The Neighborhood Playhouse News

OSO at The Southampton Inn, 91 Hill Street in Southampton continues its popular 'Dinner and...' Series featuring a 3 course gourmet dinner and conversations with luminaries in The Hamptons with a very special evening featuring three Hamptonites who have delighted audiences on stages across the East End: Josh Perl founder of The Naked Stages, Josh Gladstone Artistic Director, John Drew Theatre at Guild Hall and Watermill Center Artist in Residence writer/actor/director/choreographer Kate Mueth. The trio will give audiences a brief preview of the upcoming Naked Stages Marathon at Guild Hall; what special events are planned for the 2009 Season and do a short performance in an intimate salon like atmosphere.

The 20th annual Dusty Film and Animation Festival and Awards will highlight over 100 films by students graduating from the BFA Film, Video and Animation Department at the School of Visual Arts (SVA). The program includes screenings of short films, videos and animations.

Artistic Director, Brady Schwind announced today that Tennessee William's 1955 Pulitzer Prize winning classic, CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF will join the Neighborhood Playhouse's 2009 season. The production runs July 9 - 26. Reserved tickets are $22-28 and are available by calling 1.800.595.4849 or online at www.neighborhoodplayhouse.net

Lust and loneliness meet love in this uncharacteristic coupling of characters. Lanford Wilson?s 38th play first opened in Los Angeles in January 1987 and put John Malkovich on the ?international? road to stardom shortly afterwards. Garnering multiple awards in several categories, and written with a ?pas de quatre? style in mind, this contemporary and romantic story begins shortly after a funeral brings four self-distancing and comical characters together.

RUSKIN GROUP THEATRE will continue to run BURN THIS by Landford Wilson through April 25, 2009. Lanford Wilson's 38th play first opened in Los Angeles in January 1987 and put John Malkovich on the ?international' road to stardom shortly afterwards. Garnering multiple awards in several categories, and written with a ?pas de quatre' style in mind, this contemporary and romantic story begins shortly after a funeral brings four self-distancing and comical characters together.

LongHouse Reserve's Spring Benefit will be held on Thursday, March 19, 2009 at the Lotos Club (New York City) 5 East Sixty-sixth Street from 6:30 pm - Reception and Dinner 8:00 pm - Reading and Dessert. During this time Edward Albee and Marian Seldes will present a reading of Mr. Albee's play Counting the Ways.

LongHouse Reserve's Spring Benefit will take place Thursday, March 19, 2009 at Lotos Club (New York City) 5 East Sixty-sixth Street Time: 6:30 pm - Reception and Dinner 8:00 pm - Reading and Dessert Edward Albee and Marian Seldes will present a reading of Mr. Albee's play Counting the Ways. Tickets: $250, $500, and $1,000 - Reception, Dinner and Reading; $150- Reading and Dessert only Tickets can be purchased by calling

LongHouse Reserve's Spring Benefit will be held on Thursday, March 19, 2009 at the Lotos Club (New York City) 5 East Sixty-sixth Street from 6:30 pm - Reception and Dinner 8:00 pm - Reading and Dessert. During this time Edward Albee and Marian Seldes will present a reading of Mr. Albee's play Counting the Ways.

The New York Times has reported the sad news that Pearl Lang, a dancer who was a major interpreter of Martha Graham's choreography and who as a choreographer and teacher founded a distinguished company of her own, the Pearl Lang Dance Theater, died Tuesday in Manhattan. She was 87 and lived on the Upper West Side reports the Times

The 20th annual Dusty Film and Animation Festival and Awards will highlight over 100 films by students graduating from the BFA Film, Video and Animation Department at the School of Visual Arts (SVA). The program includes screenings of short films, videos and animations; and an awards ceremony and gala with notable presenters from the film industry. This year's Screenwriters Night is a collaboration with the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in which SVA graduating screenwriters will have selected scenes performed live by alumni from the Neighborhood Playhouse.

Lust and loneliness meet love in this uncharacteristic coupling of characters. Lanford Wilson's 38th play first opened in Los Angeles in January 1987 and put John Malkovich on the ?international' road to stardom shortly afterwards. Garnering multiple awards in several categories, and written with a ?pas de quatre' style in mind, this contemporary and romantic story begins shortly after a funeral brings four self-distancing and comical characters together.

Lust and loneliness meet love in this uncharacteristic coupling of characters. Lanford Wilson?s 38th play first opened in Los Angeles in January 1987 and put John Malkovich on the ?international? road to stardom shortly afterwards. Garnering multiple awards in several categories, and written with a ?pas de quatre? style in mind, this contemporary and romantic story begins shortly after a funeral brings four self-distancing and comical characters together.

Neighborhood Playhouse Presents a 'First Look' at the West Coast Premiere of Acclaimed New Comedy. The production opens the Neighborhood Playhouse's 2009 season, running February 19 - March 8.

Artistic Director, Brady Schwind announced full casting today for the Neighborhood Playhouse's West Coast Premiere production of Charles Busch's acclaimed new comedy, OUR LEADING LADY. The production opens the Neighborhood Playhouse's 2009 season, running February 19 - March 8. Reserved tickets are $22-34 and are available by calling 310.378.9353 or online at www.neighborhoodplayhouse.net A critical and audience hit in its initial run at New York's Manhattan Theatre Club, The Playhouse production marks the first major regional staging of this demanding and hilarious new comedy (from Charles Busch, the outrageous mind behind PSYCHO BEACH PARTY, SHANGHAI MOON and THE TALE OF THE ALERGIST'S WIFE) which gives whole new meaning to the quip: 'other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?...' April, 1865. The week the Civil War Ends, legendary actress Laura Keene has only one ambition. President Lincoln simply must attend her closing night performance at the Ford's Theatre! Her only obstacle - the hackneyed group of supporting players she's been saddled with. As Laura moves ruthlessly towards her goal, she and her theatrical troupe must face an inevitable collision with history. 'Hilarious, delicious fun,' cheered the New York Times of the original New York production. 'A testament to playwright Charles Bush's belief that theatre can and should reflect the human comedy at its most ridiculous and its most uplifting.'

GATES OF GOLD, a new comedic drama by Frank McGuinness will hold its American Premiere at 59E59 Theaters. Previews begin Thursday, February 19, 2009. The official opening will be on Sunday, March 1, 2009. Produced by Artists Theatre Group, Inc., Warren Baker and Sally Jacobs, the production is directed by Kent Paul.

Neighborhood Playhouse Presents a 'First Look' at the West Coast Premiere of Acclaimed New Comedy. The production opens the Neighborhood Playhouse's 2009 season, running February 19 - March 8.

Manhattan Theatre Source presents the world premiere of Universal Robots, written by Mac Rogers, February 12 through March 7, 2009 at the theatre's Washington Square Park home (177 MacDougal Street).

LongHouse Reserve's Spring Benefit will take place Thursday, March 19, 2009 at Lotos Club (New York City) 5 East Sixty-sixth Street Time: 6:30 pm - Reception and Dinner 8:00 pm - Reading and Dessert Edward Albee and Marian Seldes will present a reading of Mr. Albee's play Counting the Ways. Tickets: $250, $500, and $1,000 - Reception, Dinner and Reading; $150- Reading and Dessert only Tickets can be purchased by calling

Blue Coyote Theater Group is proud to present the NY premiere of David Johnston's CONVERSATIONS ON RUSSIAN LITERATURE PLUS THREE MORE PLAYS, directed by Kyle Ancowitz, Gary Shrader and Stephen Speights. CONVERSATIONS ON RUSSIAN LITERATURE PLUS THREE MORE PLAYS begins previews on Wednesday, February 11 for a limited engagement through Saturday, March 7. Opening Night is Saturday, February 14 at 8 PM. The performance schedule is Wednesday - Saturday at 8:00 PM. Performances are at the Access Theater (380 Broadway, just north of White Street). Tickets are $18 ($10 during previews) and are available by calling SmartTix at 212-868-4444 or online at www.smarttix.com. Playwright David Johnston returns to Blue Coyote with the New York premieres of four short plays: CONVERSATIONS ON RUSSIAN LITERATURE, PLAY RUSSIA, FOR THOSE OF US WHO HAVE LIVED IN FRANCE and MOTHRA IS WAITING. Each play examines the romanticism, idealism and absurdism of journeys to other countries (and sometimes other planets) through the prism of David Johnston's 'fertile imagination' and his 'trademark off-kilter sensibility' (New York Times). In PLAY RUSSIA-a must-see for theater nerds-Mr. Johnston upends the most revered Russian playwright, Chekhov, with hilarious results. MOTHRA IS WAITING finds two middle-aged chanteuses waiting for the cult-horror-classic bug Mothra to rescue them from their meaningless lives in Bridgeport to become Goddesses on Infant Island. The Francophile desires of Henry Kissinger, Mary Queen of Scots and modern-day American Lunelle Snead converge in FOR THOSE OF US WHO HAVE LIVED IN FRANCE. In CONVERSATIONS ON RUSSIAN LITERATURE, we return to Russia where post-Cold War espionage and intrigue collides with Russia's literary masters.

Bristol Riverside Theatre presents the World Premiere of What You Will, a BRT original interpretation of Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night from February 10 through March 1, 2009. A daring and bold take on the classic comedy that combines the language of Shakespeare with contemporary rhythms and movement, What You Will is conceived and co-directed by BRT Artistic Director Keith Baker and Donald Byrd, acclaimed choreographer of Broadway's The Color Purple and Artistic Director of Seattle's Spectrum Dance Theater. Music direction and original music by hip hop producer Justin Ellington completes the marriage of text, high-energy movement and heart-pounding music. What You Will begins previews February 10, opens February 12, and closes March 1, 2009. Tickets are $29 - $37, with $10 student tickets, and are available by calling the Box Office at (215) 785-0100 or visiting the theatre at 120 Radcliffe Street in Bristol, with information online at www.brtstage.org. [A full performance schedule follows on page 4.] In this new interpretation, Shakespeare's original text is heard with a distinctively contemporary American voice as the worlds of modern urban and classical theatre are fused. In What You Will (Shakespeare's full title for the play was Twelfth Night, Or What You Will), the social center of Illyria is Club 12th Night - a place where pranks and disguises, playful games and folly rule. A shipwrecked woman stumbles into the club, beginning a chain of events leading to an astonishing conclusion. Mistaken identities, intrigue, music, a beautiful heiress, drunken partiers, and a spiteful servant merge with a hip-hop rhythm in Shakespeare's enchanting tale of revelry and love.