O'Neill News

2019 has come and gone, and we are reflecting on those we have lost in the Broadway and theatre communities throughout the year.

Jon Lawrence Rivera, Artistic Director of Playwrights' Arena - the first and oldest theater dedicated to discovering, nurturing, and producing original works written exclusively by Los Angeles playwrights - has announced its 2020 Season of World Premieres which include: RED INK by Steven Leigh Morris, A HIT DOG WILL HOLLER by Inda Craig-Galván, and FABULOUS MONSTERS by Diana Burbano.

Buffalo Theatre Ensemble presents 'The Cake' by Bekah Brunstetter, directed by Steve Scott, Jan.30-March 1 in the Playhouse Theatre at the McAninch Arts Center, 425 Fawell Blvd. The LA Times calls the play 'funny and smart' and observes, 'The Cake' explores human conflict from an insightful, slightly offbeat perch with understanding, respect and compassion for opposing points of view.' There will be a preview performance 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan 30; press opening is 8 p.m., Friday, Jan. 31. Performances run through March 1.

Brooklyn-based performer, Raquel Cion, is coming back for a January-March 2020 residency of her cabaret, Me & Mr. Jones: My Intimate Relationship with David Bowie at Pangea, located at 178 Second Avenue New York, NY 10003. The 90-minute cabaret explores the lifelong 'soul love' that Cion has for David Bowie's artistry and David Jones's humanity.

How do you escape the shadow of your brilliant, infamous father? Do you pursue your own path, a path that leads to envisioning the first computer?  Or do you follow the norm - marry a suitable man and start a family? It may sound like romantic fiction, but it's not. This is the amazing story of Ada Byron Lovelace, in Lauren Gunderson's Ada and the Engine, which begins a 5-week regional premiere run at Stage West on Thursday, January 9.

Rex Smith and Tomasina Abate recently teamed up for a cover of the Oscar-winning Best Original Song, Shallow, from the film A Star is Born.

25 Shows & Performances in the Tampa Bay Area That Rocked Our World from 2010 to 2019!

Broadway has been home to a lot of incredible shows over the past decade, and what better way to keep on living through those memories than by listening to those cast recordings?

Ensemble Studio Theatre/Los Angeles in association with VS. Theatre Company has announced the world premiere production of The Water Tribe, a new play by Don Cummings. Under the direction of Tricia Small, there will be three preview performances January 10a?"12 and opening is set for Friday, January 17, at 8pm. The engagement will run through February 9 at VS. Theatre.

Spend an intimate afternoon with DMMO favorite and Broadway star, bass Zachary James. Enjoy this critically acclaimed one-man show, which combines tales from his time in the Tony Award-winning revival of South Pacific at the Lincoln Center, his portrayal of 'Lurch' in the original cast of The Addams Family, as well as performances of the greatest hits from Oklahoma, Sweeney Todd, Les Miserables, Pajama Game, On The Town, Phantom of the Opera, Carousel, The Fantasticks, Camelot, and Most Happy Fella.

F*It Club, the New York Innovative Award-winning film and theatre company, will complete ten years of its annual series of short, commissioned world-premiere plays at the IRT Theater as part of their 3B Development Series in Manhattan's West Village with The Spring Fling: Happily Ever After, ten new short plays by Bekah Brunstetter (NBC's This Is Us, The Cake), Matthew Lee Erlbach (Showtime's Masters of Sex, The Doppelganger), Monet Hurst-Mendoza (NBC's Law and Order: SVU ), Daniel K. Isaac (Fullerton), Chelsea Marcantel (Airness), Gregory S. Moss (Indian Summer, punkplay), Leah Nanako Winkler (NBC's New Amsterdam, Kentucky, God Says This), Larry Powell (Lost Dog), Daniel Talbott (ABC's The Conners), & Pia Wilson (National Geographic's Genius).

Jon Lawrence Rivera, Artistic Director of Playwrights' Arena a?" the first and oldest theater dedicated to discovering, nurturing, and producing original works written exclusively by Los Angeles playwrights a?" is thrilled to announce the appointment of Jaisey Bates as its new Literary Manager.

The National New Play Network, the country's alliance of nonprofit theaters that collaborate in innovative ways to develop, produce, and extend the life of new plays, is thrilled to announce that the 2019-20 Annual Commission has been awarded to Core Member Company One Theatre (Boston, MA) and playwri ght Idris Goodwin for the new play Quotable. This new work is a two-person break beat play about generational divides within social justice movements, multiple allegiances and the complications of identity politics in the information age.

59E59 Theaters (Val Day, Artistic Director; Brian Beirne, Managing Director) is will host the NYC premiere of THE SABBATH GIRL written by Cary Gitter and directed by Joe Brancato. Produced by Penguin Rep, THE SABBATH GIRL begins performances on Tuesday, February 11 for a limited engagement through Sunday, March 8. Press opening is Sunday, February 16 at 2:15 pm. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Friday at 7:15 pm; Saturday at 2:15 pm & 7:15 pm; Sunday at 2:15 pm. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Single tickets are $25 - $35 ($26 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call the 59E59 Box Office at 646-892-7999 or visit www.59e59.org. The running time is 90 minutes, with no intermission.

Normal Ave will launch its 2nd Annual NAPSeries (Normal Ave Playwrights Series) with 29-hour readings of four brand new plays. This year's festival will include Men Accumulate by Peter Kim George, On Trash Monsters by Gillian Beth Durkee, Sarah Sits Shiva for Herself by Megan Pope, and Seven Letter Names by Kristian O'Hare. All readings will take place January 10-12 at Normal Ave's Medicine Show Theatre, located at 549 W 52nd Street, and are free and open to the public.

Wilderland Wildlife Film Festival is returning to theatres around the UK and Ireland in Spring 2020 after a hugely successful debut tour in 2019. Starting in Bristol on 1st March 2020 the tour will take in an initial 17 dates, including a London date at the RGS, before concluding in Northallerton on 3rd May 2020. The tour promises to share important and breathtaking stories from the natural world and tickets are available now from www.wilderlandfestival.com.

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the best of the best that he saw onstage in the Tampa Bay area in 2019.

The Tank (Meghan Finn, Artistic Director) in association with Lucy Powis and The Hodgepodge Group will present the World Premiere of Really Really Gorgeous, written by Nick Mecikalski and directed by Miranda Haymon at The Tank (312 West 36th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues), January 23-February 9.

The Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan has announced that Tony nominated actor Jonathan C. Kaplan and Zoë Winters will complete the cast performing a benefit reading of 'The Wanderers' by Anna Zeigler.The play is a funny, insightful, and mysterious new drama. Ziegler is an award-winning playwright whose widely produced play, 'Photograph 51,' won London's 2016 WhatsOnStage award for best new play.

The Drama League (Artistic Director Gabriel Stelian-Shanks, Executive Director Bevin Ross) announced today the acting company for the 36th annual DirectorFest, the only festival in the United States dedicated to the art of contemporary stage directing. Directorfest will take place January 10 - February 4, 2020 at various locations around NYC: The New Ohio Theatre (154 Christopher Street), The Drama League Theater Center (32 Avenue of the Americas), LaGuardia Performing Arts Center (31-10 Thomson Avenue), and Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette Street). For festival details and tickets, visit directorfest.org or call (212) 244-9494 x102.