Paula Vogel News

Award-winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' biting new comedic drama, APPROPRIATE, begins previews Wednesday, September 23, 2015, at 8 p.m. at the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum. Opening is set for Sunday, October 4 at 7 p.m. and performances continue through November 1.

Lincoln Center Theater (under the direction of Producing Artistic Director Andre Bishop) has announced the upcoming productions of three new plays during its 2015 - 2016 season, BroadwayWorld has learned.

Artists Repertory Theatre names ambitious new play development program Table|Room|Stage (T|R|S). This wide-ranging program is led by Director of New Play Development & Dramaturgy Luan Schooler. Artists Rep welcomes playwright Yussef El Guindi to develop his play The Talented Ones as the first project of this notable program.

The first show of Vineyard Theatre's 2015-2016 season will be the musical comedy GIGANTIC, presented at The Acorn Theatre @ Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street) due to facility upgrades happening at The Vineyard's space in Union Square.

Philadelphia Theatre Company (PTC) is pleased to announce James Ijames as the recipient of the fourth Terrence McNally New Play Award for the development of his play White. The Terrence McNally New Play Award is a $10,000 cash prize given annually to recognize a new play that celebrates the transformative power of art. The Award will also include a year of development support at PTC, including readings as well as administrative support and networking to help manage the future of the play beyond its time at PTC.

Yale Repertory Theatre opens its 2015-16 season with the world premiere of INDECENT, a new play with music, written by Paula Vogel, created by Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman, and directed by Rebecca Taichman, at the University Theatre (222 York Street), October 2-24. Opening Night is Thursday, October 8. The world premiere of INDECENT is a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse, where it will play November 13-December 10.

BWW Review: HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE Is Disturbing But Relevant

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival's 28th annual Daedalus Project fundraiser for HIV/AIDS organizations, held August 24, brought in $115,772. The event was produced by Claudia Alick, associate producer, community.

Summer is on its way out, but Connecticut theaters are heating up with some exciting offerings this fall. Theater lovers have the best of both worlds here in the Nutmeg State: Broadway is just down the road, but we never even have to leave home to see exceptional theater thanks to the bevy of professional theaters that call Connecticut home too. This season looks particularly exciting and I'll share with you what I am most looking forward to reviewing this fall. There are other great shows scheduled this fall as well as through the 2016 season, but in the interest of space, I will concentrate on top picks for this fall.

Paula Vogel's complex tale is full of laughter and grief.

Yemaya's Belly, by Quiara Alegria Hudes, is the story of a boy, Jesus (played by Kana Gaines), and his relation to his family, manhood, and the ocean. He is lured away from his mother (Roxanne Tapia), father, and his hometown of rural Magdalena, by the material promise found in a colonial coastal city on his island in the Caribbean. While there, a carnival performer (Sabrina Garcia), playing the goddess of the ocean, Yemaya, tempts him with a taste of the eternal in sharp contrast with the city, which has 'no memories.' 

Articulate Theatre Company celebrates Circle Rep Company for its many accomplishments and the impact it has on today's theatre companies.  The event, called CIRCLING BACK, will include performances, speakers, awards, visits from Circle Rep members, and an after-party.

Take an intimate look at the 30-year friendship between poets Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell in DEAR ELIZABETH, September 23 - October 18, 2015. Milwaukee Chamber Theatre continues its 2015-2016 Season with a moving and innovative play by Sarah Ruhl, under the direction of Marie Kohler and starring real-life married couple Carrie Hitchcock and Norman Moses. DEAR ELIZABETH performs in the Broadway Theatre Center's Studio Theatre in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward.

To open its 32nd season the Undermain Theatre is thrilled to bring the World Premiere of Meg Miroshnik's THE DROLL to their home in Deep Ellum at 3200 Main Street. The premiere will open on Saturday, September 26th, 2015 - curtain time 8:15 with the playwright in attendance. Preview performances will be on Sep. 23rd, 24th and 25th. The production will run through October 17th.

The Douglas Morrisson Theatre (DMT) is excited to announce the first production in the 2015-2016 'Bare Bones' staged reading series: The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin by Steven Levenson, a riveting story about the price we pay for defaulting on our loved ones.

Signature Theatre just announced one additional, final performance for their critically acclaimed production of JOHN, written by Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Baker (The Flick) and directed by Tony Award-winner Sam Gold (Fun Home). The production, which kicked off Signature's 25th Anniversary Season, will now play its final performance on Sunday, September 6th at 7:30pm. All other performances are sold out. 

The Play Company (PlayCo), led by Founding Producer Kate Loewald and Executive Producer Lauren Weigel celebrates its 15th Anniversary season with programming that exemplifies its unique commitment to premiering plays from around the world, including the U.S., to advance a dynamic, international experience of contemporary theater as part of the American repertoire.

Molly Smith directs her 30th production as Artistic Director of Arena Stage with a gritty and relevant take on the Tony Award-winning musical Oliver!, blending the chaotic worlds of 19th-century Victorian London with 2015 London. Smith's new in-the-round staging infuses a modern edge to the classic musical about an innocent orphan thrown into the dark world of double-dealing thieves and conmen, highlighting the disparity between classes and dangerous life on London's streets today. Featuring a remarkable score including 'You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two,' 'Consider Yourself,' 'Where is Love?' and 'Food, Glorious Food,' Oliver! runs October 30, 2015-January 3, 2016 in the Fichandler Stage at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater.

Rep Stage, the professional regional theatre in residence at Howard Community College (HCC), proudly announces its 2015-16 season lineup.

Tony Award-winning playwright Lisa Kron will be a featured guest and participant at the launch party of the Women's Voices Theater Festival on September 8 at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. The invitation-only event kicks off the beginning of the Festival, an unprecedented collaboration among professional theater companies that includes the presentation of more than 50 world-premiere productions of work by female playwrights, taking place this September and October in the nation's capital region. The launch party features a creative conversation between Kron and National Public Radio's Special Correspondent Susan Stamberg focused on gender parity in the arts in the Museum's Performance Hall, followed by a celebratory party and toast to officially declare the start of the Festival.