Howard Sherman News

In a sculptural costume designed by artist Arlene Shechet, two-time Academy Award Winner Dianne Wiest has been perming pieces from Samuel Beckett's Happy Days this week (through October 26).  The action of the play takes place within and around Madison Square Park's reflecting pool, which has been emptied by Shechet for her new, site-specific installation Full Steam Ahead.

The Music Center, a cultural anchor and Los Angeles County's leading performing arts destination, announced plans to expand its programming by launching an artistic division, The Music Center Arts, which will complement the organization's operations division, known as The Music Center Ops.  The Music Center Arts' debut validates the organization's commitment to deliver excellence and impact in dance, public programming and arts education, and ensure that its programming is relevant and accessible to both current and emerging audiences throughout Los Angeles County.  The Music Center named non-profit arts sector trailblazer Josephine Ramirez as executive vice president to lead The Music Center Arts.  Ramirez will report to The Music Center's President & CEO Rachel Moore and join The Music Center's executive team.

Sam Shepard's Pulitzer Prize winning drama, Buried Child, is now being performed at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey through October 7. Expertly directed by Paul Mullins and featuring an outstanding cast, the play honors Shepard's playwriting legacy with a production of his masterpiece that is beyond excellent.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey continues its 56th season with its fourth Main Stage production, Buried Child. This will mark the first time the Theatre has presented a play by Sam Shepard, who passed away last year. Paul Mullins returns to direct. Veteran company member Sherman Howard leads a cast that features returning company members Anthony Marble and Carol Halstead, as well as Roger Clark, Paul Cooper, Michael Dale, and Andrea Morales, all of whom are making their STNJ debut. Performances begin September 19. Patrons can purchase tickets at The F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre located at 36 Madison Avenue in Madison by calling the Box Office at 973-408-5600 or by going online at www.ShakespeareNJ.org.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey continues its 56th season with its fourth Main Stage production, Buried Child.

On Sunday, August 26th, entertainment stars and activists joined together for Broadway Blue Wave For New York. Watch as Laura Benanti performs 'Send in the Clowns' as Melania and Taylor Schilling speaks about the state of NY Politics. Then check out the photos of Annie Golden, Tony Yazbeck, Javier Munoz, and more!

According to the annual high school play survey conducted by the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), Beauty and the Beast; Almost, Maine; and Check Please clinched top billing for most produced musical, full-length play, and short play, respectively, during the 2017-18 school year.

Laura Penn, Executive Director of SDC, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, today announced the engagement of Howard Sherman as the union's first Director of Communications and Education. Sherman began in the position on October 23.

Tonight at the Viva Broadway! celebration hosted by Tony Award-winner, Lin-Manuel Miranda and star of stage and screen, John Leguizamo, Hamilton's current Angelica Schuyler, Mandy Gonzalez, debuted a new song from her solo record.

JACK will present 'Mamet Talkbacks,' moderated by Jeremy M. Barker, on September 17, October 15 and November 17, 2017.

On the third episode of BroadwayWorld's new theatre business podcast, 'The OHenry Report,' Broadway producer and investor Oliver Henry Roth talks to two industry professionals about the licensing process for plays and musicals, and then what happens when a theatre company violates their license.

As BroadwayWorld reported in May, controversy recently erupted over an Oregon production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Shoebox Theatre director Michael Streeter posted the below statement after receiving news from the Edward Albee estate:

Last night, stars of the stage and screen dazzled a full house at the Theatre at ACE Hotel during the first ever The 24 Hour Musicals: Los Angeles. The event raised money for the Dramatists Legal Defense Fund, a nonprofit arm of the Dramatists Guild of America, which advocates for the freedom of expression on behalf of all who are confronting censorship on stages across America. Scroll down for photos from the event!

Following news that two major sponsors, Delta Air Lines and Bank of America, had pulled financial support for The Public Theater in response to their Donald Trump-Themed Shakespeare in the Park production of JULIUS CAESAR, New Yorkers showed their support of the Public with a rally, that took place yesterday evening at Astor Place. 

As former FBI Director James Comey testifies on his interactions with President Donald Trump, Broadway has taken to Twitter to express their excitement with the hashtag #ComeyBroadway - where they insert Comey's name into a Broadway reference. 

According to artsintegrity.org, Howard Sherman writes that there has been an uproar surrounding a recent production of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest at Boston Children's Theatre. This debate has centered around one nude scene, which reportedly takes up 'less than one page of the acting edition script.' However, the ramifications of this acting and directorial decision have been much bigger than that.

In a case of misguided censorship, Ames Center in Burnsville, Minn., has refused to produce a production of CAUCASIAN-AGRESSIVE PANDAS AND OTHER MULATTO TALES by biracial playwright Derek 'Duck' Washington, which would have been staged by the city-owned Center's resident theatre company, Chameleon Theatre Circle. Their problem is with the world 'mulatto' in the show's title.

The Apothetae, a theater company committed to challenging perceived perceptions of the "Disabled Experience," and The Lark, a play development lab devoted to equity, community, and the power of an individual artistic voice, are thrilled to announce the launch and opening of submissions for the pilot round of The Apothetae at Lark Fellowship, made possible with leadership support from the Time Warner Foundation, and additional support from Jody Falco and Jeffrey Steinman.

In the wake of the recent debate around the Encores! Big River revival, Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA) is convening a panel of some of the theater industry's premier thinkers and art makers to discuss the roles and responsibilities of producers, artists, and critics in the portrayal of underrepresented experiences on stage.

On February 27, 2017, the Dramatists Guild of America, Inc. will hold its annual Awards Night at the French Institute / Alliance Francaise in New York City and among the other honors given that night, an award from the Dramatists Legal Defense Fund will be presented to producer Jeffrey Seller, director Thomas Kail, author Lin-Manuel Miranda, and the cast of Hamilton, for exercising their right to free speech by reading a statement directed at Governor and Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who was in attendance, at the November 18, 2016 performance.