Tectonic Theater Project News

Due to popular demand, The New Group has announced a two-week extension for Russian Transport, which began previews on January 17 and had an Official Opening Night on January 30.

Academy Award® nominee and Emmy® Award winner David Strathairn (Dr. Austin Sloper) will join Academy Award® nominee Jessica Chastain (Catherine Sloper) in the Tony Award®-winning play The Heiress. Written by Ruth Goetz & Augustus Goetz, The Heiress will be directed by Tony Award® nominated playwright and director Moisés Kaufman and will open in the Fall of 2012 at a theatre to be announced.

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick, has announced that Greg Reiner will join the acclaimed Off-Broadway theater as its new Executive Director beginning March 19. Reiner comes to CSC after an extremely successful tenure as Executive Director of Tectonic Theater Project, where, among many other achievements, he produced the world premiere of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later in 150 theaters on a single night, and oversaw the Tony nominated Broadway production of 33 Variations. Reiner succeeds Jessica R. Jenen, who departed CSC in the fall.

Philadelphia Theatre Company will expand its PTC@Play project into an annual Festival beginning next spring thanks to support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation as part of its Knight Arts Challenge, a $9 million initiative supporting innovative projects that inspire and enrich Philadelphia's communities.

Leigh Fondakowski, Founding Member of Tectonic Theatre Project, will teach a three-day intensive workshop on 'Moment Work,' the approach to dramatic creation that has led to the company's award-winning work including Gross Indecency and The Laramie Project. In this workshop, students actively engage with the elements of the stage - exploring lights, sound, costumes, movement, text, architecture and more - to discover their full theatrical potential and the poetry inherent in each element. The workshop culminates in a presentation of the Moments created over the course of the weekend.

La Jolla Playhouse just announced that The Nightingale, by the creative team behind the Tony Award-winning musical Spring Awakening: Steven Sater (book and lyrics) and Duncan Sheik (music), directed by Tony Award nominee Moises Kaufman (33 Variations), will be part of the Playhouse's 2012/2013 season. Running in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre July 10 - August 5, 2012, The Nightingale will be presented as part of the Playhouse's acclaimed Page To Stage Play Development Program.

Edgar Lee Masters' epic work, The Spoon River Anthology, will receive an all-new production, of unprecedented scale and scope, conceived & directed Jimmy Maize, with music by Eli Zoller, choreography by Jon Cooper & Marine Sialelli, and music direction by Ethan Wagner, and featuring a cast of one-hundred performers, will be presented for two special limited engagements: April 18 - 21 at The Riverside Theatre (91 Claremont Avenue located inside the Riverside Church between 120th and 122nd Streets), in association with Columbia University School of the Arts; and April 24 - 28 at the Invisible Dog Art Center (51 Bergen Street in Brooklyn).

Redtwist Theatre will produce a ten-year epilogue as a companion piece to the original play, 'The Laramie Project.' Written by Moisés Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris, and Stephen Belber, and directed by three-time Jeff Award-winner, Greg Kolack, 'The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later' opens on Sunday, March 4 at 3 p.m.

Off-Broadway's The New Group honors David Rabe and Nancy Manocherian, founding Artistic Director of the cell theater in Chelsea, at the company's 2012 Gala, hosted by Janeane Garofalo & Morgan Spector. Rabe and Manocherian are recipients of the sixth annual Michael Mendelson Award for Outstanding Commitment to Theater. Founded in 2005, this award recognizes individuals who show outstanding commitment to the theatrical community. Past recipients include Wallace Shawn, Fred Wistow, Robyn Goodman, Ethan Hawke, Ruth and Stephen Hendel, Wendy Ettinger and Derek McLane.

The New Group will present the world premiere of An Early History of Fire, a new play by Tony Award-winning playwright David Rabe. Directed by Jo Bonney, this production features Deema Aitken, Gordon Clapp, Erin Darke, Jonny Orsini, Devin Ratray, Dennis Staroselsky, Theo Stockman and Claire van der Boom. Limited Off-Broadway engagement is slated April 5 - May 26 at The New Group @ Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street). Official Opening Night is set for Monday, April 23 at 7:00 PM. Lily Rabe, who was previously slated to star in the play will no longer be taking part in the production.

The Winthrop Playmakers Present The Laramie Project.

Philadelphia Theatre Company will expand its PTC@Play project into an annual Festival beginning next spring thanks to support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation as part of its Knight Arts Challenge, a $9 million initiative supporting innovative projects that inspire and enrich Philadelphia's communities.

In a statment, the League of Independent Theater has announced the Independent Theater Fund.

Redtwist Theatre will produce a ten-year epilogue as a companion piece to the original play, 'The Laramie Project.' Written by Moisés Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris, and Stephen Belber, and directed by three-time Jeff Award-winner, Greg Kolack, 'The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later' opens on Sunday, March 4 at 3 p.m.

Redtwist Theatre will produce a ten-year epilogue as a companion piece to the original play, 'The Laramie Project.' Written by Moisés Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris, and Stephen Belber, and directed by three-time Jeff Award-winner, Greg Kolack, 'The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later' opens on Sunday, March 4 at 3 p.m.

Due to popular demand, The New Group has announced a two-week extension for Russian Transport, which began previews on January 17 and had an Official Opening Night on January 30.

Three items to note about Encore Entertainment's production of The Laramie Project: 1. Arrive early - evening performances begin a 7:30 and matinees at 1:30. 2. Plan to stay after the show for the talk-back with cast members. 3. Bring lots of Kleenex…you will need it! * * * * * (out of 5)

The New Group presents Russian Transport, written by Erika Sheffer, in a world premiere limited engagement January 17 - March 10, 2012. Directed by Scott Elliott, the production features Janeane Garofalo, Daniel Oreskes, Morgan Spector, Sarah Steele and Raviv Ullman. Official Opening Night is Monday, January 30 at The New Group @ Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street).

Acclaimed actress Jessica Chastain, winner of 2011 New York, Los Angeles and Chicago Film Critics and National Board of Review Awards and recently nominated for Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards, will make her Broadway debut starring in the Tony Award®-winning play The Heiress.

Roundabout Theatre Company has just announced a new Off-Broadway production of Simon Gray's comedy-drama The Common Pursuit directed by Moises Kaufman. The Common Pursuit will begin performances May 4, 2012 and officially open on May 24, 2012 at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre / Laura Pels Theatre (111 West 46th Street). This is a limited engagement through July 29, 2012.