Michael Feingold News

Filled with colorful criminals, biting social satire and a brilliant score, The Threepenny Opera opens International City Theatre's 2009 Season at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. Jules Aaron directs Michael Feingold's translation of the trailblazing musical by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill that became one of the most influential plays of the 20th Century. Darryl Archibald is musical director and Kay Cole choreographs the five-week run February 20 through March 22; low-priced previews begin February 17. First performed in 1928, Brecht and Weill's The Threepenny Opera was a revolutionary musical theater masterpiece that mocked the bourgeois political movement of pre-Hitler Germany. Brecht's brittle, sardonic tale of beggars, thieves and prostitutes, adapted from the 1728 play The Beggar's Opera by John Gay, was a fierce social and political critique, and Weill's innovative score that fused American jazz with German cabaret captured the ironic tone of the lyrics. Part acid social criticism, part bittersweet romance, the now eighty-year old saga of 'Mack the Knife' and his entourage of criminals and whores has never lost its theatrical punch. 'It's a satire on capitalism and corruption told from the viewpoint of the 'little people',' notes Aaron. 'If there was ever time to revive this show, it's now. Michael [Feingold]'s translation is earthy, gritty and very funny. I think it's going to strike a chord with audiences.'

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) and Back Stage will host the networking panel, Pitch Perfect: How to Present Your Projects (and What a Producer Should Be Looking For) on Wednesday, February 18 at 7:30pm at The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street (below W. 3rd Street), NYC. Panelists include Michael Feingold, literary consultant for Theater for a New Audience, former literary manager of Yale Repertory Theater, and critic for The Village Voice; and Michael Nassar, producer, general manager and former associate artistic director of the O'Neill Center, dramaturge at The Public Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club and 7 Devils PW Conference.

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) and Back Stage will host the networking panel, Pitch Perfect: How to Present Your Projects (and What a Producer Should Be Looking For) on Wednesday, February 18 at 7:30pm at The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street (below W. 3rd Street), NYC. Panelists include Michael Feingold, literary consultant for Theater for a New Audience, former literary manager of Yale Repertory Theater, and critic for The Village Voice; and Michael Nassar, producer, general manager and former associate artistic director of the O'Neill Center, dramaturge at The Public Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club and 7 Devils PW Conference.

The heads of the English departments of Cornell, Princeton, and Yale Universities have chosen Randy Gener, Senior Editor of American Theatre magazine, to receive the annual George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism. The honor is reserved for 'the American who has written the best piece of drama criticism during the theatrical year (July 1 to June 30), whether it is an article, an essay, treatise or book.'

Filled with colorful criminals, biting social satire and a brilliant score, The Threepenny Opera opens International City Theatre's 2009 Season at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. Jules Aaron directs Michael Feingold's translation of the trailblazing musical by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill that became one of the most influential plays of the 20th Century. Darryl Archibald is musical director and Kay Cole choreographs the five-week run February 20 through March 22; low-priced previews begin February 17. First performed in 1928, Brecht and Weill's The Threepenny Opera was a revolutionary musical theater masterpiece that mocked the bourgeois political movement of pre-Hitler Germany. Brecht's brittle, sardonic tale of beggars, thieves and prostitutes, adapted from the 1728 play The Beggar's Opera by John Gay, was a fierce social and political critique, and Weill's innovative score that fused American jazz with German cabaret captured the ironic tone of the lyrics. Part acid social criticism, part bittersweet romance, the now eighty-year old saga of 'Mack the Knife' and his entourage of criminals and whores has never lost its theatrical punch. 'It's a satire on capitalism and corruption told from the viewpoint of the 'little people',' notes Aaron. 'If there was ever time to revive this show, it's now. Michael [Feingold]'s translation is earthy, gritty and very funny. I think it's going to strike a chord with audiences.'

The Village Voice, the nation's first and largest alternative weekly newspaper, announced the judges for the 54th Annual Village Voice Obie Awards. The Voice's chief theater critic, Michael Feingold, will again chair the Obie Awards committee. Joining him will be Voice critic Alexis Soloski and six guest judges: Eric Grode, New York Sun; Andy Probst, AmericanTheaterWeb.com (also a frequent Voice contributor); Eisa Davis, actress-playwright, Obie Award winner for her performance last year in 'Passing Strange'; Ty Jones, actor-playwright, 2003 Obie Award winner for his performance in 'The Blacks' (Classical Theatre of Harlem); Moises Kaufman, playwright-director, 2004 Obie Award winner for his direction of 'I Am My Own Wife'; Chay Yew, playwright-director, 2007 Obie Award winner for his direction of 'Durango' (Public Theater). Mr. Propst will also serve as secretary to the committee.

The Village Voice, the nation's first and largest alternative weekly newspaper, announced the judges for the 54th Annual Village Voice Obie Awards.

As theater-lovers look forward to the annual TONY Awards ceremony and the conclusion of the 2007-2008 theater season, television's long-running THEATER TALK series presents two original programs to fuel their anticipation.

Nation's Theater-Lovers Can Turn to PBS Stations or the Web for Wealth of Broadway Insiders' Opinions Beginning June 11.

Ensemble Studio Theatre presents Series C of 'Marathon 2008', E.S.T.'s 30th annual festival of new one-act plays.

The 53rd annual Village Voice Obie Awards were presented last night at a ceremony at Webster Hall, an East Village landmark in Manhattan.

New York Drama Critics' Circle names 'August' best play and 'Passing Strange' best musical of 2007-08.

August: Osage County, by Tracy Letts, today won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award (NYDCC) for Best Play of the 2007-2008 season. The Best Musical award was given to Passing Strange (book and lyrics by Stew and music by Stew and Heidi Rodewald).

An elite downtown New York City theater event, heretofore restricted to an invitation-only audience, will become open to the world for the first time ever. The Village Voice OBIE Awards will be webcast live from Webster Hall on Monday, May 19, 2008 at 8pm by logging on to www.villagevoice.com/obies or www.iclips.net.

Ensemble Studio Theatre announces Series A of 'Marathon 2008' beginning May 8th.

ENSEMBLE STUDIO THEATRE (William Carden, Artistic Director, Paul Alexander Slee, Executive Director) will present MARATHON 2008, E.S.T.'s 30th annual festival of new one-act plays, at E.S.T. (549 West 52nd Street). Performances begin Thursday, May 8th, and continue through Saturday, June 28th. MARATHON 2008 offers fifteen World Premieres of one-act plays in three separate evenings.

ENSEMBLE STUDIO THEATRE (William Carden, Artistic Director, Paul Alexander Slee, Executive Director) will present MARATHON 2008, E.S.T.'s 30th annual festival of new one-act plays, at E.S.T. (549 West 52nd Street). Performances begin Thursday, May 8th, and continue through Saturday, June 28th.

Theatre for a New Audience's Literary Supplement continues on Monday, March 17, at 7:30PM at The Cherry Lane Theatre, 38 Commerce Street, with a reading of The Self-Tormentor by the Roman playwright Terence (170-160 BCE) directed by the theatre's Associate Artistic Director, Arin Arbus.

Project Shaw continues its four-year program of tackling every play Shaw ever wrote. This month, Too True to be Good on Monday, February 11, 2008 at 7 p.m. at the Players Club, 16 Gramercy Park South. David Staller is producer and director.

Theatre for a New Audience's acclaimed reading series, 'The Literary Supplement,' will present three exciting works that continue to explore the theme of Theatre for a New Audience's subscription season: the cultural connections among Africa, Europe and America. All readings in 'The Literary Supplement' will be performed at The Cherry Lane Theatre, 38 Commerce Street.