Have you ever been tempted to flee your own life? Becky Foster is caught in middle age, middle management and in a middling marriage-with no prospects for change on the horizon. Then one night a socially inept and grief-struck millionaire stumbles into the car dealership where Becky works. Becky is offered nothing short of a new life…and the audience is offered a chance to ride shotgun in a way that most plays wouldn't dare.
Currently playing at The Austin Playhouse, BLOOMSDAY is story of love oddly intertwined with the James Joyce's novel, Ulysses. Written by the University of Texas Faculty member Steven Dietz, the play's experimental style and arc is reminiscent of Tony Kushner's fabulously entertaining Angels in America. Taking place over the course of 35 years, Robert and Caithleen meet as fleeting youngsters looking for purpose. The purpose of their meeting is that of the title, BLOOMSDAY. For audience members ignorant to the reference, BLOOMSDAY takes place on June 16th as a day of celebration for acclaimed Irish author, James Joyce. It is observed annually in Dublin, where fans and drunkards alike, traditionally dressed in early 1900s garb, march through Dublin following the events and more specifically the scenes of the famous book, Ulysses. The play BLOOMSDAY however, tells the story of young Robbie (played by Aaron Johnson) and Caithleen (played by Claire Grasso) meeting on a tour during the march of Bloomsday. With time itself being the 5th character of the show, Robert (played by Huck Huckaby) scolds his younger self, while Cait (played by Cindy Williams) wrestles with her slipping mind and preparing her younger self for what is to come. The subtle quips and honest reflections from the future selves make for hilarious interactions on stage. Taking place over 35 years, but set within actual two scenes, the arc of the characters and exquisite writing by Steven Dietz, displays a realistic love story forcing introspection.
MTAP's Hot Metal Musicals Incubator presents its third installment of new musical theatre work-in-development with a public reading of The Storm with book, lyrics and music by Stephanie Riso. This free reading, featuring a cast of 15 and directed by Pittsburgh CLO's producing director Mark Fleischer, will be held on Sunday, January 15, at 6:00 p.m. in the Pittsburgh CLO's Charles Gray Auditorium, 130 CLO Academy Way in downtown Pittsburgh. MTAP's Hot Metal Musicals Incubator readings are being presented with the extensive cooperation and support of the Pittsburgh CLO.
Long Wharf Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein and Managing Director Joshua Borenstein, present the world premiere of Napoli, Brooklyn by Meghan Kennedy, directed by Edelstein.
Have you ever been tempted to flee your own life? Becky Foster is caught in middle age, middle management and in a middling marriage-with no prospects for change on the horizon. Then one night a socially inept and grief-struck millionaire stumbles into the car dealership where Becky works. Becky is offered nothing short of a new life...and the audience is offered a chance to ride shotgun in a way that most plays wouldn't dare.
Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Kevin E. Moore are thrilled to continue Actors Theatre's 2016-2017 Brown-Forman Series with Annie Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation, directed by Associate Artistic Director Meredith McDonough.
B Street Theatre has announced the first three productions in their 26th Mainstage Season. This season will feature James Goldman's contemporary classic The Lion in Winter; Steven Dietz's unique romance Bloomsday; and the Tony-nominated play Hand to God by Robert Askins.
In what has become an annual ritual, a total of 32 established and emerging composers, lyricists, and librettists will converge on the Goodspeed campus from mid-January through mid-February 2017 to participate in the Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals. The writing teams, representing 18 new musicals, will populate the campus, creating a truly exciting environment for discovery and inspiration.
Have you ever been tempted to flee your own life? Becky Foster is caught in middle age, middle management and in a middling marriage-with no prospects for change on the horizon. Then one night a socially inept and grief-struck millionaire stumbles into the car dealership where Becky works. Becky is offered nothing short of a new life...and the audience is offered a chance to ride shotgun in a way that most plays wouldn't dare.
MTAP's Hot Metal Musicals Incubator presents its third installment of new musical theatre work-in-development with a public reading of The Storm with book, lyrics and music by Stephanie Riso.
Greasepaint Productions' revival of the Steven Dietz AIDS drama, Lonely Planet opened Thursday, December 8th at the Gene Frankel Theatre in downtown Manhattan, New York. The production is directed by Nick Brennan and stars Daniel Clayton Smith and Chad Ryan. For tickets and information please visit the official website.
Greasepaint Productions (Thank You For Being a Friend the Musical) is a theater company dedicated to bringing passion projects to the New York stage in quality productions. Their current producing endeavor is the lesser known, but stunningly written AIDS drama, Lonely Planet written by Steven Dietz.
The final show of 2016 runs for the next three weeks!
Greasepaint Productions (Thank You For Being a Friend the Musical) is a theater company dedicated to bringing passion projects to the New York stage in quality productions. Their current producing endeavor is the lesser known, but stunningly written AIDS drama, Lonely Planet written by Steven Dietz. Originally produced by the Barrow Group in 1994, Lonely Planet tells the story of Jody, a forty year old shop owner who has become a shut in and his younger friend Carl, a caretaker who has to convince him that not only is it ok to leave the shop, he must do so to take responsibility for his life. First, Jody has to come to terms with the fact that his community is being decimated by the AIDS virus and he must be tested before he becomes a casualty as well.
In October, Center Stage launched a spin-off of the already successful Wright-Right-Now micro-commissioning series, which puts playwrights in lobbies and on the street to produce patron-prompted short plays on demand. The group dubbed the new, monthly, social media-driven project Wright Now Play Later (WNPL).
This notion is the driving force behind Fiction, a mind-bending work by PEN U.S.A. Award-winning playwright Steven Dietz, whose cunningly plotted play has been called a "mental Rubik's cube." Fiction creates and then destroys a seemingly conventional love triangle involving long-married writers Linda and Michael Waterman, and their mutual muse, Abby Drake.
City Theatre is excited to welcome playwright Steven Dietz for a writing residency October 31-November 1, 2016.
(The) National New Play Network, the country's alliance of nonprofit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays, celebrates an October filled with NNPN Rolling World Premieres (RWP), including Bars and Measures by Idris Goodwin at The Theatre @ Boston Court (playing until October 23); Pulp by Joseph Zettelmaier at Williamston Theatre (playing until October 23) and Know Theatre of Cincinnati (playing until October 27); Not Medea by Allison Gregory at Perseverance Theatre (playing in Juneau until November 6 and Anchorage November 11-20); Into the Beautiful North by Karen Zacarias at Central Works (playing until November 13); and Church and State by Jason Odell Williams at JCC CenterStage (Oct 22 - Nov 6).
A positive person with a healthy outlook on life, Drew Rausch has turned a major lemon into lemonade and, in the process, still manages time to help fight cancer! One of the founding members of InHouse Theatre Company, Drew took time from their now fifth production DINNER WITH FRIENDS to chat with BroadwayWorld and myself.
City Theatre is excited to welcome playwright Steven Dietz for a writing residency October 31-November 1, 2016.
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