Niegel Smith News

TOSOS presents its upcoming production of Waiting for Giovanni at The Flea Theater. A great American writer at a pivotal moment in his career is the subject of a play by another iconic American author.

TOSOS presents its upcoming production of Waiting for Giovanni at The Flea Theater. A great American writer at a pivotal moment in his career is the subject of a play by another iconic American author.

In FATHER COMES HOME FROM THE WARS (PARTS 1, 2 & 3), Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks draws on Homeric tradition to spin an epic of the American Civil War. Intended as the first three parts of nine, an episodic structure ties loosely together the narrative of Hero (Kamal Angelo Bolden), a Texas slave who must decide whether or not to join the Confederate army under his master's promise that fighting will earn his freedom.

Goodman Theatre presents the Chicago premiere of Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) by Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks, directed by Niegel Smith. Parks, in her 'finest work yet' (New York Times), serves up 'an American story as much about our present as it is about our past' (Los Angeles Times).

New York Deaf Theatre (NYDT) celebrates their 38th season with an accessible production of MAPLE AND VINE by Pulitzer Prize finalist Jordan Harrison. The production marks the New York theater directing debut of award-winning Deaf film director Jules Dameron. Previews begin May 11 at the Flea Theater with a gala performance on May 12 and an official opening today, May 17 at 7:00pm.

Following their innovative production of TITUS: A Visual-Physical Adaptation of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, New York Deaf Theatre (NYDT) celebrates their 38th season with an accessible production of MAPLE AND VINE by Pulitzer Prize finalist Jordan Harrison. The production marks the New York theater directing debut of award-winning Deaf film director Jules Dameron. Previews begin May 11 at the Flea Theater with a gala performance on May 12 and an official press opening on Thursday, May 17 at 7:00pm. 

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, in a co-presentation with Pomegranate Arts, is thrilled to announce the special guest artists who will perform in Taylor Mac's ambitious, internationally acclaimed work A 24-Decade History of Popular Music. Local Philadelphia performance artists and musicians will join Mac in these final U.S. performances of the full, 24-hour-long pop odyssey, June 2 & 9 at the Kimmel Center's Merriam Theater, as part of the 2018 Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA). Mac will perform A 24-Decade History of Popular Music as two distinct 12-hour concerts, Saturday, June 2 (1776-1896) and Saturday, June 9 (1896-present day) - Mac's longest continuous performances since the work premiered at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn in 2016.

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, in a co-presentation with Pomegranate Arts, is thrilled to announce the special guest artists who will perform in Taylor Mac's ambitious, internationally acclaimed work A 24-Decade History of Popular Music. Local Philadelphia performance artists and musicians will join Mac in these final U.S. performances of the full, 24-hour-long pop odyssey, June 2 & 9 at the Kimmel Center's Merriam Theater, as part of the 2018 Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA). Mac will perform A 24-Decade History of Popular Music as two distinct 12-hour concerts, Saturday, June 2 (1776-1896) and Saturday, June 9 (1896-present day) - Mac's longest continuous performances since the work premiered at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn in 2016.

New York Deaf Theatre (NYDT) celebrates their 38th season with an accessible production of MAPLE AND VINE by Pulitzer Prize finalist Jordan Harrison. The production marks the New York theater directing debut of award-winning Deaf film director Jules Dameron. Previews begin May 11 at the Flea Theater with a gala performance on May 12 and an official opening on Thursday, May 17 at 7:00pm.

New York Deaf Theatre (NYDT) celebrates their 38th season with an accessible production of MAPLE AND VINE by Pulitzer Prize finalist Jordan Harrison. The production marks the New York theater directing debut of award-winning Deaf film director Jules Dameron. Previews begin May 11 at the Flea Theater with a gala performance on May 12 and an official opening on Thursday, May 17 at 7:00pm.

Goodman Theatre announces the cast and creative team for the Chicago premiere of Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) by Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks, directed by Niegel Smith. Parks, in her "finest work yet" (New York Times), serves up "an American story as much about our present as it is about our past" (Los Angeles Times). Filled with wit, poetry and original music composed by Grammy Award winner Justin Ellington and performed on stage nightly by Chicago native blues musician Melody Angel, the production follows Hero (Kamal Angelo Bolden), a Texas slave, who faces a simple yet monumental choice: join his master in the Confederate army to win his freedom-or remain enslaved at the plantation. Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) appears May 25 - June 24, 2018 (opening night is June 4 at 7pm) in Goodman Theatre's 350-seat flexible Owen Theatre. The estimated run time is 2 hours and 30 minutes. Tickets ($10 - $40; subject to change) are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/Father , by phone at 312.443.3800 or at the box office (170 N. Dearborn). The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation is the Major Production Sponsor and American Airlines is the Contributing Sponsor.

New York Deaf Theatre (NYDT) celebrates their 38th season with an accessible production of MAPLE AND VINE by Pulitzer Prize finalist Jordan Harrison. The production marks the New York theater directing debut of award-winning Deaf film director Jules Dameron. Previews begin May 11 at the Flea Theater with a gala performance on May 12 and an official opening on Thursday, May 17 at 7:00pm.

Artistic Director Robert Falls announces Goodman Theatre's new 2018/2019 Season-a 14-play line-up of timely, original and inspired works curated by Falls in collaboration with his artistic associates. The new season, which begins in September and continues through July 2019, includes 10 full productions on the Goodman's stages (856-seat Albert Theatre and 350-seat flexible Owen Theatre) plus three free New Stagesdevelopmental productions, and one TBA production TBA staged as part of the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance's 2018 International Latino Theater Festival. Goodman Theatre memberships, including new flexible packages, are now available for purchase.

The Flea Theater continues its partnership with Brown University's Writing for Performance program for the second annual playwriting Project Residency, taking place from March 31 - April 3, 2018.

Soho Rep. (Sarah Benson, Artistic Director; Cynthia Flowers, Executive Director), has extended the world premiere of Aleshea Harris's Relentless Award-winning Is God Is, directed by Taibi Magar, a second time, through March 31.

The Flea announces Writers Residency Initiative, Applications Due 2/26

The Flea Theater, Niegel Smith, Artistic Director and Carol Ostrow, Producing Director announced today the expansion of their resident artist program which will now include playwrights.

In response to popular demand, Soho Rep. (Sarah Benson, Artistic Director; Cynthia Flowers, Executive Director) extends the world premiere of Aleshea Harris's Relentless Award-winning Is God Is, directed by Taibi Magar by two weeks, through March 25. In this play, which dauntlessly cracks jokes as it eviscerates, twin sisters Anaia (Alfie Fuller) and Racine (Dame-Jasmine Hughes) undertake a murderous journey from the Dirty South to the California desert, seeking payback for a horrendous act. Is God Is treats both morality and genre as notions to be exploded, drawing on the ancient, the modern, the tragic, the Spaghetti Western, hip-hop and Afropunk in its subversion of theatrical constructs.

The American Dance Festival (ADF) will award the 2018 Balasaraswati/Joy Anne Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching to two central figures in the breaking community, celebrated hip-hop dance artists Ana 'Rokafella' Garcia and Gabriel “Kwikstep” Dionisio. A ceremony will take place on Wednesday, June 27, 2018. Time and location TBD.