Young Jean Lee News

Perhaps the defining characteristic of Soho Rep, under the artistic direction of Sarah Benson, is the institution's commitment to artists creating surprisingly big theatrical events in its very small space on Walker Street. Soho Rep's 2013-14 season, announced today, provides ample evidence of that commitment, comprising two shows that are among the biggest the organization has ever produced: the New York premiere of David Adjmi's Marie Antoinette, directed by Rebecca Taichman and featuring Marin Ireland (Blasted); and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' An Octoroon, directed by Benson.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) will begin performances for the world premiere of Elevator Repair Service's ARGUENDO on Tuesday, September 10. Directed by John Collins, ARGUENDO will run through Sunday, October 6, with an official press opening on Tuesday, September 24.

The 17th annual The New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC), the largest multi-arts festival in North America continues through August 25, 2013. The festival offers programming from 185 of the world's best emerging theatre troupes and dance companies in 20 venues in downtown Manhattan. With attendance topping 75,000 people, FringeNYC is New York City's fifth largest annual public event (just behind NY International Auto Show, Tribeca Film Fest, NYC Marathon, and Comic Con). Shows represent 13 countries and 17 U.S. states, plus an array of genres including drama, comedy, classical theater, dance, performance art, puppetry, clowning, and children's theater. A complete schedule of performances is available at www.FringeNYC.org.

Money Lab is an economic vaudeville, a multi-disciplinary experiment to discover whether economic ideas can be represented through performance. It uses a mixture of theater, dance, video, music, clowning and games in order to explore everything from the darker predictions of Malthus, to the 2008 stock market collapse, to the economic cost of being an artist. Developed with the help of a crew of artists and economists, this project will culminate with a four-day performance workshop at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.

In today's New York Times Arts Beat Blog 'In Performance' series, Young Jean Lee's pop-music cabaret WE'RE GONNA DIE is featured. In the scene, Ms. Lee performs "Henry," a monologue about a painful breakup. Check it out here!

Young Jean Lee, whom The New York Times recently called 'hands down, the most adventurous downtown playwright of her generation,' will release her band Future Wife's first album, entitled We're Gonna Die and produced by Shannon Fields (Stars Like Fleas, Leverage Models), today, August 6.

LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater will continue its Special Event series next month with an encore engagement of WE'RE GONNA DIE, the Obie-Award winning work from Young Jean Lee's Theater Company, for ten performances only tonight, August 5 through Saturday, August 17 at the Claire Tow Theater (150 West 65thStreet). The run of performances will coincide with the release of the WE'RE GONNA DIE album on August 6.

Money Lab is an economic vaudeville, a multi-disciplinary experiment to discover whether economic ideas can be represented through performance. It uses a mixture of theater, dance, video, music, clowning and games in order to explore everything from the darker predictions of Malthus, to the 2008 stock market collapse, to the economic cost of being an artist. Developed with the help of a crew of artists and economists, this project will culminate with a four-day performance workshop at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.

Center Theatre Group (CTG) has been awarded a four-year, $1 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The grant will make possible a program focusing on collaboratively created contemporary work from ensembles, devisers and writers, supporting the creative arc from commissioning through development and production; the program will build on the work generated by a multi-year 2009 Mellon Foundation grant supporting the development of non-text based work.

The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) has announced that 33 not-for-profit theater companies have been awarded grants totaling $3,530,000 through The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation New York Theater Program. The recipients, which cover a range of small-to-mid-sized organizations-- from those which produce the classics to others exclusively devoted to the development of new work-- include The Chocolate Factory Theater in Queens, Pregones Theater in the Bronx, and St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn (a complete list follows). These two-year grants, which range from $10,000 to $200,000, based on each recipient's operating budget, support the organizations' general operations.

Money Lab runs August 7 through August 10, with performance set for 8pm. Tickets are $15, plus a required $5 buy in. To order, call 212-352-3101 or visit www.bricktheater.com.

LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater will continue its Special Event series next month with an encore engagement of WE'RE GONNA DIE, the Obie-Award winning work from Young Jean Lee's Theater Company, for ten performances only Monday, August 5 through Saturday, August 17 at the Claire Tow Theater (150 West 65thStreet). The run of performances will coincide with the release of the WE'RE GONNA DIE album on August 6.

Lincoln Center Theater Producing Artistic Director Andre Bishop and LCT3 Artistic Director Paige Evans have announced a slate of three new works to be produced by LCT3, Lincoln Center Theater's programming initiative devoted to producing the work of new artists and developing new audiences, during the 2013-2014 season. First up will be the world premiere of LUCE, marking the professional debut of playwright JC Lee, directed by May Adrales (Saturday, October 5 through Sunday, November 17 - opening Monday, October 21). LUCE will be followed in January with a second world premiere, STOP HITTING YOURSELF, created by Rude Mechs (Monday, January 13 through Sunday, February 23, 2014 - opening Monday, January 27). The season will conclude with the New York premiere of 2013 Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Ayad Akhtar's new play THE WHO AND THE WHAT, directed by Kimberly Senior (Saturday, May 31 through Sunday, July 13, 2014 - opening Monday, June 16).

HERE has announced its 2013-2014 producing season, launching in Fall 2013 with a premiere Artistic Director production, Trade Practices, by Kristin Marting & David Evans Morris; followed by three productions from artists in the HERE Artist Residency Program (HARP): BOTCH by Joe Diebes; The Pigeoning by Robin Frohardt; and Keep Your Electric Eye On Me by Shaun Irons & Lauren Petty. HERE's upcoming season also includes the second annual PROTOTYPE: Opera/Theatre Now festival in January; HERE's yearly CULTUREMART festival which gives audiences a first look at new work in process from HERE Resident Artists; and a presentation from the Dream Music Puppetry Program, to be announced.

Lookingglass Theatre Company has been selected to receive a 37­-month grant of $155,000 from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation's Artist Residencies to Build Demand for the Arts Program. The purpose of the grant is to support an artist residency at Lookingglass Theatre Company to conduct a project to increase demand for the performing arts.

As part of its 2012-2013 producing Season, HERE proudly presents You Are Dead. You Are Here. Together, playwright Christine Evans, director Joseph Megel and media designer Jared Mezzocchi have formed Transit Lounge, and You Are Dead. You Are Here. marks the company's debut production. This world premiere plays a limited engagement June 5-22, with Official Opening Night on Sunday, June 9 at 8:30PM at HERE (145 Sixth Avenue, just below Spring Street).

As part of its 2012-2013 producing Season, HERE will present You Are Dead. You Are Here. Together, playwright Christine Evans, director Joseph Megel and media designer Jared Mezzocchi have formed Transit Lounge, and You Are Dead. You Are Here. marks the company's debut production. This world premiere plays a limited engagement tonight, June 5-22, with Official Opening Night on Sunday, June 9 at 8:30PM at HERE (145 Sixth Avenue, just below Spring Street).

Soho Rep has announced casting and an official opening date for the world premiere of Lucas Hnath's play A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney.

Soho Rep has announced that the celebrated stage and screen actor Larry Pine will star in the world premiere production of Lucas Hnath's adrenaline-charged odyssey A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney. Directed by Soho Rep Artistic Director Sarah Benson, Pine will play the title character - the man who forever changed the American Dream. Hnath's fictional play centers around the reading of a screenplay Walt Disney has written about his last days on earth. The script is about a city he is going to build that is going to change the world; about his brother; about everyone who loves Disney and how sad they are going to be when he is gone.

Soho Rep has again extended the New York premiere of Jackie Sibblies Drury's We Are Proud to Present a Presentation …, directed by Eric Ting, this time to December 16. Tickets to the American premiere of Nature Theater of Oklahoma's epic serial Life and Times: Episodes 1-4-a Soho Rep production presented by The Public Theater as a special engagement of the Under the Radar Festival 2013-are now on sale. And Soho Rep announces the production that will conclude its 2012-13 season: the world premiere of Lucas Hnath's A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney, directed by Soho Rep Artistic Director Sarah Benson (April 30 - May 26, 2013).