The Public Theater News

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The Public Theater's Free Shakespeare In The Park production of Much Ado About Nothing was broadcast on PBS' Great Performances, on November 22.

In 1979 a strike by the New Orleans Police Department led to the city's official cancellation of that year's public Mardi Gras celebration. The people of New Orleans had something else in mind.

Manifest Pussy is a deeply personal and profound her-story, the story of how Shakina went from a nice Jewish boy growing up in the suburbs of Los Angeles, dreaming of dressing up in the gossamer gowns that were forbidden to him, to the relentlessly exuberant, terrifically talented, hilarious and kind buxom star of stage and screen.

Japan Society proudly presents The Unknown Dancer in the Neighborhood, as part of the Society's 2019-2020 Performing Arts Season and The Public Theater's Under the Radar Festival.  This contemporary dance theater piece is written and directed by one of Japan's most acclaimed rising young playwright-directors, Suguru Yamamoto, of the theater collective HANCHU-YUEI, and performed by dancer/choreographer Wataru Kitao.  

Mint Theater Company Producing Artistic Director Jonathan Bank today announced the first cast member for the World Premiere pairing of Chekhov/Tolstoy: Love Stories, a program of short plays adapted from stories by two of the world's greatest authors, Anton Chekhov and Leo Tolstoy adapted for the stage by Miles Malleson (Conflict, Yours Unfaithfully).

Ghostlist Records has announced it will record the new musical Soft Power, the New York premiere production from The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham), for an original cast album to be released Spring 2020. Soft Power features play and lyrics by Tony Award winner David Henry Hwang and music and additional lyrics by Tony Award winner Jeanine Tesori, with choreography by Tony nominee Sam Pinkleton. A co-commission and co-production with Center Theatre Group, Tony nominee Leigh Silverman directed this groundbreaking new musical-within-a-play.

Full cast and crew have been announced for Pride Films and Plays co-production with The Arc Theatre of STOP KISS, by the American playwright Diana Son. It tells the story of two women, Sara and Callie, who are assaulted on the street after their first kiss.

A Contemporary Theatre opens its 55th Season with Lynn Nottage's 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, Sweat. Hailed by The New Yorker Magazine as 'The first theatrical landmark of the Trump Era,' Sweat is the gritty, heartbreaking story of factory workers who have spent their lives sharing drinks, secrets, and laughs while working together on the factory floor. But when layoffs and picket lines begin to chip away at their trust, and union jobs and factory machinery can disappear overnight, the friends find themselves pitted against each other in a gut-wrenching fight to stay afloat. Nottage poignantly captures the roots of our current national economic insecurity; and the political fury and racial tensions in our political climate today.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) announced a fourth and final extension of the revival of for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, written by legendary playwright/poet Ntozake Shange. Directed by Obie Award winner Leah C. Gardiner with choreography by Tony Award nominee Camille A. Brown, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf began performances on Tuesday, October 8 in The Public's Martinson Hall and officially opened on Tuesday, October 22. for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf was originally scheduled to close on Sunday, November 17, and was extended four times to now run through Sunday, December 15.

Over nine days in Decembera?"coinciding with Chanukah 2019a?"Jewish cultural organizations from across New York will come together for YI Love New York YiddishFest. Produced by the Yiddishkayt Initiative (YI) (Avi Hoffman, Producing Artistic Director) and Theatre for the New City (Crystal Field, Artistic Director), the inaugural festival features a curated lineup of theatrical presentations, 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.

Buddy embarks on a journey to discover his true identity and is determined to win over his new family. This modern day holiday classic reminds us that the best way to spread Christmas Cheer is singing loud for all to hear.

For the first time in over 40 years, The Public Theater's Free Shakespeare In The Park will be broadcast on PBS' Great Performances, furthering our mission to make Shakespeare accessible to all.

No 18th-century U.S. statesman had more sway on stage, more measure on music, or better brought the decade's zeitgeist to its zenith than Treasury treasure Alexander Hamilton, the immigrant hero about whom Lin-Manuel Miranda spun a Pulitzer-winning, genre-defying, generation-defining Broadway musical that demanded, among other things, a renewed spotlight be shone on the theater as a cornerstone of American culture.

FEINSTEIN'S/54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, presents Joe Gulla in The Bronx Queen on December 27th at 9:30pm. Playwright/actor/reality star Joe Gulla, best known for his award-winning shows, Bronx Queen Trilogy, Garbo, Gay.Porn.Mafia, Sleeping With The Fish, and his sold-out engagements at Joe's Pub at The Public Theater, makes his Feinstein's/54 Below debut with The Bronx Queen.

Today's top stories: A Bright Room Called Day opens at The Public, and more!

There is a firm, but understated strength that permeates the atmosphere during Broadbend, Arkansas, the beautifully realized two-person chamber musical created by composer Ted Shen and librettists Ellen Fitzhugh and Harrison David Rivers, depicting an event during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement in one act and its legacy in the next.

Broadway favorite Krysta Rodriguez made her long-awaited Feinstein's/54 Below solo debut this fall, and we're getting a look at one of the concert's standout songs: the 'Beyvita' medley. Krysta makes lemonade out of lemons after getting some unexpected feedback from audition for an international production of Evita. The medley mashes up various Beyoncé and Destiny's Child songs with songs from the musical Evita. Check out the video to see the unique mashup!

Transport Group announced today that Denise Dickens, formerly of Abingdon Theatre Company, will join the company as its new executive director, replacing Lori Fineman, outgoing executive director. Dickens will join founding Artistic Director Jack Cummings III at the helm of the off-Broadway, award-winning, non-profit theatre company.

A new production of A CHORUS LINE is now on stage in Spain, co-directed by and starring Antonio Banderas! Banderas co-directs the production with actress Baayork Lee , who participated in the original Broadway production. According to France24, Banderas has revealed that he hopes to bring this production, performed entirely in Spanish, to New York, after its runs in Malaga, Bilbao, Barcelona, and Madrid.