Playwrights Horizons News

The Drama League (Gabriel Stelian-Shanks, Executive Artistic Director) has announced the theater directors and ensembles chosen to develop new plays and musicals as part of the 2018 Drama League Artist Residency Program. Public work-in-progress presentations will be held periodically throughout the year at The Drama League Theater Center, 32 Avenue of the Americas, in Tribeca. Schedules are available at www.dramaleague.org or by calling (212) 244-9494.

PITTSBURGH CLO is pleased to welcome a collection of writing teams from across the country to Pittsburgh for the inaugural SPARK festival in March. These teams were chosen from a highly-selective submissions process and will have the opportunity to rehearse and revise their work in residencies ranging from two days to three weeks. SPARK will provide dramaturgy and production resources to 10 new musicals at all stages of development, in addition to the world premiere of UP AND AWAY. As a part of the development period, eight of the musicals will receive public presentations through which the writing teams can gather audience insights and focus their intentions for the next phase of development. A major initiative of Pittsburgh CLO's recently completed Next Generation Capital Campaign, SPARK is designed to cultivate new and innovative work from emerging and established musical theater artists. 

19th Street Productions has announced the London premiere of Catherine and Anita after a successful debut at last year's Edinburgh Festival. Derek Ahonen's one woman show starring Sarah Roy as Catherine, opens on 9 February with previews from 7 February and running until 24 February.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) will begin previews on Tuesday, February 13 for the American premiere of THE LOW ROAD, written by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner Bruce Norris. Directed by Tony Award nominee Michael Greif, THE LOW ROAD is part of The Public's Astor Anniversary Season at their landmark downtown home on Lafayette Street, celebrating 50 years of new work and the 50th Anniversary of HAIR.

From March 1 to 18, La MaMa will present Theater Three Collaborative in a new production of 'Extreme Whether,' a 'Cli-Fi' play written and directed by Karen Malpede. The piece juxtaposes psychological and magical realism in a tale of a courageous climate researcher who is defamed by special interests, including his own family. Obie-winner Rocco Sisto heads a cast of six.

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) presents the second workshop in the series How to Wrote a Musical That Works, Conflict & Obstacles, onSunday, February 25, 2018 from 10am - 6pm at NOLA Rehearsal Studio, 244 W 54th St., 5th floor, Studio 5. Submission fee is $10 for members, $20 for non-members. If accepted, it will be applied to a participation fee of $100 ($80 for TRU members). Those not selected will be invited and encouraged to attend the workshop as observers. The price is $55 ($35 for TRU members). Go to https://truonline.org/events/feedback-workshop-2-2018, click the link to download the application, fill it out, and email toTRUPlaySubmissions@gmail.com to sign up. If accepted, the workshop includes 2 seats for the entire day workshop as well as your presentation slot. Space is limited. Any additional attendees from the musical team (including music director, additional collaborators and cast members) who wish to observe the entire workshop must reserve in advance and will be charged $25 per person.

In this joyful romance of gender roles and expectations, Orlando the man wakes up, after a particularly wild night in 17th-century Constantinople, to find himself a woman! She abandons herself to three centuries of navigating love, desire, and the world from an entirely different perspective.  Oft described as the most charming love letter in literature - written by Woolf to Vita Sackville-West - Sarah Ruhl brings the novel to life on stage in a grand, epic adventure that transcends time, place, and gender.   

Berkeley Repertory Theatre announced that due to scheduling conflicts, Nilaja Sun's Pike St. will be replaced by What the Constitution Means to Me as the final production in its 2017-18 season. Written by and starring award-winning playwright and actress Heidi Schreck and directed by Oliver Butler, What the Constitution Means to Me will have its world premiere in the Peet's Theatre.

Due to critical acclaim and popular demand, Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) has announced a second extension of their presentation of the New York stage return of MILES FOR MARY, a new play created by The Mad Ones. The play is written by Marc Bovino, Joe Curnutte, Michael Dalto, Lila Neugebauer and Stephanie Wright Thompson; in collaboration with Sarah Lunnie and the creative ensemble of Amy Staats and Stacey Yen. Directed by Lila Neugebauer, this new limited engagement at Playwrights Horizons marks the production's Off-Broadway debut.

Lincoln Center Theater (under the direction of Andre Bishop) has announced complete casting for its upcoming production of Lerner & Loewe's MY FAIR LADY. As previously reported, Lauren Ambrose will be playing as Eliza Doolittle and Harry Hadden-Paton will play Henry Higgins, alongside Norbert Leo Butz as Alfred P. Doolittle and Diana Rigg as Mrs. Higgins. Just announced are: Allan Corduner as Colonel Pickering, Jordan Donica as Freddy Eynsford-Hill, Linda Mugleston as Mrs. Pearce, and Manu Narayan as Zoltan Karpathy.

Town Stages announces the 2018 slate of recipients of the annual Sokoloff Arts Fellowship

Theatre production company Parity Productions has released its monthly list of Qualifying Productions for February-their popular directory of New York City shows in which the individual creative teams have 50% of the roles filled with women and transgender artists (directors, designers, and playwrights).

With the past year bringing in a new administration with a new Secretary of Education, the national awareness of how overworked, undercompensated and financially burdened America's public school teachers are has fueled debate within discussions of federal budget restructuring and tax reform.

Theatre production company Parity Productions has released its monthly list of Qualifying Productions for February-their popular directory of New York City shows in which the individual creative teams have 50% of the roles filled with women and transgender artists (directors, designers, and playwrights).

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) announces the reading of Carolina Rising, part of the TRU Voices New Musicals Reading Series, on February 5, 2018 at 7pm at The Actors Temple Theater, 339 W. 47th Street, NYC. A 'Dollars and Sense' talkback on the future development of the presented work will be held after the performance. Admission is free.  Please RSVP at least a day in advance (or much sooner) by calling 212-714-7628, or e-mailingTRUVoicesSeries@gmail.com.

Prelude to the Apocalypse (For What It's Worth) engages with the climate crises in a number of unexpected ways: through the lens of evolutionary time, the biblical apocalypse, and the process of growing up as a person and a society. The play also examines the human tendency to make wishes, especially in moments when we feel powerless. It all takes place in the shadow of a giant hourglass. Nevertheless, the universe breathes on.

In conjunction with its current production of Bad Dates, Huntington Theatre Company will host several special events and post-show conversations. Admission to onsite post-show events is free with a ticket to Bad Dates, available at www.huntingtontheatre.org/season/2017-2018/bad-dates/, by phone at 617 266 0800, or in person at the Huntington Avenue Theatre (264 Huntington Avenue) and Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA (527 Tremont Street) box offices. Tickets start at $25. Performances run from January 26 through February 25, 2018 at the Avenue of the Arts / Huntington Avenue Theatre.

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has announced 10 Finalists for its prestigious playwriting award, the oldest and largest prize awarded to women playwrights writing in the English language. Chosen from over 150 nominated plays, the Finalists are:

The Civilians (Steve Cosson, Artistic Director), the award-winning New York-based theater company, presents Jill Sobule & Times Square, a new musical on February 5, 2018, at Joe's Pub. Join Jill Sobule and her collaborators for a special performance of songs from Times Square, a new musical about two girls who find courage, love, and rock and roll while on the run in the rough and sleazy streets of the old Times Square. Inspired by the cult classic movie of the same name, Sobule and her longtime collaborator Robin Eaton have created a score that evokes the eclectic musical landscape of late 70's NYC, from the downtown CBGB's sound to heartfelt ballads.

It was announced today that the hilarious new Broadway musical comedy THE PROM will star Tony Award Nominee Brooks Ashmanskas (Something Rotten!), Tony Award Winner Beth Leavel (The Drowsy Chaperone), two-time Tony Award Nominee Christopher Sieber (Shrek the Musical), Caitlin Kinnunen (Bridges of Madison County), Isabelle McCalla (Aladdin), Michael Potts (Jitney), Angie Schworer (The Producers), Courtenay Collins (Broadway Debut) and Josh Lamon (Groundhog Day) and will officially open on Broadway on Thursday, November 15, 2018 at a Shubert theater to be announced.