Lynn Nottage News

On May 13, Harlem Stage will perform the final reading of THE VOICE WITHIN before it goes into its final development period and world premiere in the fall of 2010.

NEW DRAMATISTS, Tony Honor recipient and the nation's premiere playwright development workshop, proudly announces that two-time Tony Award winner Julie Taymor will be honored with their 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award at its 61st Annual Spring Luncheon tribute, to be held Tuesday, May 18th at the New York Marriott Marquis.

The Huntington Theatre Company's 29th Season will include two world premieres directed by Huntington Artistic Director Peter DuBois, an American classic, two Shakespeare plays in repertory, a three-play festival from a breakout writer, and the 2009 winner of the Pulitzer Prize.

Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith announces the D.C.-based pioneering theater company's 60th season filled with award-winning artists and projects to celebrate the grand opening of Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. The 2010/11 inaugural season includes eight full productions, seven presentations from the National Endowment for the Arts New Play Development Program and public readings from all 30 of Edward Albee's works, totaling at least 45 projects produced and presented by Arena Stage in the inaugural year at the Mead Center. With the opening next fall, Arena Stage will fully become a national center for production, presentation, development and study of American theater.

Whidbey Island Center for the Arts and Hedgebrook present THE WOMEN PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL at WICA, 565 Camano Avenue, on Sunday, May 16 at 4.00pm.

Philadelphia Theatre Company kicks off its 35th Anniversary Season with something new and festive as the organization celebrates its roots with the entire month of October dedicated to new plays to begin its 2010-2011 season. The season also includes the multiple Tony Award winner The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee with music and lyrics by William Finn, the Philadelphia premiere of Anna Deavere Smith in her one-woman, award-winning show Let Me Down Easy, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Ruined by Lynn Nottage, and a fourth play to be announced.

Following an acclaimed season which included the New York Premiere of Anna Deavere Smith's Let Me Down Easy and the Broadway transfer of the musical hit Everyday Rapture, Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) has announced three plays for its upcoming 32nd Season.

Acclaimed Off-Broadway theater company Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) has announced details for a second round of major items for their special online Auction in connection with its annual Spring Gala Benefit 'In Quarter Time'.

Unicorn Theatre, under the artistic leadership of Producing Artistic Director Cynthia Levin, announces the 37th season of bold new plays. The new season will open September 18, 2010 and include six regular season shows and one exciting season extra. Subscriptions for the new season go on sale May 3, 2010.

Acclaimed Off-Broadway theater company Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) will hold its annual Spring Gala Benefit on Monday evening, May 3rd at Guastavino's (409 East 59th Street).

Tracie Thoms' Cabaret performance will end its run at Centerstage on May 2nd. A Baltimore native and School for the Arts graduate, Tracie previously appeared at CENTERSTAGE in the 2007-08 First Look reading of Lynn Nottage's By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, and the 2001-02 production of A Raisin in the Sun. The cabaret performance will include a mix of contemporary hits, standards, and a sprinkling of songs from Broadway.

Women's Project & Cherry Lane Theatre present Sheila Callaghan's LASCIVIOUS SOMETHING is irected by Daniella Topol and begins Previews Sunday, May 2, at 3:00pm. The show opens Tuesday, May 11, at 7:00pm at Women's Project Rob Campbell + Dana Eskelson + Ronete Levenson + Elisabeth Waterston

Women's Project, the 32-year-old non-profit theater dedicated to producing plays written and directed by women, and Cherry Lane Theatre, home to bold new voices, will present the world premiere of Sheila Callaghan's Lascivious Something directed by Daniella Topol and starring Rob Campbell, Dana Eskelson, Ronete Levenson and Elisabeth Waterston.

Casting is complete for Goodman Theatre's Chicago-premiere production of Tracey Scott Wilson's The Good Negro, directed by Resident Director Chuck Smith. Wilson and Smith have tapped nine actors to bring this historical drama to the Albert stage, including Karen Aldridge (Goodman's The Cook; Proof); Teagle F. Bougere (Broadway's A Raisin in the Sun; The Tempest); Tory O. Davis (Goodman's Magnolia); John Hoogenakker (Goodman's Rock 'n' Roll; Chicago Shakespeare's Othello); Billy Eugene Jones (Broadway's Passing Strange; Radio Golf); Nambi Kelley (Goodman's Crumbs from the Table of Joy; Victory Gardens' The Lost Boys of Sudan); Demetrios Troy (Northlight's Awake and Sing; Chicago Shakespeare's Richard III); Dan Waller (Goodman's Ghostwritten; Talking Pictures) and Mick Weber (Goodman's Rock 'n' Roll; Chicago Theatre's Shear Madness). The production will run from May 1 - June 6, 2010.

Acclaimed Off-Broadway theater company Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) has announced details for this year's special online Auction in connection with its annual Spring Gala Benefit.

Jane M. Saks, Executive Director of the Ellen Stone Belic Institute, and About Face Theatre Artistic Director, Bonnie Metzgar, announce the world premiere of a new one-person play, SWEET TEA: Black Gay Men of the South, written and performed by E. Patrick Johnson, and directed by award-winning artist Daniel Alexander Jones.

On May 13, Harlem Stage will perform the final reading of THE VOICE WITHIN before it goes into its final development period and world premiere in the fall of 2010.

Just announced, an additional performance has been added for Tracie Thoms' Cabaret performance, on Wednesday, April 28th at 8 pm. A Baltimore native and School for the Arts graduate, Tracie previously appeared at CENTERSTAGE in the 2007-08 First Look reading of Lynn Nottage's By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, and the 2001-02 production of A Raisin in the Sun. The cabaret performance will include a mix of contemporary hits, standards, and a sprinkling of songs from Broadway.

Stephen, who's costarring on B'way in the hotly anticipated London import 'Enron', discusses his extensive stage work.

Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith announces the D.C.-based pioneering theater company's 60th season filled with award-winning artists and projects to celebrate the grand opening of Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. The 2010/11 inaugural season includes eight full productions, seven presentations from the National Endowment for the Arts New Play Development Program and public readings from all 30 of Edward Albee's works, totaling at least 45 projects produced and presented by Arena Stage in the inaugural year at the Mead Center. With the opening next fall, Arena Stage will fully become a national center for production, presentation, development and study of American theater.