Red Light Winter - 2006 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 19

Anna Bella Eema is a trailer-park odyssey about a precocious 10-year-old girl and her mother who live on the edge of extinction. As her home is threatened so a city can expand, Anna Bella breathes life into a girl made out of mud who catapults them onto a pulse-quickening rollercoaster ride filled with vampires, wild animals and police chases. Crackling with the heat of the mother/daughter bond, this family's secrets and deepest instincts vividly remind us not only of how many in America are mistreated, silenced, and forgotten but also the tremendous power of their inner resources and resiliency.

Ruth & Stephen Hendel and Roy Gabay present the world premiere of Fela!, a new musical based on the life of groundbreaking African composer, performer and activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti.

the stageFARM (Alex Kilgore, Artistic Director and Carrie Shaltz, Founder / Executive Director) has announced the line-up of plays that will comprise the world premiere of SPIN, a series of new short plays (commissioned on the timely topic) by Adam Rapp, Gina Gionfriddo, Judith Thompson, Elizabeth Meriwether, and Mark Schultz. With direction by Alex Kilgore and Evan Cabnet, SPIN begins performances Friday evening, October 3, 2008, for a limited engagement through Saturday evening, November 8, at The Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce Street between Barrow & Bedford Streets).

Director Billy Porter and Grammy nominee Ledisi mark their debuts with Reprise Theatre Company in the 1990 musical 'Once on This Island,' opening the 2008-2009 season, September 2 to 14 at UCLA's Freud Playhouse. The press opening is September 3.

Transport Group, the winner of a special 2007 Drama Desk Award and a 2007 Obie Award, has announced its 2008-09 season: Bury the Dead, written by Irwin Shaw and directed by Joe Calarco, and Being Audrey, music and lyrics by Ellen Weiss, book by James Hindman, additional book and lyrics by Cheryl Stern, developed with Jack Cummings III and Adam R. Perlman, and directed by Jack Cummings III.

Goodspeed Musicals, the only two time Tony Award winning theatre in the country, announces the cast of Big River, a spirited musical adventure like no other. Big River will begin September 26 and run through November 30, 2008 at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut. Big River is sponsored by Bank of America and Connecticut Light & Power / Yankee Gas.

Ruth & Stephen Hendel and Roy Gabay present the world premiere of Fela!, a new musical based on the life of groundbreaking African composer, performer and activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti.

Lincoln Center today announced updated programming information for its Alice Tully Hall Opening Nights Festival.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater (David Van Asselt, Artistic Director and Sandra Coudert, Managing Director) begins its 14th anniversary season with the New York Premiere of Lady, a provocative new play by Craig Wright (The Pavilion), directed by Dexter Bullard (Bug). The production will be produced in association with Barrow Street Theatre. Performances begin Thursday, August 28th, 2008.

Director Billy Porter and Grammy nominee Ledisi mark their debuts with Reprise Theatre Company in the 1990 musical 'Once on This Island,' opening the 2008-2009 season, September 2 to 14 at UCLA's Freud Playhouse. The press opening is September 3.

Scott Cohen (Drunk Enough To Say I Love You at The Public, Losing Louie on Broadway, tv's Gilmore Girls + The Return of Jezebel James) has joined the cast of season opener THREE CHANGES by Nicky Silver. This completes casting for the first show of the season, which starts previews August 22 and also features Dylan McDermott and Maura Tierney.

Golden Globe winner and Emmy Award nominee Dylan McDermott has joined the cast of Playwrights Horizon's first production of the new season, the World Premiere of THREE CHANGES, a new play by Nicky Silver. Directed by Tony Award nominee Wilson Milam (The Lieutenant of Inishmore), the production will begin previews on Friday, August 22, 2008 with an Opening Night set for Tuesday, September 16. The limited engagement will run through Sunday, September 28 at Playwrights Horizons Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street).

Ruth & Stephen Hendel and Roy Gabay present the world premiere of Fela!, a new musical based on the life of groundbreaking African composer, performer and activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Directed and choreographed by Tony® Award winner Bill T. Jones (Spring Awakening) with a book by Jim Lewis and Bill T. Jones, Fela! will feature Kuti's rousing music performed live onstage by Antibalas and other members of the New York Afrobeat community.

Adam Rapp's new play THE METAL CHILDREN, about censorship in small-town American, begins performances June 20 at the Vineyard Theatre (108 East 15th Street), it has been announced today by Vineyard Artistic Director Douglas Aibel.

The Public Theater's Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Mara Manus announced today that the 2008-2009 Season will feature premieres by Mike Daisey, Christopher Durang, John Guare, Danny Hoch, Craig Lucas, Stephen Sondheim, and Tracey Scott Wilson.

Adam Rapp's new play THE METAL CHILDREN, about censorship in small-town American, begins performances June 20 at the Vineyard Theatre (108 East 15th Street), it has been announced today by Vineyard Artistic Director Douglas Aibel.

Playwrights Horizons has announced additional details for its 2008/2009 Season, including the final two productions of the six-play season. Jonathan Groff, Maura Tierney, and Annette O'Toole have been announced to star in three of the plays being presented.

Almeida Theatre Announces Fall/Winter Season.

In the spirit of last season's acclaimed VENGEANCE, the Off-Broadway theatre company the stageFARM (Carrie Shaltz, Founder / Executive Director and Alex Kilgore, Artistic Director) will present the world premiere of SPIN, a series of new short plays commissioned on the timely topic by Adam Rapp, Gina Gionfriddo, Judith Thompson, Elizabeth Meriwether, and Mark Schultz. With direction by Alex Kilgore and Special Guest Director (TBD), SPIN begins performances Friday evening, October 3, 2008 for a limited engagement through Saturday evening, November 8, 2008 at The Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce Street between Barrow & Bedford Streets). Opening night is Saturday evening, October 11, 2008 at 8:00PM.

For its annual summer festival of contemporary opera, music and theatre, the Almeida Theatre will present a programme which includes the London premiere of An Ocean of Rain, a specially commissioned opera by Yannis Kyriakides and Daniel Danis, the European premiere of Adam Rapp's Nocturne and British African Theatre Company Tiata Fahodzi's first week long residency at the Almeida.

Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, Executive Producer; Daniel Sullivan, Acting Artistic Director 2007-2008 Season) is pleased to announce the lineup for this spring's Ernst C. Stiefel '7@7' Reading Series, formerly known as '6@6.'

JUST ADDED! Special discount to Pageant! New this week: Toby's nominated for FOUR Helen Hayes Awards! Two Best Bets! New children's shows! New audition notices! News of Theatre Project and FPCT!

The Up and Comers and The Masters: 46 men, women, and a few youngsters who made their mark on the Baltimore theatre scene in 2007.

The number one news story of 2007, for this critic, is the arrival of a fresh, daring new theatre company.

The New Group will hold a Gala on Monday October 15 at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers. The event will be a tribute to Ruth and Stephen Hendel and include an appearance by Ethan Hawke along with a performance by Kiki & Herb.