Nancy Keystone News

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation, the not-for-profit foundation of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, has named Cristin Carole as this season’s SDCF Denham Fellow . Learn more!

NYU Tisch School of the Arts’ Dean Allyson Green today announced that Justin Townsend will be leading the Department of Design for Stage and Film as Chair starting in August 2022 and will join the faculty immediately.

Getty has announced the return of its in-person Villa Theater Lab with After Iphigenia, a kaleidoscopic composition written and directed by Nancy Keystone, created in collaboration with her ensemble, Critical Mass Performance Group. It takes place at the Villa Auditorium from Friday, November 12 to Sunday, November 14. Tickets are $7 and can be purchased online here.

Boston Court Pasadena is embarking on a year of significant new play development in 2021. The year will feature presentations of theatrical projects at various stages. Some scripts have had previous workshops, while others are beginning as first drafts.

The Cal Poly Pomona Department of Theatre and New Dance announces its first completely virtual Fall season of theatre with a production of Men On Boats written by Jaclyn Backhaus and directed by Nancy Keystone, available for on-demand viewing October 23 a?" 28, 2020; and Zorro X2 written by Bernardo Solano and directed by Linda Bisesti, available for on-demand viewing November 20 a?" 24, 2020. All tickets are free.

Play On Shakespeare today announces an expansive list of compelling actors and dynamic directors confirmed to participate in the Play on! Festival, presented in association with Classic Stage Company (CSC) and Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF). Play on! features 39 readings of new, work-in-progress translations of Shakespeare's plays into contemporary modern English by some of today's most exciting playwrights-May 29-June 30 at the Lynn F. Angelson Theater at CSC (136 E. 13th Street). In 2015, Oregon Shakespeare Festival launched an ambitious 39-play, three-year commissioning project, Play on!, tasking 36 playwrights-more than half of whom were women and playwrights of color, each paired with a dramaturg-to translate Shakespeare's canon in celebration of the enduring impact of the Bard's work. Supported by a generous grant from the Hitz Foundation and inspired by long-time patron Dave Hitz's passion for Shakespeare, the project was and continues to be led by Lue Morgan Douthit. For more information, visit playonfestival.org.

Play On Shakespeare in association with Classic Stage Company (CSC) and Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) presents the Play on! festival-featuring 39 readings of new, work-in-progress translations of Shakespeare's plays into contemporary modern English by some of today's most exciting playwrights-May 29-June 30 at the Lynn F. Angelson Theater at CSC (136 E. 13th Street).In 2015, Oregon Shakespeare Festival launched an ambitious 39-play, three-year commissioning project, Play on!, tasking 36 playwrights-more than half of whom were women and playwrights of color, each paired with a dramaturg-to translate Shakespeare's canon in celebration of the enduring impact of the Bard's work. Supported by a generous grant from the Hitz Foundation and inspired by long-time patron Dave Hitz's passion for Shakespeare, the project was and continues to be led by Lue Morgan Douthit. For more information, visit playonfestival.org.

Artistic Director Chris Coleman has announced the 41st season of the DCPA Theatre Company, the producing regional theatre arm of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA). The new season kicks off performances on August 30 and will feature eight productions including two world premieres from the 2019 Colorado New Play Summit and - for the first time in repertory - A Doll's House and A Doll's House, Part 2.

East West Players (EWP), the nation's longest-running professional theater of color and the largest producing organization of Asian American artistic work, is pleased to announce its nominations for the 29th Annual Ovation Awards, which will be held on Monday, January 28, at The Theatre at Ace Hotel. The annual Ovation Awards "are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles, created to recognize excellence in theatrical performance, production, and design in the Greater Los Angeles area," according to LA STAGE Alliance, which administers the awards.

Independent Shakespeare Co.(ISC), presenters of the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival announce the world premiere of interdisciplinary artist Kalean Ung's original solo work, LETTERS FROM HOME, directed by Marina McClure, with music by Chinary Ung. LETTERS FROM HOME will play October 26 - November 18 at Independent Studio in the Atwater Crossing Arts + Innovation Complex, 3191 Casitas Ave., #130 in Atwater Village.

Casting has been announced for the World Premiere of THE BABY DANCE: MIXED, a new adaptation by Emmy Award-winner JANE ANDERSON ("Olive Kitteridge") of her acclaimed 2004 play The Baby Dance. A drama delicately laced with comic overtones, THE BABY DANCE: MIXED is a compelling and urgent play about race, class, and wanting the perfect child. In the story, Regina and Richard, an affluent mixed-race couple in Los Angeles, have everything except a baby. Wanda and Al, an African-American couple living in an overcrowded trailer in modern-day Louisiana, are too poor to keep their soon-to-be-born child. Through an adoption attorney, the two couples broker a deal. However, circumstances arise that affect their decision and the situation spins out of control. The Wall Street Journal described The Baby Dance as "filled with emotional power and nimble humor." The L.A. Times called it "a stunner…funny as well as perceptive."

The second play in this year's Block Party is AMERYKA, written and directed by Critical Mass Performance Group Artistic Director Nancy Keystone, which continues through April 29, 2018 at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. Plan to arrive early so you can take advantage reading all the information posted in several areas of the lobby (as well as in the two main theater entrances) about Tadeusz Ko?ciuszko, a Polish freedom fighter who assisted Thomas Jefferson in the formation of our country, as his remarkable life and beliefs are central to the plot of this play.

Critical Mass Performance Group's AMERYKA has been chosen as the next production of this year's Center Theatre Group's second annual BLOCK PARTY running April 19 through April 29, 2018 at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. We had the opportunity to talk to Nancy Keystone, CMPG's founding artistic director, and director and co-writer of AMERYKA, as she rhapsodizes on all things cultural, critical and collaborative.

The Critical Mass Performance Group production of "Ameryka," which Center Theatre Group is remounting at the Kirk Douglas Theatre as part of the second annual Block Party: Celebrating Los Angeles Theatre, will open Saturday, April 21 at 8 p.m. Written and directed by Critical Mass Performance Group Artistic Director Nancy Keystone in collaboration with the company, "Ameryka" is currently in previews and will close April 29.

Casting has been announced for the World Premiere of THE BABY DANCE: MIXED, a new adaptation by Emmy Award-winner JANE ANDERSON ('Olive Kitteridge') of her acclaimed 2004 play The Baby Dance. A drama delicately laced with comic overtones, THE BABY DANCE: MIXED is a compelling and urgent play about race, class, and wanting the perfect child.

Casting is set for the Critical Mass Performance Group production of "Ameryka," which Center Theatre Group is remounting at the Kirk Douglas Theatre as part of the second annual Block Party: Celebrating Los Angeles Theatre. Written and directed by Critical Mass Performance Group Artistic Director Nancy Keystone in collaboration with the company, "Ameryka" will begin previews April 19, open April 21 and close April 29.

Playwrights' Arena, the only theater created and dedicated to producing bold new works for the stage written exclusively by Los Angeles playwrights, will be celebrating its 26th Anniversary with their annual fundraising gala, HOT NIGHT IN THE CITY. The event will be held at Barnsdall Gallery Theater, 4800 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, starting at 7:30 PM (with a VIP reception beginning at 6 PM). For tickets go to www.playwrightsarena.org or call 800-838-3006.

The 28th Annual LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards, celebrating theatrical excellence and achievement throughout Los Angeles, were presented on Monday, January 29, at the Theatre at Ace Hotel in downtown LA.

Center Theatre Group has selected three local productions for the second annual Block Party: Celebrating Los Angeles Theatre at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Block Party 2018 will remount Celebration Theatre's production of Die, Mommie, Die!, Critical Mass Performance Group's production of Ameryka and Playwrights' Arena's production of Bloodletting. Each production will have a two-week run with 12 performances presented March 29 through May 20, 2018. The three visiting companies will receive the full support of Center Theatre Group and its staff in order to fund, stage and market each production.

Three finalists have been selected for Center Theatre Group's 2018 Richard E. Sherwood Award: Gina Young, Marsian De Lellis and Hana Kim. Center Theatre Group recognizes and celebrates this year's finalists for their exceptional contributions to the Los Angeles theatre landscape and their work as innovative and adventurous artists.