The Public Theater News

There's just two weeks left to vote for the 2019 BroadwayWorld San Antonio Awards, brought to you by TodayTix! The people have spoken nominations are set, and now you can vote to make sure your favorite local theatre's achievements and performers are recognized!

Girl from the North Country begins performances on Friday, February 7 at the Belasco Theatre (111 West 44th Street) with the opening night set for Thursday, March 5. Check out photos of the marquee!

In January 2020, Joe's Pub presents its annual slate of showcases coinciding with APAP|NYC 2020, the yearly Association of Performing Artists Presenters conference drawing presenters from around the world, January 10-14. The month will also include the fifth installment of Under the Radar + Joe's Pub: In Concert, a collaborative series highlighting multidisciplinary artists at the intersection of music and theater during The Public Theater's innovative Under the Radar Festival, January 8-19.

The Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan has announced that Tony nominated actor Jonathan C. Kaplan and Zoë Winters will complete the cast performing a benefit reading of 'The Wanderers' by Anna Zeigler.The play is a funny, insightful, and mysterious new drama. Ziegler is an award-winning playwright whose widely produced play, 'Photograph 51,' won London's 2016 WhatsOnStage award for best new play.

An initial roster of artists and performers have been announced for the inaugural YI Love New York YiddishFest. Produced by the Yiddishkayt Initiative (YI) (Avi Hoffman, Producing Artistic Director) and Theater for the New City (Crystal Field, Artistic Director), the nine-day festival celebrates the legacy of the Yiddish language and its impact on entertainment and culture with readings, concerts, film screenings, lectures, panel discussions, and famous personalities in the world of Jewish culture from December 21-29. Tickets for all events are available online at www.yiddishfest.org.

The Drama League (Artistic Director Gabriel Stelian-Shanks, Executive Director Bevin Ross) announced today the acting company for the 36th annual DirectorFest, the only festival in the United States dedicated to the art of contemporary stage directing. Directorfest will take place January 10 - February 4, 2020 at various locations around NYC: The New Ohio Theatre (154 Christopher Street), The Drama League Theater Center (32 Avenue of the Americas), LaGuardia Performing Arts Center (31-10 Thomson Avenue), and Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette Street). For festival details and tickets, visit directorfest.org or call (212) 244-9494 x102.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre continues its 2019/20 season with FUN HOME. Fun Home is the winner of five 2015 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Inspired by Alison Bechdel's best-selling graphic novel, this relatable and moving story has Alison reliving her upbringing with her brilliant and volatile father-a man whose own secrets defined the family-while discovering her sexuality. It's a journey marked by honesty and humor and filled with memorable songs.

Actor's Express continues its 32nd season with the Tony Award-winning musical Fun Home based on Alison Bechdel's bestselling graphic memoir of the same name. This wholly original musical took Broadway by storm and cemented itself as one of the landmark musicals of our time. Directed by Artistic Director Freddie Ashley, Fun Home dives into Alison's past to trace the sequence of childhood events that made her the adult she is today. In doing so, she initiates a journey of reconciliation with her late father, whose mercurial and secretive personality kept the two apart at the precise moments they should have been closest. This musical of coming of age and coming out tells a tale of what happens when you finally see your parents through grown-up eyes.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces casting for Octavio Solis' Mother Road, a sequel to John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. Mother Road premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2019 and will run at Arena Stage from February 7 - March 8, 2020 in the iconic in-the-round Fichandler Stage.

Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT) and Teatro Público de Cleveland (TPC) have announced updated plans for the 2019/2020 Season Spanish Language production. CPT and TPC will present Marisol, by José Rivera, translated by Aurora Lauzardo y Waldemar Burgos, and directed by Julia Rosa Sosa. The play will be performed in Spanish with English subtitles and will run March 5 a?" 21 in CPT's historic Gordon Square Theatre.

Remote Theater Project announces that its production of Grey Rock, written and directed by Palestinian artist Amir Nizar Zuabi, will travel to four U.S. cities from January 8-February 9, 2020. Commissioned by Remote Theater Project, Grey Rock marks the first time a U.S. theater company has commissioned a Palestinian artist to create an original work for American audiences.

Freedom to ACT, developed by Ann Rodiger and Belinda Mello, is in its 9th year! This year's conference topic is on how the Alexander Technique supports On Camera Presence. The conference will take place on January 10th-12th at Balance Arts Center: 151 West 30th Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY. Register for the full conference or sign-up for individual workshops. Freedom to ACT is a collaboration between AT Motion and Balance Arts Center.

Casting is set for Studio Theatre's production of Pipeline, playwright Dominique Morisseau's searing drama about the school-to-prison pipeline and a mother desperately trying to keep her son from becoming ensnared in it. The production runs January 15-February 16, 2020 and is directed by Awoye Timpo. Starring are DC theatre favorite Justin Weaks (Studio's Curve of Departure) as high school student Omari and Andrea Harris Smith making her Studio debut as his mother, public school teacher Nya. In its recent People Issue, Washington City Paper's called Weaks a 'standout,' going on to say: 'D.C. theater audiences love Justin Weaks. ...Weaks came to D.C. for a job about four years ago, not expecting to stay. But he kept getting cast in shows, and lucky for local theatergoers, he's still here.'

'Even if you haven't seen HAMILTON, you can still have a wonderful time at our show.'

Paper Mill Playhouse (Mark S. Hoebee-Producing Artistic Director, Michael Stotts- Managing Director), recipient of the Regional Theatre Tony Award, begins the new year with the world premiere Unmasked: The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and written with Richard Curtis. Unmasked: The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber begins performances Thursday, January 30, 2020, and will continue through Sunday, March 1, 2020 at Paper Mill Playhouse (22 Brookside Drive, Millburn, NJ). JPMorgan Chase & Co. is the major sponsor of Unmasked: The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Paper Mill Playhouse's 2019-2020 season is proudly sponsored by Investors Bank. Opening Night is Sunday evening, February 9, 2020 at 7:00pm.

WP Theater, under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Lisa McNulty and Managing Director Michael Sag, has announced that the world premiere of playwright and performer Donnetta Lavinia Grays' Where We Stand, co-presented by WP Theater and Baltimore Center Stage, will star Grays [Men on Boats, In The Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)], who will alternate select performances with David Ryan Smith (One Man, Two Guvnors; Passing Strange) beginning February 15. Directed by Tamilla Woodard (Hadestown Broadway associate director), previews begin Off-Broadway on Friday, January 31 at WP Theater with an opening night of February 11, 2020. The limited engagement at WP Theater will run through March 1, 2020 before playing Baltimore Center Stage April 2-26.

San Francisco Playhouse presents the Bay Area premiere of Tiny Beautiful Things by Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated writer and actress Nia Vardalos, based on the book by best-selling author Cheryl Strayed (Wild). Bill English will direct the Playhouse production.

A documentary about Luis A. Miranda Jr., father of Broadway triple-threat and Hollywood crossover star Lin-Manuel Miranda, is coming to Sundance Film Festival.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) announced complete casting today for the world premiere of the new play COAL COUNTRY, written by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen with original music by Steve Earle. Directed by Jessica Blank, this riveting new work will begin performances in the Anspacher Theater with a Joseph Papp Free Preview performance on Tuesday, February 18. COAL COUNTRY will run through Sunday, March 29, with an official press opening on Tuesday, March 3.