Layan Elwazani News

Debuting in May 2020, Seasons 1 (10 Episodes) and Season 2 (15 Episodes) are now available on YouTube, as well as Instagram @kikisclosetshow. Kiki's Closet features roundtable discussions with BIPOC artists, both onstage and behind the scenes.  

Brothers, songwriters, and collaborators, Daniel and Patrick Lazour today released their independently-produced album Flap My Wings: Songs from We Live in Cairo, on the tenth anniversary of the Tahrir Square protests that began the Egyptian Revolution in 2011.

On this day in 2017, the Tony Award-winning Best Musical, The Band's Visit, opened on Broadway!

While Broadway remains shut down, BroadwayWorld is keeping up with your favorite stars and giving you a peek at what they have been up to! Check out yesterday's videos, from stars including Barbra Streisand, Telly Leung, Tonya Pinkins, and more!

Saving Lives Sunday a Virtual Benefit to support emergency first response organization United Hatzalah of Israel in its fight against COVID-19, has released a stunning version of Leonard Cohen's iconic song 'Hallelujah' The song, which debuted during the Sunday, May 3rd event, is performed in English, Hebrew and Arabic.

Heather Raffo's NOURA, a variation on themes from Ibsen's A DOLL'S HOUSE set within an immigrant Iraqi family, serves as the mainstage anchor for an ambitious, multi-month series of four shows plus a distinguished panel talk at the Guthrie Theater. Collectively, these comprise the theater's Celebration of Arab Artistry. It's been a vital, eye-opening, boundary-crossing initiative. Artistic Director Joseph Haj says, a?oeExpanding the idea of what the classical canon is and should look like is very much in the Guthrie's charge.a??

The Guthrie Theater presents the regional premiere of Noura (January 11 February 16, 2020) by Heather Raffo. A story of identity and belonging, Noura had its world premiere at Shakespeare Theatre Company in February 2018 and subsequently played at Playwrights Horizons.

Salaam Medina: Tales of a Halfghan, with book, music and lyrics by Rona Siddiqui, will hold an invited industry reading on November 15, 2019. The reading will be directed by Raja Feather Kelly, with Music Direction by Emily Goldman and Dramaturgy by Jessica Kahkoska.

Every year, WAM Theatre donates a portion of the box office proceeds from their Mainstage productions to organizations that work for gender equality locally, nationally, or internationally. The success of the just-closed production of PIPELINE by Dominique Morisseau, directed by Dawn M. Simmons, enabled the company to present $4500 each to their 18th and 19th beneficiaries, Harmony Homestead and Wholeness Center, Inc., and The Women of Color Giving Circle. This brings WAM's donation total since its founding in 2010 to $75,000.

In only it's second year, the Wet Paint - New Play Festival has managed to round up B'way veterans (Johanna Leister, Layan Elwazani), TV stars (Christopher Shyer, Rachel Handler), & Amazon Best-Selling authors (Edward Medina) to participate in a barebones development series of short-performances. This year's festival has a theme: Walls, and with that theme, Point-Blank Theatre Co. received a unique submission. William Hobbs, a member of Voices Inside, an inmate writing/theatre program at Northpoint Training Center in KY, submitted his play, A Spider's Web and was accepted among dozens of NYC playwright applicants.

Premiere Stages is currently presenting the New Jersey premiere of Rohina Malik's compelling play, 'Yasmina's Necklace' at Kean University in Union through September 22. The play is superbly directed by Kareem Fahmy and features a cast that brings Malik's beautifully crafted, emotive, yet entertaining story to life.

Premiere Stages will present the New Jersey premiere of Rohina Malik's Joseph Jefferson Award-nominated play Yasmina's Necklace at Kean University in Union September 5-22. Previously presented at the 16th Street Theater and Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Yasmina's Necklace tells the story of Abdul Samee. Abdul's father is Iraqi and mother is Puerto Rican - but if you ask him, he'll say he's Italian.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center announces casting and creative teams for the summer season of new musicals and plays selected for development at the National Music Theater Conference and National Playwrights Conference.

The American Repertory Theater's We live in Cairo is currently running at the Loeb Drama Center now through June 23.

Brothers Daniel and Patrick Lazour have found a creative home at the American Repertory Theater for the world premiere of their musical WE LIVE IN CAIRO. In collaboration with Director Taibi Magar and Choreographer Samar Haddad King, the Lazours have continued to develop the book, music, and lyrics in the supportive incubator of the A.R.T. following workshops at the Eugene O'Neill National Music Theatre Conference (2015) and the New York Theatre Workshop (2016 Richard Rodgers Award). Infused with their own cultural experiences, the knowledge gained from their research and travels, and the influence of generations of protest music, WE LIVE IN CAIRO is an amalgam of the personal and the political, combining 21st century technology with good old-fashioned songwriting and storytelling techniques.

We Live in Cairo opening officially last night, Wednesday, May 22, at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA.

We Live in Cairo begins previews on Tuesday, May 14 at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA. It opens Wednesday, May 22, and plays through June 23. Tickets on sale now: online at AmericanRepertoryTheater.org, by phone at 617.547.8300, and in person at the Loeb Drama Center Ticket Services Offices (64 Brattle Street, Cambridge).

BroadwayWorld has a first look at a performance from We Live in Cairo at American Repertory Theatre! Check out the video below!

Due to popular demand, the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T) has added an additional week of performances to the run of its world premiere production of We Live in Cairo written by brothers Daniel Lazour and Patrick Lazour. The production, currently in rehearsal under the direction of Obie Award winner Taibi Magar, will now close Sunday, June 23.

American Repertory Theater (A.R.T) at Harvard University, under the leadership of Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director Diane Paulus and Executive Producer Diane Borger, announces the cast and creative team for the world premiere of We Live in Cairo written by brothers Daniel Lazour and Patrick Lazour. Now in rehearsal under the direction of Obie Award winner Taibi Magar, We Live in Cairo begins previews Tuesday, May 14; opens Wednesday, May 22; and closes Sunday, June 16, 2019 at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge, MA.