How to Be an American! - 2016 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 1

Perhaps the biggest change was the audience. In the 1980s, AC/DC was the rebellious band parents warned their children about. Now, the band is the spectacle parents bring their children to experience. It was a little unnerving to hear a mother asking, “Timmy, would you like a cookie?” before the band opened with “If You Want Blood, You’ve Got It.”

This play had been a powerful emotional experience, one I would have delightedly seen again, even before I’d mastered the fact pattern.

Theater Latté Da announced casting for its 2026 NEXT Festival of New Musicals, featuring three new works — BLACK GIRL IN PARIS, HEARTS IS BROKE, and ALICE IN NEVERLAND — each receiving developmental workshops and public presentations at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis.

Savannah Stage Company will present Lisa Loomer's ROE, exploring the human stories behind Roe v. Wade, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Savannah. SCAD MFA graduate Emily Gates stars as Norma McCorvey.

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts will conclude its 2026 Summer Season on August 2 with the Orchestra of St. Luke's under the baton of Xian Zhang and violinist Gil Shaham, who returns to the festival for the first time in a decade to perform Barber's Violin Concerto.

The Tanglewood Music Center kicked off its 2026 season with the first TMCO concert and its annual Opening Exercises convocation in Ozawa Hall. This summer's cohort includes 122 Fellows from 24 states and 11 nations.

Today’s subject Peggy McKowen is currently living her theatre life as the Artistic Director for one of the most important theatre festivals for new plays in the country Contemporary American Theatre Festival (CATF). Located at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia this year’s festival will present five new plays in repertory between July 10th and August 2nd. 2026 marks CATF’s 36th season.

Court Theatre will present the Spotlight Reading Series. The Spotlight Reading Series will run in August at venues throughout Chicago. This year’s landmark Spotlight Reading Series is organized around the theme “A Century of Black Progress.”

I want to praise the quality of the large cast for their dedication to bringing so many authentic characters to life onstage while changing costumes, accents and physicality often in the blink of an eye. But with so much interesting history to be explored about a man who was often quoted, and misquoted, in the press, I was hoping to learn more about the iconic physicist as a profoundly complex human being, exile, husband, philosopher and thinker, and not watch him be represented singing silly songs.

Syracuse Stage's current artistic director Robert Hupp will retire after a decade of leading the region’s premier professional theatre. He will step down at the completion of the 2026/2027 season after programming the 2027/2028 season.

Country star Maren Morris has revealed that she has her sights set on Broadway. She will be taking a step back from touring soon and focus on songwriting and time with her son.

East West Players will launch its 61st season by centering female, queer, and marginalized voices, both onstage and off. The mainstage season opens with the Southern California premiere of the comedy Wives by Jaclyn Backhaus.

Portland State University will host the Global Improvisation Symposium, featuring Tony Award winner Anthony Veneziale and 50+ sessions on theatrical improv, healthcare, and peacebuilding at Lincoln Hall.

BroadwayWorld looks back on the original Broadway cast of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey musical 'Next to Normal.'

Newsies, featuring music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman, and a book by Harvey Fierstein premiered on Broadway in 2012. BroadwayWorld is looking back at what the cast has been up to since the show first burst onto Broadway!

Kaatsbaan Cultural Park announced its 2026 Annual Festival in Tivoli, NY, featuring three consecutive Saturdays of dance, music, and storytelling curated by Michèle Steinwald, with performers including Valerie June, Calpulli Danza Mexicana, and EVIDENCE.

Director Glenn Kelman is to be commended for taking on the challenge of coordinating twenty cast members moving scenery and set pieces into place to create 22 set changes in 14 locations on such a small stage, as well as setting the timing of each Ameri-News video projection to forward the story. And to Music Director Jared Scott for doing his best to get so many non-singers to harmonize on-key, and Choreographer Kylie Christensen for diligently doing her best to mold what should be a big musical production into a space better suited for a small cast play.

The Keegan Theatre announced its 30th Anniversary Season, featuring five plays, two musicals, and a world premiere concert performance, including two world premieres and a DC premiere.

Saskia brings a deep passion for dance and consistently makes a meaningful contribution to every team and project she is part of. She is hardworking, dedicated to her craft, and driven by the belief that growth never stops.

Here comes the General! Tony Award-nominated, Grammy and Emmy Award-winning performer Christopher Jackson will make a return to Broadway this fall, reprising his Tony-nominated role as George Washington in Hamilton.

Broadwayworld had the pleasure of interviewing playwright, Jack Canfora about his career and The Vienna Lessons.  He shared with us very interesting insights.

The Stage Managers' Association announced the upcoming 2026 Del Hughes Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Art of Stage Management. No additional details from an attached press release were available in the submission.

Seattle Opera named composer Laura Kaminsky and librettist Deborah Brevoort as Creative Directors of the Jane Lang Davis Creation Lab, a new-works incubator cultivating emerging Pacific Northwest opera composers and librettists.

Much has been written about the proliferation of pop singer-songwriters writing new musicals for Broadway and off-Broadway. Less covered is the trend of pop singers performing on Broadway, which has made for a number of memorable appearances in current and recent seasons. 

The touring production of A BEAUTIFUL NOISE: THE NEIL DIAMOND MUSICAL, created in collaboration with Diamond himself, is set to play The Stranahan, telling the story of how the hitmaker became a star.