Leigh Silverman News

Check out Joe's Pub lineup for the Under the Radar festival featuring new and experimental work from Rizo (fka Lady Rizo), Lucy McComick, Daniel J. Watts, and Ryan J. Haddad. Rounding out the week is Kittel & Co, Ethan Lipton & His Orchestra, Jean-Michel Blais, Rev Billy, a very fun showcase from DANCE NOW, Nellie McKay, Aditya Prakash, Damien Sneed, William Prince, Xenia França, Luis Enrique and, as always, a ton more.

Check out the Joe's Pub lineup for the tip-top of the year a?" a new Country Music night from Jim, Jenn & Neal; Haitian singer-songwriter BeLO; two of the three Ultramagnetic MCs Kool Keith and CED-GEE; Kittel & Co, Rev Billy, a very fun showcase from DANCE NOW and, as always, a ton more.

Today's top stories: Grand Horizons begins previews on Broadway, and more!

Grand Horizons is now in previews on Broadway!  Grand Horizons will play a strictly limited 10-week engagement, and officially open on January 23, 2020 at The Hayes Theater (240 West 44th Street).

On January 23, The MacDowell Colony kicks off the year-long MacDowell NYC Salon Series a?oeSpark & Illuminationa?? with an evening of original musical theatre as James Lapine, Tom Kitt, and Michael Korie (pictured at MacDowell above) will be on hand to present excerpts of Flying Over Sunset and talk about their MacDowell-supported collaboration just weeks before the musical's Broadway premiere. Writer-director Lapine, composer Kitt, and lyricist Korie will present songs from their new play in an intimate setting in Chelsea and will share stories of their creative process. The evening launches a series of public salons scheduled for 2020, as some of the contemporary art world's most dynamic creators will perform, exhibit, and read from works created at The MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, NH, one of the nation's leading contemporary arts organizations and its first artist residency program.

Coming up next at Broadway's Hayes Theatre is Second Stage's 10-week engagement of Bess Wohl's new play Grand Horizons. Directed by Leigh Silverman, the play will feature Jane Alexander (Nancy), James Cromwell (Bill), Ben McKenzie (Ben), Priscilla Lopez (Carla), Maulik Pancholy (Tommy), Ashley Park (Jess) and Michael Urie (Brian).

Grand Horizons will play a strictly limited 10-week engagement, beginning previews December 20, 2019 at The Hayes Theater (240 West 44th Street), and officially opening on January 23, 2020.

Tony Award-nominated and five-time Obie Award-winning theater company Clubbed Thumb (Maria Striar, Producing Artistic Director; Michael Bulger, Associate Artistic Director; Quinn Metal Corbin, Advancement Director) is proud to announce the return of Ethan Lipton's TUMACHO, directed by Tony Award nominee Leigh Silverman. First seen in the 2016 SUMMERWORKS season, TUMACHO returns beginning February 17 for a limited engagement through March 14, 2020. Opening night is set for Saturday, February 22 at the Connelly Theater (220 East 4th Street). Tickets will go on sale in early 2020.

Ghostlist Records has announced it will record the new musical Soft Power, the New York premiere production from The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham), for an original cast album to be released Spring 2020. Soft Power features play and lyrics by Tony Award winner David Henry Hwang and music and additional lyrics by Tony Award winner Jeanine Tesori, with choreography by Tony nominee Sam Pinkleton. A co-commission and co-production with Center Theatre Group, Tony nominee Leigh Silverman directed this groundbreaking new musical-within-a-play.

Second Stage Theater (Carole Rothman, President and Artistic Director; Casey Reitz, Executive Director) has announced Ben McKenzie (Ben) will complete the cast of Bess Wohl's GRAND HORIZONS. The production will mark his Broadway debut.

Sundance Institute's Theatre Program will support three ambitious new works for the stage, and their four women creators, at this year's two-week Theatre Lab at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA). The Lab, which runs from November 10 to November 24th, will feature the concentrated and abundant time and resources, including individual casting from a dedicated acting company and daily rehearsals, that has long been a signature of Sundance's Labs.

Below is a link to a clip from the musical number a?oeElection Nighta?? from The Public Theater's production of SOFT POWER, with play and lyrics by Tony Award winner David Henry Hwang, music and additional lyrics by Tony Award winner Jeanine Tesori, choreography by Tony nominee Sam Pinkleton, and direction by Tony nominee Leigh Silverman. SOFT POWER will run through Sunday, November 17.

Williamstown Theatre Festival (Mandy Greenfield, Artistic Director) announced that the 2020 WTF Gala in New York City honoring Bo & Katherine Peabody will be held at Tao Downtown in New York City on Monday, February 10, 2020, and feature special appearances by Tony Award winner Laura Benanti (My Fair Lady, She Loves Me, Gypsy), Joshua Boone (Network, WTF's Artney Jackson, Actually, and Where Storms are Born), Tony Award nominee Ashley Park (WTF's Grand Horizons, Mean Girls, The King and I), and Kyle MacLachlan (a?oeTwin Peaksa??, a?oePortlandiaa??, a?oeDesperate Housewivesa??), among many others to be announced at a later date.

The Drama League honored Sutton Foster at the organization's 36th Annual Benefit Gala this fall. The black-tie evening honoring Foster - a two-time Tony Award, Drama Desk, Outer Critics, Fred Astaire, and Gracie Award winner and star of TV Land's hit television series 'Younger' -- took place on Monday, October 28, 2019.

Today's top stories: The Drama League's fall gala honors Sutton Foster, and more!

Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), the theatrical union that represents over 4,000 professional stage directors and choreographers announced that due to an overwhelming number of a?oeStandout Momentsa?? nominations for the 2018-2019 season, SDC will add an eleventh a?oeStandout Moments,a?? to the traditional list of ten.

The Public Theater announced today an additional one-week extension of the New York premiere of SOFT POWER, with play and lyrics by Tony Award winner David Henry Hwang and music and additional lyrics by Tony Award winner Jeanine Tesori, with choreography by Tony nominee Sam Pinkleton.

Second Stage Theater has announced that has announced that Tony Award winner, four time Oscar nominee and Emmy Award winner Jane Alexander and Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award winner James Cromwell will join the cast for the upcoming Broadway production of BESS WOHL's GRAND HORIZONS. Directed by LEIGH SILVERMAN, the production will also feature Priscilla Lopez (Carla), Maulik Pancholy (Tommy), Ashley Park (Jess), and Michael Urie (Brian).

The Drama League has revealed more of the artists who will be celebrating Sutton Foster at the organization's 36th Annual Benefit Gala next week. The black-tie evening honoring Foster a?" a two-time Tony Award, Drama Desk, Outer Critics, Fred Astaire, and Gracie Award winner and star of TV Land's hit television series a?oeYoungera?? -- will take place on Monday, October 28, 2019 beginning at 6:30 p.m. in New York City at The Plaza (768 Fifth Avenue). As previously announced, EY is the 2019 recipient of The Drama League's Arts Ally Award, to be accepted by Herb Engert at the Benefit Gala.

A version of American, and of American musical theatre, as seen through a Chinese lens as inaccurate as Rodgers and Hammerstein's lens when focused on Siam.