Melissa James Gibson News

On March 31, 300 friends, artists and supporters gathered to celebrate and honor Soho Rep.'s Board Chair Jon Dembrow at their annual spring gala. Forty-five minutes into the evening, the beam supporting a second-story balcony at the event venue, Angel Orensanz Center, cracked. The building was deemed unsafe and all the guests were evacuated by the FDNY. The cancellation of the event and on-site auction left Soho Rep. with a projected end-of-the-fiscal-year deficit of $68,000.

Playwrights Horizons, under the leadership of Artistic Director Tim Sanford and Managing Director Leslie Marcus, has announced the sixth production of its upcoming 2014/2015 Season. As previously-announced, the season will conclude with a new work by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Bruce Norris (Clybourne Park and The Pain and the Itch at PH, Domesticated). That play will be the New York premiere of THE QUALMS, directed by Tony Award and Obie Award winner Pam MacKinnon (Clybourne Park and Completeness at PH; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; Dinner with Friends; the current When We Were Young and Unafraid).

Playwrights Horizons has announced initial casting for its upcoming 2014/2015 Season. The announcement includes casting for the first two shows of the season: initial casting for BOOTYCANDY, the New York premiere of a new play written and directed by Obie Award winner Robert O'Hara (In the Continuum, Antebellum, Insurrection: Holding History); and initial casting for GRAND CONCOURSE, the World Premiere of a new play by playwright and two-time Obie Award-winning actress Heidi Schreck (There Are No More Big Secrets, Creature), directed by Kip Fagan (The Revisionist, Asuncion).

Seattle Repertory Theatre's Board of Trustees announced today Braden Abraham's appointment as Acting Artistic Director, effective immediately. Abraham formerly served as Associate Artistic Director and has been on the artistic staff of Seattle Rep since 2003. The appointment, extending through June 30, 2016, comes on the heels of the death of Artistic Director Jerry Manning, who passed away suddenly in April.

Playwrights Horizons is now accepting entries for its popular LIVEforFIVE online lottery for up to two $5 tickets each to the New York premiere of FLY BY NIGHT: A NEW MUSICAL, conceived by Kim Rosenstock (Tigers Be Still); written by Will Connolly (performer, Once), Michael Mitnick (Sex Lives of Our Parents, the upcoming film The Giver) and Ms. Rosenstock; choreographed by Sam Pinkleton (Mr. Burns at PH; Natasha, Pierre…); and directed by Carolyn Cantor (The Great God Pan and After the Revolution at PH, Pumpgirl, Orange Flower Water).

Playwrights Horizons is now accepting entries for its popular LIVEforFIVE online lottery for up to two $5 tickets each to the New York premiere of FLY BY NIGHT: A NEW MUSICAL, conceived by Kim Rosenstock (Tigers Be Still); written by Will Connolly (performer, Once), Michael Mitnick (Sex Lives of Our Parents, the upcoming film The Giver) and Ms. Rosenstock; choreographed by Sam Pinkleton (Mr. Burns at PH; Natasha, Pierre…); and directed by Carolyn Cantor (The Great God Pan and After the Revolution at PH, Pumpgirl, Orange Flower Water).

People's Light is proud to announce new play commissions for Eisa Davis, Colman Domingo, Kate Fodor, Karen Hartman, Dominique Morisseau, and Kathryn Petersen. These six playwrights are the first participants in our New Play Frontiers residency program. New Play Frontiers is an initiative to conceive, develop, and produce new plays that explore our American identity through stories of deep meaning to specific populations in the five-county region that surround our theatre.

After a season of through-the-roof ticket sales and critical acclaim, the Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company (BETC) now presents the final play of Season Eight. In true BETC style, "This" by Melissa James Gibson is a thought-provoking, heartrending, and laugh-filled examination of some of the most difficult years of our lives.

Acclaimed Off-Broadway theater company Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) has announced additional top items for the 2014 edition of its popular, annual online auction. Bidding for the auction, which features an eclectic array of items and unique opportunities continues at www.biddingforgood/playwrightshorizons now through Monday, April 28 at 8PM.

Acclaimed Off-Broadway theater company Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) has announced initial details for its 2014 special online Auction. Bidding for the auction, which will feature an eclectic array of items and unique opportunities, begins today, Friday, April 11 at 10AM at www.biddingforgood/playwrightshorizons. Online bidding will continue through Monday, April 28 at 8PM.

Theater Wit Artistic Director Jeremy Wechsler has confirmed Theater Wit has secured the exclusive rights to present the Midwest premiere of Anne Washburn's unforgettable new work, Mr. Burns, a post-electric play.

Playwrights Horizons presents the World Premiere production of YOUR MOTHER'S COPY OF THE KAMA SUTRA, a new play by Kirk Lynn (Co-Artistic Director, Austin's Rude Mechanicals), directed by Obie Award winner Anne Kauffman (Detroit, Maple and Vine at PH; Belleville; This Wide Night; The Thugs), which begins previews this weekend.

Playwrights Horizons has announced new details for its World Premiere production of YOUR MOTHER'S COPY OF THE KAMA SUTRA, a new play by Kirk Lynn (Co-Artistic Director, Austin's Rude Mechanicals), directed by Obie Award winner Anne Kauffman (Detroit, Maple and Vine at PH; Belleville; This Wide Night; The Thugs), which begins previews this weekend.

Atlantic Theater Company's highly anticipated revival of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's musical The Threepenny Opera, directed and choreographed by Martha Clarke, begins previews tonight, March 12, 2014.

TodayTix, New York's premiere mobile theater ticketing app, has partnered with Atlantic Theater Company to offer the best theater deal of all time with 3PennyTix, an unprecedented new lottery for the highly anticipated revival of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's musical The Threepenny Opera, directed and choreographed by Martha Clarke.

Playwrights Horizons, under the leadership of Artistic Director Tim Sanford and Managing Director Leslie Marcus, has announced the six productions of its 2014/2015 Season. The six works will be presented at the theater company's home at 416 West 42nd Street. In season order, they will be:

Atlantic Theater Company will present their annual Gala on Monday, February 24, 2014 at The Pierre (2 East 61st Street). Directed by Neil Pepe with musical direction by Matt Gallagher, Writers' Choice will salute Atlantic's iconic playwrights with an evening of unexpected songs.

The evening will be co-hosted by two of the company's alumni actors: two-time Tony Award winner David Hyde Pierce (at PH in Richard Greenberg's The Maderati in 1987) and two-time Tony Award nominee, two-time Obie Award winner and 2012 Special Drama Desk Award winner Mary Testa (at PH in William Finn's In Trousers in 1979, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's Lucky Stiff in 1988, Tom Donaghy's From Above in 1998/Obie Award and Kathleen Tolan's The Wax in 2000).

Playwrights Horizons presents the New York premiere production of STAGE KISS, a new play marking the eagerly-awaited return of two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl (Dead Man's Cell Phone at PH; The Clean House, In the Next Room...) to the theater company. Directed by Rebecca Taichman (Milk Like Sugar at PH; the current Marie Antoinette, Orlando, The Scene, Luck of the Irish), the production begins previews this evening, February 7 at 8PM with an Opening Night set for Sunday, March 2 at 7PM. The limited engagement will play through Sunday evening, March 23 at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street).

The winners of the Writers Guild of America awards will be revealed in dual ceremonies today, Feb. 1, in Los Angeles and New York City. Today, the nominees for television, film, video games, and more were announced. Check them out below!