Marsha Norman News

Artistic Director Alex Kilgore announced today that a launch party and first annual silent auction to benefit Accabonac House will be held today, July 21, 2015 at Ashawagh Hall (780 Springs Fireplace Road, East Hampton, NY).

This past season, Broadway fans watched the 69th Annual Tony Awards with baited breath as history was made. For the first time the prize of for Book and Score of a Musical was given to a team of women, Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori for FUN HOME. 

Single tickets for all of Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park's 2015-16 season productions will go on sale Monday, Aug. 3. This includes tickets for the Playhouse's beloved annual holiday classic A CHRISTMAS CAROL, presented by U.S. Bank, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

Artistic Director Alex Kilgore announced today that a launch party and first annual silent auction to benefit Accabonac House will be held Tuesday, July 21, 2015 at Ashawagh Hall (780 Springs Fireplace Road, East Hampton, NY).

The Neo-Futurists announce their 2015-16 season alongside a slate of new artistic initiatives which explore devised theater and new works. The season includes two prime time productions: POP WAITS created by Malic White and Molly Brennan, and Mike Mother created and written by Jessica Anne. In addition, the company launches a series of year-round developmental presentations including a quarterly experimental performance workshop The Arrow created by Kurt Chiang and Lily Mooney as well as a new works residency Neo-Lab with an inaugural workshop of Saturn Returns created by Tif Harrison. The Neo-Futurists document this year of devised work exploration through Go! A Podcast about Creativity and continue another great year of the smash hit Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. All season events are held at The Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland (at Foster) in Andersonville.

Women's Voices Theater Festival organizers today announced that First Lady of the United States of America Michelle Obama will serve as Honorary Chair of the Women's Voices Theater Festival, which unites more than 50 professional theater companies in the nation's capital region, September through October 2015. She joins a prestigious group of theater artists and advocates on the Honorary Committee supporting the Festival's mission to celebrate the work of women in theater. Additionally, eight ancillary events sponsored by The Washington Post have been announced during the Festival, to be hosted by the seven originating theaters-Arena Stage, Ford's Theatre, Round House Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Signature Theatre, Studio Theatre and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company-along with Festival participant Theater J.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) and 826 Boston announce the third annual WORDplay Summer Theater and Writing Camp for children ages 11-14. Twenty-five students have been chosen by lottery to participate in the free, five-week camp from July 13 through August 14. WORDplay takes place Monday through Thursday, 1:30 - 5:30pm at 826 Boston's youth writing and tutoring center, located at 3035 Washington Street in Roxbury, MA.

Des Moines Performing Arts, in partnership with the Des Moines Symphony, is hosting a special guest with Iowa ties at the state's largest single-day concert event. Tonight, July 2, 2015 at the Des Moines Symphony's 22nd annual free Yankee Doodle Pops concert on the Iowa State Capitol's West Terrace, three-time Tony Award®-winning composer JASON ROBERT BROWN will conduct the orchestra in selections from Broadway's THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, for which he wrote the music, lyrics and orchestrations. The musical, winner of the 2014 Tony Award for Best Original Score and Best Orchestrations, is famously set in Iowa and will launch its national tour at the Des Moines Civic Center November 28 - December 5.

Produced by Scott Sanders, Roy Furman, Oprah Winfrey, David Babani, and Tom Siracusa, The Color Purple will return to Broadway this fall in the acclaimed Menier Chocolate Factory production directed by Two-time Tony Award winner John Doyle. The highly anticipated staging will feature Grammy, Academy Award, and Golden Globe award winner JENNIFER HUDSON; CYNTHIA ERIVO, the breakout star from the London production; and Orange is the New Black's DANIELLE BROOKS. All three women will be making their Broadway debuts. Tickets are now available! Can't wait until the show returns to Broadway this fall? Get your Color Purple fix today with a free download of 'Too Beautiful for Words,' performed by Jennifer Hudson. CLICK HERE to download the song now!

Des Moines Performing Arts, in partnership with the Des Moines Symphony, is hosting a special guest with Iowa ties at the state's largest single-day concert event. On Thursday, July 2, 2015 at the Des Moines Symphony's 22nd annual free Yankee Doodle Pops concert on the Iowa State Capitol's West Terrace, three-time Tony Award®-winning composer JASON ROBERT BROWN will conduct the orchestra in selections from Broadway's THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, for which he wrote the music, lyrics and orchestrations. The musical, winner of the 2014 Tony Award for Best Original Score and Best Orchestrations, is famously set in Iowa and will launch its national tour at the Des Moines Civic Center November 28 - December 5.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University, under the leadership of Artistic Director Diane Paulus, began rehearsals today (pictured, left) for the world premiere musical Waitress. Based on the motion picture written by Adrienne Shelly the new musical has a book by Jessie Nelson, music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles, direction by Diane Paulus, and choreography by Chase Brock.

The Dramatists Guild of America is pleased to announce their Third National Conference, Writing the Changing World, which will be held from July 16-19, 2015 at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines in La Jolla, CA. The conference will include keynote speeches, legal and business seminars, workshops, panels, and conversations with theatre elite. Participating Council and visiting artists include Lisa Kron, Stephen Schwartz, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Carol Hall, Winnie Holzman, Georgia Stitt, Bobby Lopez, Marsha Norman, John Weidman, Julia Jordan, Amanda Green, and Linda Bloodworth-Thomason.

Tickets for THE COLOR PURPLE will be available Monday, June 22, 2015, exclusively for Audience Rewards members, who get first access to tickets by visiting www.AudienceRewards.com. Single tickets go on-sale to the general public beginning Tuesday, June 30, 2015.

In 1983 an abandoned movie house was saved from the wrecking ball, and on November 3, what has become the cornerstone of arts and entertainment in Clarksville-Montgomery County opened to a grand ovation.  Now in 2015, the Roxy Regional Theatre is poised to celebrate 33 years of providing an educational and artistic outlet for the Southeast, beginning with the first production of their 33rd year: Lionel Bart's Oliver!

In 1983 an abandoned movie house was saved from the wrecking ball, and on November 3, what has become the cornerstone of arts and entertainment in Clarksville-Montgomery County opened to a grand ovation. Through grit, determination and support from likeminded individuals, the Roxy Regional Theatre is now poised to celebrate 33 years of providing an educational and artistic outlet for the Southeast.

This July Company of Fools (COF) presents the hilarious winner of the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, by the master of comedy, Christopher Durang. One of the most lauded Broadway plays of recent years, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike has been described by the New York Times as, 'deliriously funny' and 'comic acting raised to the level of high art.'

The national tour of THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, winner of the 2014 Tony Award for Best Original Score and Best Orchestrations, has announced its initial itinerary, launching in Des Moines, IA at the Des Moines Civic Center, with performances beginning Saturday, November 28th and an official opening on Tuesday, December 1st. Based on one of the most romantic stories ever written, THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY will travel to more than 15 cities in its first season, with additional cities to be announced. Scroll down for a look back at where it all began!

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Jennifer Hudson, Cynthia Erivo and Danielle Brooks are set to make their Broadway debuts in the critically acclaimed staging of The Color Purple, as performed at London's Menier Chocolate Factory in 2013. Directed by Tony Award winner John Doyle, The Color Purple will begin preview performances on Monday, November 9th at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (242 West 45th street) and will officially open on Thursday, December 10. BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge just met with the three leading ladies, plus their director John Doyle, to chat about the upcoming production. Check out what they had to say about their new roles below!

Artistic Director Alex Kilgore announced today that Pulitzer Prize Winning Playwright Annie Baker was awarded the first residency of Accabonac House, a year-round interdisciplinary artists retreat dedicated to the memory of Lisa de Kooning, who grew up in the house, located in the heart of Historic Spring/East Hampton. Her father, the Abstract Expressionist Willem de Kooning, traded a painting in 1961 for the property, which served as his first studio in Springs as well as a home for his only child, Lisa and her mother the illustrator, Joan Ward.

The month of June will see actress DALE SOULES on double duty.