Liesl Tommy News

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Sundance Institute today announced the artists and projects selected for its first Theatre Lab on Zanzibar, which concluded yesterday. The two-week exchange and development program (November 10-24) is part of the Sundance Institute East Africa initiative, now in its eleventh year, which is the only professional program on the continent that creates peer to peer mentorship and exposure opportunities between theatre artists in East Africa and the U.S. Under the supervision of Artistic Director Philip Himberg and Producing Director Christopher Hibma, the initiative is a core component of the Theatre Program's year-round efforts. Deborah Asiimwe, Specialist-East Africa, and Roberta Levitow, Senior Program Associate-International and Co-Founder, Theatre Without Borders, co-led this initiative.

I'd venture to say that this is one of the strongest new plays I've seen at Woolly in recent memory.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company is pleased to announce the East Coast premiere of Appropriate, an audacious comic drama written by native Washingtonian Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and directed by Liesl Tommy (Eclipsed). Jacobs-Jenkins' brazen reimagining of the classic Southern family drama will continue Woolly's season-long excavation of the secrets that lie beneath America's sunny exterior.

The Public Theater announced the September line-up today for NEW WORK NOW!, the free reading series that allows audiences an opportunity to experience new work by a diverse selection of established and emerging theater artists. NEW WORK NOW! will run September 9 to September 21 in The Public's Martinson Theater (425 Lafayette Street). Now in its twentieth season, NEW WORK NOW! is an important part of The Public Theater's ongoing commitment to developing and mentoring new voices for the American Theater.

The Public Theater's production of the new musical LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST, the second show of The Public's 2013 free Shakespeare in the Park season at the Delacorte, recently began previews on July 23. Directed by Alex Timbers, LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST features songs by Michael Friedman with book adaptation by Timbers and will run through Sunday, August 18, and opened last night, August 12. BroadwayWorld was there for the festivities and you can check out photos from the red carpet arrivals below!

Berkeley Repertory Theatre's Artistic Director Tony Taccone today announces the appointment of Liesl Tommy as the nonprofit's associate director. Tommy, who most recently directed Berkeley Rep's critically acclaimed production of Ruined, joins the Theatre's artistic team effective September 1. Tommy will fulfill various artistic duties including directing for Berkeley Rep's main stage; developing new work through The Ground Floor, the Center for the Creation and Development of New Work; and supporting ongoing artistic pursuits in the spirit of cultivating and producing innovative and adventurous work for the Theatre.

Sundance Institute and the LUMA Foundation previously announced that the two organizations would collaborate to host The Sundance Institute | LUMA Foundation Theatre Directors Retreat at Domaine de l'Armelliere, today, July 29 - August 9, in Arles, France. Under the supervision of Philip Himberg, Artistic Director of The Sundance Institute Theatre Program, Producing Director Christopher Hibma and Program Associate Anne Kauffman, the Retreat will be the first theatre director-centered residency at the Institute.

Sundance Institute today announced the acting company, artists-in-residence and creative advisors for the seven projects being developed at its 2013 Theatre Lab, July 8-28 at the Sundance Resort in Utah. Under the supervision of Artistic Director Philip Himberg and Producing Director Christopher Hibma, the Lab is the centerpiece of the Theatre Program's year-round work and is designed to support both emerging and established artists and to create a place where their original work can be effectively mentored and challenged free from commercial pressure.

Sundance Institute and the LUMA Foundation today announced that the two organizations will collaborate to host the Sundance Institute | LUMA Foundation Theatre Directors Retreat at Domaine de l'Armelliere, July 29 - August 9, in Arles, France. Under the supervision of Philip Himberg, Artistic Director of the Sundance Institute Theatre Program, Producing Director Christopher Hibma and Program Associate Anne Kauffman, the Retreat will be the first theatre director-centered residency at the Institute.

Sundance Institute today announced the seven projects selected to participate in the 2013 Theatre Lab, July 8-28 at the Sundance Resort in Utah. Under the supervision of Philip Himberg, Artistic Director, and Producing Director Christopher Hibma, the Theatre Lab is the centerpiece of the Sundance Institute's Theatre Program's year-round work and is designed to support emerging and established artists and to create a place where their original work can be effectively mentored and challenged.

Sundance Institute just presented playwright and Sundance Institute Theatre Lab alum Branden Jacobs-Jenkins with the first-ever Tennessee Williams Award from the Institute's Theatre Program, which supports the development of new work for the stage. Sundance Institute Emeritus Trustee Sally Field presented the honor and accompanying $10,000 grant at the Celebrate Sundance Institute benefit for its Theatre Program last night at Stephan Weiss Studio in Greenwich Village. BroadwayWorld was there for the festivities and you can check out who was there to celebrate below!

Boston audiences have one last chance to see both the Huntington Theatre Company's knockout production of Lorraine Hansberry's landmark 1959 drama 'A Raisin in the Sun' and its modern-day follow-up, 'Clybourne Park,' running coincidentally in tandem at SpeakEasy Stage in the Boston Center for the Arts.

The Vineyard Theatre announces that the first Susan Stroman Directing Award has been given to Liesl Tommy. This new, residency-based award, given to a talented early or mid-career director, will provide its recipients with space, time and support to develop projects and strike new collaborations while in residence at the theatre. The award was presented to Ms. Tommy at The Vineyard's 30th Anniversary Gala, held last night at The Edison Ballroom. With Ms. Stroman's creative genius and spirit of collaboration as an inspiration, The Vineyard will proudly present the Susan Stroman Award annually.

Huntington Theatre Company has received 35 IRNE Award nominations from the Independent Reviewers of New England, the most of any small or large theatre company in the region. The Committee recognized six of the eight productions the Huntington produced in 2012 with the following nominations.

Representatives from 23 states flocked to the Mile High City to attend a marathon of new plays at the 8th Annual Colorado New Play Summit, presented by the Denver Center Theatre Company (DCTC) February 8 - 10, 2013. With a stunning representation of today's top American playwrights, DCTC demonstrated its commitment to new work and solidified its position as one of the nation's top tier new play festivals. This year's Summit hosted artistic directors, literary managers, and dramaturgs representing 31 theatre organizations from across the country, plus media, playwrights, directors, and members of the public, all eager to discover "the next Great American Play." The 2013 Colorado New Play Summit took place at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, 14th and Curtis Streets, in downtown Denver, February 8 - 10, 2013.

2013 IRNE Nominations have been announced, as updated on the organization's Facebook page today, February 18, 2013. As of yet, no April date has been set for the awards ceremony. Scroll below for the full list of nominations!

Fifty-four years after its Broadway premiere, the Huntington Theatre Company presents A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry's landmark family classic about deferred dreams. Liesl Tommy (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Ruined - IRNE Award for Best Director and Production) returns to the Huntington to helm the production that features Leroy McClain (the title role in Hamlet at California Shakespeare Theater) as Walter Lee Younger and Kimberly Scott (Molly Cunningham in Joe Turner's Come and Gone - Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations) as matriarch Lena Younger.