Lear deBessonet News

Seattle Repertory Theatre today announced the highly anticipated launch of Public Works Seattle. One of Artistic Director Braden Abraham's first major new artistic initiatives, Public Works Seattle creates theatre of the people, by the people, and for the people of our region. Adapted from the nationally recognized model built by New York City's prestigious The Public Theatre, this program seeks to engage audiences in new ways by making them creators and not just spectators. In September 2017, Seattle Rep will produce a large-scale production featuring over 100 community members on the Bagley Wright Stage, and today marks the celebratory public launch of this inaugural program's preparation.

Casting is confirmed and tickets are now on sale for the Signature Theatre (Paige Evans, Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director; James Houghton, Founder) production of The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World, by Pulitzer Prize-winnerSuzan-Lori Parks and directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz. Parks is Signature's current Residency One playwright; her plays Venus, directed by Lear deBessonet, and The Red Letter Plays: In the Bloodand f**king A, directed by Jo Bonney, will be presented in 2017.

Casting is confirmed and tickets are now on sale for the Signature Theatre production of The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World, by Pulitzer Prize-winner Suzan-Lori Parks and directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz.

The Drama League announced today that Tony and Emmy Award winner David Hyde Pierce will be the honoree of the 33rd Annual Musical Celebration of Broadway, to be held on Monday evening, November 7, 2016 at The Plaza (768 Fifth Avenue) in New York City.

For the past three years some of New York's most joyous theatrical celebrations have graced the city as the first September chill starts to pervade Central Park's Delecorte, when the Public Theater's Public Works program assembles a cast of over 200 strong to saturate a classic text with the flavor of the five boroughs.

The Public Theater kicks off the 2016-17 season this month with a free Public Works musical adaptation of TWELFTH NIGHT, conceived by Kwame Kwei-Armah and Shaina Taub, with music and lyrics by Shaina Taub.

La Jolla Playhouse announces the cast and creative team for its world-premiere production of Miss You Like Hell, book and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara Alegria Hudes (In the Heights, Water by the Spoonful), music and lyrics by acclaimed singer/songwriter Erin McKeown, directed by Lear deBessonet (Public Theatre's The Odyssey) and choreographed by Danny Mefford (Broadway's Fun Home). Commissioned by the Playhouse and developed during the 2016 DNA New Work Series, the production has been extended by one week, now running October 25 - December 4 in the Mandell Weiss Theatre. Tickets go on sale August 27 at LaJollaPlayhouse.org or by calling (858) 550-1010.

Lilia Rubin is proud to present The Fall as part of the 20th Annual New York International Fringe Festival.

The Public Theater will kick off the 2016-17 season in September with a free Public Works musical adaptation of TWELFTH NIGHT, conceived by Kwame Kwei-Armah and Shaina Taub, with music and lyrics by Shaina Taub. Directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah, TWELFTH NIGHT will once again feature over 200 actors and community members alongside five equity actors, including this year Nikki M. James as Viola and Jose Llana as Orsino.

Dallas Theater Center (DTC), in collaboration with Southern Methodist University's Meadows School of the Arts and Ignite/Arts Dallas, and in affiliation with New York City-based The Public Theater's Public Works and AT&T Performing Arts Center, announced details for Public Works Dallas, a groundbreaking community engagement and participatory theater project designed to deliberately blur the line between professional artists and Dallas community members.

The Public Theater has announced the expansion of Public Works with ACTivate, a new tier of the groundbreaking initiative designed to bind our community together by creating acts of participatory theater to examine the great issues and dilemmas of our time. Expanding the participant's role in the artistic process, ACTivate bridges the gap between the year-round classes and annual Delacorte pageant in September, engaging the ensemble in every aspect of the creative process and culminating in an original piece. This year, the ensemble will present TROY in The Public's LuEsther Hall for four invited presentations only, June 10-12.

Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Michael Ritchie has set the 2016-2017 season at the CTG/Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City.

The Encores! production of DO I HEAR A WALTZ?, the romantic, rarely-seen 1965 musical that marked the only collaboration of Richard Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim, opens tonight.

Host Estelle Parsons, honorees, presenters, and the League of Professional Theatre Women had a blast at this year's LPTW Awards & Big Mingle at the Pershing Square Signature Theatre Center on Monday, May 2nd, 2016. Scroll down for photos from the event!

Five-time Obie Award-winning theater company Clubbed Thumb has announced initial casting for SUMMERWORKS, its annual series of new plays.

Five-time Obie Award-winning theater company Clubbed Thumb has announced initial casting for SUMMERWORKS, its annual series of new plays.

The Public Theater opened the MOBILE UNIT'S ROMEO & JULIET on Friday, April 15. Directed by Lear deBessonet, the sit-down run of ROMEO & JULIET follows a three-week tour of the five boroughs, bringing Shakespeare to audiences who have limited or no access to the arts. Continuing Artistic Director Oskar Eustis' 10th Anniversary season, the Shakespeare classic began previews on Monday, April 11 and will run in The Public's Shiva Theater through Sunday, May 1. All tickets are only $20. Check out photos from opening night below!

After touring New York's prisons, nursing homes, community centers and shelters the compact production enjoys a run at the House of Papp.

Signature Theatre (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director) just announced the 2016-17 Season at the company's Frank Gehry-designed Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues). Signature is proud to continue the groundbreakingSignature Ticket Initiative: A Generation of Access, its one-of-a-kind commitment to providing subsidized, affordable tickets to every seat at every performance during a production's regular run. All tickets will be $30 for the 2016-17 Season and for the next 5 years.