Melissa Maxwell News

This past Monday evening, September 29, 2014, the League of Professional Theatre Women (LPTW) hosted a Networking Mondays Panel: A Discussion: Designers and Directors

Manhattan Theatre Source announces the performance schedule for their 15th Annual EstroGenius Festival, a multimedia performance festival showcasing female voices from a variety of disciplines, running October 2-November 2 at Stage Left Studio (214 West 30th Street between 7th and 8th Avenue) and the 4th Street Theatre (83 East 4th Street between 2nd Avenue and Bowery).

Manhattan Theatre Source announces the performance schedule for their 15th Annual EstroGenius Festival, a multimedia performance festival showcasing female voices from a variety of disciplines, running October 2-November 2 at Stage Left Studio (214 West 30th Street between 7th and 8th Avenue) and the 4th Street Theatre (83 East 4th Street between 2nd Avenue and Bowery).

Manhattan Theatre Source will present the 15th Annual EstroGenius Festival, a multimedia performance festival showcasing female voices from a variety of disciplines, October 2-November 1 at Stage Left Studios (214 West 30th Street between 7th and 8th Avenue) and the 4th Street Theatre (83 East 4th Street between 2nd Avenue and Bowery). The festival will feature short plays, one-woman shows, dance pieces, a visual art exhibit, and special performances by Girl Be Heard, a teen program that uses theater as a vehicle to empower young women to become brave, confident, socially conscious leaders while exploring their own challenging circumstances. The 2014 EstroGenius artists will be announced in August.

The Kitchen Theatre Company completes its 2013-14 Season with the world premiere of a play set in Chicago's South Side during the turbulent 1960s. SLASHES OF LIGHT by Judy Tate is produced in collaboration with Civic Ensemble. This production connects Civic Ensemble's focus on community-based work by women and people of color with the Kitchen's two decades of producing bold, intimate work that starts 'important conversations.' Previews are June 11, 12 and 13, opening night is June 14, and the play closes on June 29. Check out a first look at the cast below!

The Kitchen Theatre Company and Civic Ensemble are excited to announce the casting of the world premiere of SLASHES OF LIGHT by Judy Tate. SLASHES OF LIGHT tells the story of an African American girl's coming-of-age in Chicago's South Side during the turbulent 1960s. This production connects Civic Ensemble's focus on community-based work by women and people of color with the Kitchen's two decades of producing bold, intimate work that starts 'important conversations.' Previews are today, June 11 and June 12 & 13, opening night is June 14, and the play closes on June 29.

The Kitchen Theatre Company completes its 2013-14 Season with the world premiere of a play set in Chicago's South Side during the turbulent 1960s. SLASHES OF LIGHT by Judy Tate is produced in collaboration with Civic Ensemble. This production connects Civic Ensemble's focus on community-based work by women and people of color with the Kitchen's two decades of producing bold, intimate work that starts 'important conversations.' Previews are June 11, 12 and 13, opening night is June 14, and the play closes on June 29. Check out a first look at the cast below!

The Kitchen Theatre Company completes its 2013-14 Season with the world premiere of a play set in Chicago's South Side during the turbulent 1960s. SLASHES OF LIGHT by Judy Tate is produced in collaboration with Civic Ensemble. This production connects Civic Ensemble's focus on community-based work by women and people of color with the Kitchen's two decades of producing bold, intimate work that starts 'important conversations.' Previews are June 11, 12 and 13, opening night is June 14, and the play closes on June 29.

The Kitchen Theatre Company and Civic Ensemble are excited to announce the casting of the world premiere of SLASHES OF LIGHT by Judy Tate. SLASHES OF LIGHT tells the story of an African American girl's coming-of-age in Chicago's South Side during the turbulent 1960s. This production connects Civic Ensemble's focus on community-based work by women and people of color with the Kitchen's two decades of producing bold, intimate work that starts 'important conversations.' Previews are June 11, 12 and 13, opening night is June 14, and the play closes on June 29.

OBIE Award winner and 'indispensable East Village institution'? (nytheatre.com) Metropolitan Playhouse, presents the fifth annual East Village Theater Festival, a three-week celebration of the ever-vital life and lore of the East Village. The festival features four different evenings of new plays and solo-performances, as well as the work of local artists, and a panel discussion on the neighborhood's changing identity.

'The Optimist' by Jason Chimonides and directed by Will Wallace will have its West Coast Premiere at Elephant Stages in Los Angeles today, April 3rd. The show will run through April 20th.

"The Optimist" by Jason Chimonides and directed by Will Wallace will have its West Coast Premiere at Elephant Stages in Los Angeles on April 3rd. The show will run through April 20th.

Last night, the League of Professional Theatre Women (LPTW), a not-for-profit organization committed to promoting visibility and increasing opportunities for women in the professional theatre, recognized the talents of six outstanding women: Zoe Caldwell, Judith Dolan, Joanna Sherman, Sondra Gorney, Meiyin Wang and Katherine Kovner. The awards were presented at the League's 2014 Awards Celebration & Big Mingle Reception to be held at The Irene Diamond Stage (The Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street) featuring emcee Tamara Tunie. BroadwayWorld was there for the special night and you can check out photos from the celebration below!

Chris Bellant (Warner Bros. upcoming "Into the Storm") and Sarah Jes Austell will star in the West Coast Premiere of "The Optimist" by Jason Chimonides at Elephant Stages in Los Angeles from April 3rd to April 20th.

The African American experience is not represented solely by one voice or one style. For the fifth year in a row Horse Trade Theater Group will present The Fire This Time Festival (TFTT), providing a platform for talented early-career playwrights of African and African-American descent to explore new voices, styles, and challenging new directions for 21st century performing arts in order to move beyond common misconceptions of what's possible in 'black theater.'

As another school year draws to a close, BroadwayWorld's Student Center signs off for the summer break. Before we go, take a look back at some of the high-school and college stories that we featured this past year.

Truth be told, I'm a bit unsure how to start this review. When I see something as astonishing and extraordinary as Intimate Apparel, I try to come up with something clever, witty, or poetic to kick off my critique, but I am so wonderfully flustered by this beautifully acted and well-crafted production that all I can think off to kick off this review is "Wow."

The University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance presents Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Lynn Nottage's tale of romance, ambition, and self-discovery, INTIMATE APPAREL. Go behind the scenes with director Melissa Maxwell and actor Mykal Monroe as they discuss the production in the video below.