Sunday, February 21, 2010

Theatre Shorts

By Byrne Harrison

The Writers Guild of America presented Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee with the Evelyn F. Burkey Award in Manhattan Feb. 20.

Wednesday, February 24th is Arts Day in Albany. Find out how to get involved here.

Tommy Femia will star in Norma Doesmen, a parody of Sunset Boulevard.

Queens Theatre in the Park and Bristol Riverside Theatre, in association with Neil Berg and Adam Friedson, will present a new production of the award-winning musical revue Closer Than Ever directed by Richard Malty. Jr. and starring original cast members Sally Mayes and Lynne Wintersteller from April 16-25.

Philadelphia Theatre Company announces that two-time Tony Award-nominee and film actress Kathleen Turner will star in the world premiere of Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins by Margaret Engel and Allison Engel.

To celebrate the extension of Yisrael Campbell's Circumsize Me, Ben's Deli on W. 38th Street unveiled The Circumsize Me BRIS-ket Sandwich, sliced brisket and cole-slaw on rye bread with a pickle (with the ends cut off, naturally) and chopped liver on the side.

Willard Morgan's Saint Hollywood extends through March 20th.

The Gerald Lynch Theater at John Jay College presents Zombie, an unflinching look into the disturbed mind of a serial killer, written and performed by Bill Connington, adapted from the novella of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates. The show was a big hit at the 2008 FringeNYC Festival.

Karen Finley extends her Kennedy/Obama inspired new work, The Jackie Look, through March 27 at the Laurie Beechman Theater.

The No Name Theater Company has a new website.

Scott Mason, a Dame Edna look-a-like from Delaware, was named the Dame’s Honorary Understudy in All About Me by judges Michael Riedel of the NYPost, NY1’s Frank DiLella and The Village Voice’s Michael Musto. Also on hand were guest judges Michael Feinstein and Dame Edna’s manager Barry Humphries. Judge for yourself.



The Gingold Theatrical Group's Project Shaw St. Patrick's Day Gala is March 17th. Featuring an all-star cast playing all the WRONG roles: KATE BALDWIN · MICHAEL CERVERIS · GEORGE S. IRVING · CHARLOTTE MOORE · KATE MULGREW · JANE POWELL · MICHAEL RIEDEL DIANE STILWELL WEINBERG · TOM VIOLA with irish musicians, songs, dances and larks.

At their March 26th benefit, the Astoria Performing Arts Center will be honoring Assembly Member Michael Gianaris and Jack Rainey, Vice President, Government and Community Banking, TD Bank, for their contributions to the arts and the Astoria community.

The Play Company will bring together some of NYC's top chefs and theater artists for its seventh annual gala CABARET GOURMET 2010 -- a unique evening hosted by Bryan Batt, the beloved Broadway performer and star of the hit television series MAD MEN, with featured performance by Tony-nominee Barbara Walsh and savory and sweet dishes prepared by chefs from several of the city's most celebrated restaurants.

Ma-Yi Theater Company - the Off-Broadway, Obie Award-winning company dedicated to producing new works about the Asian-American experience - will present the world-premiere of Michi Barall's play RESCUE ME (A Post-modern classic with snacks) , an adaptation of Euripides Iphigenia in Taurus. The cast of eight includes the Obie Award-winning actor and playwright David Greenspan (Myopia, She Stoops to Comedy, Boys in the Band), Jennifer Ikeda (Top Girls, Seascape), Julian Barnett, Leon Ingulsrud, Postell Pringle, Paco Tolson, Oni Monifa Reneee Brown and Katherine Partington.

Casting continues for the upcoming Broadway production of Lucy Prebble’s Enron, directed by Rupert Goold. Noah Weisberg, Rightor Doyle, Ian Kahn, Mary Stewart Sullivan, Madisyn Shipman and January Lavoy join the already announced Norbert Leo Butz and Stephen Kunken.

Aaron Louis (Producing Director, 3LD Art & Technology Center) in association with New Georges and The Essentials, will present the world premiere of The Diary of a Teenage Girl, written by Marielle Heller, adapted from the hit graphic novel of the same name by Phoebe Gloeckner, and directed by Sarah Cameron Sunde and Rachel Eckerling in a multi-media production. The cast includes Marielle Heller, Jon Krupp, Michael Laurence, Mariann Mayberry, and Nell Mooney.

Sin, a mystical comedy, based on Isaac Bashevis Singer’s short story “The Unseen,” adapted by Mark Altman, will have it’s world premiere at the Baruch Performing Arts Center’s Rose Nagelberg Theatre.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is opening at The Gallery Players in Park Slope very soon.

The New York Neo-Futurists' The Soup Show opens on March 4th.

The Amoralists, the company behind The Pied Pipers of the Lower East Side, have announced their new season. On tap are the world premiere of Happy In The Poorhouse, written and directed by Derek Ahonen, the Off-Broadway premiere of Amerissiah, written and directed by Derek Ahonen, and the New York premiere of Ghosts in the Cottonwoods, written and directed by Obie Award-winner Adam Rapp.

What if Shakespeare wrote The Big Lebowski? Well, The Two Gentlemen of Lebowski has sold out it's entire run, so unless you have a ticket, you may never know.

Tony Award winner Betty Buckley has joined the cast of the new Off-Broadway comedy White's Lies, which begins previews at New World Stages March 22. She joins a cast that includes the previously reported Scott Patterson, Peter Scolari, Christy Carlson Romano, Rena Strober and Jimmy Ray Bennett. Producers of the Ben Andron play, which officially opens April 12, are Aaron Grant, Jana Robbins, Jeremy Handelman; Bob Cline directs.

The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization has announced the Christmas 2010 release of "The Sound of Music" on Blu-ray, which will include bonus and interactive material.

2 comments:

  1. Love this column! I hope you make it a regular feature. Bravo!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Sarah. It will be, but I think I'm going to try to do it twice-weekly, so it won't be quite so long.

    ReplyDelete