sunday, September 28 at 7:00 p.m. Single tickets go on sale on Friday, August 8 at noon.

Nick Gehlfuss (Shameless, The Newsroom), Shawn Hatosy (Southland, Reckless), Amber Tamblyn (Joan of Arcadia, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) and Alicia Witt (Justified, 88 Minutes) are cast in the Geffen Playhouse production of Reasons to Be Pretty, nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play (2009). Helmed by Geffen Playhouse Artistic Director Randall Arney, Reasons to Be Pretty will be performed in the Gil Cates Theater through August 31 with an opening night of tonight, August 6.

F*It Club, the New York Innovative Award-winning film and theatre company, joins acclaimed partner companies EST/Youngblood, Naked Angels, Studio 42, and Waterwell at The Green Building in Brooklyn with GAP Presents! The Green Plays, five new short plays by Hanna Cheek/Lauren Cregor Devine/Rodney Gardiner/Kevin Townley (Waterwell/ Goodbar), Meaghan Deans (Studio 42/ Ashore, Internet Famous), Jason Kim (Naked Angels/ HBO's Girls), Victor Lesniewski (F*It Club/ Cloven Tongues), and Chris Sullivan (EST/Youngblood/ Metro Cards).

Samuel French previously announced a talented roster of judges for the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival (OOB Festival), the nation's premiere short play competition, running from today, August 5th-10th at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre.

Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma announce Writers Theatre's opener to its 2014/15 season: the Midwest Premiere of Isaac's Eye by Lucas Hnath, directed by Artistic Director Michael Halberstam. The show runs September 2 - December 7, 2014 at Books on Vernon, 664 Vernon Ave Ave, Glencoe. The Press Openings are Wednesday, September 10, 2014 and Thursday, September 11, 2014, at 7:30pm.

A team of independent producers and a multicultural group of artists have joined forces with Kori Rushton and IRT's Residency Season to bring to life Useless, Romanian-born playwright Saviana's Stanescu's dark humored drama, August 14-24.

Cellar Door presents HOT STEAMS by Zach Wegner as part of the 18th annual New York International Fringe Festival - FringeNYC. For tickets, visit http://www.fringenyc.org/basic_page.php?ltr=H#HotSte.

A great, big Broadway season is on its way, with fourteen productions already slated to open in the next few months. With several weeks until the craziness begins, there is still plenty of time to catch up on what's been going on at Broadway's already occupied theaters . BroadwayWorld will be profiling the hits of the Great White Way that continue to draw crowds after months, years, and (in some cases) decades. Meet the current cast of Broadway's MATILDA below!

square product theatre kicks off its 9th Season with the World Premiere of SLAB, adapted by Gleason Bauer and Emily K. Harrison from the forthcoming novel by Mississippi born, Denver-based writer Selah Saterstrom. SLAB will be presented in the ATLAS Black Box theater on the University of Colorado Boulder campus, today, July 31-August 16, 2014.