TheatreWorks News

The 37th season closes out with the 'Stars Out for Richter: A Community Cabaret of Talent' on Friday, August 13.

Scallywags set sail across the seven seas to swarm a swashbuckling soiree as TheatreWorks Silicon Valley hosted its spring fundraiser, The Pirates of the Shores of Redwood. Donning tricorn hats, head scarves, and other pirate finery, the party pirates feasted on fancy grub, indulged in grog and other spirits, plundered a bounty of priceless treasures and once-in-a-lifetime adventures, and enjoyed rollicking musical performances in a nautical night of merriment and hijinks to support the Tony Award-winning theatre company as it prepares to resume in-person performances this Fall.

Join Artist's Strategy for this one-night only conversation as they begin to unpack and unlearn the gender constructs in the entertainment industry. They'll be joined by performer Candice Marie Woods (Ain't too Proud, Book of Mormon), Casting Director Victor Vazquez of X Casting and drag artist and New York City Council Candidate Marti Cummings.

Amas Musical Theatre is accepting a limited number of applicants for its Rosetta LeNoire Musical Theatre Academy “Summer Teen Academy 2021 Musical Theatre Intensive” for students ages 12-18 to be held this summer from July 27-August 12.

As part of the collaborative partnership between Roundabout Theatre Company and Columbia University, the reading series awards three playwrights from the current MFA program and recent alumni with a cash prize as well as a reading produced by Roundabout.

The world has changed. There's no fresh water and machines have taken all the jobs, with the exception of care work, where women are predominantly employed. Attempting to give his life meaning, Bowen (Casey Filips) signs up for an experimental medical procedure where 'Heroes' can be euthanised, donating their bodies' water back to the community.

And now for something ethereal, funny and more than a little trippy. On June 26, The Marsh presents 'Astronautica,' a musical drawn from the words of women who have traveled through outer space, to its digital platform, MarshStream. Conceived and performed by Hai-Ting Chinn, Lindsay Kesselman & Kirsten Sollek. BroadwayWorld speaks with Ms. Chinn.

Theatre Communications Group has announced the recipients of the first round of the 2021 Edgerton Foundation New Play Awards. The awards, totaling $1,072,000, allow 28 productions extra time for the development and rehearsal of new plays with the entire creative team, hoping to extend the life of the world premiere play after its first run.

Independent producer Adam Kern will present a reading of Ken Kaissar's Play The Victims Or: What do you want me to do about it?, which will have a virtual reading on Thursday June 24th 2021 at 8:00 PM EST on Zoom.  

With new state reopening guidance, members of the Alliance of Desert Theatres (AODT) are committed to restarting the arts, which will help our communities recover, reflect and rebuild. Most companies are planning full seasons starting this fall. Several are also offering live performances this summer, in-person summer youth programs and other workshops. AODT is a cooperative of producing theatre companies and live entertainment organizations in the Coachella Valley and Morongo Basin that network and take action in order to advocate for and nurture a vibrant performing arts community.

As part of their monthly series of informational panels, Theater Resources Unlimited presents Dust off Your Dreams: The Long-Awaited Return of Our Favorite Festivals on Wednesday, June 23, 2021 via Zoom.

Jeffrey Lo seems to be just about everywhere these days. As if his day job as TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s Director of Community Partnerships / Casting Director weren’t enough, he is also enjoying quite a successful career as a director and playwright. With the recent, tragic spike in prejudice and violence toward the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, Lo decided to take action by calling on his own Filipino American heritage. He spearheaded TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s efforts to stream a benefit reading of his play Writing Fragments Home to raise funds to support and uplift the AAPI community. The comedic play is an unapologetically Filipino American story about art, family, and culture. The top-flight cast includes stage veteran Emily Kuroda, perhaps best known for playing Mrs. Kim on TV’s Gilmore Girls. Co-presented by more than 40 leading theatres and arts organizations in the Bay Area and beyond, the reading will benefit Compassion in Oakland, a nonprofit formed in response to the surge of anti-Asian attacks and dedicated to promoting safety and community in Oakland Chinatown and beyond. Writing Fragments Home will be streamed live at 7pm PDT, Saturday, June 5, 2021 (with streaming on-demand access available June 6 to June 9). For more information, visit TheatreWorks.org.  BroadwayWorld with Lo last week about his impetus to write the play, how the benefit reading came together, his thoughts about Asian American representation in the theatre, and his experience working with some of his personal heroes. Lo is very easy to talk to – laid-back, thoughtful and self-effacing with an underlying gentle humor – all qualities which likely serve him well in his roles at TheatreWorks. At the same time, I got the impression he is someone who knows how to step up to the plate and get the job done.

Uproar Theatrics, a new digital theatrical licensing company, has been created to transform how regional, school, stock, and amateur groups license plays and musicals.  Uproar Theatrics is expanding the theatrical pipeline to bring thrilling, fresh theatre to creators and audiences across America.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat will host nine weeklong in-person residencies for 23 musical theatre writers of nine new musicals between June 27 and August 29.  Writers include Tony-nominee Beth Malone, Emily Saliers of Indigo Girls; Jonathan Larson winners Avi Amon, Sara Cooper, Ty Defoe, and Anna Jacobs and more.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat will host nine weeklong in-person residencies for 23 musical theatre writers of nine new musicals between June 27 and August 29.

Northlight Theatre will present a special 20th Anniversary reunion event for Northlight Theatre’s world premiere of The Last Five Years. The event features performances and conversation with BJ Jones, playwright Jason Robert Brown, director Daisy Prince, and original cast members Norbert Leo Butz and Lauren Kennedy.

In a time where the manifestation of prejudice and violence toward the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community has reached an extreme high, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley will stream a benefit reading of Writing Fragments Home to raise funds to support and uplift the AAPI community.

Have you heard the one about Rachmaninoff and Anastasia? Well, Hershey Felder has quite a tale to tell you! On Sunday, May 16th, acclaimed pianist/performer Felder will portray the iconic Russian composer in Nicholas, Anna & Sergei, his latest world premiere livestream from Florence, Italy. Nicholas, Anna & Sergei explores the little-known story of a strange meeting of Russian piano virtuoso Rachmaninoff and Anna Anderson, a woman who claimed to be Princess Anastasia, the sole surviving member of the Romanov Dynasty. Set in the Beverly Hills house in which Rachmaninoff died in 1943, Nicholas, Anna & Sergei is a mesmerizing memory play imbued with the composer's most-beloved music. Presented by Hershey Felder Presents Live from Florence in conjunction with TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, the show was written by Felder and directed by Felder and Italian film artist Stefano DeCarli. It promises Felder's uniquely entertaining blend of live performance, filmed elements, sumptuous visuals, gorgeous music, compelling drama and fascinating cultural history, all leavened with bits of wry humor. The production will also include guest stars such as world-famed soprano and actor Ekaterina Siurina as Natalia Alexandrovna Rachmaninoff, Klezmerata Fiorentina violinist Igor Polesitsky as Dr. Golitzin, and theatre and film actor J. Anthony Crane (who played the title role in TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's Cyrano) as Tsar Nicholas II. Helen Farrell will play Anna Anderson. Nicholas, Anna & Sergei will stream live at 5pm PDT, on Sunday, May 16, 2021 (with streaming on-demand access through May 23). To purchase tickets or find more information, visit TheatreWorks.org. Ticket sales directly benefit TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. BroadwayWorld spoke with Felder last week from his home in Florence while he was in the whirlwind of creating this world premiere. We talked about the craziness of producing these incredibly complicated multimedia livestreams during Covid times, how Rachmaninoff's music and story resonates so deeply for him, and his plans for a whole new season of offerings. Felder is always a delight to talk to - instantly engaging, funny, warm and knowledgeable - and any conversation with him is apt to go off on a number of unanticipated tangents. For example, who knew that Rachmaninoff was tickled pink by Mickey Mouse playing his Prelude in C #? Felder's use of language is also uniquely musical. But then, what else would you expect from a Canadian who grew up speaking English, Yiddish and French, and is now creating his latest work in Italy surrounded by a team of Russians?

Live performances return to Colorado Springs beginning today with An Iliad, running at the Ent Center for the Arts May 6-23, 2021.

After more than a year without in-person performances.  Circuit Playhouse, Inc., the organization that includes The Circuit Playhouse, TheatreWorks @ the Square, and Playhouse on the Square has announced the return to in-person live professional theatre for its 53rd season.