Ensemble Studio Theatre News

Columbia Stages will present NEW PLAYS NOW, the annual festival of new plays by emerging artists from the MFA Theatre Program at Columbia University School of the Arts. NEW PLAYS NOW will run from tonight, April 17 to May 11 and will feature original works by Paulina Barros, Keith Boynton, Talya Chalef, Angelica Cheri, Pei-Chieh Chiang, Paola Lazaro Muñoz, Alessandra Most, Christina Quintana, Torrey Townsend, and Zhao Binghao.

Atlantic Theater Company has announced that Olivier and two time Tony Award winning playwright John Guare will make his Off Broadway acting debut in the world premiere production of his new play 3 KINDS OF EXILE, directed by Atlantic artistic director Neil Pepe, featuring Atlantic ensemble members Peter Maloney and David Pittu and guest artists Alison Cimmet, Jeffrey Kuhn, Jacquelyn Landgraf, Martin Moran, Kate Rigg, Omar Sangare and Timothy Splain.

The Award-Winning Epic Theatre Ensemble, now in their 12th year presents William Shakespeare's RICHARD III: Born With Teeth, part of Shakespeare for a New Generation, a national program of the National Endowment for the Arts in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The production, directed by Ron Russell, begins previews Off-Broadway tonight, Tuesday, April 16th and opens Saturday, April 20th at 8:00 PM at the Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street). The play will run through May 4th.

Ego Actus (Bruce A! Kraemer and Joan Kane producers) will present Kate Fodor's 100 Saints You Should Know from May 9th thru May 26th at Urban Stages. Joan Kane directs. The cast features Rosie Cosch*, Eric Percival, Carolyn Cutillo, Phoenix Lee and Annette Hunt* (Ivanov at CSC Rep). (*Members of Actors' Equity)

Six children whose parents were on the blacklist of the 1950s will gather for a panel discussion after today's April 14, 5:00pm performance of Finks, playwright Joe Gilford's fictionalized account of his parents, Jack Gilford and MAdeline Lee Gilford, and their real life experience of the blacklist, at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, 549 West 52nd Street.

The Award-Winning Epic Theatre Ensemble, now in their 12th year presents William Shakespeare's RICHARD III: Born With Teeth, part of Shakespeare for a New Generation, a national program of the National Endowment for the Arts in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The production, directed by Ron Russell, begins previews Off-Broadway on Tuesday, April 16th and opens Saturday, April 20th at 8:00 PM at the Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street). The play will run through May 4th.

The Flea Theater will present the New York Premiere of WHITE HOT by Tommy Smith (Pigeon, The Wife). It is directed by Courtney Ulrich and stars The Bats. Performances run April 26 - May 26 at The Flea (41 White Street between Church and Broadway in Tribeca).

Keen Teens, the educational theatre partnership between Off-Broadway's Keen Company and the theatrical publishing company Samuel French, has selected the writers for the program's seventh season: Jonathan Caren, Madeleine George, and Anna Moench, who have been commissioned to write thirty-minute, large cast plays, which will be produced with student actors Off-Broadway.

Six children whose parents were on the blacklist of the 1950s will gather for a panel discussion after the Sunday, April 14, 5:00pm performance of Finks, playwright Joe Gilford's fictionalized account of his parents, Jack Gilford and Madeline Lee Gilford, and their real life experience of the blacklist, at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, 549 West 52nd Street.

3rd Kulture Kids launches its In Transit reading series taking place on the 8th, 15th and 22nd of April at Somethin' Jazz, 212 E 52nd Street at 6:30pm (readings will start at 7).

New York Live Arts is set to present several Re: Awakenings performances as part of the inaugural Live Ideas festival. New York Live Arts' newest program initiative, Live Ideas is an annual humanities festival that will explore a different theme each year over several days. The inaugural festival, The Worlds of Oliver Sacks, will take place from April 17 through 21, 2013 and is comprised of more than 20 events, including performances, films and discussions that showcase works of art and spark conversations that engage the prevalent themes in the acclaimed neurologist's works.

After an acclaimed premiere in San Diego, Wonderlist Productions and Neighborhood Productions presents the New York Premiere of BUREAU OF MISSING PERSONS by award-winning playwright Lila Rose Kaplan. Directed by Sarah Rasmussen, the production begins previews begin June 14 at New York Theatre Workshop's 4th Street Theater. Opening is slated for June 19.

InFusion Theatre Company has announced its second collaboration with award-winning playwright Qui Nguyen with the Midwest premiere of Fight Girl Battle World, directed by InFusion Artistic Director Mitch Golob, May 14 - June 16, at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. Meet the show's lead Sheila O'Connor below!

The Astoria Performing Arts Center (APAC) has announced Willy Russell's (Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine) BLOOD BROTHERS, musical staging by Christine O'Grady, musical direction by Julianne B. Merrill, and directed by Tom Wojtunik. BLOOD BROTHERS will play a limited engagement at the Good Shepherd United Methodist Church (30-44 Crescent St, Astoria, NY 11102. Entrance on 30th Road.) Performances begin Thursday, May 2 and continue through Saturday, May 18.

Members of The Sandbox Artists Collective will present the Sandbox One-Act Play Festival (aka SOAP Fest), premiering new works by some of Seattle's most provocative playwrights. Innovative and inspiring, each piece is a fully realized story of approximately 20-30 minutes and packed with dramatic intensity.

At Hand Theatre Company (Letters to the End of The World, Broadway Recycled) presents the World Premiere of Joshua Conkel's I WANNA DESTROY YOU, a romantic comedy that tears the trope of the gay sidekick to shreds. Produced by Matthew DiCarlo and Justin Scribner and directed by Dan Horrigan (As Wide As I Can See), previews begin May 17 at the Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row. Opening is slated for May 22.

3rd Kulture Kids launches its In Transit reading series taking place on the 8th, 15th and 22nd of April at Somethin' Jazz, 212 E 52nd Street at 6:30pm (readings will start at 7).

The World Premiere new musical PARADISE, is extending through May 4th, 2013, at Ruskin Group Theatre, 3000 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica, Calif. The run will take a hiatus from March 31st - April 12th, no performance on April 28th. Award winning director Dan Bonnell has assembled an outstanding cast for this memorable new musical, with live music on stage.

Casting directors James Dreisbach from Pat McCorkle Casting, Jamibeth Margolis Casting, Jennifer Peralta-Ajemian and Robin Carus of J&R Casting, Barry Moss of MKA Casting, Helene Galek of Helene GalekCasting; manager Bob Luke; and agents Albert Bramante of Emerging Talent, Sue Winik of Sheplin Winik Artists and Emily Sclar of Judy Boals Agency are among the more than 40 theater professionals attending the upcoming TRU 2013 Combined Audition Event on April 6 and 7, 2013.

The Ensemble Studio Theatre will honor two of Broadway's most distinguished producers, Jeffrey Richards and Jerry Frankel, at its 45th Anniversary Gala, Monday evening, May 20, at 6:30pm at SIR Stage 37, 508 West 37th Street. Tickets are $500 and $1,000.