Odell Williams News

On this day we celebrate, Tony nominated actress, Carol Lawrence!

Award-winning playwright and Emmy-nominated TV producer Jason Odell Williams (Church & State, Brain Games) reunites with actor and host Patrick Oliver Jones to give the ins and outs of writing for the stage as well as shares how he's handled being out of work in television and having no theaters to write for.

Arizona Theatre Company (ATC) and Artistic Director Sean Daniels will partner with Florida Studio Theatre (FST) in developing a new play, Tampa, as part of The Playwrights Project, FST's newly launched artistic initiative featuring 32 of the nation's top playwrights, sketch comedy writers and musical theatre developers.

The Bret Adams and Paul Reisch Foundation has announced the recipients of their special COVID-19 response grants for playwrights, composers, lyricists and librettists who have had a full professional production cancelled, closed, or indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 closures.

A stalwart member of the Los Angeles Theatre community, the multi-award-winning Rob Nagle will next be appearing on the Fountain Theatre stage in the world premiere of Stephen Sachs' HUMAN INTEREST STORY, opening February 15, 2020. Rob essays Andy Kramer, who just having been laid off, fabricates a letter to the editor; then, has to mastermind an elaborate charade to justify it. Rob's HUMAN INTEREST STORY onstage accomplices include: Tanya Alexander, Richard Azurdia, Aleisha Force, James Harper, Matt Kirkwood and Tarina Pouncy. The ever-busy Rob managed to find some time to answer a few of my queries.

Florida Studio Theatre (FST) presents Handle With Care by Emmy Nominee Jason Odell Williams, a delightfully fresh holiday comedy. Called 'Hilarious and heartwarming' by The New York Times, Handle With Care brings two utterly different people together on Christmas Eve under the most tragic and absurd of circumstances. A New York Times Critics Pick, Handle With Care will run in FST's Keating Theatre starting December 11.

Kudos and thank you to JCC's CenterStage Theatre and playwright Jason Odell Williams for staging the world premiere of DIVISION STREET in the Rochester area. It is a pleasure to participate as a member of the audience on a work of theatre that has not been curated and delivered here. The firsthand original experience of theatre is exciting, illuminating and authentic. Being an inaugural viewer requires a unique mindset and responsibility. It is the difference between being at a birth and receiving a phone call about a birth. Being one step removed from the situation doesn't dampen the joy but the experience is less visceral, and the emotional response is influenced by the enthusiasm or concern expressed by others. What a joy to be at the delivery! In his author notes, like a proud expectant parent, Williams muses about the birth of his play. He writes, 'I hope the play makes you laugh, makes you think and feel, but most of all, I hope it entertains you and gets you talking about everything the characters address in the play.' From opening night, I am happy to report his hopes fulfilled. The audience responded at curtain with a standing ovation and as they walked out the conversations started.

The Stella Adler Studio of Acting has announced a special one-night reading of the fast-paced dramedy a?oeChurch & State,a?? a widely lauded play by Jason Odell Williams that seeks to explore the fraught dialogue about the nation's gun violence epidemic. The reading is a program of the Harold Clurman Lab Theater, the studio's professional wing which focuses on accessible world-class theater.

New Jersey Repertory Company is proud to present Some Like It Hot, the third annual West End Festival of the Arts, that includes: Theatre Brut (16 short plays), live music, an art show, a photography exhibit, and poetry readings.

Florida Studio Theatre (FST) announces its lineup for the 2019-2020 Winter Mainstage and Cabaret Seasons. On the Mainstage, FST presents bold and charming stories crafted by some of the country's top contemporary writers and entertainers. In the Cabaret, three original FST musical revues bring the songbook of Dean Martin, the outlaws of country music, and the hits that underscored the 1960s Cultural Revolution into the spotlight.

Langhorne Players at the Spring Garden Mill continue their 72nd season with the Pennsylvania premiere of the fiery, funny new play Church & State.

Church & State is a fast-paced dramedy about faith, politics, and 'The Twitter.' Directed by Brett Marston.

Stage West is pleased to announces the lineup for its 41st season! The new season will offer six plays and patrons purchasing season tickets before June 30 will be offered an extra pass. It's an exciting mix of shows: all six are regional premieres, and one is a Pulitzer winner.  Here it is:

Dezart Performs 11th Season was a record-breaking and critically-acclaimed combination of 'laughter, drama, poignancy and social commentary' at Palm Springs' Pearl McManus Theater, located at the historic Palm Springs Woman's Club. Add to that Dezart's new designation as a Small Professional Theatre, and it was an historic season indeed. "It doesn't get much more gratifying than that," said Michael Shaw, founding artistic director for Dezart Performs, noting that attendance was up over 60 % from the previous season and 126% from three years ago.

Church & State will make you think about gun control, religion and maybe what's really the problem in America today.

To commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Parkland, Florida shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the Department of Theater at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (UCLA TFT) and NewYorkRep will present one of a nationwide series of staged readings of the award-winning, Off-Broadway play Church & State this Today, Feb. 14 at 5:30 p.m. at UCLA TFT's 1330 Macgowan Hall. Written by Jason Odell Williams,Church & State tells the story of a gun-loving senator running for re-election. He examines his position on the Second Amendment following a shooting at his children's school. The play explores how religion, guns and social media influence our political system.

To commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Parkland, Florida shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the Department of Theater at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (UCLA TFT) and NewYorkRep will present one of a nationwide series of staged readings of the award-winning, Off-Broadway play Church & State this Thursday, Feb. 14 at 5:30 p.m. at UCLA TFT's 1330 Macgowan Hall. Written by Jason Odell Williams,Church & State tells the story of a gun-loving senator running for re-election. He examines his position on the Second Amendment following a shooting at his children's school. The play explores how religion, guns and social media influence our political system.

To commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Parkland shooting, NewYorkRep will present a nation-wide series of staged readings of the award-winning, Off-Broadway play, CHURCH & STATE on February 14 at seven universities throughout the US.  

Florida Studio Theatre (FST) presents its annual fundraiser, the Denim & Diamonds Shindig, on Monday, February 25 in FST's Hegner Theatre Wing.

The critically-acclaimed Langhorne Players, who perform at the historic Spring Garden Mill in Tyler State Park in Newtown, have announced the five shows comprising their upcoming seventy-second season.