Mike Doyle News

This week at the O'Neill the performances of national playwrights and national music theater conferences continue. There will be a freee Theatermakers performances on Tuesday, July 8th. PERFORMANCES OF NATIONAL PLAYWRIGHTS, NATIONAL MUSIC THEATER CONFERENCES CONTINUE! FREE THEATERMAKERS PERFORMANCE ON TUESDAY, JULY 8 The National Playwrights Conference continues with two new projects, SMUDGE and MAGNOLIA. National Music Theater Conference presents performances of MAX UNDERSTOOD and begins performances of IRON CURTAIN. SMUDGE by Rachel Axler Directed by Daniel Aukin Performances: Thurs., July 10 at 8:15 pm; Sat., July 12 at 8:15 pm When a young couple's first child doesn't turn out as expected, they're forced to revise their notions about what constitutes a life, and figure out -- in their own, specific ways -- how to be parents. A very, very, very dark comedy. CAST: Maria Dizzia* Mike Doyle* Jonathan Walker* MAX UNDERSTOOD Book by Nancy Carlin; Lyrics by Nancy Carlin and Michael Rasbury; Music by Michael Rasbury Directed by Jack Cumming Performances: Fri., July 11 at 8:00 pm; Sun., July 13 at 3:00 pm The transformative journey of a 7-year old autistic boy and those who love him, and how the need to communicate overcomes an unintelligible chasm. This sound-scaped musical may leave you feeling autistic yourself…and that's OK. CAST: Matthew Gumley* Jonathan Hammond* Hannah Laird* Lauren Marcus* Kerry O'Malley* Ben Roseberry* Paul Oakley Stovall* MAGNOLIA* by Regina Taylor Directed by Regina Taylor Performances: Fri., July 11 at 8:15 pm; Sunday, July 13 at 5:15 pm Magnolia is set in winter, 1963, as the schools, stores and real estate markets of Atlanta, Georgia are beginning to desegregate-much to the resentment of the white community. Lily, a white landowner, returns from Paris to find the Forest Estate, her family's land, on the brink of ruin. Thomas, a successful businessman and the descendent of former slaves to the estate, has a plan to save the land: turn it into subdivisions and sell it to the white families fleeing the city. Tensions build as members of the estranged family reunite to try and save their beloved land-magnolia trees and all. *MAGNOLIA is a collaboration with Chicago's The Goodman Theatre, Robert Falls, Artistic Director CAST: Tyla Abercrumbie* Tory Davis* Ted Dasy* Harriett Foy* Mattie Hawkinson* Stephen Henderson* Brandon Miller* Caitlin O'Connell* Tim Rhoze* David Ross* Stephen Schnetzer* Makela Spielman* IRON CURTAIN*** Book by Susan DeLallo, Lyrics by Peter Mills, Music by Stephen Weiner Directed by Cara Reichel Performances: Sat., July 12 at 8:00 pm; Weds., July 16 at 8:00 pm; Fri., July 18 at 8:00 pm; Sat., July 19 at 3:00 pm New York, 1956: two down-on-their luck songwriters are kidnapped by the KGB and brought to Moscow, where they are forced to write Communist Propaganda musicals. A madcap farce about fame vs. freedom, filled with divas and dominatrixes, stooges and spies, mishaps and misdirects as our heroes try desperately to get back home. ***IRON CURTAIN is funded in part through The ASCAP Residency. CAST: David Abeles* Alison Briner* Stephen Bogardus* Monique French* David Gregory Daniel Levine* Anne Torsiglieri* Dan Sharkey* Robby Sharpe* Lucy Sorenson* Gordon Stanley* Jessica Snow Wilson* *member of Actors' Equity Association THE PUB is open to the public before and after all performances. Come enjoy your favorite beverage and spend some time with our artists! COMING UP NEXT WEEK will be performances of THUNDER ABOVE, DEEPS BELOW and MISTAKES WERE MADE at the National Playwrights Conference, and IRON CURTAIN continues the National Music Theater Conference! Also Coming Soon: The Summer Gala Musicals Under the Star:, Celebrating 31 years of the National Music Theater Conference and NMTC co-founder and Artistic Director Paulette Haupt! July 19th at 6:30pm. For tickets and more information see www.theoneill.org or contact Suzanne Hendrix at 860-443-5378 x 217. All schedules and artists subject to change. Please call the O'Neill Box Office at 860-443-1238 for times, prices and reservations. Outdoor performances will be moved indoors in the event of rain. The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, founded in 1964, is the pre-eminent center for the development of new works and new voices for the American theater. It has been home to more than 1,000 new works for the stage and 2,500 emerging artists. Scores of projects developed at the O'Neill have gone on to full productions at other theaters around the world, including Broadway, off-Broadway and major regional theaters. The O'Neill has received a special Tony Award, the National Opera Award, the Jujamcyn Award for Theater Excellence and the Arts and Business Council Encore Award. The O'Neill's programs include the National Playwrights Conference, National Music Theater Conference, Puppetry Conference, Cabaret & Performance Conference, National Critics Institute, and the National Theater Institute, which includes semester-long, fully accredited intensive theater-training programs and a six-week accredited summer program, Theatermakers. In addition, the O'Neill owns and operates the Monte Cristo Cottage, a National Historic Landmark and the childhood home of Nobel Prize-winning and four-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Eugene O'Neill. For more information regarding the Center, please visit the O'Neill website at www.TheONeill.org or call 860-443-5378.

Wendy C. Goldberg, Artistic Director of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference (NPC) and Paulette Haupt, Artistic Director of the National Music Theater Conference (NMTC), announced the actors cast in their 2008 projects. The actors include a mix of award-winning actors from stage and screen, seasoned O'Neill performers, and new talent.

Currently in previews, THE NEW CENTURY, plays by Paul Rudnick, directed by Nicholas Martin, opens on Monday, April 14 at 6:45 PM at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 West 65 Street. THE NEW CENTURY is a series of four short plays, which feature everyone from a concerned Long Island mother of at least three gay children (Linda Lavin), to an accomplished Midwestern craftswoman (Jayne Houdyshell), to one of Mr. Rudnick's favorites, Mr. Charles, a flamboyant resident of Palm Beach (Peter Barlett). Ultimately, all of these delicious and distraught people collide under surprising and comic circumstances, and we discover just where our new century might be heading. The cast of five also features Mike Doyle and Christy Pusz. The production has sets by Allen Moyer, costumes by William Ivey Long, lighting by Kenneth Posner and original music and sound design by Mark Bennett. THE NEW CENTURY is performed Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8pm, with matinees Wednesday and Saturdays at 2pm and Sundays at 3pm. Tickets priced at $70 and $75, are available at the Lincoln Center Theater Box Office, at Tele-charge.com (212-239-6200) or by visiting www.lct.org.

Currently in previews, THE NEW CENTURY, plays by Paul Rudnick, directed by Nicholas Martin, opens on Monday, April 14 at 6:45 PM at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 West 65 Street.

Due to demand for tickets, Culture Project has extended the World Premiere engagement of George Packer's captivating new play Betrayed, directed by Pippin Parker. Marking Packer's playwriting debut, Betrayed opened February 6, 2008, at Culture Project's SoHo theater (55 Mercer Street). The run will now continue through April 13, 2008.

The world premiere of George Packer's new play Betrayed, officially opened Wednesday, February 6 at 7PM, after beginning performances on Friday, January 25 at Culture Project's SoHo theater (55 Mercer Street). Pippin Parker directs.

Mike Doyle and Christy Pusz round out the cast which includes Peter Bartlett, Jayne Houdyshell, and Linda Lavin in Lincoln Center Theater's production of Paul Rudnick's The New Century, a group of four one-act plays, to begin performances on March 20 at the Mitzi Newhouse Theater. The production, which will open officially on April 14, and is directed by Nicholas Martin.

The world premiere of George Packer's new play Betrayed, will officially open Wednesday, February 6 at 7PM, after beginning performances on Friday, January 25 at Culture Project's SoHo theater

Culture Project (Allan Buchman, Artistic Director) has announced that it will host two special post-performance discussions, following the Saturday, January 26th and Friday, February 1st performances of its World Premiere production of George Packer's new play Betrayed. The first, following the 8:00 p.m. performance on January 26th, will include Packer and Iraqi interpreter (and the inspiration for the main character in Betrayed) Omer Salih Mahdi. Following the Friday, February 1st performance, Culture Project will welcome Pulitzer Prize winner (and My Trip to Al-Qaeda playwright) Lawrence Wright, who will join Packer in conversation about the war in Iraq.

The World Premiere of George Packer's new play Betrayed, which was scheduled for Tuesday, February 5, will now take place on Wednesday, February 6 at 7PM.

Culture Project has announced complete casting for its World Premiere of George Packer's new play Betrayed, directed by Pippin Parker. Performances begin on Friday, January 25 at Culture Project's SoHo theater (55 Mercer Street). Opening Night is set for February 5, 2008.

Wendy C. Goldberg, Artistic Director of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference announced the actors cast in 2007 NPC projects

On September 18th, the IT Awards (New York Innovative Theatre Awards), the organization dedicated to celebrating Off-Off-Broadway, announced the 2006 award recipients at a exceptional evening hosted by Tony-nominee Charles Busch

On July 17, 2006, the IT Awards (New York Innovative Theatre Awards), the organization dedicated to celebrating Off-Off-Broadway, announced the 2006 nominees at the Ukrainian National Home

Plays by John Guare, David Mamet, Craig Lucas, Tina Howe and more will be featured in the Atlantic Theater Company's Ten by Twenty, featuring stars such as Kristen Johnston and Jan Maxwell, and running from June 14th through July 1st

Stage and film actress Carrie Preston will make her debut as a film director with the festival hit 29th and Gay, which will also feature songs written and performed by Malcolm Gets

America's most prolific major playwright reminisces on the birth of Off-Off-Broadway, the creation of gay theatre, the first completely nude play and how a certain Catwoman welcomed him to Broadway.