New York State Council on the Arts News

GLEE's Alex Newell Joins Broadway Line-Up In 'Joey Contreras In Concert' Thursday July 16, 2015 at The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center.

INTO THE SUN follows three young English friends who go off to the trenches of World War I. It is the saga of the soldiers, their families, and their lovers - and the way that war changes a generation. The protagonist distills the arc of his generation, moving from initial enthusiasm for the war to public protest against it.  Loosely based on the lives of several British War Poets, the musical features some songs that take their lyrics directly from poems by Wilfred Owen, Rupert Brooke, Siegfried Sassoon and others. The score blends the styles of pop, rock, and contemporary folk.

Starting fittingly on July Fourth weekend, Museum of the Moving Image will present The Essential John Ford, a tribute to the consummate American filmmaker. Ford made his reputation on westerns, but worked in many genres, creating films of depth, beauty, and ambiguity. From today, July 3 through August 2, the Museum will present 20 movies directed by Ford-all on film, with some restored archival prints-including his masterpieces Young Mr. Lincoln, My Darling Clementine, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) in association with The Foolish Company presents Foolerie a Shakespearean Musical Comedy with book, music, and lyrics by Santino DeAngelo. Tralen Doler directs a cast of nine, including Geoff Belliston, Ryan Breslin* (Bway: Newsies, Book of Mormon), Diego Diaz, Ian Fairlee*, Ian Knauer* (Bway: Mamma Mia!, By Jeeves, State Fair), Patrick Massey, Olivia Polci, Chandler Reeves, and Patrick Richwood (Film: 'Pretty Woman,' 'Armageddon,' 'Runaway Bride'). Foolerie is being staged at PTC Performance Space, 555 West 42nd Street (bet. 10th & 11th Avenues) in NYC for five performances from Wednesday, July 22 through Monday, July 27, 2015. *Appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association.

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) has announced the lineup for Tom Kitt and Friends, a one-night-only concert event featuring Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and lyricist Tom Kitt (Next to Normal, If/Then, High Fidelity). Broadway's Next To Normal, which won the Pulitzer in 2009, originated in 2005 at NYMF as Feeling Electric - and for one night only Kitt will reunite with cast members from both productions, presenting an array of songs from each. Performers include Next to Normal stars Tony-Award Winner Alice Ripley, Tony-Award Nominee Jennifer Damiano, and Louis Hobson, Feeling Electric stars Amy Spanger and Joe Cassidy, as well as Ben Schrader, Jonathan Dokuchitz, and Adrienne Warren. Tom Kitt and Friends will take place at PTC Performance Space (555 W. 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036) on Monday, July 13 at 8:00 pm. Tickets are available now at www.nymf.org/tickets.

Most theater professionals are not salaried employees. They are self-employed. Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) has pinpointed some specific business skills needed by the artistically self-employed, and addresses them with a new series of workshops: The TRU PATHWAYS Summer Workshop Series for Producers and Artists, today, June 30th, Wednesday July 15th, Tuesday July 28th, and Tuesday August 8th at 7:15pm at The Playroom Theater, 151 West 46th Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10036.

A special on-location THEATER TALK features a warm and revealing interview with legendary acting coach and off-Broadway producer Wynn Handman, former Artistic Director and Co-Founder of The American Place Theatre, a home to some of the most significant playwrights and performers of the late 20th century. In his office and classroom, Handman speaks with former student and THEATER TALK co-host Susan Haskins about his notable career. With a roster of actors he mentored that includes Richard Gere, Dustin Hoffman, and Denzel Washington, Handman shares how he created a home for plays that were “an alternative to Broadway.”

 ARE YOU THERE, MORGAN FREEMAN?, a new song cycle extravaganza written and performed by Brittany Velotta, will be presented in the 2015 New York Musical Theatre Festival.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announces a celebration of films from the Swinging Sixties (and beyond) with the retrospective Richard Lester: The Running Jumping Pop Cinema Iconoclast

Most theater professionals are not salaried employees. They are self-employed. Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) has pinpointed some specific business skills needed by the artistically self-employed, and addresses them with a new series of workshops: The TRU PATHWAYS Summer Workshop Series for Producers and Artists, on Tuesday June 30th, Wednesday July 15th, Tuesday July 28th, and Tuesday August 8th at 7:15pm at The Playroom Theater, 151 West 46th Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10036.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center has announced its new releases for Summer 2015. Scroll down for details!

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) in association with their new partner The Playroom Theatre, present the June panel, Marketing Your Show on a Budget: Starting the Buzz with Limited Bucks, tonight, June 25, 2015 at 7:30pm at a **NEW LOCATION: The Playroom Theater, 151 W. 46th Street, 8th floor, NYC 10036.** Doors open at 7pm for networking and refreshments; roundtable introductions of everyone in the room will start at 7:30pm.

Using Richard Brautigan's novella In Watermelon Sugar as a guide and the lens through which material is developed, director/choreographer Steven Reker collaborates with Ryan Seaton, Matt Evans, and Eliot Krimsky to form the experimental noise rock band Open House. At The Kitchen, Open House will premiere an evening of songs, compositions and performance work, this week, June 25-27.

An ancient myth about blood and honor reveals the secret life of a Chinese theater troupe in the dark comedy 'Behind the Mask -- a Play' by Chinese authors Feng BaiMing and Huang WeiRuo, which is being newly adapted by Yangtze Repertory Theatre in a production helmed by Chinese-born director Chongren Fan. The play will be performed in Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles and will be completely accessible for English-speaking audiences. English translation is by Kristen Hung. This U.S. premiere will be presented by Yangtze Rep tonight, June 25 to July 12 at Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue, East Village.

Road Less Traveled Productions (RLTP) will host its third annual summer event, BLUE: New York's West Coast Party 2015 tonight, June 24th, beginning at 5:30 PM and continuing through 10:00 PM, at The Shores Waterfront Restaurant on Tonawanda Island, NY.

The July-September broadcasts of The New York Philharmonic This Week - the weekly radio series of concerts and recordings by the New York Philharmonic, hosted by Alec Baldwin - will feature diverse programming, including Music Director Alan Gilbert leading Mahler's Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, in A Concert for New York on the 10th anniversary of 9/11; Bramwell Tovey conducing works including the World Premiere of a work he himself composed, featuring Principal Trombone Joseph Alessi as soloist; and special compilations celebrating former Philharmonic Music Directors Zubin Mehta, Pierre Boulez, and Kurt Masur.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center presents I Found This Funny: The Comedy World of Judd Apatow, July 10-14.

Penguin Rep Theatre continues its 2015 season - the Rockland County-based professional company's 38th -- with My Name is Asher Lev, a play by Aaron Posner, adapted from the best-selling novel by Chaim Potok. Directed by Stephen Nachamie, My Name is Asher Lev will be performed July 10 through August 2 in Stony Point, New York.

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU), and Cate Cammarata present the final reading in the 2015 TRU Voices Series: searchers.net, a computer dating extravaganzaby T. Cat Ford, on Monday, June 29, 2015 at 7pm at the SoHo Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street, NYC. searchers.net features Brad Bellamy, Laurence Cantor, Mark Finley, Melissa Hurst, Les J. N. Mau, and Patricia Randell.

Starting fittingly on July Fourth weekend, Museum of the Moving Image will present The Essential John Ford, a tribute to the consummate American filmmaker. Ford made his reputation on westerns, but worked in many genres, creating films of depth, beauty, and ambiguity. From July 3 through August 2, the Museum will present 20 movies directed by Ford-all on film, with some restored archival prints-including his masterpieces Young Mr. Lincoln, My Darling Clementine, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.