Jay Smith News

CENTERSTAGE Managing Director Debbie Chinn has decided to resign to allow the State Theater of Maryland the utmost in flexibility as it searches for a new artistic leader.

Seventeen screenplays with GLBT themes or characters have been named semifinalists in the first Great Gay Screenplay Contest sponsored by Pride Films and Plays.

Formerly a project of the Ontological-Hysteric Theater, the Incubator Arts Project supports independent, experimental performing artists through a series of programs aimed at offering production opportunities and guidance with long-term growth and artistic sustainability. (More info at the end of this announcement.)

CENTERSTAGE has announced the selection of Management Consultants for the Arts, based in Stamford, Connecticut, to handle a national search to identify a successor for Artistic Director Irene Lewis, who will depart after 19 seasons with CENTERSTAGE at the end of the 2010-11 Season.

Bay Area audiences will be given a rare opportunity to see one of his vivid worlds come to life when the work of Peter S. Beagle, iconic American fantasy author best known for his international bestseller The Last Unicorn, will be presented on stage in the World Premiere of GIANT BONES. Written and directed by acclaimed Bay Area playwright Stuart Bousel, GIANT BONES is based on four of Beagle's short stories, as told by a traveling troupe of actors in a distant land. Interlacing myth and memory with dangerous magic and absurd bravery, and culminating in a climactic play within a play that questions who writes history and who remembers it, GIANT BONES runs May 14 through June 19 at the EXIT Theatre (156 Eddy Street, San Francisco). For tickets (previews $15, regular $20-$30, opening $40, Gala $50), call 650 728 8098 or visit www.brownpapertickets.com. Every ticket holder will also receive a free signed hardcover 'Gold Sigil' edition of the book that inspired the play. (This out of print book is being reissued for this production, and signed copies, dated by show, will be given only to ticket holders, limiting the size of the edition to the same number that attend the play, making it a rare collectors item.)

Bay Area audiences will be given a rare opportunity to see one of his vivid worlds come to life when the work of Peter S. Beagle, iconic American fantasy author best known for his international bestseller The Last Unicorn, will be presented on stage in the World Premiere of GIANT BONES. Written and directed by acclaimed Bay Area playwright Stuart Bousel, GIANT BONES is based on four of Beagle's short stories, as told by a traveling troupe of actors in a distant land. Interlacing myth and memory with dangerous magic and absurd bravery, and culminating in a climactic play within a play that questions who writes history and who remembers it, GIANT BONES runs May 14 through June 19 at the EXIT Theatre (156 Eddy Street, San Francisco). For tickets (previews $15, regular $20-$30, opening $40, Gala $50), call 650 728 8098 or visit www.brownpapertickets.com. Every ticket holder will also receive a free signed hardcover 'Gold Sigil' edition of the book that inspired the play. (This out of print book is being reissued for this production, and signed copies, dated by show, will be given only to ticket holders, limiting the size of the edition to the same number that attend the play, making it a rare collectors item.)

Among the 2010 inductees into the New Jersey Hall of Fame are Frankie Valli and stage and screen star Susan Sarandon. They, along with the additional thirteen honorees, will be honored at a gala on May 2 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.

Irene Lewis, Artistic Director of CENTERSTAGE, and Jay Smith, President of the theater's Board of Trustees, announced today that Ms. Lewis will leave CENTERSTAGE in June 2011 after completion of the 2010-11 season, which will mark her 19th year as Artistic Director.

Bay Area audiences will be given a rare opportunity to see one of his vivid worlds come to life when the work of Peter S. Beagle, iconic American fantasy author best known for his international bestseller The Last Unicorn, will be presented on stage in the World Premiere of GIANT BONES. Written and directed by acclaimed Bay Area playwright Stuart Bousel, GIANT BONES is based on four of Beagle's short stories, as told by a traveling troupe of actors in a distant land. Interlacing myth and memory with dangerous magic and absurd bravery, and culminating in a climactic play within a play that questions who writes history and who remembers it, GIANT BONES runs May 14 through June 19 at the EXIT Theatre (156 Eddy Street, San Francisco). For tickets (previews $15, regular $20-$30, opening $40, Gala $50), call 650 728 8098 or visit www.brownpapertickets.com.

NCTC will end its production of The Sugar Witch, by Nathan Sanders and directed by Dennis Lickteig on April 11th.

Playhouse Disney Live!, the first live touring stage production featuring favorite characters from four shows in Disney Channel's popular Playhouse Disney program block for preschoolers, is coming to Columbus.

Playhouse Disney Live!, the first live touring stage production featuring favorite characters from four shows in Disney Channel's popular Playhouse Disney program block for preschoolers, is coming to Columbus.

NCTC is proud to present The Sugar Witch, by Nathan Sanders and directed by Dennis Lickteig. The show previews February 26 - March 5, 2010, opens on Saturday, March 6th and runs through April 11, 2010.

NCTC is proud to present The Sugar Witch, by Nathan Sanders and directed by Dennis Lickteig. The show previews February 26 - March 5, 2010, opens on Saturday, March 6th and runs through April 11, 2010.

NCTC is proud to present The Sugar Witch, by Nathan Sanders and directed by Dennis Lickteig. The show previews February 26 - March 5, 2010, opens on Saturday, March 6th and runs through April 11, 2010.

NCTC is proud to present The Sugar Witch, by Nathan Sanders and directed by Dennis Lickteig. The show previews February 26 - March 5, 2010, opens on Saturday, March 6th and runs through April 4, 2010.

NCTC is proud to present The Sugar Witch, by Nathan Sanders and directed by Dennis Lickteig. The show previews February 26 - March 5, 2010, opens on Saturday, March 6th and runs through April 11, 2010.

NCTC is proud to present The Sugar Witch, by Nathan Sanders and directed by Dennis Lickteig. The show previews February 26 - March 5, 2010, opens on Saturday, March 6th and runs through April 11, 2010.

Among the 2010 inductees into the New Jersey Hall of Fame are Frankie Valli and stage and screen star Susan Sarandon. They, along with the additional thirteen honorees, will be honored at a gala on May 2 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, in association with the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival, is pleased to present an evening of poetry, theater and reminiscences in honor of the induction of Tennessee Williams into the Cathedral's Poets' Corner. On Thursday, November 5th at 7:00pm, theatre luminaries, friends of Mr. Williams and people who were inspired by his life work, will take part in the historic celebration. Participants include Eli Wallach & Anne Jackson, Vanessa Redgrave, Marian Seldes, John Guare, Olympia Dukakis, John Patrick Shanley, Gregory Mosher, Sylvia Miles, William Jay Smith, Lenya Rideout, Jeremy Lawrence, Wyatt Prunty, David Kaplan, Thomas Keith, Mitch Douglas, and current Cathedral Poet-in-Residence Charles F. Martin. It is expected that additional friends and colleagues of Mr. Williams will also be taking part in the evening.