Chair 2008 - Articles Page 22

Berkeley's acclaimed Aurora Theatre Company, now in its 17th season, celebrated both the company's start of construction on its expansion and the commencement of the public phase of its $2.1 million capital campaign with a wall-breaking ceremony held on January 12, 2009. Over 100 VIPS and local luminaries attended the event, including Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, Berkeley City Manager Phil Kamlarz, and City Councilmembers Jesse Arreguin, Laurie Capitelli and Kriss Worthington. After enjoying cocktails and a sumptuous buffet of Ahi tuna tartar, Saumon Poch?e, and Quenelle Souffl?, courtesy of Bistro Liaison, guests watched lead donor Deborah Ruth, hammer in hand, break through the ceremonial brick wall constructed especially for the event; the expanded space will be named The Nell and Jules Dashow Wing in honor of Deborah Ruth's parents. The new expansion is the final project of the late acclaimed theater architect Gene Angell (with his partner Brian Rawlinson). Construction by general contractor Oliver & Company, Inc., with construction management by Edward Van of E.J. Van Company, Inc., began January 13. After opening remarks from Aurora Theatre Company Board President and co- capital campaign committee chair Robert B. Hetler, guests listened to heart-warming speeches about the history and future of the Aurora from Artistic Director Tom Ross and founding Artistic Director Barbara Oliver, as well as an enthusiastic proclamation from Mayor Bates officially declaring January 12th 'Aurora Theatre Company Day.' Aurora Theatre Company Technical Director/Production Coordinator Chris Killion led guests on a tour of the new space, where co-campaign committee chair Carolyn Weinberger gave a rousing champagne toast. On hand to lend their support were Rawlinson along with Gene Angell's widow, Pat Angell. Also attending were campaign committee members John Caner, Alison Teeman, and Muffy Thorne, as well as Board Vice President and President-elect Ellen Levine and Board members Joel Altman, Fred Feller, Jim Fowler, Tony Hawthorne, Wendy Markel, Carol Neil, Hillary Reinis, Leigh Robinson, Cindy Snow, and Diane Verducci.

Following an international search, Nevada Ballet Theatre announced today that James Canfield has been chosen as the Company's next artistic director. Canfield had served as the Company's interim artistic director since March 2008, and was the founding artistic director of Oregon Ballet Theatre, one of Oregon's leading arts organizations, from 1989 to 2003. Since then, he has been teaching, choreographing and staging his ballets for companies across the country.

Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) begins 2009 with the New York premiere of THE SAVANNAH DISPUTATION, a new play by Evan Smith (Psych and The Uneasy Chair at Playwrights Horizons, Remedial English for the Young Playwrights Festival at Playwrights Horizons, Servicemen at The New Group). This will be Mr. Smith's fourth collaboration with the theater company.

Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) continues its 2008/2009 Season with the New York premiere of THE SAVANNAH DISPUTATION, a new play by Evan Smith (Psych and The Uneasy Chair at Playwrights Horizons, Remedial English for the Young Playwrights Festival at Playwrights Horizons, Servicemen at The New Group). This will be Mr. Smith's fourth collaboration with the theater company.

Broadway Kids Care (BKC), the organization of theater kids for kids (and others), will appear on 'Good Morning America' on Monday, December 22, 2008 during the 8:30 a.m. half hour as part of GMA's ?Warm Coats & Warm Hearts' Drive.

Today's Broadway Blogs on BroadwayWorld.com from Tuesday, December 9, 2008.

As part of REDCAT's Fall 2008 season and the Sharon Disney Lund Dance Series, David Gordon brings his contemporary reconstruction of Trying Times (remembered), originally commissioned by Dance Theater Workshop and David R. White in 1982, to the REDCAT stage, for five performances only, December 3 -7.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) announced today that it received a substantial three-year grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to launch the first Public Theater Master Writer Chair position.

A special performance of 'Tibetan Book of the Dead or How Not To Do It Again' by Jean-Claude van Itallie will be presented one night only, October 27, 2008 at La MaMa E.T.C. (Annex Theater), 66 East Fourth Street, Manhattan, to support the rebuilding of the century-old theater barn at Shantigar, the unique center for theater, meditation and healing located in Rowe, MA.

On Friday, October 24, 2008 La Jolla Playhouse hosts Moon over Morocco, a gala benefit featuring the Tony-nominated star of Xanadu on Broadway, Kerry Butler. The annual gala will take place in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre at La Jolla Playhouse.

Philadelphia's The Wilma Theater will present Body and Soul in Rock 'n' Roll - a panel discussion exploring philosophy, the human mind, and conceptions of the self in conjunction with the theater's Philadelphia Premiere of the 2008 Tony® nominee for Best Play, Rock 'n' Roll, by Academy Award®-winner and four-time Tony Award®-winner Tom Stoppard.

Playwrights Horizons, under the leadership of Artistic Director Tim Sanford and Managing Director Leslie Marcus, has announced additional casting and details for its 2008/2009 Season.

A special performance of 'Tibetan Book of the Dead or How Not To Do It Again' by Jean-Claude van Itallie will be presented one night only, October 27, 2008 at La MaMa E.T.C. (Annex Theater), 66 East Fourth Street, Manhattan, to support the rebuilding of the century-old theater barn at Shantigar, the unique center for theater, meditation and healing located in Rowe, MA.

Profiles Theatre continues its 20th Anniversary Season with the OBIE Award-winning dark comedy The Thugs by Adam Bock, directed by Profiles Artistic Director Joe Jahraus. The production runs October 29-December 14, 2008, at Profiles Theatre, 4147 N. Broadway. The play will run in repertory with Profiles' production of Men of Tortuga, playing through December 7, 2008. The press opening for The Thugs is Wednesday, October 29, 2008, at 8:00 p.m.

Kicking off the Harold Clurman Festival of the Arts, the Stella Adler Studio hosts Art and Social Activism Spotlight on Africa, a panel discussion with Melissa Fitzgerald (actress, The West Wing, activist, Voices of Uganda), John Prendergast (author, Not On Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond, chair of ENOUGH Project), Mira Sorvino (Academy award-winning actress, Mighty Aphrodite, ambassador Amnesty International), Winter Miller (playwright, In Darfur) and Jeffrey Wright (actor, W., Angels in America, spokesperson for All for Africa), on Friday, October 17 at 7pm at Cooper Union's Great Hall, 7 East 7th Street, New York, NY.

On Wednesday, October 15, 2008, the Princess Grace Foundation-USA will host the Princess Grace Awards Gala at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City and present 31 Awards to emerging artists in theater, dance and film, as well as two Princess Grace Statue Awards to artists who have previously won Awards and have shown achievement and growth in their respective fields. Every year, the Princess Grace Foundation-USA (PGF-USA) proudly awards these grants at its annual gala to support its mission of providing crucial support to emerging artists in America.

Profiles Theatre continues its 20th Anniversary Season with the OBIE Award-winning dark comedy The Thugs by Adam Bock, directed by Profiles Artistic Director Joe Jahraus. The production runs October 29-December 14, 2008, at Profiles Theatre, 4147 N. Broadway. The play will run in repertory with Profiles' production of Men of Tortuga, playing through December 7, 2008. The press opening for The Thugs is Wednesday, October 29, 2008, at 8:00 p.m.

Adelphi University presented the first licensed full production of RENT, the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical by alumnus Jonathan Larson B.F.A. '82, after its Broadway closing. This completely new and reconceived version of RENT kicked off the inaugural season in the University's new Performing Arts Center (AU PAC), and ran from September 23 through September 28, 2008.

On Wednesday, September 24, 2008, The Theatre Museum held a very special event. 'A Date for 8' theatre party was hosted by notable performer and Theatre Museum Advisory Committee Member Tovah Feldshuh, along with Broadway producer and Theatre Museum Board Chair, Stewart F. Lane.

On Friday, October 24, 2008 La Jolla Playhouse hosts Moon over Morocco, a gala benefit featuring the Tony-nominated star of Xanadu on Broadway, Kerry Butler. The annual gala will take place in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre at La Jolla Playhouse.

The Theatre and Interpretation Center (TIC) and the department of performance studies at Northwestern University will kick-off the 2008-09 season this fall with a Tony Award-winning musical and two special performance piece events that will examine, document, analyze and theorize on cultural rituals, public identifies and political positions.

The Talking Band will present the New York Premiere of FLIP SIDE, written by Ellen Maddow and directed by Paul Zimet, Friday, September 26 - October 19, 2008 at The Connelly Theatre (220 East 4th Street).

On Wednesday, October 15, 2008, the Princess Grace Foundation-USA will host the Princess Grace Awards Gala at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City and present 31 Awards to emerging artists in theater, dance and film, as well as two Princess Grace Statue Awards to artists who have previously won Awards and have shown achievement and growth in their respective fields.

On Monday September 22, 2008, the IT Awards (New York Innovative Theatre Awards), the organization dedicated to celebrating Off-Off-Broadway, and host Lisa Kron, announced the 2008 recipients at the Fourth Annual IT Awards Ceremony at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

The Village Voice, the nation's first and largest alternative weekly newspaper, announced the judges for the 54th Annual Village Voice Obie Awards. The Voice's chief theater critic, Michael Feingold, will again chair the Obie Awards committee. Joining him will be Voice critic Alexis Soloski and six guest judges: Eric Grode, New York Sun; Andy Probst, AmericanTheaterWeb.com (also a frequent Voice contributor); Eisa Davis, actress-playwright, Obie Award winner for her performance last year in 'Passing Strange'; Ty Jones, actor-playwright, 2003 Obie Award winner for his performance in 'The Blacks' (Classical Theatre of Harlem); Moises Kaufman, playwright-director, 2004 Obie Award winner for his direction of 'I Am My Own Wife'; Chay Yew, playwright-director, 2007 Obie Award winner for his direction of 'Durango' (Public Theater). Mr. Propst will also serve as secretary to the committee.