Michael Leeds News

Pride Films and Plays' Gay Play Weekend is one of the most exciting events for LGBT theater lovers, as five great new scripts are brought to life in enhanced staged readings directed by Chicago's top directors. The first three years of the contest had produced finalists and award winners like At The Flash by Sean Chandler and David Leeper, Under A Rainbow Flag by Leo Schwartz, Learn to Be Latina by Enrique Urueta, and Directions for Restoring the Apparently Dead by Martin Casella.

On Monday night, March 31, at the 38th annual Carbonell Awards, when the statuettes were all handed out, the musical numbers had concluded and the audience had left the Broward Center for the Performing Arts to attend the after-party, two things could not be denied: South Florida is home to a rich, vibrant theatrical community packed with talent; and it was a good night to be Island City Stage.

PFP's Gay Play Weekend includes a dynamic musical about a tragedy in gay history, and a historical drama about Michelangelo. You will also see a murder mystery which takes place at a party where everyone is dressed as Joan Crawford, a fun piece about gay dating today, and a drama about abuse and healing. These are the themes of the five finalists in Pride Films and Plays' 2014 Gay Play and Musical Contest.

A musical about the struggles of a bipolar woman and the plight of two prisoners in a concentration camp during the Holocaust received the most nominations in the musical and play categories when the nominations were announced for the 38th Carbonell Awards, which honors excellence in theatre in South Florida.

Five finalists have now been named in the 2014 Great Gay Play And Musical Contest sponsored by Pride Films and Plays. The works are as varied as the writers, and PFP will present enhanced staged readings of these works in May at Center on Halsted.

Beth Henley's Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy Crimes of the Heart will open at the Broward Stage Door Theatre on January 17th, and run through February 23rd. Sometimes described as Hannah and Her Sisters with a Southern accent, Crimes of the Heart has often been named one of the finest plays in American Theatre. Along with the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the play was awarded the 1981 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best American Play, and the 1982 Theatre World Award.

A slate of 17 vibrant and kinetic new LGBT scripts and musicals have emerged as Semi-Finalists in Pride Films and Plays 2014 Great Gay Play and Musical Contest. They come from writers across the United States and Great Britain, and have been read by several dozen film and theater professionals.

The Naked Stage will present: THE NAKED STAGE'S 24 HOUR THEATRE PROJECT 2013! at Palm Beach Dramaworks on Monday, October 28th at 8 p.m.

Suzanne Gold and her close-knit New York family are delighted to hear she is pregnant, however a (fictional) prenatal genetic test reveals that the baby will most likely be gay. The news forces the entire Gold family to confront issues of bigotry, evolution, and the limits of love.

Miami's City Theatre, now in its 18th year of their renowned Summer Shorts Festival, will spread its wings in a new collaboration with Island City Stage to bring an evening of hilarious and provocative short plays. Scroll down for a sneak peek at the cast!

Parade Productions will present a premiere reading of award-winning South Florida playwright/director Michael Leeds' new work, The Gift. This FREE reading will take place on July 1st at 7:30 p.m., at the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center's Studio Theatre in Boca Raton and will feature actors Clay Cartland and Lindsey Forgey.

Parade Productions will present a premiere reading of award-winning South Florida playwright/director Michael Leeds' new work, The Gift. The reading will take place on July 1st at 7:30 p.m., at the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center's Studio Theatre in Boca Raton and will feature actors Clay Cartland and Lindsey Forgey.

Recent Carbonell Award winning playwright Michael McKeever's latest work, 'FINDING MONA LISA,' will be presented as a Staged Reading for one night only, at 7:30 PM tonight, April 22nd, 2013, in Lynn University's Wold Performing Arts Center, Boca Raton, Fla.

Recent Carbonell Award winning playwright Michael McKeever's latest work, 'FINDING MONA LISA,' will be presented as a Staged Reading for one night only, at 7:30 PM on Monday, April 22nd, 2013, in Lynn University's Wold Performing Arts Center, Boca Raton, Fla.

'PROPOSITION 8,' a new play by South Florida playwright Dan Clancy, will be presented as a Staged Reading for one night only, at 7:30 PM on Monday, February 11th, 2013, in Lynn University's Wold Performing Arts Center, Boca Raton, FL.

This play reading series at Lynn is being expanded into a much more ambitious program, where actual workshops will be produced that give playwrights the chance to bring in a new play and work with a cast and a director for six days - rehearsing, re-writing, rehearsing, rewriting. Then, at the end of the six days, they will present their new, polished, reworked play to the public, in performance.

Voting is now underway for the South Florida Awards and continues until December 31, 2012. Winners will be announced in early January. Check out the live standings below!

Island City Stage and Empire Stage have announced their co-production of the play 'The Twentieth-Century Way' by Tom Jacobson, which will be performed at Empire Stage, 1140 N. Flagler Dr., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33304, beginning August 9. The official opening is set for August 11, 2012, and the play will run Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00pm, and Sundays at 5:00pm, through September 9. The ticket price is $30, $20 for previews. For reservations or further information, call 954-678-1496. Tickets may be purchased with credit or debit card through Smarttix at www.smarttix.com or by calling 212-868-4444. Tickets may also be purchased at the door (cash only).

Infinite Abyss Productions, in association with Empire Stage, to announced it is premiering its first original play, Snow White Trash, in January 2012. Snow White Trash was written by Infinite Abyss principals Erynn Dalton (Producer) and Jeffrey D. Holmes (Artistic Director). According to Dalton, Snow White Trash is “A campy take on the classic Snow White fairytale, like the Fractured Fairy Tales shown after each Rocky and Bullwinkle episode in the 1960s, but naughtier. Jeff and I have always been big fans of camp, Charles Busch style, and thought it was time to get Snow out there!

The Carbonell Awards, the arts organization that 'recognizes and awards excellence in South Florida theatre,' today announced the nominations for the 2011 season.