John Simon News

Refuge Theatre Project, the three-year-old company that staged HIGH FIDELITY: THE MUSICAL twice in makeshift record stores, BARE: A POP OPERA in a church sanctuary and LYSISTRATA JONES in a gymnasium; will continue its practice of performing in found spaces with THE SPITFIRE GRILL, opening on March 25.

Elizabeth Birnkrant, known for her roles in JESUS HOPPED THE A TRAIN for Eclipse Theatre, 1984 at Steppenwolf, VICES AND VIRTUES: THE GREAT WAR at Profiles Theatre and other roles with Sideshow, First Floor and Roadworks theatre companies, has been cast in the leading role of L'il Bit in The Artistic Home's production of Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize winning HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE. The Artistic Home co-founder John Mossman will play Uncle Peck, the family member who has a sexual relationship with his niece Li'l Bit during her pre-teen and teenage years. Mossman, who directed The Artistic Home's BY THE BOG OF CATS last year, as an actor has most recently appeared as Leontes in THE WINTERS TALE and O'Trigger in THE RIVALS at Lakeside Shakespeare Theatre.  He has also appeared with The Artistic Home as MACBETH and as Shannon in NIGHT OF THE IGUANA. He played Atticus Finch in Oak Park Festival Theatre's TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and performed in the Steppenwolf production of THE MARCH.

BroadwayWorld is sad to share the news today that legendary filmmaker Rick McKay has passed away earlier this week. A longtime friend of the web site, and constant presence in the theatre world, McKay has long been at work on two sequels to his 2004 hit film, Broadway: The Golden Age.

LUMBERYARD Contemporary Performing Arts today kicks off the third edition of the organization's acclaimed LUMBERYARD In The City Winter Festival, which takes place from January 25 - February 10 at New York Live Arts in New York City.

The Artistic Home will continue its 2017-18 season with Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize winning HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE, to be directed by The Artistic Home's Associate Artistic Director Kayla Adams. It will open to the press Sunday, March 25 at 7:00 pm, following previews from March 21-24. HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE, which premiered in 1997, was a Pulitzer Prize winner and a pioneering drama for its examination of pedophilia and sexual abuse of women. It follows a young woman, named L'il Bit, from age 11 to age 18 and her friendship and sexual affair with her uncle. Director Adams says, this courageous and surprising script reminds me again and again of the healing power of storytelling. In reviewing the 2017 production by the Cleveland Playhouse, the Cleveland PLAIN DEALER said, We can rejoice that 'How I Learned to Drive' feels as fresh and fearless as it did two decades ago - and mourn for the same reason.

In 2015, Stephen Petronio Company culminated its 30th anniversary 2014-15 season with a transformation: the launch of Bloodlines. This five-year autobiographical project not only honors the lineage of American postmodern dance, but also traces the influences and impulses that have shaped choreographer Stephen Petronio, an artist uniquely positioned to preserve this postmodern tradition.

LUMBERYARD Contemporary Performing Arts and the upcoming third edition of their acclaimed LUMBERYARD In The City Winter Festival taking place at New York Live Arts in New York City.

New Light Theater Project (Producing Director, Michael Aguirre; Artistic Director, Sarah Norris) is thrilled to present a revival of Donald Margulies' Tony Award-nominated play TIME STANDS STILL, directed by Jerry Heymann. TIME STANDS STILL begins performances Thursday, February 8 for a limited engagement through Saturday, February 24.

Buffalo Theatre Ensemble (BTE), the professional Equity company in residence at the McAninch Arts Center continues its 2017-2018 season with 'Time Stands Still,' by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies.

In 1998 the Joint Jewish Distribution Committee (JDC) invited Gilles Peress to create a body of work using materials in the JDC archive. With the permission of the JDC, Peress drew from the archival texts, photographs and other materials he found to build three interlocking narratives that helped him intellectually and emotionally grapple with the horrors of the 1930s and 1940s. The resulting installation, Yakov's Children, consists of three oversized volumes each over six feet wide when opened that were first exhibited in Artist in an Archive at the International Center for Photography (New York, 1999) before travelling to the Miami Art Museum, the Contemporary Jewish Museum (San Francisco) and the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.

Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts opens its 2017-18 Composer Portraits series with Marcos Balter.

City Winery Chicago, 1200 W. Randolph Street, announces award-winning R&B artist Melanie Fiona, two evenings with top-selling rock group Candlebox ( Far Behind, You ), groundbreaking hip-hop band Flobots and more.

Adrienne Willis, Executive and Artistic Director of LUMBERYARD Contemporary Performing Arts, today announced the third edition of the organization's acclaimed LUMBERYARD In The City Winter Festival, which takes place from January 25 February 10 at New York Live Arts in New York City. The 2018 Winter Festival will feature genre-blurring productions from three daring and highly accomplished artists, including choreographer Kei Takei and her company Moving Earth Orient Sphere who will present the New York premiere of LIGHT, Part 44 (Bamboo Forest) (??) and Solo from LIGHT, Part 8 (January 25-27); playwright and performance artist Robbie McCauley, who presents the New York premiere of Sugar (February 1-3); and choreographer, dancer and visual artist Dana Reitz, who will present her new world premiere work (February 8-10).

In 2015, Stephen Petronio Company culminated its 30th anniversary 2014-15 season with a transformation: the launch of Bloodlines.

Shaped by her experience coming of age during the Cultural Revolution, Chen Yi's early influences included Chinese traditional music and Western classical music. She is a master of contemporary technique and a strong advocate for music's power to connect audiences of different cultural backgrounds. In the words of The New York Times, Chen Yi's music is about storytelling and theater, and a search for striking and original effects. The spirited Curtis 20/21 Ensemble will take on Chen's impressive chamber works, including the evocative Happy Rain on a Spring Night. ?

The 2017 18 MetLiveArts Artist in Residence, the boldly inventive choreographer and artistic director Andrea Miller of Gallim, will premiere Stone Skipping at The Temple of Dendur in The Sackler Wing on October 28 and 29.

The American Dance Festival (ADF) will present the 2018 Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for lifetime achievement to acclaimed choreographer, Ronald K. Brown. Established in 1981 by Samuel H. Scripps, the annual award honors choreographers who have dedicated their lives and talent to the creation of modern dance. Celebrated dancer, choreographer, and teacher Dianne McIntyre will present the $50,000 award in a brief ceremony on Thursday, June 28th at 8:00pm, prior to the performance of Evidence, A Dance Company at Reynolds Industries Theater.

Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts opens its 2017-18 Composer Portraits series with Marcos Balter.

Kustera Projects presents Bonnie Collura's PATCHWORK, on view this fall. A solo exhibition of new work by Bonnie Collura, this will be the artist's first show in New York in more than 10 years.

It is always a pleasure to acknowledge a rare, unique voice in the dance world. I say this with pleasure after viewing Jonah Bokaer's 'The Disappearance Portraits' on August 24, 2017, at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. I have been following Mr. Boaker's work for a number of years but never had the occasion to write about him. Thus, I now luckily have the opportunity.