Playwrights Horizons News

The Weston Playhouse Theatre Company announces its sixth annual Artists Retreat, hosting seven collaborating artists for a week's work in Vermont, capped by a free public event at the Weston Playhouse on Saturday, May 4th from 4:00-6:00.

Complete casting is set for SUMMERWORKS 2013 - the annual season of new plays presented by the four-time Obie Award-winning theater company Clubbed Thumb -- it has been announced by Maria Striar, Clubbed Thumb's Producing Artistic Director. SUMMERWORKS 2013 will be presented May 24 to June 29 at The Wild Project (195 E. 3rd St.) in Manhattan.

The Drama League (Executive Director, Gabriel Shanks) has announced the 2013 Drama League Awards Nominees for Distinguished Play, Distinguished Revival of a Play, Distinguished Musical, Distinguished Revival of a Musical, and Distinguished Performance Award. The nominations were announced at a ceremony hosted by Patina Miller and Michael Urie this morning at Sardi's Restaurant which were streamed live online at www.BroadwayWorld.com.

Naked Angels, the eclectic downtown theater company that recently partnered with the New School for Drama under the leadership of Naked Angels founding company member Pippin Parker, is pleased to announce that New School alumna Liz Carlson will assume the role of Artistic Director of Naked Angels beginning May 1, 2013, further enhancing the relationship between the two companies. Current Artistic Director Andy Donald, who succeeded Geoffrey Nauffts in July 2011 after two years as Associate Artistic Director, departs the company for a new position as a creative producer at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University has announced today that William Russo will join the institution as its new Managing Director, effective this July. Russo, who currently serves as the Managing Director of New York Theatre Workshop, will partner with A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus to manage the $13 million non-profit theater.

Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in Downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and Managing Director Tristan Wilson, has announced it has received a $10,000 National Fund grant from the National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT), for its Musical Theatre Lab world premiere production of the musical, Southern Comfort, July 19 - August 10.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University has announced that three-time Emmy Award-winning actor Bryan Cranston will play the lead role of Lyndon Baines Johnson in Robert Schenkkan's new play All The Way opening the A.R.T.'s 2013-14 Season at the Loeb Drama Center. The production, directed by Bill Rauch, will begin performances on September 13, 2013.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater's Artistic Director David Van Asselt and Managing Director Brian Long have announced the cast and creative team for the world premiere of Basilica, written by Mando Alvarado and directed by Jerry Ruiz. Basilica will begin performances on Wednesday, May 8th, 2013 at the Cherry Lane Theatre at 38 Commerce Street. The official opening night is set for Thursday, May 23rd at 7pm. The production is scheduled to run through June 16th.

Pioneer Theatre Company presents the epic musical Les Miserables. Due to popular demand, the production's run has been extended by two weeks. Performances take place May 3 through June 1, 2013.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK: MOTOWN opens on Broadwy, the Gyspy Robe gets passed on, BIG FISH is introduced to Chicago, and so much more!

Playwrights Horizons will soon present the World Premiere production of Far From Heaven, the eagerly-awaited new musical with a book by Tony Award winner and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Richard Greenberg (Take Me Out, Three Days of Rain, the current Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Assembled Parties, both now on Broadway), music by Tony Award nominee Scott Frankel (Grey Gardens at PH and on Broadway, Finding Neverland) and lyrics by Tony Award nominee Michael Korie (Grey Gardens at PH and on Broadway, The Grapes of Wrath, Finding Neverland). The production is choreographed by Alex Sanchez(Giant, Fiorello!) and directed by three-time Tony Award nominee Michael Greif (Grey Gardens at PH and on Broadway; Rent, Next to Normal, Giant). The musical is based on the Focus Features/Vulcan Productions motion picture Far From Heaven, written and directed by Todd Haynes. The cast and creative team met the press earlier this week and you can check out full photo coverage below!

Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) and Primary Stages (Casey Childs, Founder & Executive Producer; Andrew Leynse, Artistic Director; Elliot Fox, Managing Director) have announced an extension of their World Premiere co-production of THE CALL, a new play by Tanya Barfield (Blue Door at Playwrights Horizons/PH). The limited engagement at Playwrights Horizons' Peter Jay Sharp Theater (416 West 42nd Street) will now run through Sunday, May 26. Directed by two-time Obie Award winner Leigh Silverman (Go Back to Where You Are and Blue Door at PH; Hunting and Gathering at Primary Stages/PS; Golden Child, Chinglish, Well, In the Wake), THE CALL reunites Ms. Barfield and Ms. Silverman, who previously collaborated on the Playwrights Horizons production of Blue Door in 2006.

The Planet Connections Theatre Festivity presents Walden, a story-theatre style musical adaptation of Thoreau's best seller, featuring his work on the underground railroad and his star-crossed romance. Six performances for Walden will be held at the Robert Moss Theatre, 440 Lafayette Street, NYC from May 29-June 15 as part of The Planet Connections Theatre Festivity. The Festivity will take place May 29th through June 23rd at Gene Frankel and Robert Moss Theatres in New York City.

Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere production of Richard Greenberg's The Assembled Parties opens tonight, April 17, at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Let's see what the critics had to say...

Artistic Director Hal Brooks has announced the 2013 season for Cape Cod Theatre Project, featuring staged readings of new work by Sharr White, Heidi Schreck, Rinne Groff and JC Lee. They will be joined in Falmouth, Massachusetts by writers-in-residence Jackie Sibblies Drury, Andrew Dolan, Halley Feiffer and Academy Award nominee Lucy Alibar.

Columbia Stages will present NEW PLAYS NOW, the annual festival of new plays by emerging artists from the MFA Theatre Program at Columbia University School of the Arts. NEW PLAYS NOW will run from tonight, April 17 to May 11 and will feature original works by Paulina Barros, Keith Boynton, Talya Chalef, Angelica Cheri, Pei-Chieh Chiang, Paola Lazaro Muñoz, Alessandra Most, Christina Quintana, Torrey Townsend, and Zhao Binghao.

Atlantic Theater Company has announced that Olivier and two time Tony Award winning playwright John Guare will make his Off Broadway acting debut in the world premiere production of his new play 3 KINDS OF EXILE, directed by Atlantic artistic director Neil Pepe, featuring Atlantic ensemble members Peter Maloney and David Pittu and guest artists Alison Cimmet, Jeffrey Kuhn, Jacquelyn Landgraf, Martin Moran, Kate Rigg, Omar Sangare and Timothy Splain.

The Award-Winning Epic Theatre Ensemble, now in their 12th year presents William Shakespeare's RICHARD III: Born With Teeth, part of Shakespeare for a New Generation, a national program of the National Endowment for the Arts in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The production, directed by Ron Russell, begins previews Off-Broadway tonight, Tuesday, April 16th and opens Saturday, April 20th at 8:00 PM at the Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street). The play will run through May 4th.