1) Upcoming at Merkin Hall
Ballyantyne and Sasaki All Beethoven, In Your Face New York, New York Piano Society
2) Planet Fitness Offers Teens 15 - 18 Free Workouts This Summer
3) Story Pirates NYC Family Flagship Show May 18th
PR Firm Roundup
4) News from Andrea Alton PR
Action Plays Neuro-Inclusive Musical Welcome to My World Comes to Sheen Center
5) News from DKC/O&M
New Block of Tickets on Sale for Hadestown
6) News from JT Public Relations
Bryce Pinkham Leads Staged Reading of The Noose
7) News from Karen Greco PR
7A) Between the Seas Festival Featuring Contemporary Dance Theater from Mediterrean
7B) Summerworks 2019 at The Wild
8) News from Polk and Co.
8A) Dying City Begins Performances
8B) Hannah Corneau Join Cast of Wicked as Elphaba May 14
9) News from Richard Hillman PR
Abingdon Theatre to Present One Night Reading of Steel Magnolias May 20
10) News from Sam Rudy Media Relations
La Mama Presents La Mama Kids Dance Event La Mama Moves Dance Workshop
11) News from Spin Cycle NYC
11A) Flea Theatre Announces Summer Line-Up of Anchor Partners
11B) Alice Ripley Stars in The Pink Unicorn May 15
1) Upcoming at Merkin Hall
Kaufman Music Center
129 W. 67th St.
New York, NY
Ballyantyne and Sasaki All Beethoven,
In Your Face - New York, New York Piano Society
Tuesday May 17, 7:30 PM
Ballantyne and Sasaki All Beethoven
3 Cello Sonatas
The performance showcases how Beethoven revolutionized music and single-handedly created the modern cello sonata. Pre-concert lecture at 6:30.
The performance showcases how Beethoven revolutionized music and single-handedly created the modern cello sonata. Pre-concert lecture at 6:30.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit
Thursday May 16, 7:30 PM
In Your Face - New York
Great women take on New York! An extravaganza of stories, sketches and songs. Hosted by Nellie McKay and featuring Nancy Giles, Patricia Marx, Roz Chast, Meghan Daum, Bridget Kibbey, J. Hope Stein and Sybil Sage
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit
Sunday May 19, 7:30 PM
New York Piano Society: From Bach to Brubeck
New York Piano Society’s concert will include works by Bach, Chopin, Dvořák, Rachmaninoff, Brubeck and more. Our NYPS members will be joined by guest artist Matt Herskowitz.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit
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2) Planet Fitness Offers
Teens 15 -18
Free Workouts This Summer
May 1 - Sept 1
Planet Fitness, Inc., one of the largest and fastest-growing franchisors and operators of fitness centers in the U.S. and home of the Judgement Free Zone®, is inviting high school teenagers ages 15 – 18* to work out for free at any of its more than 1,700 Planet Fitness locations throughout the United States from May 15 through September 1 as part of the nationwide Teen Summer Challenge initiative. Free fitness classes specifically for teenagers will also be available Monday through Friday via certified fitness trainers.
Additionally, all teens who sign up beginning May 15 are automatically entered into Planet Fitness’ Scholarship Sweepstakes. By the end of summer, 51 lucky teens across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., will be randomly selected to receive a $500 scholarship, and one teen will receive a $5,000 grand prize**. Teens will also have the chance to win exciting prizes on Planet Fitness’ Twitter and Instagram channels throughout the summer, such as club swag, movie tickets and wireless headphones.***
The nationwide launch of the Teen Summer Challenge builds on a successful local program first launched last summer in New Hampshire, Planet Fitness’ home state. To sign-up, visit a Planet Fitness near you beginning May 15. Teens under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian at sign-up.
*Teenagers ages 15 – 18 can visit any Planet Fitness location in the United States. Teens must work out at the location they sign up at and are not permitted to use other locations. Online signups are not available. Teens under 18 must bring a parent or guardian to sign up. Once the parent or guardian waiver is signed for teens under 18, teens can workout alone. Students who are already 18 do not need a parent or guardian to be present during the sign-up process.
**NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. Void outside 50 U.S./DC and where prohibited. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S./D.C., who are 15-18 years of age (with parent approval if under age of majority). Begins 12:00 a.m. ET on 5/15/19; ends 11:59 p.m. ET on 9/2/19. Odds of winning depend on total number of entries received. For complete Official Rules, eligibility, and free entry details, visit https://www.planetfitness.com/
*** NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. Void outside 50 U.S./DC and where prohibited. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S./D.C., who are 15-18 years of age (with parent approval if under age of majority). Begins once the first post is live (approximately 7:00am ET) on 5/23/19; ends 11:59 p.m. ET on 8/28/19. Odds of winning depend on total number of entries received. For complete Official Rules, visit https://www.planetfitness.com/
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3) Story Pirates
NYC Family Flagship Show
Cherry Lane Theatre
38 Commerce Street
New York, NY
Saturday May 18, 11:00 AM
The Story Pirates aren’t your typical swashbuckling sailors.They don’t steal gold, pillage villages, or claim land; they’re searching for a different kind of treasure: kid’s wildest, most imaginative stories. Stories by children from NYC and beyond will be brought to life and staged by the Story Pirates’ professional improvisational and comedic actors – replete with music, costumes and sets. During these shows, the NYC Story Pirates cast will take story ideas from the audience and turn them into hilarious musical sketch comedy. Story Pirates first received national attention in 2008 when comedian Jon Stewart called the ensemble “crazy entertaining” on CNN. Since that time, they’ve been described as a “mix between School House rock and Monty Python,” and The New York Times called the group a “theatrical treasure.” At this show, a full Story Pirates cast will perform their signature kid-inspired sketch comedy plus new original songs from the Story Pirates podcast (now in its second season) which will be featured on their upcoming second album release, |Backstroke Raptor.
For more information, visit www.storypirates.com/our-story
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Joe Pope and PopeFilms will be presenting a staged reading of THE NOOSE, a new play by Nicholas T. Proferes, on Friday, May 17, 2019 at 11am and 3pm at Ripley Grier Studios, 305 West 38th Street, Studio 312, NYC. THE NOOSE will be directed by Tom Caruso and features Bryce Pinkham (TONY & Grammy for A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE & MURDER), Marcia Debonis (ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK), Martin Laplatney (LAW & ORDER), Kara Lindsay (NEWSIES, WICKED), Jaygee Macapugay (SCHOOL OF ROCK) and Ray Lee (SMASH).
Henry Sterling, mid-thirties, former theoretical physicist, whose algorithms contributed to the 2008 global financial crisis, wearing an adult diaper so he will not make a mess, plans to hang himself in atonement for his part in the devastation which affected the lives of millions of people worldwide. As he places the noose around his neck and begins the countdown to oblivion, a screaming neighbor who has woke up blind convinces Henry to let her in. Once he does he goes back to the noose, but a Pandora’s box has been opened. A movie director brandishing a gun and the actress he betrayed join Henry, when a black bank robber running from the police enters the fray. The stakes are raised. Someone could be killed. In this heated atmosphere the souls of the characters are laid bare: their passions, their morality, their dreams, and yes, decency where least expected.
PR Firm Roundup
4) News from Andrea Alton PR
Actionplays Neuro-inclusive Musical
Welcome To My World
Comes to Sheen Center
Welcome To My World
Comes to Sheen Center
Saturday, May 18, 7 PM & Sunday, May 19, 2 PM
Saturday, May 18, 7 PM & Sunday, May 19, 2 PM
Actionplay is proud to present the World Premiere of the neuro-inclusive musical, Welcome To My World. The musical was created by the participants in the company's AIMS (Action Improv Musical) program, a 25-week musical theatre devising workshop. Welcome To My World runs Saturday, May 18 at 7 pm and Sunday, May 19 at 2 pm at The Sheen Center. The limited run is directed by Executive Director Aaron Feinstein, Artistic Director Gabriel Lit serves as musical director.
Welcome To My World is an original musical that follows a teenage autistic girl named Aliza who is visited by an unexpected guest from another planet. The idea of the show and the theme song was created by actor Natalie Kaiser, a participant on the autism spectrum in Actionplay’s AIMS program. The story and songs were devised by the group and reflect many themes the group deals with on a daily basis including feeling different.
Performances take place at the Sheen Center Loreto Theater, 18 Bleecker Street (between Mott & Elizabeth Street), New York, NY, 10012. Subways: 4/5/6 to Bleecker Street, B/D/F/M to Broadway/Lafayette, N/Q/R/W to Prince Street. Tickets are $25 for general admission, $100 for VIP tickets and afterparty on May 18, and are available at https://bit.ly/2DsoQDk.
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More info is available at www.actionplay.org.
5) News from DKC/O&M
HADESTOWN
ANNOUNCES
NEW BLOCK OF TICKETS
ON SALE NOW
The producers of Hadestown, the most nominated show of the season with a leading 14 Tony Award® nominations including Best Musical, recently announced a new block of tickets are on sale now.
Tickets for the musical are now on sale through January 5, 2020 at Ticketmaster.com, by calling 877 250 2929, or at the Walter Kerr Theatre box office (219 West 48th Street).
Following two intertwining love stories — that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone — Hadestowninvites audiences on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back. Mitchell’s beguiling melodies and Chavkin’s poetic imagination pit industry against nature, doubt against faith, and fear against love. Performed by a vibrant ensemble of actors, dancers, and singers, Hadestown delivers a deeply resonant and defiantly hopeful theatrical experience.
For more information, visit www.hadestown.com
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6) News from JT Public Relations
Joe Pope and PopeFilms present a free staged reading of
THE NOOSE
Ripley Grier Performance Studio 312
305 West 38th Street, NYC
Friday, May 17, at 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM
Admission is free, but Reservations are required. Please RSVP at least one day in advance (or sooner) by calling (212) 381-6168, or by emailing cate@catecam.com. Please specify whether you would like to attend either the 11am or the 3pm reading, and the number attending.
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7) News from Karen Greco
7A)What's On at the Wild Project
May 17 - June 29
SUMMERWORKS 2019
Produced by Clubbed Thumb
Tickets: $55 - $99 for Festival Passes
Festival passes on sale now via: https://www.artful.ly/
May 17 – May 28
LUNCH BUNCH by Sarah Einspanier, directed by Tara Ahmadinejad
With Eliza Bent, Ugo Chukwu, Irene Sofia Lucio, Keilly McQuail, Nana Mensah, Jon Norman Schneider, and Julia Sirna-Frest
Seven public defenders on a frenzied quest for the perfect lunch–whilst battling ACS, inequality, burn out, and a big ole serving of existential dread. A play about our struggle for meaning, belonging, some semblance of order and the unexpected places we seek them.
June 3 – June 13
YOU NEVER TOUCHED THE DIRT by Zhu Yi, directed by Ken Rus Schmoll
With John D. Haggerty, Daniel K. Isaac, Kenneth Lee, Jennifer Lim, Julyana Soelistyo, and more
The Li family would be enjoying their new lake-view luxury villa outside of the city, were they not surrounded by the gardeners, maids and security guards who had once owned the land…not to mention the Gods, ghosts and unnamed spirits there for thousands of years before them. A play about economic transformation, the dreams it enables and those it crushes.
June 19 – June 29
KING PHILIP’S HEAD IS STILL ON THAT PIKE JUST DOWN THE ROAD by Daniel Glenn, directed by Caitlin Ryan O’Connell
With Crystal Finn, Jennifer Ikeda, Elizabeth Kenny, Mary Lou Rosato, Zuzanna Szadkowski, and more
The councilmen of Plymouth Plantation fight about what the Good life is–all the while displaying the head of Wampanoag leader Metacom on a spike. A play about government, mercy, vengeance and America’s original sin.
SUMMERWORKS 2019
Produced by Clubbed Thumb
Tickets: $55 - $99 for Festival Passes
Festival passes on sale now via: https://www.artful.ly/
May 17 – May 28
LUNCH BUNCH by Sarah Einspanier, directed by Tara Ahmadinejad
With Eliza Bent, Ugo Chukwu, Irene Sofia Lucio, Keilly McQuail, Nana Mensah, Jon Norman Schneider, and Julia Sirna-Frest
Seven public defenders on a frenzied quest for the perfect lunch–whilst battling ACS, inequality, burn out, and a big ole serving of existential dread. A play about our struggle for meaning, belonging, some semblance of order and the unexpected places we seek them.
June 3 – June 13
YOU NEVER TOUCHED THE DIRT by Zhu Yi, directed by Ken Rus Schmoll
With John D. Haggerty, Daniel K. Isaac, Kenneth Lee, Jennifer Lim, Julyana Soelistyo, and more
The Li family would be enjoying their new lake-view luxury villa outside of the city, were they not surrounded by the gardeners, maids and security guards who had once owned the land…not to mention the Gods, ghosts and unnamed spirits there for thousands of years before them. A play about economic transformation, the dreams it enables and those it crushes.
June 19 – June 29
KING PHILIP’S HEAD IS STILL ON THAT PIKE JUST DOWN THE ROAD by Daniel Glenn, directed by Caitlin Ryan O’Connell
With Crystal Finn, Jennifer Ikeda, Elizabeth Kenny, Mary Lou Rosato, Zuzanna Szadkowski, and more
The councilmen of Plymouth Plantation fight about what the Good life is–all the while displaying the head of Wampanoag leader Metacom on a spike. A play about government, mercy, vengeance and America’s original sin.
**
7B) BETWEEN THE SEAS the only festival featuring contemporary dance and theater from the Mediterranean, returns to NYC
BETWEEN THE SEAS is thrilled to announce the 2019 line up for its festival celebrating Mediterranean performance. BETWEEN THE SEAS runs from Thursday, May 16 – Sunday, May 19. The performance schedule is Thursday – Friday at 8 PM; Saturday and Sunday at 5 PM & 8 PM. Performances are at Theaterlab (357 West 36th Street, between 8th & 9th Avenues. 3rd Floor; A/C/E or 1/2/3 to 34th Street). Tickets are $20; students/seniors $15 with valid ID. Tickets can be purchased by calling OvationTix on 212.929.2545 or online at www.betweentheseas.org.
BETWEEN THE SEAS, the only festival in New York celebrating Mediterranean performance, is a four-day platform that brings together contemporary performing artists from the Mediterranean region and American artists whose work and identity relates to the Mediterranean. Through programming that highlights traditions, aesthetic trends and societal issues in the Mediterranean region, BETWEEN THE SEAS seeks to familiarize NYC audiences with a younger generation of Mediterranean artists who are shaping the cultural landscape in their countries and communities.
Because 2019 marks the 30th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the 20th anniversary of the dismantling of Yugoslavia and creation of the nation of Kosovo, Saturday and Sunday’s offerings focus on the Balkans with works by NYC-based Romanian playwright Saviana Stanescu and Kosovar playwright Jeton Neziraj (“the Kafka of the Balkans” Theater der Zeit).
The 2019 program also includes contemporary theater and dance from Sardinia; documentary theater from Lebanon, as well as new work from NYC based choreographers Rebecca Tomas and Dalit Agronin.
BETWEEN THE SEAS festival program details:
Thursday, May 16 at 8 PM
Giovanna, also called spring by Valentino Mannias (Sardegna Teatro)
Theater, Italy, 70 mins
Today, unbound from social and family constrictions, are we really free to make a choice about our love?Giovanna, also called spring weaves storytelling and folk Sardinian music to tell the story of the director's grandmother by three of Sardinia's most charismatic actors/musicians.
Friday, May 17 at 8 PM
Nosotras Somos choreographed by Rebeca Tomas (A Palo Seco Flamenco)
Flamenco Dance, NYC, 60 mins
Featuring three fierce (and female) flamenco dancers, three musicians, three platforms, and three walls, “Nosotras Somos…” is an original, site-specific Flamenco production created by artistic director, Rebeca Tomas. The show will pay tribute to female empowerment and showcase choreographies that range from traditional Flamenco to original compositions set to voice recordings, spoken word, and a mixture of rhythms and sounds.
Rebeca Tomas is a Recipient of LMCC MCAF awards, Jerome Foundation Travel & Study Grants, Arts Westchester Arts Alive Grants, NYFA 2013 Fellowship in Choreography.
Saturday, May 18 at 5 PM
Dalit Agronin’s through the eyes of; Sara Pischedda’s 120 grams; and Sara Pischedda and Luca Castellano’s WelcomeTUItaly (Balletto di Sardegna)
Contemporary Dance, NYC/Italy, 60 mins
Presented in collaboration with IDACO nyc
Female choreographers Dalit Agronin (NYC) and Sara Pischedda (Sardinia) question notions of beauty and the societal norms around them. Agronin's through the eyes of deals with the idea of beauty. What does this word mean? Why is my idea of beauty different than the next persons? Who decides what is beautiful or not? This work braves these questions and begins to discover the answers.
Similar questions are raised in Pischedda's 120 grams: Will people really see me if I don’t look as I am expected to look? How much space is my body expected to occupy, how much is it allowed? To what extent we let the words that might define our physical appearance become a definition of our identity? To what extent are we letting our looks define who we are?
Also on the bill is Balletto di Sardegna's WelcomeTUItaly, choreographed and performed by Sara Pischedda and Luca Castellano, which uses humor, provocation, and cliche to tear down the myths surrounding Italian identity as seen from the rest of the world.
Saturday, May 18 at 8 PM (Balkan focus)
The Internationals by Jeton Neziraj, directed by Aktina Stathaki
With Ino Badanjak, Nicole Cardoni, Calaine Schafer
Theater, Kosovo/Greece/NYC, 70 mins
Bill Clinton, Mother Teresa, Marina Abramovich, NGO workers, and nameless civilians parade through the 26 different vignettes of Jeton Neziraj’s play that talks about the war in Kosovo and the role of the international community in building the new nation. Using facts, satire, actual and imaginary events andencounters, Neziraj exposes the hypocrisy of those profiting from war and pays tribute to its countless anonymous victims. The play premiered in 2016 in Prishtina. This marks its NYC premiere.
Sunday, May 19 at 5 PM (Balkan Focus)
New York With an Accent (Writing/Performing the Immigrant Experience) by Saviana Stanescu
Theater, Romania/NYC, 50 mins
Award-winning playwright Saviana Stanescu, author of the acclaimed plays Aliens with Extraordinary Skills, Lenin’s Shoe, Ants, For a Barbarian Woman, Waxing West, talks about writing/performing her immigrant experience after 30 years since the Fall of the Iron Curtain.
Using monologues, production pictures and Stanescu’s photos of the American Flag displayed in NYC in the aftermath of 9/11, NEW YORK WITH AN ACCENT (Writing/Performing the Immigrant Experience)investigates the power of symbols/objects to perform identity, patriotism, and post-traumatic community engagement. An imaginary dinner with Marx might conclude this political yet humorous autobiographical performative lecture.
Sunday, May 19 at 8 PM (Balkan Focus)
No Demand No Supply by Sahar Assaf
Theater, Lebanon, 60 mins
No Demand No Supply tells the story of four Syrian women who survived the biggest sex-trafficking network in the history of Lebanon in 2016. Using the words of the women, it sheds light on the sex-buyers who frequented the two brothels east of Beirut where the women were kept captive for years.
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BETWEEN THE SEAS festival program details:
Thursday, May 16 at 8 PM
Giovanna, also called spring by Valentino Mannias (Sardegna Teatro)
Theater, Italy, 70 mins
Today, unbound from social and family constrictions, are we really free to make a choice about our love?Giovanna, also called spring weaves storytelling and folk Sardinian music to tell the story of the director's grandmother by three of Sardinia's most charismatic actors/musicians.
Friday, May 17 at 8 PM
Nosotras Somos choreographed by Rebeca Tomas (A Palo Seco Flamenco)
Flamenco Dance, NYC, 60 mins
Featuring three fierce (and female) flamenco dancers, three musicians, three platforms, and three walls, “Nosotras Somos…” is an original, site-specific Flamenco production created by artistic director, Rebeca Tomas. The show will pay tribute to female empowerment and showcase choreographies that range from traditional Flamenco to original compositions set to voice recordings, spoken word, and a mixture of rhythms and sounds.
Rebeca Tomas is a Recipient of LMCC MCAF awards, Jerome Foundation Travel & Study Grants, Arts Westchester Arts Alive Grants, NYFA 2013 Fellowship in Choreography.
Saturday, May 18 at 5 PM
Dalit Agronin’s through the eyes of; Sara Pischedda’s 120 grams; and Sara Pischedda and Luca Castellano’s WelcomeTUItaly (Balletto di Sardegna)
Contemporary Dance, NYC/Italy, 60 mins
Presented in collaboration with IDACO nyc
Female choreographers Dalit Agronin (NYC) and Sara Pischedda (Sardinia) question notions of beauty and the societal norms around them. Agronin's through the eyes of deals with the idea of beauty. What does this word mean? Why is my idea of beauty different than the next persons? Who decides what is beautiful or not? This work braves these questions and begins to discover the answers.
Similar questions are raised in Pischedda's 120 grams: Will people really see me if I don’t look as I am expected to look? How much space is my body expected to occupy, how much is it allowed? To what extent we let the words that might define our physical appearance become a definition of our identity? To what extent are we letting our looks define who we are?
Also on the bill is Balletto di Sardegna's WelcomeTUItaly, choreographed and performed by Sara Pischedda and Luca Castellano, which uses humor, provocation, and cliche to tear down the myths surrounding Italian identity as seen from the rest of the world.
Saturday, May 18 at 8 PM (Balkan focus)
The Internationals by Jeton Neziraj, directed by Aktina Stathaki
With Ino Badanjak, Nicole Cardoni, Calaine Schafer
Theater, Kosovo/Greece/NYC, 70 mins
Bill Clinton, Mother Teresa, Marina Abramovich, NGO workers, and nameless civilians parade through the 26 different vignettes of Jeton Neziraj’s play that talks about the war in Kosovo and the role of the international community in building the new nation. Using facts, satire, actual and imaginary events andencounters, Neziraj exposes the hypocrisy of those profiting from war and pays tribute to its countless anonymous victims. The play premiered in 2016 in Prishtina. This marks its NYC premiere.
Sunday, May 19 at 5 PM (Balkan Focus)
New York With an Accent (Writing/Performing the Immigrant Experience) by Saviana Stanescu
Theater, Romania/NYC, 50 mins
Award-winning playwright Saviana Stanescu, author of the acclaimed plays Aliens with Extraordinary Skills, Lenin’s Shoe, Ants, For a Barbarian Woman, Waxing West, talks about writing/performing her immigrant experience after 30 years since the Fall of the Iron Curtain.
Using monologues, production pictures and Stanescu’s photos of the American Flag displayed in NYC in the aftermath of 9/11, NEW YORK WITH AN ACCENT (Writing/Performing the Immigrant Experience)investigates the power of symbols/objects to perform identity, patriotism, and post-traumatic community engagement. An imaginary dinner with Marx might conclude this political yet humorous autobiographical performative lecture.
Sunday, May 19 at 8 PM (Balkan Focus)
No Demand No Supply by Sahar Assaf
Theater, Lebanon, 60 mins
No Demand No Supply tells the story of four Syrian women who survived the biggest sex-trafficking network in the history of Lebanon in 2016. Using the words of the women, it sheds light on the sex-buyers who frequented the two brothels east of Beirut where the women were kept captive for years.
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8) News from Polk and Co.
8A)Dying City Begins Previews May 14
Opening Night June 3
No Demand No Supply tells the story of four Syrian women who survived the biggest sex-trafficking network in the history of Lebanon in 2016. Using the words of the women, it sheds light on the sex-buyers who frequented the two brothels east of Beirut where the women were kept captive for years.
DYING CITY will begin previews May 14, 2019 at the Tony Kiser Theater (305 West 43rd Street) and will officially open on June 3, 2019.
Tickets for DYING CITY are now on sale. Single tickets are priced $59 - $79 and are available by calling the Second Stage Box Office at 212-246-4422 or visiting 2ST.com.
Christopher Shinn's intimate and compassionate play, DYING CITY, is set in a sparse Manhattan apartment, where a young widow receives an unexpected visit from the twin brother of her deceased husband. DYING CITY explores the human fallout of global events, including the Iraq War and the terrorist attacks of 9/11, through the interwoven stories of three unforgettable characters in this 2008 Pulitzer finalist.
For more information, please visit www.2ST.com
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8B) HANNAH CORNEAU
JOINS THE COMPANY
OF THE BROADWAY BLOCKBUSTER WICKED
AS ELPHABA
BEGINNING MAY 14
Beginning performances Tuesday, May 14, HANNAH CORNEAU will assume the role of Elphaba in the Broadway production of WICKED.
For more information about WICKED, please visit www.WickedTheMusical.com.
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9) News from Richard Hillman PR
ONE-NIGHT ONLY SPECIAL EVENT!
ABINGDON THEATRE COMPANY
PRESENTS
A STAR-STUDDED READING OF
“STEEL MAGNOLIAS”
BY ROBERT HARLING
DIRECTED BY BLANCHE BAKER
PRESENTS
A STAR-STUDDED READING OF
“STEEL MAGNOLIAS”
BY ROBERT HARLING
DIRECTED BY BLANCHE BAKER
FEATURING: BRENDA BRAXTON, LISA BRESCIA, SANDY DUNCAN,
JULIE KLAUSNER, NANCY OPEL, AND CARRIE ST. LOUIS
JULIE KLAUSNER, NANCY OPEL, AND CARRIE ST. LOUIS
MONDAY, MAY 20TH @ 7:00PM
AT THE LUCILLE LORTEL THEATRE
(121 CHRISTOPHER STREET, NYC)
AT THE LUCILLE LORTEL THEATRE
(121 CHRISTOPHER STREET, NYC)
Abingdon Theatre Company (Chad Austin, Artistic Director) announced today a very special one-night only event: a star-studded reading of Steel Magnolias, by Robert Harling, directed by Blanche Baker on Monday, May 20th at 7pm at The Lucille Lortel Theatre (120 Christopher Street.)
Abingdon Theatre Company (Chad Austin, Artistic Director) announced today a very special one-night only event: a star-studded reading of Steel Magnolias, by Robert Harling, directed by Blanche Baker on Monday, May 20th at 7pm at The Lucille Lortel Theatre (120 Christopher Street.)
Directed by Emmy Award winner and original Shelby Blanche Baker, the star-studded cast will feature Tony nominee Brenda Braxton as Truvy, star of Dear Evan Hansen Lisa Brescia as M'Lynn, five time Tony Award nominee Sandy Duncan as Clairee, star and creator of Hulu's "Difficult People" Julie Klausner as Annelle, Tony nominee Nancy Opel as Ouiser, and from Broadway's Kinky Boots, Carrie St. Louis as Shelby.
Tickets for Steel Magnolias are priced at $77 (orchestra) and $28 (mezzanine). All tickets are tax deductible and will benefit Abingdon's continuous education mission along with The Educational Theatre Fund Craig Zadan Memorial. They may be purchased online at www.ovationtix.com
For more information, please visit www.abingtontheatre.org.********************************************************************
9) News from Sam Rudy Media Relations
Tony Award-winning theatre
LA MAMA
presents
LA MAMA KIDS
dance event
LA MAMA MOVES! DANCE WORKSHOP
Saturday, May 18 at noon
Ellen Stewart Theatre in East Village
LA MAMA KIDS – the Tony Award-winning theatre’s popular performance and workshop series for youngsters and their parents – will present a one-day-only dance event, the LA MAMA MOVES! DANCE WORKSHOP on Saturday, May 18 at noon at La MaMa’s Ellen Stewart Theatre (66 E. 4 St.) in NYC.
In this workshop – which coincides with La MaMa’s annual renowned festival of new dance works entitled La MaMa Moves! – participants will learn the basics of dancing with a partner, and improvisation, along with good old-fashioned rolling around on the floor, easy-to-learn choreography and how to have fun interacting with others through movement.
In this workshop – which coincides with La MaMa’s annual renowned festival of new dance works entitled La MaMa Moves! – participants will learn the basics of dancing with a partner, and improvisation, along with good old-fashioned rolling around on the floor, easy-to-learn choreography and how to have fun interacting with others through movement.
Curated by Denise Greber, LA MAMA KIDS has been presenting shows and creative workshops for children for six years, programs that feature imaginative interactive productions, theatre crafts and hands-on learning.
Admission to LA MAMA MOVES! DANCE WORKSHOP is $10 per child (tickets free for adult chaperones). To purchase tickets, call OvationTix at 212 352 3101 or visit the theater’s website at www.lamama.org.
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10) News from Spin Cycle NYC
10A) The Flea Theater Announces its Summer Line-Up of Anchor Partners
Experiments in Opera:
Chunky in Heat (May 31 – June 2) in The Sam.
Experiments in Opera and Contemporaneous present the premiere of Chunky in Heat an opera based on a libretto by celebrated author A. M. Homes. Chunky in Heat tells the story of a young girl who comes of age poolside at her family’s home in the canyons of Los Angeles. Against this backdrop of privilege, she struggles to understand her place in her family and the world. Chunky in Heat features music by Jason Cady, Paula Matthusen, Erin Rogers, Aaron Siegel, Shelley Washington and Matthew Welch. This production is directed by Alison Moritz.
Take Dance:
In the Sea of Heaven (June 5 – 8) in The Sam.
TAKE Dance, the New York City-based contemporary dance company led by Artistic Director/Founder Takehiro Ueyama, presents In the Sea of Heaven. The program will include: New York premieres of In the Sea of Heaven and The Game 2 by Takehiro Ueyama, and a revival work Les Reves D'apres Midi by renowned choreographer/master teacher Kazuko Hirabayashi (1933 - 2016). The program’s centerpiece is the New York premiere of In the Sea of Heaven, with live music performed by award-winning Japanese musician and composer, Kato Hideki. Inspired by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan as well as the 2017 hurricanes Harvey and Irma. It's a fairytale that pays tribute to the victims who are transformed into angels. Another New York premiere The Game 2 is a second incarnation of the men's quartet, The Game, from the full evening length work Salaryman. What happens when women join the workforce? How do their interpersonal relationships, dreams, desires and competitive nature to survive, to be recognized, to get ahead, reveal themselves? With gestures from the everyday lifestyle of the worker, these women fight their way to the top at any expense. There is no room for female sensitivities or sweet pleasantries. This is all about the big Win.
Les Reves D'apres Midi, music by Claude Debussy and choreography by Kazuko Hirabayashi is a classical modern duet based on an office romance between a boss and his secretary. As he dreams at his desk, his secretary becomes his object of desire, but only for a moment before they return to their mundane, everyday existence, while the memory lingers on. Originally choreographed on Takehiro Ueyama and Jill Echo in 2004, this revival is a way to honor Ms. Hirabayashi and her work. Her artistry and mentorship with Ueyama and Echo has spanned 30 years. Midi was outside of her normal body of contemporary, abstract work in that it leans more to the classical romantic approach to storytelling. It is timeless in its beauty and humanity.
New Light Theater Project:
The Great Novel (June 7 – 29) in The Siggy.
For most of her adult life, Bertha has served as the Brennans’ housekeeper. While polishing the silverware and washing the windows, she dreams of honoring the promise she made to her grandmother long ago to write the next great American novel. But as she drafts her story, she can only see the imprints of the Brontë sisters, Dickens, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and most of all, the Brennans. Spurred on by recurring visits from her Jamaican Granny in the afterlife, Bertha seeks a new language for a narrative that only she can tell, uninhibited by the ghosts of literary convention.
New Georges:
Leap and the Net Will Appear (June 10 – July 1) in The Sam.
What happens when Margie (raised to be a good girl; wants to be a lion) leaves home: twenty years whiz by like a moving train, logic and time escape their usual confines, steaks are eaten, tuxes are worn, the world expands, people transform, there is a rule that is breaking. In a world that is close to ours but is not ours, lions run with limitless grace, we all eat cake, and have some champagne.
TOSOS:
Bar Dykes (July 11 – August 3) in The Sam.
Behind a nondescript door you’ll find a very distinct clientele where you get to immerse yourself into the world of butches and femmes, flirting, smoking and dancing. Playwright Mushroom, drawing on her experiences as a lesbian in the Deep South and New York City in the pre-Stonewall era, transports us into the hidden subculture of lesbian society in mid-century America, and into the women and their relationships in a precarious time.
Follow 11 bar dykes as they drink, dance, date, duke it out, and grab a few undisturbed moments. BAR DYKES will be an immersive staging, so the audience can experience and eavesdrop on a girls’ night out captured in time, as it once was.
The Flea Theater announces the roster of its Summer 2019 Anchor Partners, independent music, dance and theater companies who will perform at The Flea over the next three months. The Flea presents Elisa Monte Dance, Jody Oberfelder Projects, Spicy Witch Productions, Experiments in Opera, New Light Theater Project, Take Dance, New Georges
In summer 2019, The Flea’s Anchor Partners will produce the following programming:
Elisa Monte Dance:
The 38th NYC Season (May 9 – 12) in The Sam.
The critically acclaimed and world-renowned Elisa Monte Dance (EMD), under the Artistic Direction of Tiffany Rea-Fisher, celebrates their 38th Annual NYC Season at The Flea. Rea-Fisher brings EMD to The Flea for their first season as Anchor Partners. EMD, founded by master choreographer, Elisa Monte in 1981, bridges cultural barriers through the universal language of dance. Rea-Fisher, Artistic Director since 2016, reinvigorates modern dance, while using the art form as a vehicle for community service. Travel across thirty-eight years of Modern Dance History in one evening. EMD will present classic master works, contemporary favorites, and world premieres. Monte’s “Dreamtime” demonstrates the company’s deep legacy in modern dance while proving the company’s technical and theatrical excellence. “The Best Self” excerpt shows Rea-Fishers extreme range and sensitivity as a choreographer. Followed by a Rea-Fisher premiere, which sets out to elevate the American art form of Modern Dance into the future.
Jody Oberfelder Projects:
Madame Ovary (May 15-19) in The Sam.
Madame Ovary is a contemporary exploration of the body as a site of intuition, agency, and identity with choreography by Jody Oberfelder, music composed by Missy Mazzoli (funded by New Music USA), and lighting by Kathy Kaufmann. This new work uses Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary’s story of a corseted life amid 19th Century social constructions as a springboard to address and provoke conversation on today’s gender revolution and the #metoo movement. Oberfelder boldly weaves together small stories, broad contexts, and big dancing. With empathy, humor, embroidered breast plates, and badass rocker panache, Oberfelder addresses an ever-evolving terrain of womanhood. Madame Ovary is the third work in Oberfelder’s body-part trilogy, following the heart, 4Chambers, (performed as an immersive installation on Governors Island and a former hospital in Brooklyn, 2013-14) and The Brain Piece, (at New York Live Arts in June 2017). This time Oberfelder focuses on the gut and genitals asking how are we defined by our bodies — or not?
Spicy Witch Productions:
Measure for Measure & Virtuous Fall (May 18 - June 1) in The Siggy.
Spicy Witch Production’s fresh take on Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure tells the story of women coming together to uncover a history of sexual harassment buried within the Justice System. This production explores sisterhood through a problematic classic and uncovers the zany humor at its core. Spicy Witch Productions’ seventh season will explore the vital relationship between speech and power. We will present William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure in repertory with the world premiere of The Virtuous Fall of the Girls from Our Lady of Sorrows by 2019 Writer-in-Residence Gina Femia, inspired by Shakespeare’s classic problem play. In the wake of the political and cultural tumults women have endured this year, SWP's season re-examines a frustratingly timeless question: if you speak the truth, who will believe you?
Elisa Monte Dance:
The 38th NYC Season (May 9 – 12) in The Sam.
The critically acclaimed and world-renowned Elisa Monte Dance (EMD), under the Artistic Direction of Tiffany Rea-Fisher, celebrates their 38th Annual NYC Season at The Flea. Rea-Fisher brings EMD to The Flea for their first season as Anchor Partners. EMD, founded by master choreographer, Elisa Monte in 1981, bridges cultural barriers through the universal language of dance. Rea-Fisher, Artistic Director since 2016, reinvigorates modern dance, while using the art form as a vehicle for community service. Travel across thirty-eight years of Modern Dance History in one evening. EMD will present classic master works, contemporary favorites, and world premieres. Monte’s “Dreamtime” demonstrates the company’s deep legacy in modern dance while proving the company’s technical and theatrical excellence. “The Best Self” excerpt shows Rea-Fishers extreme range and sensitivity as a choreographer. Followed by a Rea-Fisher premiere, which sets out to elevate the American art form of Modern Dance into the future.
Jody Oberfelder Projects:
Madame Ovary (May 15-19) in The Sam.
Madame Ovary is a contemporary exploration of the body as a site of intuition, agency, and identity with choreography by Jody Oberfelder, music composed by Missy Mazzoli (funded by New Music USA), and lighting by Kathy Kaufmann. This new work uses Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary’s story of a corseted life amid 19th Century social constructions as a springboard to address and provoke conversation on today’s gender revolution and the #metoo movement. Oberfelder boldly weaves together small stories, broad contexts, and big dancing. With empathy, humor, embroidered breast plates, and badass rocker panache, Oberfelder addresses an ever-evolving terrain of womanhood. Madame Ovary is the third work in Oberfelder’s body-part trilogy, following the heart, 4Chambers, (performed as an immersive installation on Governors Island and a former hospital in Brooklyn, 2013-14) and The Brain Piece, (at New York Live Arts in June 2017). This time Oberfelder focuses on the gut and genitals asking how are we defined by our bodies — or not?
Spicy Witch Productions:
Measure for Measure & Virtuous Fall (May 18 - June 1) in The Siggy.
Spicy Witch Production’s fresh take on Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure tells the story of women coming together to uncover a history of sexual harassment buried within the Justice System. This production explores sisterhood through a problematic classic and uncovers the zany humor at its core. Spicy Witch Productions’ seventh season will explore the vital relationship between speech and power. We will present William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure in repertory with the world premiere of The Virtuous Fall of the Girls from Our Lady of Sorrows by 2019 Writer-in-Residence Gina Femia, inspired by Shakespeare’s classic problem play. In the wake of the political and cultural tumults women have endured this year, SWP's season re-examines a frustratingly timeless question: if you speak the truth, who will believe you?
Experiments in Opera:
Chunky in Heat (May 31 – June 2) in The Sam.
Experiments in Opera and Contemporaneous present the premiere of Chunky in Heat an opera based on a libretto by celebrated author A. M. Homes. Chunky in Heat tells the story of a young girl who comes of age poolside at her family’s home in the canyons of Los Angeles. Against this backdrop of privilege, she struggles to understand her place in her family and the world. Chunky in Heat features music by Jason Cady, Paula Matthusen, Erin Rogers, Aaron Siegel, Shelley Washington and Matthew Welch. This production is directed by Alison Moritz.
Take Dance:
In the Sea of Heaven (June 5 – 8) in The Sam.
TAKE Dance, the New York City-based contemporary dance company led by Artistic Director/Founder Takehiro Ueyama, presents In the Sea of Heaven. The program will include: New York premieres of In the Sea of Heaven and The Game 2 by Takehiro Ueyama, and a revival work Les Reves D'apres Midi by renowned choreographer/master teacher Kazuko Hirabayashi (1933 - 2016). The program’s centerpiece is the New York premiere of In the Sea of Heaven, with live music performed by award-winning Japanese musician and composer, Kato Hideki. Inspired by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan as well as the 2017 hurricanes Harvey and Irma. It's a fairytale that pays tribute to the victims who are transformed into angels. Another New York premiere The Game 2 is a second incarnation of the men's quartet, The Game, from the full evening length work Salaryman. What happens when women join the workforce? How do their interpersonal relationships, dreams, desires and competitive nature to survive, to be recognized, to get ahead, reveal themselves? With gestures from the everyday lifestyle of the worker, these women fight their way to the top at any expense. There is no room for female sensitivities or sweet pleasantries. This is all about the big Win.
Les Reves D'apres Midi, music by Claude Debussy and choreography by Kazuko Hirabayashi is a classical modern duet based on an office romance between a boss and his secretary. As he dreams at his desk, his secretary becomes his object of desire, but only for a moment before they return to their mundane, everyday existence, while the memory lingers on. Originally choreographed on Takehiro Ueyama and Jill Echo in 2004, this revival is a way to honor Ms. Hirabayashi and her work. Her artistry and mentorship with Ueyama and Echo has spanned 30 years. Midi was outside of her normal body of contemporary, abstract work in that it leans more to the classical romantic approach to storytelling. It is timeless in its beauty and humanity.
New Light Theater Project:
The Great Novel (June 7 – 29) in The Siggy.
For most of her adult life, Bertha has served as the Brennans’ housekeeper. While polishing the silverware and washing the windows, she dreams of honoring the promise she made to her grandmother long ago to write the next great American novel. But as she drafts her story, she can only see the imprints of the Brontë sisters, Dickens, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and most of all, the Brennans. Spurred on by recurring visits from her Jamaican Granny in the afterlife, Bertha seeks a new language for a narrative that only she can tell, uninhibited by the ghosts of literary convention.
New Georges:
Leap and the Net Will Appear (June 10 – July 1) in The Sam.
What happens when Margie (raised to be a good girl; wants to be a lion) leaves home: twenty years whiz by like a moving train, logic and time escape their usual confines, steaks are eaten, tuxes are worn, the world expands, people transform, there is a rule that is breaking. In a world that is close to ours but is not ours, lions run with limitless grace, we all eat cake, and have some champagne.
TOSOS:
Bar Dykes (July 11 – August 3) in The Sam.
Behind a nondescript door you’ll find a very distinct clientele where you get to immerse yourself into the world of butches and femmes, flirting, smoking and dancing. Playwright Mushroom, drawing on her experiences as a lesbian in the Deep South and New York City in the pre-Stonewall era, transports us into the hidden subculture of lesbian society in mid-century America, and into the women and their relationships in a precarious time.
Follow 11 bar dykes as they drink, dance, date, duke it out, and grab a few undisturbed moments. BAR DYKES will be an immersive staging, so the audience can experience and eavesdrop on a girls’ night out captured in time, as it once was.
**
10B)Tony Winner Alice Ripley stars in Gender Identity Drama
THE PINK UNICORN
THE PINK UNICORN
Previews begin May 9
Out of the Box Theatrics presents the Off-Broadway Premiere of THE PINK UNICORN by Elise Forier Edie. Directed by Amy Jones, this site-specific one-woman drama stars Tony Award-winner Alice Ripley (Next To Normal, Side Show, Sunset Boulevard). Previews begin May 9 at the Episcopal Actors’ Guild with opening slated for May 15
Trisha Lee is a Christian widow living in a conservative Texas town. Her life is suddenly upended when her 14-year-old daughter Jolene announces she is “gender queer” and starting a chapter of the Gay and Straight Alliance at the local high school. In THE PINK UNICORN, Trisha recounts her story about facing a crisis she never saw coming, at a time when transgender people and gender issues weren't even on her radar.
THE PINK UNICORN runs May 9 – 25, The Episcopal Actors’ Guild is located at 1 East 29thStreet between Madison and 5thAves – accessible from the R, W and #6 trains at 28thStreet. Tickets are $99 general admission, $29.50 partial view, or $159 for premium ticketing that includes complimentary beverages and reserved seating. For tickets and info visit available at www.ootbtheatrics.com.
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And that's the scoop. Tune in tomorrow for More Theater Monday.
Posts
I lived in Manhattan for a couple years many years ago, but I've never heard of many of these organizations. It's neat to learn of the "New York Piano Society," etc.! I would have liked to patronize the arts more when I was there, but I was, like, young and poor.
ReplyDeleteI have lived in this area my whole life and I never heard of so many of these places nor had the time or money to visit them until we started this blog. Thank you for visiting Says Me Says Mom and your comment.
DeleteSounds like a super great list of possibilities! Have a great time!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting Says Me Says Mom and for your comment.
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