Nora Cole News

Ms. Babb doesn’t hit a single false note as legendary singer and civil rights icon Marian Anderson. She is a commanding presence on stage, effusing class and an iron will. The only cavil I have with her singing voice is we don’t get to hear nearly enough of it, but what we do hear is heavenly.  

​​​​​​​At a moment in American life when conversations about race, exclusion, immigration, and human dignity once again dominate the national discourse, Penguin Rep Theatre could scarcely have chosen a more resonant production than 'My Lord, What an Evening.' 

Penguin Rep Theatre, under the leadership of Joe Brancato, founding Artistic Director, and Andrew M. Horn, Executive Director, announced that casting is complete for the New York premiere of Deborah Brevoort’s My Lord, What a Night, which officially kicks off the company’s 49th season.

The new musical DELTA BLUE, produced by Tamara Tunie and directed by Kent Gash, will present an invite-only industry showing in New York featuring Donald Webber Jr., Nkeki Obi-Melekwe, and NaTasha Yvette Williams.

On the heels of being announced as a co-producer for the new musical  Imitation of Life by Lynn Nottage, Liesl Tommy and EGOT winner John Legend, National Black Theatre has revealed cast and ticket availability.

New Federal Theatre will present The World According to Micki Grant. Learn more about the show and see how to purchase tickets.

The Museum of Broadway will host two upcoming events reunited the original Broadway casts of The Who's Tommy and Jelly's Last Jam next week. Learn more about both events here!

Woodie King, Jr.'s New Federal Theatre (NFT) has relocated and is now in residence at The WP (formerly Women's Project) Theater, with performance space located at 2162 Broadway @ 76th Street and administrative offices at 55 West End Ave. Floor 1, Unit 2, NYC 10023. 

Stage Aurora NY presents Christmas Comes to West Harlem on Sunday, December 17th at 2:00pm. The performance takes place at St. James Presbyterian Church: 409 W 141st St, New York, NY 10031.

NEW FEDERAL THEATRE will hold its 53rd Anniversary Celebration on October 2 at Edison Ballroom, honoring Woodie King, Jr., Gabrielle Kurlander, and Sade Lythcott. The gala is chaired by Kenny Leon and Lynn Whitfield.

Woodie King, Jr.'s New Federal Theatre (NFT), led by Producing Artistic Director Elizabeth Van Dyke, will hold a 53rd Anniversary Celebration October 2, 2023 at Edison Ballroom, 240 West 47th Street.  

Clubbed Thumb has announced complete casting for the final production of the rescheduled 25th SUMMERWORKS festival of new plays, Bodies They Ritual. Performances will run June 22-July 2.

The new play Hart Island recently opened at The Gym at Judson in New York City's West Village neighborhood, bringing with it an impressive set design and a memorable story. It was written by Tracy Weller, the founder of the theater company Mason Holdings, and directed by Kristjan Thor. The press release described the plays as a 'multimedia theatrical meditation on New York City's potter's field' and delivers just that and then some.

Mason Holdings, a company known for creating intimate experiential theatre, will present the world premiere of Hart Island, a multimedia theatrical meditation on New York City’s potter’s field and the humans connected to it, living and dead. 

The Bushwick Starr will partner with HERE to present the world premiere of Preparedness, written by Hillary Miller (Gay Pierrot at Dixon Place, The Hovering at Capital Fringe), and directed by Kristjan Thor (BLACKOUT immersive experience throughout the U.S., The Penalty at The Public Theater and Dixon Place). 

The Bushwick Starr is partnering with HERE to present the world premiere of Preparedness, written by Hillary Miller (Gay Pierrot at Dixon Place, The Hovering at Capital Fringe), and directed by Kristjan Thor (BLACKOUT immersive experience throughout the U.S., The Penalty at The Public Theater and Dixon Place). 

Woodie King's New Federal Theatre has set four plays for the June, 2019 edition of its Annual Ntozake Shange Readings Series. The series will run four Tuesdays--June 4, 11, 18 and 25--with all readings at Castillo Theatre, 543 W 42nd Street.

National New Play Network (NNPN), the country's alliance of professional theaters that collaborate in innovative ways to develop, produce, and extend the life of new plays, has added three new Core Members: Silk Road Rising (Chicago), Company One (Boston), and City Theatre Company (Pittsburgh). As of the date of this release, NNPN has 114 Members Theaters, comprised of 32 Cores and 82 Associates.

Composer Ray Leslee (Standup Shakespeare, Avenue X) and playwright, actor, HBO Def Poet, Brian Dykstra, have teamed up with Musical Director Kimberly Grigsby (Amelie, Spiderman, Spring Awakening) to present a workshop presentation of a new musical based on the comedy by Moliere. The script-in-hand readings will take place Thursday Nov 16th at The Lark Play Development Center and Friday, November 17th at Manhattan Theatre Club Studios. The presentation will be directed by Margarett Perry.

Geva Theatre Center's production of The Agitators: The Story of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass, written by Mat Smart and directed by Logan Vaughn, was the best-selling world premiere and one of the best-selling dramas overall in the theatre's 45-year history. Over 15,000 people attended the production, crafted in Rochester, for Rochester over a four-week period with 32 public performances.