Lanford Wilson News

The Cold War meets the War on Terror. Bodies meet the floor. LIVE/FEED is a movement theater mash-up that focuses on the actors' physical relationships with each other and with the performance space.

Following an acclaimed season which included the New York Premiere of Anna Deavere Smith's Let Me Down Easy and the Broadway transfer of the musical hit Everyday Rapture, Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) has announced three plays for its upcoming 32nd Season.

Pride Films and Plays, a new not-for-profit, is proud to announce its inaugural activities as an organization. The first two events scheduled are Five Decades of Great Gay Theater, May 9 - June 13, a series of staged reading of great gay plays, Theatre Building Chicago, 1225 West Belmont*, and the Great Gay Screenplay Contest, held in conjunction with Chicago Filmmakers. The contest seeks new screenplays dealing with gay history, characters or themes and relevant to the world. The semi-finalists will be read this fall during Reeling: The Chicago Lesbian and Gay International Film Festival.

What do Alan Alda, Joy Behar, Kate Burton, Zoe Caldwell, Mario Cantone, Kim Cattrall, Richard Kind and Mercedes Ruehl all have in common? Aside from being incredibly talented performers and some of the biggest names in show business today, they are just a few of the many talented artists who have recently signed on to Bay Street Theatre's newly formed Artistic Associates Committee.

Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce St. in Greenwich Village) will present Nate Rufus Edelman's play THE BELLE OF BELFAST - the second of three plays staged this spring as part of Cherry Lane's award-winning 12th annual MENTOR PROJECT playwriting series - with performances starting April 27.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) has announced that USMAN ALLY, TERENCE ARCHIE, DESMIN BORGES, CHRISTIAN LITKE, and MICHAEL T. WEISS (NBC's 'The Pretender') will star in the New York premiere of THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY, a new play written by Kristoffer Diaz and directed by Edward Torres.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater will conclude its 15th Anniversary season with the world premiere of The Aliens, by Annie Baker (Circle Mirror Transformation, Body Awareness). Directed by Sam Gold (Circle Mirror Transformation, Rag and Bone), performances begin Wednesday, April 14th, 2010. Opening night is Thursday, April 22nd at 7pm. The show is scheduled to run through Sunday, May 23rd, 2010.

The Barrow Group Theatre Company presents its 16th Annual Celebrity Doodles Auction & Gala on Monday, May 10th, 2010. Each year celebrities donate their artwork, or doodles, that are auctioned off in this annual fundraiser, at which The Barrow Group also honors individuals for their service to the arts and TBG. This year's honorees include Jon Marans and David Diamond.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater will conclude its 15th Anniversary season with the world premiere of The Aliens, by Annie Baker (Circle Mirror Transformation, Body Awareness). Directed by Sam Gold (Circle Mirror Transformation, Rag and Bone), performances begin Wednesday, April 14th, 2010. Opening night is Thursday, April 22nd at 7pm. The show is scheduled to run through Sunday, May 23rd, 2010.

Pride Films and Plays, a new not-for-profit, is proud to announce its inaugural activities as an organization. The first two events scheduled are Five Decades of Great Gay Theater, May 9 - June 13, a series of staged reading of great gay plays, Theatre Building Chicago, 1225 West Belmont*, and the Great Gay Screenplay Contest, held in conjunction with Chicago Filmmakers. The contest seeks new screenplays dealing with gay history, characters or themes and relevant to the world. The semi-finalists will be read this fall during Reeling: The Chicago Lesbian and Gay International Film Festival.

Kevin Bacon will join Steve Carell in an untitled Dan Fogelman-Steve Carell project, according to The Hollywood Reporter. John Requa and Glenn Ficarra will direct the movie for Warner Bros. Filming will begin in late April.

Just in - NEXT TO NORMAL has one the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama! As per the official Pulitzer's web site: For a distinguished play by an American author, preferably original in its source and dealing with American life, Ten thousand dollars ($10,000).

The 2010 Pulitzer Prizewinners and Nominated Finalists in all categories will be announced on April 12, 2010 at 3 p.m. Eastern daylight time. Finalists are not announced in advance. The 2010 Prizes are awarded for work published, produced or premiered in 2009.

Williamstown Theatre Festival (Nicholas Martin, Artistic Director) announced today that Terry Kinney (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; reasons to be pretty) will direct a production of Lanford Wilson's modern classic Fifth of July, which will play the WTF Main Stage from August 11 - 22, 2010. A co-production with Bay Street Theatre, this gentle comic drama from Wilson's beloved Talley Trilogy will be the final Main Stage production of the season.

Aspen's acclaimed Theater Masters will present its fourth annual 'Take 10,' an evening of ten nine 10-minute plays from aspiring playwrights across the country as part of its National MFA Playwrights competition on April 6th - 9th at Off-Broadway's Walkerspace (46 Walker Street). Distinguished Playwright Lanford Wilson, Theater Masters' Associate Director Pesha Rudnick and I read over 100 scripts submitted from ten of the top graduate playwriting programs to find these remarkable plays from some of the finest young playwrights this country is developing' said Julia Hansen, Theater Masters founder/Artistic Director - and former President of New York's Drama League. 'In many ways, how I started the Drama League's 'Director's Project' is how I am now developing new playwrights and giving them their first chance to have their work receive a New York premiere.'

Aspen's acclaimed Theater Masters will present its fourth annual 'Take 10,' an evening of ten nine 10-minute plays from aspiring playwrights across the country as part of its National MFA Playwrights competition on April 6th - 9th at Off-Broadway's Walkerspace (46 Walker Street).

Nicholas Martin announced today the remainder of the 2010 Season for Williamstown Theatre Festival (WTF), the 56th season, and final one under Martin's tenure as WTF Artistic Director.

59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) welcomes the New Jersey Repertory Company, by special arrangement with Pat Addiss and Vasi Laurence, to AMERICAS OFF BROADWAY with the New York premiere of THE HOUSEWIVES OF MANNHEIM, written by Alan Brody and directed by SuzAnne Barabas. THE HOUSEWIVES OF MANNHEIM begins previews on Thursday, May 6 for a limited engagement through Sunday, June 6. Press Opening is Friday, May 14 at 8:15 PM.

In a parent's worst nightmare, a troubled American teen vanishes into the mysterious world of Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox haredi community while on a summer trip to Israel, cutting off all communication with her desperate mother and father.

Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce St. in Greenwich Village) will present Nate Rufus Edelman's play THE BELLE OF BELFAST - the second of three plays staged this spring as part of Cherry Lane's award-winning 12th annual MENTOR PROJECT playwriting series - with performances starting April 27.