New York State Council on the Arts News

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today two upcoming events with visual artist Takashi Murakami on Sunday, June 1.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's two-week spring engagement at Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater kicks off in an exceptional way on Wednesday, June 11th with a free workshop - Revelations Celebration on the Plaza - followed by The Ailey Spirit Gala, a one-night-only benefit performance and party.

An all-new THEATER TALK celebrates Tony® Award nominees from A Raisin in the Sun and Aladdin, all moving toward the June 8 awards ceremonies with considerable momentum.

Starting today, over 150 celebrities - actors, musicians, writers, models, photographers, performers - are auctioning off unique personal photos and selfies as part of the MIX NYC #NakedEye Camera Benefit. To bid, visit mixnyc.org/nakedeye. A full list of participating celebrities is included at the end of this release; auctions close on May 22nd.

It's been rumored, talked about, discussed and we've been reporting on it for what feels like forever -- and now, it's official! Roundabout Theatre Company has announced that it will present Tony & Emmy Award winner Kristin Chenoweth as 'Lily Garland' and Golden Globe & SAG Award winner & Tony nominee Peter Gallagher as 'Oscar Jaffe' in a new Broadway production of the classic musical ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, directed by Scott Ellis and choreographed by Warren Carlyle. ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY features music by Cy Coleman and book & lyrics by Betty Comden & Adolph Green.

Kitchen Theatre Company's experimental Kitchen Sink Series is bringing a new play by young playwright Louisa Hill to the Kitchen stage. The Lord Of The Underworld's Home For Unwed Mothers is a modern re-telling of the Demeter and Persephone myth set in the 1960s and 1990s, exploring the politics of motherhood. When Dee meets the daughter she was forced to give up 25 years ago, the reunion is less than ideal. To show her Death Metal enthusiast daughter, Corie, that she wasn't given up out of selfishness, Dee must return to her teenage memories of Catholic, middle-class life in the 1960s to explain how the choice was never hers to make. But the despondent Corie, whose turbulent childhood consisted of being shipped from one foster home to the next, has a secret of her own. A tale of love, loss, and some heavy metal, running for two nights only, May 16 and 17 at 4pm.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center and Subway Cinema, in association with the Japan Society, announced today that Umin Boya's Kano has been selected as the Centerpiece selection for this year's New York Asian Film Festival

It's a Beautiful week for an all-new THEATER TALK with the Tony-nominated Jessie Mueller (Best Actress in a Musical) and real-life songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, celebrating the success of Beautiful - The Carole King Musical currently running on Broadway at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) is thrilled to present Tony Award® winner, two-time Grammy Award winner and two-time Academy Award® nominee Jim Dale in his solo show, Just Jim Dale, directed by Tony Award winner Richard Maltby, Jr.

It's a Beautiful week for an all-new THEATER TALK with the Tony-nominated Jessie Mueller (Best Actress in a Musical) and real-life songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, celebrating the success of Beautiful - The Carole King Musical currently running on Broadway at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.

Nonesuch Records will release Natalie Merchant's new self-titled album today, May 6, 2014.

Road Less Traveled Productions (RLTP) will present its fifth annual Buffalo Young Writers Night on Wednesday, May 21 at The Road Less Traveled Theater at the Market Arcade Film & Arts Centre. Doors open at 7:00 pm with performances beginning at 7:30 pm. The evening will feature winners of the 2014 Buffalo Young Writers contest (or BYW), recognizing outstanding student playwrights in the WNY area. RLTP launched its Buffalo Young Writers contest in the fall of 2009 by giving high school and college student writers and playwrights the opportunity to submit their work for the chance of a professionally produced presentation.

RIOULT Dance NY, a leading American modern dance company with a classic sensibility, will present two unique programs during the June 17-22, 2014 New York Season at The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue (at 19th Street), NYC. The schedule runs:Tuesday at 7:30pm; Wednesday at 7pm; Thursday and Friday at 8pm; Saturday at 2pm & 8pm; and Sunday at 2pm & 7:30pm. Tickets start at $10 and are available at JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800, in person at The Joyce Theater Box Office, or online at joyce.org.

Penguin Rep Theatre's 2014 season officially begins May 16, 2013, with The Savannah Disputation, written by Evan Smith and directed by Mark Shanahan.

Oprahfication, the Australian, one-woman, tour de force musical, celebrating all things Oprah has been selected for a season at the prestigious New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) in July.

The Puppet Lab, which celebrates its 16th anniversary this year, is St. Ann's Warehouse'sexperimental haven for artists developing interdisciplinary projects for puppet and object theater. Under the direction of Lab Co-Directors Matthew Acheson and Krissy Smith, participating artists and their collaborators have met weekly over several months to develop projects, share puppetry elements and other design and technical ideas, discuss plot structure and character development, and work on narrative. They will present their works-in-progress in the annual Labapalooza! festival, which will run May 29 - June 1 at St. Ann's Warehouse (29 Jay Street, Brooklyn).

Casting for the third and fourth weeks of American Ballet Theatre's 2014 Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House was announced by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today additions to the popular year-round Free Film Society Talks with The Immigrant director James Gray on May 7 and Night Moves director Kelly Reichardt

In celebration of the anniversaries of the 1939-40 and 1964-65 New York World's Fairs-both of which took place in Queens-Museum of the Moving Image will present an exhibit of films that were made for the fairs and which reflect post-World War II-era optimism and focus on American industry as central themes. The exhibit, The World Comes to Queens: Films from the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs, featuring excerpts from six films, opens today and will be on view through August 31 in the Museum's Video Screening Amphitheater.

New York Live Arts presents the U.S. premiere of Alain Buffard's Baron Samedi, tonight, May 1 - 3 at 7:30pm in the New York Live Arts Theater. Featuring a stellar international cast including Nadia Beugre, Will Rawls and David Thomson, among others, Baron Samedi pays tribute to the eponymous legendary and unsettling Carnival figure and voodoo master of ceremonies.