Broadway and the Bard - 2016 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 11

Planet Connections Theater Festivity and The Theater at the 14th Street Y present a powerful new play directed by Broadway veteran, Tonya Pinkins.

Promethean's critically-acclaimed production of Moises Kaufman's historical drama GROSS INDECENCY: THE THREE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE, which enjoyed a two-week run in December 2016, will be remounted from February 15 through March 24, 2019 at Strawdog Theatre, 1809 W. Berenice. GROSS INDECENCY, which Promethean Artistic Director Brian Pastor will again direct, will be performed with cross-gender casting in some roles, as it was in the company's earlier production. Promethean Ensemble Member Jamie Bragg will reprise her leading role as Oscar Wilde.

Midnight Theatricals has announced full casting and the creative team for WE ARE THE TIGERS, an original pop/rock musical and teen horror comedy written & composed by Preston Max Allen and produced by S. Asher Gelman, that will make its New York Premiere Off-Broadway at Theater 80

Yale Repertory Theatre will present the world premiere of Good Faith: Four Chats about Race and the New Haven Fire Department by Karen Hartman, directed by Kenny Leon, February 1-23, 2019 at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street). Opening Night is Thursday, February 7.

After his hit production of King Charles III, David Muse returns to Shakespeare Theatre Company to direct Shakespeare's Richard the Third, a mesmerizing chronicle of the megalomaniac's rampage to the throne. The production will play at Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW) from February 5-March 10, 2019.

Planet Connections Theater Festivity in partnership with The Theater at the 14th Street Y present a powerful new play written by Glory Kadigan and directed by Broadway veteran, Tonya Pinkins:

Jack Ferver's critically acclaimed Everything Is Imaginable returns to New York Live Arts' mainstage as the finale to the 2019 Live Arteryplatform during the annual Association of Performing Arts Professionals conference, January 7, 2019 at 10pm and January 8-12 at 8pm. Presented in collaboration withAmerican Realness, Ferver's radiant and evocative dance-theater piece juxtaposes the lives, virtuosity, and fantasies of its five queer performers.

On December 7 and 8 at 7:30 PM, the legendary Fresh Tracks Performance and Residency Program at New York Live Arts will showcase the work of their five selected emerging choreographers: Emma Rose Brown, J. Bouey, Liana Conyers, Collin Ranf, and Dolores (Lola) Sanchez. As part of its annual programming, Fresh Tracks has been a 54-year commitment to bringing new voices to the forefront. The program offers a unique vantage point for the artists who are provided an unparalleled opportunity for professional development, experience, and recognition. Fresh Tracks performances take place at New York Live Arts Theatre, located at 219 West 19th Street, NYC. Tickets start at $15 and may be purchased at 212 924 0077 or online at newyorklivearts.org

La MaMa is proud to present the Remote Theater Project production of Grey Rock, written and directed by Palestinian artist Amir Nizar Zuabi. This world premiere, which runs January 3-7, 2019, was commissioned by Remote Theater Project and marks the first time a U.S. theater company has commissioned a Palestinian artist to create an original work for American audiences. Grey Rock tells the story of a young Palestinian so enamored with the 1969 American moon landing that he muses, "shouldn't Palestine, the land of prophets, also have a presence on the moon?" Without money or technology, but with the help of his bemused West Bank neighbors, he sets out to build a space shuttle. Knowing full well that he can't succeed with this impossible, but necessary, task, the young man is visited by American heroes who guide him on his mission. Humorous and fantastical, Grey Rock explores the influence that America has had over Palestinian culture.

On December 7 and 8 at 7:30 PM, the legendary Fresh Tracks Performance and Residency Program at New York Live Arts will showcase the work of their five selected emerging choreographers: Emma Rose Brown, J. Bouey, Liana Conyers, Collin Ranf, and Dolores (Lola) Sanchez.

Some girls would kill to be on the team! Midnight Theatricals and Producers S. Asher Gelman & Matthew Hui have announced that WE ARE THE TIGERS, an original pop/rock musical and teen horror comedy written & composed by Preston Max Allen, will make its New York Premiere Off-Broadway in February 2019. Michael Bello will direct the pitch-black comedy about a dismally low-ranking team of cheerleaders terrorized by a serial killer. Patrick Sulken is the Music Supervisor. The cast, creative team and theater are soon to be announced. www.tigersmusical.com

United Solo will host a Master Class with Anne Bogart, internationally acclaimed director, author, and Head of the MFA in Directing Program at Columbia University. This Master Class is a unique opportunity to work with a legendary theatre artist. It will take place on November 5, 2018 from 6pm-8pm at Theatre Row in New York City.

Irish Arts Center (IAC), the multidisciplinary center dedicated to bringing people of all backgrounds together through the excellence and dynamism of Irish arts and culture, this year creates a thrilling intersection of musical traditions from Ireland and the Gulf of Mexico for its annual Winter Solstice Celebration (December 14 at Symphony Space). The beloved holiday gathering is hosted by NEA award winner and "one of the most important Irish musicians to emerge from the folk revival of the 1970s" (Time Out) Mick Moloney (banjo, mandolin, vocals) and acclaimed fiddler Athena Tergis.

Breath & Imagination chronicles Roland Hayes's inspirational journey from a Georgia plantation to a singing career that included command performances for kings and queens. Despite his international acclaim, Roland never left behind his complex and loving relationship with his mother, his Angel Mo'. With spirituals and classical music, Breath & Imagination is a compelling musical about one man's determination to become an artist despite seemingly insurmountable odds.   

Composer Heidi Rodewald, known for her collaborations with Stew on Passing Strange and The Total Bent, strikes out on her own in The Good Swimmer, a "pop requiem" that addresses issues of war, heroism, sacrifice, loss, and idealism. The moody, multi-layered song-cycle for guitar, bass, piano, trumpet, woodwinds, strings, drums, and vocals is performed by a nine-piece band led by singer David Driver. Set in the early days of the Vietnam War among a group of lifeguards, Donna Di Novelli's lyrics are a radical recontextualization of found texts, including a defunct lifesaving manual. A cast of young singers in their teens and early 20s at the start of their professional careers-Jeremy Weiss, Sophia Byrd, Naseer Sleets, Joey LaPlante, Luke Bob Robinson, Papa Holt, and Kennedy Kanagawa-vividly conveys the sense of young people being thrust into a historical moment they have no control of. Their shattering experience brings the audience to a galvanizing realization: we truly honor our fallen soldiers only when we defy the political drumbeat of a senseless war.  

To celebrate less than six weeks until the West End transfer, an exclusive trailer for Tennessee Williams' intoxicating and rarely staged classic, Summer and Smoke, has been released.

Written by Nobel Prize Award-winner Luigi Pirandello, in a new version by Nicholas Wright, Naked begins performances Today, September 27 at 7pm at The Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge, MA. Opening night is set for Saturday, September 29 at 7pm. Directed by Eric Hill (BTG: At Home at the Zoo, The Homecoming, Poe), the production features: David Adkins (Homeland BTG: The Petrified Forest, At Home at the Zoo) as Alfredo Cantavalle; Haley Aguero (BTG: Tarzan, The Music Man) as Emma; James Barry (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson BTG: The Caretaker, The Who's Tommy) as Franco Laspiga; Jeffrey Doornbos (A Thousand Miles Behind) as Consul Grotti; Tara Franklin (Sleep No More BTG: At Home at the Zoo, The Homecoming) as Ersilia Drei; Barbara Sims (A Streetcar Named Desire BTG: Benefactors) as Signora Onoria; and Obie and Drama Desk Award-winner, Rocco Sisto (The King and I BTG: The Homecoming) as Ludovico Nota. This production is sponsored by Lead Sponsor, Bobbie Hallig; Furlano and Arace, PC; The Westifeld News Group; Massachusetts Cultural Council and The Shubert Foundation.

American Bard Theater Company presents the New York City premiere of You Wouldn't Expect, a play written by Marilynn Barner Anselmi examining the staggering truths about the coercive influence of the government-sponsored eugenics program and its direct focus on poverty and race. Cezar Williams directs a cast of eight, including Cherie Danielle, Adiagha Faizah, Carl Fisk, Erin Gilbreth*, Ross G. Hewitt, Malikha Mallette, Okema T Moore*, and Atiya Yanique Taylor. Fifteen performances will be staged at The Chain Theater, 312 West 36th Street in New York City, from September 19-October 7, 2018.

Written by Nobel Prize Award-winner Luigi Pirandello, in a new version by Nicholas Wright, Naked begins performances Thursday, September 27 at 7pm at The Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge, MA. Opening night is set for Saturday, September 29 at 7pm. Directed by Eric Hill (BTG: At Home at the Zoo, The Homecoming, Poe), the production features: David Adkins (Homeland BTG: The Petrified Forest, At Home at the Zoo) as Alfredo Cantavalle; Haley Aguero (BTG: Tarzan, The Music Man) as Emma; James Barry (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson BTG: The Caretaker, The Who's Tommy) as Franco Laspiga; Jeffrey Doornbos (A Thousand Miles Behind) as Consul Grotti; Tara Franklin (Sleep No More BTG: At Home at the Zoo, The Homecoming) as Ersilia Drei; Barbara Sims (A Streetcar Named Desire BTG: Benefactors) as Signora Onoria; and Obie and Drama Desk Award-winner, Rocco Sisto (The King and I BTG: The Homecoming) as Ludovico Nota. This production is sponsored by Lead Sponsor, Bobbie Hallig; Furlano and Arace, PC; The Westifeld News Group; Massachusetts Cultural Council and The Shubert Foundation.

In The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence, playwright Madeline George weaves together the tale of three historical Watsons in this time-jumping tribute to genius. There's Watson, the trusty sidekick to Sherlock Holmes, Watson, the loyal engineer who helped Alexander Graham Bell build the telephone, and Watson, the IBM supercomputer created to beat the Jeopardy! All-Stars in 2011. Woven into a tale with Watson, a present day geek looking for love, the result is a story that examines the technological advancements that both bring people together and tear them apart. A 2014 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

CRACKED! is presented as part of Broadway Bound Theatre Festival 2018 (Festival Director, Lenore Skomal). Come out and play, New York! Affordable theatre is alive, well and living in NYC's eclectic and electric East Village. Broadway Bound takes a fresh approach to the theatre festival model as it mentors the continent's brightest playwrights on successful self-production.

CRACKED! is presented as part of Broadway Bound Theatre Festival 2018 (Festival Director, Lenore Skomal). Come out and play, New York! Affordable theatre is alive, well and living in NYC's eclectic and electric East Village. Broadway Bound takes a fresh approach to the theatre festival model as it mentors the continent's brightest playwrights on successful self-production.

The French Institute Alliance Francaise (FIAF), New York's premier French cultural institution, today announced Crossing The Line Festival 2018, featuring leading international artists in a wide-ranging program of events, performances, and exhibitions from September 18 to October 13, 2018. Tickets are now available at crossingthelinefestival.org.

"How Hope Happens," the Fourth Season at Mosaic Theater Company, will open with Marie and Rosetta, written by George Brant and directed by local artist Sandra L. Holloway. This play featuring gospel music, blues, and rock n' roll tells the story of the first rehearsal between Sister Rosetta Tharpe (recently inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame), and her young protegee Marie Knight.

CRACKED! is presented as part of Broadway Bound Theatre Festival 2018 (Festival Director, Lenore Skomal). Come out and play, New York! Affordable theatre is alive, well and living in NYC's eclectic and electric East Village. Broadway Bound takes a fresh approach to the theatre festival model as it mentors the continent's brightest playwrights on successful self-production.