Niegel Smith News

Magic Theatre welcomes back Obie Award-winning playwright Taylor Mac with the world premiere of Hir, directed by Niegel Smith and running January 29 - February 23, 2014.

On the nights of Friday, February 21 and Saturday, February 22 theatre-goers can experience the mind-bending fantasy and unique musical experience of THE LEGEND OF YAUNA, an incredible tale created by theGrammy award-winning composer Chris Berryand reinvented by the creative director of the Tony award-winning Broadway production FELA!,Maija Garcia. Debuting at the legendary BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) Fisher in Brooklyn, New York, the theatrical event of non-traditional instrumentation, including African drums and the distinctive sound of the Mbira, and contemporary dance set the stage for thewisdom of Yauna, an ancient narrative set 12,000 years ago. Casting for the independent production, presented by BanaKuma, will run from January 7-9 at the DANY Studios in Manhattan; tickets for the February performance at BAM Fisher will go on sale January 14.

Magic Theatre will welcome back Obie Award-winning playwright Taylor Mac with the world premiere of Hir. The production is directed by Niegel Smith and will run January 29 - February 23, 2014 at Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center, Building D, 3rd Floor. Press Dates are February 6-9, 2014.

Horse Trade Theater Group will present Less Than Rent Theatre's World Premiere of HOW LTR STOLE CHRISTMAS, a late-night smorgasbord of short plays, musical guests, and variety acts from all over the city curated by the LTR staff. The show will run Tuesdays, today, December 3rd, 10th, & 17th at The Kraine Theater (85 E 4th St. between 2nd Ave and Bowery) at 9pm.

Horse Trade Theater Group will present Less Than Rent Theatre's World Premiere of HOW LTR STOLE CHRISTMAS, a late-night smorgasbord of short plays, musical guests, and variety acts from all over the city curated by the LTR staff. The show will run Tuesdays, December 3rd, 10th, & 17th at The Kraine Theater (85 E 4th St. between 2nd Ave and Bowery) at 9pm. Tickets ($10) are available online at www.horseTRADE.info or by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444.

PRELUDE allows the public to experience work-in-progress presentations, open rehearsals and discussions by dozens of NYC's most exciting theater and performance artists -- for FREE -- including Taylor Mac, Nature Theater of Oklahoma, Big Dance Theater, Big Art Group, Cesar Alvarez & Sarah Benson, Annie Baker, David Levine, Cynthia Hopkins, 600 HIGHWAYMEN, Jay Scheib & Co., Elastic City, PearlDamour, ANIMALS, Katherine Brook / Tele-Violet, Woodshed Collective, Daniel Fish, Andrew Ondrejcak, James Monaco & Jerome Ellis and more.

PlayPenn, Philadelphia's professional new play development organization, will hold its ninth annual New Play Development Conference from today, July 12-28 at the Adrienne Theater (2030 Sansom Street) in Philadelphia. The Conference will feature two-and-a-half weeks of intensive work on six works-in-progress by Gabriel Jason Dean (Terminus); Lisa Dillman (No Such Thing); Deborah Zoe Laufer (Informed Consent); Peter Gil-Sheridan (Cockfight); James Ijames (A Thousand Kinds of Silence); and Joe Waechter (Profiles).

PlayPenn, Philadelphia's professional new play development organization, will hold its ninth annual New Play Development Conference from July 12-28 at the Adrienne Theater (2030 Sansom Street) in Philadelphia. The Conference will feature two-and-a-half weeks of intensive work on six works-in-progress by Gabriel Jason Dean (Terminus); Lisa Dillman (No Such Thing); Deborah Zoe Laufer (Informed Consent); Peter Gil-Sheridan (Cockfight); James Ijames (A Thousand Kinds of Silence); and Joe Waechter (Profiles).

The Abrons Arts Center presents Casting THE PERILS OF OBEDIENCE: A Performance, the second stage of visual artist Itziar Barrio's exploration in power dynamics and constructed situations. Using the methods of casting, the performance will unfold the wills and desires of the actors to succeed and be recognized. By placing them within fictional and non-fictional parameters, whether movie scripts or their own lives, Barrio reveals the production of power through seduction.

The Abrons Arts Center presents Casting THE PERILS OF OBEDIENCE: A Performance, the second stage of visual artist Itziar Barrio's exploration in power dynamics and constructed situations. Using the methods of casting, the performance will unfold the wills and desires of the actors to succeed and be recognized. By placing them within fictional and non-fictional parameters, whether movie scripts or their own lives, Barrio reveals the production of power through seduction.

Huntington Theatre Company will hold a by-invitation-only Breaking Ground developmental reading of (Shoe) Shine Safari by Huntington Playwriting Fellow John Oluwole ADEkoje (Cry Baby Jones) on Tuesday, December 11 at 7:30pm at the Huntington's Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. Niegel Smith (Neighbors at The Public Theater) directs a cast that includes: Stephen Tyrone Williams as Shoe Shine; Johnny Lee Davenport (Vengeance is the Lord's and the upcoming Invisible Man at the Huntington) as Driver/Father; Robert D. Murphy as Lincoln Douglas; Joniece Abbott-Pratt (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom at the Huntington) as Amina; Reg Cathey as General Butt Naked/Big House/Rebel 1; James Milford as Rebel 2; and others.

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the Graduate Center, CUNY has unveiled the artist lineup and program schedule for the highly anticipated PRELUDE.12, the ninth annual PRELUDE festival dedicated to artists at the forefront of contemporary New York City theatre, dance, interdisciplinary and mediatized performance. In its largest lineup ever, PRELUDE.12 will present over 40 short performances, readings, and screenings -as well as panel discussions with artists, scholars and performers.

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the Graduate Center, CUNY has unveiled the artist lineup and program schedule for the highly anticipated PRELUDE.12, the ninth annual PRELUDE festival dedicated to artists at the forefront of contemporary New York City theatre, dance, interdisciplinary and mediatized performance. In its largest lineup ever, PRELUDE.12 will present over 40 short performances, readings, and screenings -as well as panel discussions with artists, scholars and performers.