The plays are here! Florida Studio Theatre's 2014 Young Playwrights Festival has begun. Plays from over 3,000 playwrights were received from all over Florida and across the globe. FST is proud to announce that the winning plays of the Under Six and Seven Up programs have been selected. The winning playwrights will be honored on Saturday, May 10th at the Young Playwrights Festival awards ceremony.
Florida Studio Theatre announces its annual Richard and Betty Burdick New Play Reading Series, which will present three new plays by contemporary American playwrights. The series will take place in the Keating Theatre on Monday, April 28 at 7:00pm, Monday, May 5 at 7:00pm, and Saturday, May 10 at 2:00pm, and is part of FST's Sarasota Festival of New Plays. Tickets for the series are 3 plays for $25, or individual play readings for $10. Additionally, FRIENDS of FST can purchase a subscription for all 3 plays for $15. They may be purchased by calling the FST Box Office at (941) 366-9000 or by visiting www.floridastudiotheatre.org.
Florida Studio Theatre is delighted to announce that Gulf Coast Community Foundation has approved a $30,000 grant for the development and production of 'FOR THE AGES: A Cultural Gerontology Project,' a new initiative that will create a premiere docudrama comprised of interviews with audience members and experts on the issues of aging.
Florida Studio Theatre is holding a series of 8 master classes on the 4th Monday of each month. The next Master Class: Emotional Intelligence will be held on October 28th from 7:00 - 9:00pm. All Master Classes are available for $25 per class or 8 classes for $150. To enroll, please call Pam Smith, Education Administrator at 941-366-1350 or visit http://www.floridastudiotheatre.org/education-adult-list.php.
Florida Studio Theatre's WRITE A PLAY season will kick off in the Keating Theatre with Androcles and the Lion by Aurand Harris and Glenn Mack. Directed by Associate Artist, Jason Cannon, performances begin in the Keating Theatre on Tuesday, September 24 and will play through November to more than 11,000 students from Sarasota and Manatee County schools.
Florida Studio Theatre announces a new season of workshop offerings for the fall, in addition to its dynamic class offerings for adults in acting, play reading, playwriting, improv and more!
The plays are here! Florida Studio Theatre's 2013 Young Playwrights Festival has begun. Over 3,000 plays were received from young playwrights all over Florida and across the globe. FST is has announced the winning plays of the UNDER SIX and SEVEN UP programs.
Imaginary Theatre Company (ITC), the young audiences touring ensemble of The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, will present Annie Oakley by Kathryn Schultz Miller and directed by Jason Cannon. This delightful play will be performed in the E. Desmond Lee Auditorium at the Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Boulevard in Forest Park, tonight, March 21-30, 2013.
Imaginary Theatre Company (ITC), the young audiences touring ensemble of The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, will present Annie Oakley by Kathryn Schultz Miller and directed by Jason Cannon. This delightful play will be performed in the E. Desmond Lee Auditorium at the Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Boulevard in Forest Park, March 21-30, 2013.
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.
KILLER JOE is a killer show! I only regret not being able to see this show until I'd returned from my vacation, effectively eliminating my chance to laud the show properly in order to drive an audience to it. My sincerest apologies, because I'm a fan of playwright Tracy Letts, and, not having seen this show before, I was unprepared for its sheer rawness. It's a hilarious pulpy send-up on the classic idea of hiring a hitman to off someone in order to benefit monetarily from the situation, and the St. Louis Actors' Studio have outdone themselves with an excellent rendering of this early work. The direction and acting of the entire ensemble is fearless and superb.
The Ceremony for the Seventh Annual Kevin Kline Awards took place last night at the Loretto-Hilton Theater, honoring productions in St Louis from 2011. We've got the full list of nominees and winners below.
David Johnston's translation of playwright Juan Mayorga's WAY TO HEAVEN is an intriguing play with an interesting concept and execution. Told in five acts, the work, at first, seems to suffer from repetition, until you begin to realize just how this moment in history actually took place. The act which begins after the intermission brings it all together in a much more satisfying and conclusive fashion. Getting there is frustrating at times, but well worth the trip. The current production by the New Jewish Theatre is a spellbinding true tale that will linger in your memory long after the curtain falls on this show. The ensemble work is exceptional, and the story itself is heartbreaking, powerful stuff.
A concert honoring the life and career of the late David Gurland has been scheduled for this coming Monday. The event, DAVID GURLAND: A Celebration, will take place Monday, July 11th, at 7:00 PM in the Laura Pels Theatre at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre at 111 West 46th Street.
A concert honoring the life and career of the late David Gurland has been scheduled for this coming Monday. The event, DAVID GURLAND: A Celebration, will take place Monday, July 11th, at 7:00 PM in the Laura Pels Theatre at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre at 111 West 46th Street. The concert, originally by invitation only, will now have a limited number of tickets available to the public.
In what can be labeled a 'First,' the New Jewish Theatre is proud to boast that the director for the upcoming production of Clifford Odet's 1935 classic AWAKE AND SING! is Steve Woolf, Artistic Director of the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. While Woolf does direct outside of the Rep, he does not direct for other theatres in the St. Louis area. So this is a genuine First for both Woolf and the New Jewish Theatre. Most recently outside of the Rep, Mr. Woolf directed THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK at the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre (and then went on to direct the Rep's production of the same show). But the upcoming production at NJT was a show that he could not resist. Its realism and grittiness and the strength of the characters appealed to him.
Though playwright Clifford Odets wrote AWAKE AND SING! in 1933, it still has the power to resonate with an audience over 70 years later, not only due to the fact that our country is currently struggling with its own economic uncertainties, but also because the theme of pursuing your dream under undeniably dire circumstance is a timeless one. Revived in 2006, but rarely staged otherwise, this is a rare opportunity to see an American masterpiece. The New Jewish Theatre's current production is a real stunner, chock-full of drama and humor, and brimming with electric performances.
In what can be labeled a 'First,' the New Jewish Theatre is proud to boast that the director for the upcoming production of Clifford Odet's 1935 classic AWAKE AND SING! is Steve Woolf, Artistic Director of the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. While Woolf does direct outside of the Rep, he does not direct for other theatres in the St. Louis area. So this is a genuine First for both Woolf and the New Jewish Theatre. Most recently outside of the Rep, Mr. Woolf directed THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK at the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre (and then went on to direct the Rep's production of the same show). But the upcoming production at NJT was a show that he could not resist. Its realism and grittiness and the strength of the characters appealed to him.
Imaginary Theatre Company (ITC), the young audiences touring ensemble of The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, will present Trail of Tears by Kathryn Schultz Miller. This powerful play will be performed in the E. Desmond Lee Auditorium at the Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Boulevard in Forest Park, March 25-April 3, 2011.
With TRAIL OF TEARS celebrated playwright Kathryn Schultz Miller once again brings history to life in this gripping drama. View 1800s America through the eyes of youthful and determined Chosen One as his people are forced to abandon their homeland in the Smoky Mountains. With his wife, Snow Owl, and his father, Walking Bear, he fights valiantly to save his people, but is overcome time and again by the attractive empty promises of the new settlers. This dramatic tale of one man's heartbreaking struggle to hold on to his Cherokee heritage is a fresh look at a painful chapter in American history.