Shanta Thake News

Long-running and widely influential New York music festival, globalFEST, has announced dates for its 17th edition set for January 11 – 14, 2021.

Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham announced the line-up today for The Public's free digital fall season. The Public will present new digital works, deepen community relationships through its artistic programs, and continue its long tradition of civic engagement in this crucial election season.

The Public Theater today announced the promotions of Roxanna Barrios, Bryan Joseph Lee, and Yuvika Tolani. The promotions celebrate and recognize Barrios, Lee, and Tolani's continued leadership, growth, and significant impact across the organization during their tenures.

The Public Theater announced today that Saheem Ali and Shanta Thake have been named Associate Artistic Directors as part of an expanded and restructured artistic leadership team.

The TEAM the award-winning Brooklyn theatre ensemble, announced today that its 15th Anniversary Gala will take place on Monday, November 4, 2019 at 6:30pm at The Green Building (452 Union Street, Brooklyn). The TEAM's 15th Anniversary Gala will include drinks, dinner, auctions and performances rooted in previous and upcoming TEAM works.

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and Joe's Pub team up again for the Kimmel Center Theater Residency. Under the guidance of Jay Wahl, Producing Artistic Director of the Kimmel Center, Shanta Thake, Senior Director of Artistic Programs for The Public Theater, and Alex Knowlton, Director of Joe's Pub, the Theater Residency program serves as an host for artists and their collaborators to create and develop music and theater projects. The residency will be held in the Kimmel Center's SEI Innovation Studio from June 18 29 with Public Readings, FREE and open to the public, on June 28 and 29. Readings will be followed by Q&A sessions with the artists.

Continuing its commitment to bringing free Shakespeare to the community and strengthening audience engagement through the arts, The Public Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham, will mount its MOBILE UNIT again this spring with a free three-week tour to the five boroughs of Shakespeare's THE TEMPEST, directed by Laurie Woolery.

The Nurturing New Voices panel was a discussion on how arts institutions can nurture new voices. Moderated by Ailey Artistic Director Robert Battle with participants including Thelma Golden (Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem), Rennie Harris (Founder of Rennie Harris Puremovement and Ailey's 2018–19 Artist-in-Residence), Tarell Alvin McCraney (playwright), Shanta Thake (Senior Director of Artistic Programs at the Public Theater), and Darren Walker (President of The Ford Foundation).

As part of the "Ailey Ascending" 60th Anniversary celebration, the Choreography Unlocked Festival of performance, conversation, and master classes will take place at Ailey's home across two weekends - October 12 - 14 & 26- 28. Building on the success of the New Directions Choreography Lab, created by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Artistic Director Robert Battle in 2011, the festival will elevate The Joan Weill Center for Dance's role in the community as a hub for creating and presenting new work and fostering the next generation of choreographers.  

Joe's Pub at The Public presents the North American premiere of Murray Hill: About To Break, a new comedy and theatrical event, running September 20-22 and 27-29. About To Break is written and performed by Hill and directed and developed with Tony Award-winning lyricist, writer, and director Scott Wittman. Renowned as a comic host around the world, this new show is a departure, putting Hill center stage in the first major dedicated solo show of his long, storied career. Musical direction is by Paul Leschen with original music by Hill with Wittman, Marc Shaiman, Kyle Forrester, Eric Kornfeld, Jesse Elder, and Leschen.

Joe's Pub at The Public presents the North American premiere of Murray Hill: About To Break, a new comedy and theatrical event, running September 20-22 and 27-29. About To Break is written and performed by Hill and directed and developed with Tony Award-winning lyricist, writer, and director Scott Wittman. Renowned as a comic host around the world, this new show is a departure, putting Hill center stage in the first major dedicated solo show of his long, storied career. Musical direction is by Paul Leschen with original music by Hill with Wittman, Marc Shaiman, Kyle Forrester, Eric Kornfeld, Jesse Elder, and Leschen.

This September, Joe's Pub at The Public kicks off its 20th Anniversary year, celebrating two decades of presenting the best in live music and performance nightly with a commitment to diversity, production values, community, and artistic freedom. The fall season is comprised of Joe's Pub debuts like Max Vernon and The Tiger Lillies; familiar faces like Justin Vivian Bond, John Kelly, and Shaina Taub; and two New York Voices commissions: Refrigerated Dreams, a collaboration from Nona Hendryx and Carrie Mae Weems, and Murray Hill's About To Break, directed by Scott Wittman. There will also be a change in leadership at Joe's Pub - Alex Knowlton will become Director of Joe's Pub, as Shanta Thake will inaugurate a new role at The Public Theater as Senior Director of Artistic Programs.

Joe's Pub at The Public presents the North American premiere of Murray Hill: About To Break, a new comedy and theatrical event, running September 20-22 and 27-29. About To Break is written and performed by Hill and directed and developed with Tony Award-winning lyricist, writer, and director Scott Wittman. Renowned as a comic host around the world, this new show is a departure, putting Hill center stage in the first major dedicated solo show of his long, storied career. Musical direction is by Paul Leschen with original music by Hill with Wittman, Marc Shaiman, Kyle Forrester, Eric Kornfeld, Jesse Elder, and Leschen.

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and Joe's Pub at The Public join forces once again for the Kimmel Center Theater Residency. Under the tutelage of Jay Wahl, Producing Artistic Director of the Kimmel Center, and Shanta Thake, Director of Joe's Pub, the program serves as an incubator for artists and their collaborators to create and develop music and theater projects. The program will be held in the Kimmel Center's SEI Innovation Studio (300 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA) from June 18-30 with Public Readings, free and open to the public, on June 29 and 30. Readings will be followed by Q&A sessions with the artists.

Mara Isaacs, Director of Project Springboard: Developing Dance Musicals, today announced the recipients of the second annual residency awards: Bhangin' It, led by Rehana Mirza (co-book writer), Mike Lew (co-book writer), Sam Wilmott (composer/lyricist), Rujuta Vaidya (choreographer), and Amy Anders Corcoran (director); and The Night Falls, led by Troy Schumacher (director/choreographer, New York City Ballet soloist), Ellis Ludwig-Leone (composer/co-lyricist), and Karen Russell (book writer/co-lyricist, MacArthur Award winner and Pulitzer finalist). Both projects will be in residence June 4-22, 2018 in New York City.

Join Joe's Pub at The Public for an evening of cocktails, dinner, and special performances in Joe's Pub to support The Vanguard Award & Residency, a celebration of pioneering artists whose work is distinctly rooted in American life and pop culture.

Daniel Alexander Jones makes his debut in The Public Theater's mainstage season with his new show Black Light, starring Jones's alter ego, legendary singer Jomama Jones. Originally commissioned as part of the Joe's Pub New York Voices series, Black Light is a moving, music-laden work - a revival of sorts - for turbulent times. Created by Jones, the show features all original music by Jomama, Laura Jean Anderson, Bobby Halvorson, Dylan Meek and Josh Quat. The show's music direction is by Samora Abayomi Pinderhughes.

In February 2018, Daniel Alexander Jones makes his debut in The Public Theater's mainstage season with his new show Black Light, starring Jones's alter ego, legendary singer Jomama Jones. Originally commissioned as part of the Joe's Pub New York Voices series, Black Light is a moving, music-laden work - a revival of sorts - for turbulent times. Created by Jones, the show features all original music by Jomama, Laura Jean Anderson, Bobby Halvorson, Dylan Meek and Josh Quat. The show's music direction is by Samora Abayomi Pinderhughes.

Falu's Bazaar is a new vibrant and diverse album of Indian children's music from New York based Falu, an international artist known for her unique blending of modern and classical stylings in her Bollywood Orchestra shows. This playful yet educational collection is the first of its kind, teaching South Asian culture through a spirited presentation to today's youth in three languages- English, Hindi and Gujarati (out this Friday, 2/16!)

Grammy-nominated funk rock pioneer Nona Hendryx continues her year at Joe's Pub at The Public as the inaugural recipient of The Vanguard Residency and Award, which celebrates an icon of American pop culture, with two new shows. On March 19, Hendryx has invited Liza Jessie Peterson to debut a new work called Down the Rabbit Hole, a mix of Peterson's acclaimed one-woman show The Peculiar Patriot and new book All Day.