This hybrid co-production of Hold These Truths marked San Francisco Playhouse’s return to in-person performances and was also available for audiences to enjoy at home on-demand. San Francisco Playhouse followed strict health and safety protocols to minimize risks to patrons, actors, and staff.
Oregon Shakespeare Festival has announced the month-long, five-play O! Reading Series. For this new initiative, five directors who are part of OSF’s artistic staff have each chosen a play to be performed as a live digital staged reading by some of OSF’s favorite actors.
Theatre Communications Group has announced the recipients of the first round of the 2021 Edgerton Foundation New Play Awards. The awards, totaling $1,072,000, allow 28 productions extra time for the development and rehearsal of new plays with the entire creative team, hoping to extend the life of the world premiere play after its first run.
Berkeley Rep’s leadership announced today that after being closed for a year and a half, the Tony Award-winning theatre will reopen for live performances on Friday, October 1. The 2021-22 subscription season kicks off with a Berkeley Rep commission, Christina Anderson’s the ripple, the wave that carried me home, directed by Miranda Haymon.
NYSAF returns July 17-August 1 with in-person programming in Poughkeepsie for their 2021 Summer Season. In partnership with Vassar College, Marist College, and Revel 32 °, NYSAF will serve the needs of theater and film artists today, bringing them safely together in community to generate new stories and reconnect with one another and audiences.
Each year a new class, comprised of one to two MFA Playwrights, will be given a commission through the partnership. Playwrights awarded The Finish Line Commission will be given a week-long workshop culminating in a public reading, a financial reward, and an assurance that the play will have an opportunity for a world premiere production at Cygnet.
Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith and Executive Producer Edgar Dobie have announced the 2021/22 lineup for the company’s 72nd Season. Arena is excited to welcome back audiences into our spaces and roar back with an ambitious, thrilling season packed with drama, humor, high-energy music and stories that bring us together.
Jeffrey Lo seems to be just about everywhere these days. As if his day job as TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s Director of Community Partnerships / Casting Director weren’t enough, he is also enjoying quite a successful career as a director and playwright. With the recent, tragic spike in prejudice and violence toward the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, Lo decided to take action by calling on his own Filipino American heritage. He spearheaded TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s efforts to stream a benefit reading of his play Writing Fragments Home to raise funds to support and uplift the AAPI community.
The comedic play is an unapologetically Filipino American story about art, family, and culture. The top-flight cast includes stage veteran Emily Kuroda, perhaps best known for playing Mrs. Kim on TV’s Gilmore Girls. Co-presented by more than 40 leading theatres and arts organizations in the Bay Area and beyond, the reading will benefit Compassion in Oakland, a nonprofit formed in response to the surge of anti-Asian attacks and dedicated to promoting safety and community in Oakland Chinatown and beyond. Writing Fragments Home will be streamed live at 7pm PDT, Saturday, June 5, 2021 (with streaming on-demand access available June 6 to June 9). For more information, visit TheatreWorks.org.
BroadwayWorld with Lo last week about his impetus to write the play, how the benefit reading came together, his thoughts about Asian American representation in the theatre, and his experience working with some of his personal heroes. Lo is very easy to talk to – laid-back, thoughtful and self-effacing with an underlying gentle humor – all qualities which likely serve him well in his roles at TheatreWorks. At the same time, I got the impression he is someone who knows how to step up to the plate and get the job done.
The Old Globe’s new podcast COCKTAILS WITH THE CANON and its two fun, charismatic, and incredibly smart co-hosts Lamar Perry and Danielle Mages Amato are your new best theatre friends. This interview with them is on their new podcast, the topics they cover, and why they wanted to create a podcast that invited imagination to collectively dream of what the future holds for American Theatre.
Summer is almost here! The Times Square Alliance has announced a variety of events and programming for the season including Songs for Our City, Taste of Times Square Week and Solstice in Times Square: Mind Over Madness Yoga, welcoming back New Yorkers and visitors to the district during the warmer months.
La Jolla Playhouse has announced its return to live, in-person theatre with several exciting upcoming projects. This summer, the Playhouse will offer two on-site events: the Without Walls (WOW) production of A Thousand Ways (Part 2): An Encounter, by 600 Highwaymen, and the 2021 DNA New Works Series.
The Old Globe today announced plans for the long-awaited full reopening of its three theatres in Balboa Park. Audiences will be able to once again gather in the Globe’s outdoor theatre starting June 4 and in the two indoor theatres in September.
Times Square Alliance has announced the second annual Songs for Our City songwriting competition, which will take place daily this June 1–5, 2021. Songs for Our City will highlight original music from Broadway actors and composers to provide a unique and interactive way for audiences to enjoy new music, while celebrating the Broadway community.
Due to popular demand, a 2:30 p.m. matinee has been added to the Pandora Presents Disney Princess - The Concert engagement at the Fabulous Fox Theatre on Saturday, December 11, 2021. Tickets will go on sale Friday, May 28 at 10 a.m.
Signature Theatre today announced that its Executive Director, Harold Wolpert, will depart the institution on June 30, having helped to steer it through the COVID-19 pandemic. He has decided to leave to pursue change in the field more broadly, from outside of an institution for the first time in his three-decade career to date.
Playwrights Foundation, the West Coast's premier launchpad for plays and playwrights, has announced the lineup for the 44th annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival, scheduled to stream online.
Asolo Repertory Theatre announced its 2021-22 season today. Asolo Rep will kick off in November with a musical that will set the tone for the whole season with its message of exuberant hope and love for all humanity. The winter repertory season includes three incredible works that speak to family, community and love.