Rude Mechs News

The world's tallest and hairiest drag queen and her band, the Martha Graham Cracker Cabaret, make their Wilma Theater mainstage debut with their trademark masterful musical stylings and uproarious comedy. Played by Pig Iron Theatre Company co-founder Dito van Reigersberg, Martha Graham Cracker has been hailed as the 'drag queen king of Philadelphia' by The Philadelphia Inquirer and received Philadelphia Magazine's Best of Philly award for her one-of-a-kind unscripted show. This June, she will grace the stage of the Wilma for two groundbreaking performances, including a Martha Graham Cracker show like never before: a matinee performance for children and the young at heart. Tickets are on sale for this limited engagement event, running from June 28-June 29.

Corkscrew Theater Festival is pleased to announce the mainstage casts for its third annual festival, which runs July 10-August 3 at the Paradise Factory (64 East 4th Street, Manhattan). The festival features four world premieres, four workshop productions, and four readings performed in repertory over four weeks, with 80 performances in all. As in past years, special attention has been given to theater makers who are developing work through tight-knit collaborations. Tickets are now on sale.

Kicking off the 2019 summer season, City Theatre Austin will present Kathy Najimy and Mo Gaffney's hilarious and insightful cult comedy Parallel Lives. Two women, twenty-five characters, and an evening of laughter that you will never forget. It's a must see!

Rude Mechanicals Co-Artistic Producers Thomas Graves and Kirk Lynn created NOT EVERY MOUNTAIN as a part of a project the theatre company is working on called Perverse Results (a name derived from a corollary of Murphy's Law.) Through the unique, collaborative method the Rudes use to create a project, Graves brought the idea to Lynn in a desire to portray appreciation for the natural world in a dance piece that involved geometric shapes. Lynn had been working on a writing prompt every morning over the years that began with, 'Not Every Mountain...'. The result was first performed here in Austin, and the Rudes were given a residency for the piece at The Guthrie Theatre, and again at Theatre Nanterre-Amandiers and Pivot Arts Festival Incubator Arts Program.

Veteran Bay Area performing arts leader Rob Bailis has been appointed Artistic and Executive Director of the Eli & Edythe Broad Stage at the Santa Monica College (SMC) Performing Arts Center effective June 1, 2019. Bailis most recently held posts of Interim Artistic Director and Associate Director of Cal Performances at the University of California, Berkeley, one of North America's largest and most prestigious performing arts presenters. The Broad Stage, located in the heart of Santa Monica, is one of the Los Angeles region's leading performing arts presenters, now in its eleventh season.

The Orchard Project is proud to announce a preview of the chefs, performers and presenters for its 2019 Gala, A TASTE OF SOMETHING NEW, occurring Monday, April 15, 2019 at the Prince George Ballroom and honoring the work of Avram Freedberg and Eva Price (Co-Founders, Maximum Entertainment, Producers of Oklahoma! and Jagged Little Pill) and writers Gabrielle Allan and Jennifer Crittenden (Veep, Divorce, and the musicals Female Troubles and Hollywood Romance).

The Play Company (PlayCo; Founding Producer Kate Loewald, Managing Director Robert G. Bradshaw) announces the chefs and artists scheduled for their 2019 gala, Cabaret Gourmet

YALE SCHOOL OF DRAMA (James Bundy, Dean; Victoria Nolan, Deputy Dean) has announced the inaugural Yale Design Showcase, May 13-15 at 149 York Street, New Haven, Connecticut: an opportunity for theater professionals to visit the campus and meet the 2019 Class of scenic, costume, lighting, sound, and projection designers, and to see their work up close.

This Friday, March 15, OntheBoards.tv—the first online pay-per-view film series dedicated to bringing provocative performance art, dance, theater, and music to audiences around the world—is launching a 24-hour PBS-style telethon. I thought the telethon would be a great opportunity to shed light on this progressive platform and new model for audience engagement, and make your readers aware of this unique resource for anyone who's interested in the performing arts.

The League of Professional Theatre Women (Kelli Lynn Harrison and 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 the 2019 Theatre Women Awards at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (18 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012) on Monday, March 25 at 7pm (doors open at 6:30pm). For more information on the 2019 TheatreWomen Awards, and to purchase tickets, please visit www.theatrewomen.org.

The University of Texas Department of Theatre and Dance at Austin presents UTNT (UT New Theatre), March 12-31, 2019 in multiple locations throughout the F. Loren Winship Drama Building. Established in 2007 by nationally renowned playwright Steven Dietz, UTNT (UT New Theatre) is an annual showcase of newly developed works for the American stage from playwrights of the Department of Theatre and Dance's master of fine arts program and Michener Center for Writers. Now in its twelfth year, UTNT brings to the stage compelling works by I-Chia Chiu, Hannah Kenah, Daria Miyeko Marinelli and Thom May.

Ground Floor Theatre is proud to announce the world premiere of black do crack running February 14 - March 2, 2019. Directed by Matrex Kilgore and written and performed by Florinda Bryant, black do crack is an exploration of the mythology of the strong black woman. The mother who is not allowed to crack but is dying under the pressure of that fiction. Drugs and food. Escaping. Stuck. Moving slow. Moving too fast. We wail. In secret. Hiding our discomposure. Black bends and do crack.

Ground Floor Theatre is proud to announce the world premiere of black do crack running February 14 - March 2, 2019. Directed by Matrex Kilgore and written and performed by Florinda Bryant, black do crack is an exploration of the mythology of the strong black woman. The mother who is not allowed to crack but is dying under the pressure of that fiction. Drugs and food. Escaping. Stuck. Moving slow. Moving too fast. We wail. In secret. Hiding our discomposure. Black bends and do crack.

The League of Professional Theatre Women (Kelli Lynn Harrison and 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 the 2019 Theatre Women Awards at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (18 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012) on Monday, March 25 at 7pm (doors open at 6:30pm). For more information on the 2019 Theatre Women Awards, and to purchase tickets, please visit www.theatrewomen.org. 

The Public Theater officially opened its 15th annual UNDER THE RADAR FESTIVAL on Thursday, January 3. BroadwayWorld attended the opening, and you can check out the photos below!

New York's PROTOTYPE OperaTheatreNow Festival returns for its seventh season from January 5 to the 13th and the one thing that you can't ask about it is “What's new?” That's not because there's nothing to answer. On the contrary--there's too much, in style, in content, in the sizes of its venues: This year's Festival is larger than ever, with a dozen works, 24 composerlibrettists and over 150 collaborators.

The Public Theater begins performances for the 15th annual UNDER THE RADAR FESTIVAL on Thursday, January 3.

It's the last week to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Austin Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

There's just two weeks left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Austin Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

There's just two weeks left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Austin Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.