Joanie Schultz News

KCRep has announced the cancellation of OriginKC's FRANKENSTEIN and LEGACY LAND

Portland Center Stage at The Armory announced its 2020-2021 ten-show season, featuring music, humor, Tony Award-winning classics, and a Northwest Stories commissioned world premiere from nationally renowned playwright Lauren Yee.

Frankenstein, a haunting exploration of a 200-year-old horror tale and Legacy Land, a dark-comedy dive into the legacy of sexual abuse make their world premieres during Kansas City Repertory Theatre's annual OriginKC: New Works Festival, March 6-April 5 at Copaken Stage. OriginKC: New Works Festival engages audiences with the process of creating theater and gives emerging and established playwrights the resources to develop scripts for future seasons at KCRep and beyond.

If the idea of an update to one of the world's most groundbreaking plays makes you dubious, because you think it will be a stodgy yawner or because you believe classics should not be messed with, or if you know little about Ibsen's most famous play, and so think you'll be too clueless to get this one, be reassured: the Jungle's production of A DOLL'S HOUSE PART 2 is both accessible and riveting.

The Victory Gardens Theater Board of Directors and Artistic Director Chay Yew today announce plans for Yew's departure from Victory Gardens at the end of the 2019-20 Season. An internationally renowned stage director and playwright, Yew has been the Artistic Director of Victory Gardens since July 2011. Yew will finish his ninth and final season through June 2020, and will pursue personal projects upon leaving the theater.

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF), the not-for-profit foundation affiliated with Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), has announced the winner and three finalists for the annual Zelda Fichandler Award. The award will be presented at an invitation-only event on Tuesday, November 12, 2019 in New York City. The Fichandler Award recognizes directors and choreographers who have demonstrated great accomplishment to-date with singular creativity and deep investment in a particular community or region, and is named for Zelda Fichandler, the founding artistic director of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. This year's Fichandler Award focused on directors and choreographers from the central region of the United States.

Philadelphia Theatre Company's 45th Anniversary Season kicks off with the Philadelphia premiere of Obie Award Recipient Adam Bock's meticulously crafted drama A Small Fire, starring two-time Tony and Emmy Award winner Bebe Neuwirth. The play will be directed by Joanie Schultz, former Artistic Director of the WaterTower Theatre in Texas, and also known for her work in Chicago at The Goodman, Victory Gardens and Steppenwolf Theatres. Producing Artistic Director Paige Price and Managing Director Emily Zeck are excited to welcome Neuwirth and a cast of nationally and locally renowned actors to star in the season opener. Previews begin October 18th, Opening Night is Wednesday, October 23rd, and the show runs through November 10th. Single tickets range from $25-$74 and 3-play subscriptions start as low as $48, available now at the box office, online at philatheatreco.org or by phone at 215-985-0420.

An amazing selfie is brought to life in FRIDA…A SELF PORTRAIT that opened May 4th at Copaken Stage in Kansas City. Produced by the Kansas City Repertory Theatre for its Origin KC: New Works Festival the play runs through May 19 at the theater located in the H&R Block Building at 13th and Walnut. The Origin KC: New Works Festal has brought Kansas City into the national center for the cultivation and production of new works. The festival offers theatre artists financial, creative, and artistic resources to develop new and diverse works for the theatre.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre celebrated the end of its 2018/2019 run and the new works theater community with the OriginKC: NEW WORKS FESTIVAL, running April 19 through May 19, 2019. The focal point of the Festival is the three-day intensive Festival Launch Weekend, May 3, 4 and 5, that features staged readings, panel discussions, two premiere opening nights, and post-show conversations.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre wraps up its 2018/19 season with the fourth annual OriginKC: NEW WORKS FESTIVAL, April 19 through May 19, 2019. The OriginKC: NEW WORKS FESTIVAL positions Kansas City as a major player and national center for the cultivation and production of new works, while offering theatre artists from across the country the financial, creative, and artistic resources required to develop vital, diverse works of theatre.  

Goodman Theatre announces Sydney Chatman as the recipient of the 2019 Michael Maggio Directing Fellowship, an honor reserved for early-career Chicago-based directors. Chatman will gain complete access to the artistic process at the Goodman-from early research and design through the casting and rehearsal process to the opening night. The annual fellowship was established in 2002 to honor the memory and artistry of Goodman Associate Artistic Director Michael Maggio (1951 - 2000) who directed a total of 22 productions at the Goodman and more than 60 productions around the country.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre presents its Girl Power Campaign for the last half of the 2018-2019 season, celebrating strong, powerful women everywhere. The remaining five plays are all written by women and about women and demonstrate the strength, intelligence, and bravery of women around the world.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre honors strong women everywhere, be they community leaders, artists, CEOs, entrepreneurs, students or stay-at-home moms, as they announce the second half of their 2018/19 season with FIVE plays by FIVE female playwrights, all of which celebrate the strength, intelligence, and bravery of women everywhere.

Stomping Ground Comedy debuts its first holiday show of the season, a fully scripted "Deck the Halls. With Brains: A Christmas Horror Melodrama", to be performed at 8pm today evenings December 7-21 at Stomping Ground Comedy Theater, located at 1350 Manufacturing Street, #109, Dallas, Texas, 75207

Stomping Ground Comedy debuts its first holiday show of the season, a fully scripted "Deck the Halls. With Brains: A Christmas Horror Melodrama", to be performed at 8pm on Friday evenings December 7-21 at Stomping Ground Comedy Theater, located at 1350 Manufacturing Street, #109, Dallas, Texas, 75207

WaterTower Theatre Artistic Director, Joanie Schultz, today announced details for The Great Distance Home conceived and directed by WTT's Associate Artistic Director, Kelsey Leigh Ervi.

Admittedly, I am not a parent - nor have I ever had the desire to be one. As a 30-something, I've never had to navigate through the family vs. career challenges depicted in Molly Smith Metzler's play CRY IT OUT, now playing at Studio Theatre. Yet, even without the ability to personally relate to the story, there's a lot to appreciate in the play and Studio's production of it.

WaterTower Theatre Artistic Director, Joanie Schultz, today announced details for The Great Distance Home conceived and directed by WTT's Associate Artistic Director, Kelsey Leigh Ervi.

WaterTower Theatre Board President Grace Daniels announced today that Artistic Director Joanie Schultz will be leaving the organization on Monday, December 31, 2018. 

I have to admit, when I first saw that WaterTower Theatre's season touted a modern adaptation of A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen, I was wary. Modernizing a classic is a risk whose success depends largely on motive. If done as a conscious and careful choice, it can deepen an audience's understanding of the piece. If done haphazardly, perhaps to cover an inadequate budget or a director's cursory understanding of the original text, it may have some fun modern elements, but they will likely be distracting rather than illuminating. Thankfully, WaterTower offers a sophisticated and enlightening modernization. Director and adapter Joanie Schultz modernizes the language and keeps the design firmly rooted in history. The choice to adapt does not hide a lack of understanding on Schultz's part - it in fact shows a true depth of understanding and familiarity with the text. It certainly does not disguise an insufficient budget; elaborate and historically correct fashions created by Melissa Panzarello and Amy Poe, in conjunction with a marvelous set designed by Chelsea M. Warren, convincingly portray the wealth of the late 17th century family at the heart of the drama. And if Schultz feared the audience might not understand? Rather than putting a band aid on that fear with some flashy modern props, she digs into the root of the misunderstanding, the translation from old Norwegian into modern English.