Tina Benko News

Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere of Tales from Red Vienna, the new play by David Grimm (Measure for Pleasure), directed by Kate Whoriskey (Ruined at MTC), stars Tony Award winner Nina Arianda (Venus in Fur), Lucille Lortel nominee Tina Benko (Jackie, 'Brotherhood'), and Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Obie Award winner Kathleen Chalfant (Wit, Angels in America), Michael Esper (American Idiot, The Four of Us), Michael Goldsmith (Off-Broadway debut), and Lucas Hall (Beyond the Horizon, Othello).

Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere of TALES FROM RED VIENNA, the new play by David Grimm (Measure for Pleasure), directed by Kate Whoriskey (Ruined at MTC) begins rehearsals today starring Tony Award winner Nina Arianda (Venus in Fur), Lucille Lortel nominee Tina Benko (Jackie, 'Brotherhood'), and Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Obie Award winner Kathleen Chalfant (Wit, Angels in America), Michael Esper (American Idiot, The Four of Us), Michael Goldsmith (Off-Broadway debut), and Lucas Hall (Beyond the Horizon, Othello).

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director), Barry Grove (Executive Producer), and Mandy Greenfield (Artistic Producer) are pleased to announce complete casting for the upcoming world premiere production of TALES FROM RED VIENNA, the new play by David Grimm (Measure for Pleasure), directed by Kate Whoriskey (Ruined at MTC).

Welcome in the New Year with The Flea Theater on Monday, January 13 at The Raising A Joyful Hell Benefit. The event honors playwright A.R. Gurney and philanthropists Nancy and Fred Poses for their contributions to The Flea and will feature a variety show starring comedian Lewis Black, actors Tina Benko, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jay O. Sanders and James Waterston, pianist Anthony De Mare, LAVA acrobatic dance and the singing ensemble The Lobbyists as well as members of The Bat Theater Company, the resident artists of The Flea in a preview performance of The Mysteries.

Tina Benko has received the annual St. Clair Bayfield Award presented by the Actors' Equity Foundation for her performance as Titania in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Julie Taymor as Theatre for a New Audience's inaugural production at its new home in Brooklyn. The announcement was made by Arne Gundersen, President of the Foundation.

Julie Taymor, the Oscar and Tony Award-winning director of film, theatre and opera comes to 92Y tonight, November 17 to talk about her work in a conversation moderated by actor Harry Lennix, who received a Golden Satellite Award in Taymor's Titus.

Dr. Leonard Polonsky and his wife Dr. Georgette Bennett hosted an Elizabethan-styled dinner Sunday, November 10, prior to a performance of Theatre for a New Audience's inaugural production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by multiple Tony Award-winner Julie Taymor with original music composed by Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning Elliot Goldenthal. Scroll down for photos!

Theatre for a New Audience's inaugural production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by multiple Tony Award-winner Julie Taymor with original music composed by Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning Elliot Goldenthal, opened on November 2 at the Theatre's newly-named building, Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place between Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street, Brooklyn. BroadwayWorld has photos from the opening night festivities below!

Let's see what the critics had to say...

Theatre for a New Audience's inaugural production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by multiple Tony Award-winner Julie Taymor with original music composed by Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning Elliot Goldenthal, opens tonight, November 2, at the Theatre's newly-named building, Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place between Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street, Brooklyn.

Theater for a New Audience has announced its 2013-2014 inaugural season, featuring A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, directed by Julie Taymor, KING LEAR, featuring Michael Pennington, and THE KILLER, starring Michael Shannon. Details below!

In an interview published in yesterday's New York Times, Julie Taymor, who is currently focusing on her new production of “A Midsummer Night's Dream,” reveals that she has plans to develop three new television series.

Julie Taymor, the Oscar and Tony Award-winning director of film, theatre and opera comes to 92Y on Sunday, November 17 to talk about her work in a conversation moderated by actor Harry Lennix, who received a Golden Satellite Award in Taymor's Titus. The event -From Stage to Screen and Back Again - will be illustrated with clips from her productions. Taymor is acclaimed for infusing her work with a uniquely theatrical vision - from the internationally acclaimed stage musical The Lion King, to the Beatles-inspired screen musical, Across the Universe, the timeless magic of Shakespeare on screen in Titus and The Tempest, to Shakespeare on stage, with her highly-anticipated upcoming production of A Midsummer Night's Dream for Theatre for a New Audience.

The artwork for Theatre for a New Audience's inaugural production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by multiple Tony Award-winner Julie Taymor with original music composed by Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning Elliot Goldenthal, at the Theatre's newly-named building, Polonsky Shakespeare Center, has just been released. Check it out below!

In recognition of National Bullying Prevention Month (October) and its ongoing commitment to bullying prevention through Stop Bullying: Speak Up, Cartoon Network will present the world television premiere of CONTEST, a new, feature-length live-action movie drama, on Sunday, Oct. 6, at 6 p.m. (ET/PT). Featuring a cast of rising young actors from popular television series and movies, CONTEST (rated TV-PG-LV) explores themes of trust, forgiveness, loyalty and redemption presented in a story about a bully who learns to appreciate and understand others not like himself, and a victim who accepts that true friendship can result from unlikely circumstances. The television premiere event will be followed immediately with a live online Q&A at StopBullyingSpeakUp.com with author and family expert Rosalind Wiseman (Masterminds & Wingmen, Queen Bees & Wannabes) to discuss issues presented within the film, and recommendations on how kids, parents and educators can most effectively address bullying in their own schools & neighborhoods.

Single tickets go on sale today, September 13, for Theatre for a New Audience's inaugural production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by multiple Tony Award-winner Julie Taymor with original music composed by Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning Elliot Goldenthal, at the Theatre's newly-named building, Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place between Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street, Brooklyn.

Founded in 1979 by its Artistic Director, Jeffrey Horowitz, Theatre for a New Audience's next act is about to begin with the opening of its Center for Shakespeare and Classical Drama in Brooklyn. The inaugural production is Julie Taymor's staging of A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare with original music by Elliot Goldenthal. Previews begin October 19 for an opening on November 2. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast and creative team in rehearsal below!

Williamstown Theatre Festival Artistic Director Jenny Gersten presents a benefit reading of Pitching To The Star by Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Margulies. Lewis Black and Robert Sean Leonard revisit the roles they originated 25 years ago for this special one-night-only reading, tonight, August 4 at 7:30 p.m. on the Main Stage. Following the reading will be The Perfect Pitch, a panel discussion about perfect (and not-so-perfect) Hollywood pitches.

Williamstown Theatre Festival Artistic Director Jenny Gersten presents a benefit reading of Pitching To The Star by Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Margulies. Lewis Black and Robert Sean Leonard revisit the roles they originated 25 years ago for this special one-night-only reading, Sunday, August 4 at 7:30 p.m. on the Main Stage. Following the reading will be The Perfect Pitch, a panel discussion about perfect (and not-so-perfect) Hollywood pitches.