Paula Vogel News

Steppenwolf Theatre Company announced today the full casting for the world premiere of MS. BLAKK FOR PRESIDENT, co-written by ensemble members Tina Landau (SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical) and Tarell Alvin McCraney (Moonlight, Academy Award). Conceived by Tina Landau, she also directs this true and little-known Chicago story that will star Tarell Alvin McCraney as Ms. Joan Jett Blakk. Joining McCraney in the cast are Patrick Andrews, Molly Brennan, Daniel Kyri, Jon Hudson Odom and Sawyer Smith.

Paula Vogel's 2015 play Indecent, in a production now arrived at Center Stage after stops at D.C.'s Arena Stage and the Kansas City Rep, is a staggering tour de force of playwriting prowess that is also a tour of a largely forgotten world: international Yiddish theater shortly after the turn of the last century. A play about a play about a play, it follows Sholem Asch's God of Vengeance on a circular path, from Lodz, Poland in 1906 to Warsaw, to various stages in Europe, through Ellis Island and various New York theaters, culminating with an abortive stay on Broadway, and thence back to Lodz once more, at the peak of the Holocaust. And then, in a sort of coda, it concludes in Connecticut with the last days of Mr. Asch. All these parts are contained within an initial framing device in which, like Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, a stage manager named Lemml (Ben Cherry), introduces the players and musicians, apparently members of a turn-of-the-century Yiddish theater troupe, and identifies the kinds of parts they will play (like male and female Ingenues). Everything that follows, i.e. a play about presenting a play, is presented as a play performed by this troupe.

BroadwayWorld has teamed up with Broadway alum Ilana Levine, who makes her entrance onto the podcast stage with her new show Little Known Facts. Ilana's unique brand of celebrity interview, 'Podcast Verite,' is unfiltered, raw, honest and uniquely funny.

Luna Stage will present Gabriel Jason Dean's Heartland from April 4-28. The intercontinental love story directed by Ari Laura Kreith will be the fourth production of Luna's 2018-2019 Season. Set in Nebraska and Afghanistan, it has been described as 'a magical new play about family, grace, and the consequences of defending an American Empire."

Indecent is about the power of theater to dazzle and uplift. Playwright Vogel has discussed plays that make the hair stand up on her neck. That is exactly what Indecent does: makes the hairs stand up on the back of the neck, and we may be at a loss to explain.

Playwright Kara Lee Corthron is the recipient of the 2019 William Inge Theatre Festival's Otis Guernsey New Voices in the American Theatre Award, which recognizes substantial early contributions to the contemporary American stage.

Vineyard Theatre Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern announce that casting of the New York premiere of Mara Nelson-Greenberg's DO YOU FEEL ANGER?, directed by Margot Bordelon, is now complete with Jeanne Sakata (HOLD THESE TRUTHS). Performances will begin at Vineyard Theatre (108 East 15th Street) on Wednesday, March 13 with opening night moved to April 2.

Winner of numerous awards including an acclaimed Tony-winning run on Broadway, "Indecent" by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel, is the true story of a groundbreaking scandalous play and the courageous artists who risked their careers and lives to perform it.

The League of Professional Theatre Women (Kelli Lynn Harrison & Catherine Porter, Co-Presidents), an organization which has been leading the gender parity conversation and championing women in the professional theatre for over 35 years, will present an Oral History Project event with six-time Emmy and Tony nominee Tovah Feldshuh on Monday, May 6 starting at 6pm in the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (111 Amsterdam Avenue at 65th Street). Admission to the event is FREE and seats are available on a first-come-first-seated basis. Doors will open at 5:30pm.

San Francisco Playhouse announced casting for Dipika Guha's Yoga Play. This will be its second production following the world premiere during South Coast Rep's Pacific Playwrights Festival. Bill Englishwill direct.

Susanna Gellert, the new Executive Artistic Director of Weston Playhouse Theatre Company, has unveiled her inaugural season at the helm of Vermont's award-winning professional theater.

Playwrights Horizons (Artistic Director Tim Sanford, Managing Director Leslie Marcus) has announced that Carla R. Stewart (Broadway, National Tour, and Regional: The Color Purple) will play The Voice of the River in the world premiere production of Tori Sampson's If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhf**ka, directed by Obie winner Leah C. Gardiner (Born Bad) and choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly. Performances begin Today, February 15, and continue through March 31 in the Mainstage Theater at Playwrights Horizons (416 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036). The production opens officially on the evening of Sunday, March 10.

In a New York premiere that marks a new chapter for the 27-year-old company rooted in the New York City's vibrant Asian-American community, Yangtze Repertory Theatre tackles JUNE IS THE FIRST FALL, an award-winning contemporary play by Yilong Liu exploring the themes of identity, sexuality, and immigration.

Theatre enthusiasts packed the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts last night to hear Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley and Executive Director Phil Santora of TheatreWorks Silicon Valley reveal the lineup for the company's 50th season, which launches this summer. Kelley's 50th and final season as Artistic Director of TheatreWorks Silicon Valley includes triumphant returns of TheatreWorks favorites, bold premieres developed at the company's annual New Works Festival, and celebrated works from the nation's leading playwrights.

Playwrights Horizons (Artistic Director Tim Sanford, Managing Director Leslie Marcus) has announced that Carla R. Stewart (Broadway, National Tour, and Regional: The Color Purple) will play The Voice of the River in the world premiere production of Tori Sampson's If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhf**ka, directed by Obie winner Leah C. Gardiner (Born Bad) and choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly. Performances begin Friday, February 15, and continue through March 31 in the Mainstage Theater at Playwrights Horizons (416 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036). The production opens officially on the evening of Sunday, March 10.

Raven Theatre continues its 2018-19 season with Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE, directed by Artistic Director Cody Estle.

A powerful and suspenseful drama, Russian Transport follows an immigrant Russian family struggling to survive in Brooklyn, New York. Fishy Productions, in association with Darlinghurst Theatre Company, is thrilled to be bringing Russian Transport to the Eternity Playhouse in March for its Australian Premiere.

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) announced today that Jeremy O. Harris (Slave Play, "Daddy") and Heidi Schreck (the Broadway-bound What the Constitution Means to Me), the playwrights behind NYTW's two sold-out fall productions, will co-host the NYTW 2019 Gala celebrating 40 Years of New York Theatre Workshop and honoring Founding Trustee Stephen Graham.

The Mirvish Theatre has announced its upcoming 2019-2020 season, which will include Girl From The North Country! Following its West End run, as well as its off-Broadway run at The Public, the show has been rumored to come to Broadway this winter.

The 29th Annual LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards, celebrating theatrical excellence and achievement throughout Los Angeles, were presented on Monday, January 28, at the Theatre at Ace Hotel in downtown LA.