Leigh Fondakowski News

The School of Arts and Enterprise-Department of Theatre presents the inaugural show of their 2013-14 season, the award winning The Laramie Project, by Moises Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris and Stephen Belber. The Laramie Project is directed by Phil Miller, The School of Arts & Enterprise New Director of Theatre. The Laramie Project features an 11-member cast comprised of some of the brightest young actors in the San Gabriel Valley.

3Arts is honored to announce the ten recipients of its 6th annual 3Arts Awards, presented to women artists, artists of color and artists with disabilities working in the performing, teaching and visual arts. The awards will be presented tonight, Monday, Oct. 21, by the 3Arts Board of Directors and Awards Host Committee in a celebratory gathering at the Museum of Contemporary Art. 3Arts has awarded over $1 million in total grants to more than 100 Chicago artists in the past six years.

CHICAGO, IL (October 21, 2013)–3Arts is honored to announce the ten recipients of its 6th annual 3Arts Awards, presented to women artists, artists of color and artists with disabilities working in the performing, teaching and visual arts. The awards will be presented tonight, Monday, Oct. 21, by the 3Arts Board of Directors and Awards Host Committee in a celebratory gathering at the Museum of Contemporary Art. 3Arts has awarded over $1 million in total grants to more than 100 Chicago artists in the past six years.

The Laramie Project Ten Years Later/by Moises Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris and Stephen Belber/produced by Jon Imparato/directed by Ken Sawyer/The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center,Davidson/Valentini Theatre/through November 16

THE LARAMIE PROJECT: TEN YEARS LATER is a play meant to be experienced, not just seen. And you will be fully immersed from the moment you walk inside this intimate theater-in-the-round staging. With the silhouettes of the audience seated across the room against the background of rolling hills, sky and prairie on the theater walls, you will feel as if you are right there in Laramie, literally pulled into the lives of every person represented onstage.

On Sunday, September 22 New Georges held their BIG Benefit at Seamen's House, a private townhouse in Chelsea. The fundraiser featured a special performance by Eisa Davis and short plays and songs written specifically for the event by Laura Eason, Boo Killebrew, Julie Kramer, Rachel Peters and Charise Castro Smith, featuring Heidi Schreck, Maria-Christina Oliveras, Amy Wilson, Stephanie Wright Thompson, Eric Clem and others. Scroll down for photos from the festivities!

At a benefit event held for New Georges on Sunday, September 22, Producing Artistic Director Susan Bernfield and board member Michael Osso announced a new program at New Georges, The Audrey Residencies, and the artists and projects chosen for 2013-14, the program's inaugural year. Sunday's event also featured the premiere showing of a video about New Georges produced by tdf for tdfSTAGES' Meet the Theatre series and directed by Mark Blankenship, tdf's online content editor, to be released in early November.

The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center is set to present the Los Angeles premiere of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later at the Davidson/Valenti Theatre with preview performances tonight and tomorrow, September 11 and 12, and the official opening set for Friday, September 13 at 8pm. Written by Moises Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris and Stephen Belber, and directed by Ken Sawyer, the production will run through November 16.

The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center is set to present the Los Angeles premiere of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later at the Davidson/Valenti Theatre with preview performances on September 11 and 12, and the official opening set for Friday, September 13 at 8pm. Written by Moises Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris and Stephen Belber, and directed by Ken Sawyer, the production will run through November 16.

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation and Culture Project's Women Center Stage 2013 Festival present 'Generating Your Own Work', a panel with Rachel Alderman, Leigh Fondakowski, and Maija Garcia tonight, July 22, 6:30 - 8:00 PM at the Lynn Redgrave Theatre at Culture Project at 45 Bleecker Street. This event is free. RSVP REQUIRED to Conversations@SDCweb.org.

Culture Project's Women Center Stage 2013 Festival, off to an extremely successful start that began July 8, will present the staged reading of SPILL tonight July 22, a new play about the Deepwater Horizon / BP oil spill, written and directed by Leigh Fondakowski, and created in collaboration with visual artist Reeva Wortel, with dramaturgy by Sarah Lambert, Kelli Simpkins, and Ms. Wortel. The one-night only performance is set for 8:00pm at Lynn Redgrave Theater at Culture Project (45 Bleecker Street).

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation and Culture Project's Women Center Stage 2013 Festival present 'Generating Your Own Work', a panel with Rachel Alderman, Leigh Fondakowski, and Maija Garcia on Monday, July 22, 6:30 - 8:00 PM at the Lynn Redgrave Theatre at Culture Project at 45 Bleecker Street. This event is free.

Culture Project's Women Center Stage 2013 Festival (Allan Buchman, Founder & Artistic Director), off to an extremely successful start that began July 8, has added the staged reading of SPILL, a new play about the Deepwater Horizon / BP oil spill, written and directed by Leigh Fondakowski, and created in collaboration with visual artist Reeva Wortel, with dramaturgy by Sarah Lambert, Kelli Simpkins, and Ms. Wortel. The one-night only performance is scheduled for Monday, July 22, 2013 at 8:00pm at Lynn Redgrave Theater at Culture Project (45 Bleecker Street).

Ten local actors are hard at work in rehearsals for The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later by Moises Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris and Stephen Belber. The show will be performed at The Wesley Arena Theatre, 271 East 9th Street, Cookeville under the direction of Kathleen Gilpatrick on Saturday, May 4 at 8:00 p.m. as part of the day long Upper Cumberland Pride Festival celebration. Performances will continue on Thursday through Saturday, May 9, 10 & 11 also at 8:00 p.m. All tickets are $10.00 per person except for Thursday, May 9 which is a pay-what-you-can-performance. Thursday, May 9 tickets will not be sold in advance - they will only be available at the door. Tickets are currently on sale at Art a la Carte Gallery, 121 West Broad Street, Cookeville. Tickets will also be available at Upper Cumberland Pride on May 4 from 1-7 pm at Dogwood Park and at the door the night of the performances. The show produced by UC Pride, United Church of Christ and Stan Rodriquez, is an epilogue to The Laramie Project, which was performed in 2006 at the Wesley Arena Theatre also under the direction of Kathleen Gilpatrick.

Our heroine has finally gotten her act together, or so she thought. When she ends up on the romantic trip of a lifetime in Bali with the woman of her dreams, she is on the verge of having everything she wants…and also on the verge of destroying it all. The true challenge comes when she attempts to put her past behind her in order to pursue her fairytale dreams of her own happily ever after. As DOMA and Prop 8 are debated in The Supreme Court, No Need for Seduction takes an exquisite, insightful, and hilarious look at the question: “Are you committed?”

Chance Theater presents the second show of its 2013 season with the Orange County Premiere of THE LARAMIE PROJECT: TEN YEARS LATER by Moises Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris and Stephen Belber, playing in repertory with the award-winning masterwork, THE LARAMIE PROJECT, by Moises Kaufman and members of Tectonic Theater Project, both directed by Chance Theater's Artistic Director Oanh Nguyen. THE LARAMIE PROJECT will preview tonight, April 18 & Saturday, April 20 at 8pm and will open on Tuesday, April 23 at 8pm.

Our heroine has finally gotten her act together, or so she thought. When she ends up on the romantic trip of a lifetime in Bali with the woman of her dreams, she is on the verge of having everything she wants…and she's on the verge of destroying it all. Will she be able to put the past behind her to get her fairytale ending?

Chance Theater presents the second show of its 2013 season with the Orange County Premiere of THE LARAMIE PROJECT: TEN YEARS LATER by Moises Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris and Stephen Belber, playing in repertory with the award-winning masterwork, THE LARAMIE PROJECT, by Moises Kaufman and members of Tectonic Theater Project, both directed by Chance Theater's Artistic Director Oanh Nguyen. THE LARAMIE PROJECT will preview on Thursday, April 18 & Saturday, April 20 at 8pm and will open on Tuesday, April 23 at 8pm. THE LARAMIE PROJECT: 10 YEARS LATER will preview on Friday, April 19 at 8pm & Sunday, April 21 at 7pm and will open on Wednesday, April 24 at 8pm and both shows will continue playing in repertory through Sunday, May 19 at Chance Theater, 5552 E. La Palma Ave. in Anaheim Hills.

New Georges (Susan Bernfield, Producing Artistic Director; Sarah Cameron Sunde, Deputy Artistic Director; Jaynie Saunders Tiller, Managing Director) will present the World Premiere of Lynn Rosen's (Apple Cove with Women's Project) GOLDOR $ MYTHYKA: A HERO IS BORN directed by Shana Gold (Food and Fadwa with New York Theatre Workshop) April 3-27 at The New Ohio Theatre (154 Christopher Street between Greenwich and Washington). Casting will be announced on Friday, February 22. Tickets will go on sale Friday, March 1.