Today We Feature: Hershey Felder in Puccini-York Theatre’s Beggar’s Holiday-LAB Annual Barn Series-Metropolitan Playhouse, Deceiver’s-Becoming Dr. Ruth, 2020 Kesselring Prize-Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years-Roundabout Theatre Co – Director’s Fest 2021 – Rush Limbaugh
Hershey Felder Presents – Live from Florence is pleased to announce the World Premiere livestream of Hershey Felder, PUCCINI, a new streaming film written by and starring virtuoso pianist/performer Hershey Felder, and also featuring international opera stars, baritone Nathan Gunn, soprano Gianna Corbisiero and tenor Charles Castronovo. Hershey Felder, PUCCINI will be live streamed at 8:00 pm Eastern / 7:00 pm Central / 5:00 pm Pacific on Sunday, March 14, 2021, with on-demand access available through March 21. To buy tickets ($55 per household) or for more information, visit www.hersheyfelder.net.
The York Theatre “Show (+ Tell!)”- A Virtual Cast Reunion Series presents Beggar’s Holiday Panel on Monday, February 22 at 7 pm. www.yorktheatre.org
21st Annual Barn Series. This year’s series features 6 new plays written and directed by Labyrinth -LAB company members and friends, and a night dedicated to presenting new works by our 2020 Intensive Ensemble. All readings are free and open to the public Via Zoom. Link to register is below. See listings and Register HERE.
Obie Award winner Metropolitan Playhouse presents its next free “screened” readings, live-streamed at no charge, with talkback to follow: DECEIVERS, William C. DeMille. February 20 at 8 pm est through February 24 at 10:00 pm est. Running Time: 45 minutes – free of charge. Available at: www.metropolitanplayhouse.org. The video will be available through Wednesday, 2/24/21 on the Playhouse webpage, the Metropolitan Playhouse YouTube channel, and the Metropolitan Playhouse Facebook page.
Flora and Amos have a marriage of comforts and suspicions in equal measures. When he says he works late into the night; she is certain he is concealing his true whereabouts. But when she calls for a detective to get to the truth, and a quick-thinking, smooth-talking burglar arrives instead, the price for saving a marriage may be just right. Discussion including audience participation follow the readings.
Last Weekend Becoming Dr. Ruth by Mark St. Germain, at Music Theatre of Connecticut. Filled with sex, humor and heart. Friday 2/19 at 8 pm, Sat. 2/20 at 2 & 8 pm and Sun. at 2 pm. Tickets HERE.
The 2020 Kesselring Prize for playwriting—a $25,000 award given annually to an outstanding playwright deserving of national recognition—is to be presented to Mona Mansour by The National Arts Club during a virtual ceremony on Thursday, February 25 at 6:00 PM.
This marks the 40th year of the Kesselring Prize—presented annually by the Club—and the evening includes a special look back at the history of the award, in addition to the tribute to Mansour. Under the direction of Michael Parva, longtime artistic director of the Kesselring Prize, the evening features readings from Mansour’s plays, with a cast featuring Tala Ashe, Nadia Bowers, Deirdre O’Connell, Joshua Chessin-Yudin, Sarah Nina Hayon, Nadine Malouf, Corey Stoll, and Hadi Tabbal. visit nationalartsclub.org.
The Last Five Years starring Nasia Thomas and Nicholas Edwards, with book, music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. It is directed by Tony Award winner Jason Michael Webb and presented by Out of the Box Theatrics – streaming dates for the upcoming site-specific virtual production from a NY Apartment will be presented for 16 performances March 15-28. Tickets are available at: https://www.ootbtheatrics.com/l5y
Tow Playwright-in-Residence and Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Award winner Erika Dickerson-Despenza and Lilly Award winning Director Candis C. Jones join The Public’s digital stage with an audio production of SHADOW/LAND, a harrowing new drama set amid the ongoing devastation of Hurricane Katrina. FREE STREAMING BEGINS TUESDAY, APRIL 13: RSVP TODAY – Access to SHADOW/LAND will be available on The Public Theater’s PLAY NOW WEBSITE and for download wherever you get your podcasts.
Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director/CEO) and Arts for All Abilities Consortium will present a virtual theatre festival dedicated to the voices of artists with disabilities on April 8, 2021. The festival is space for artists to develop and share new theatre works, created and hosted by Roundabout Theatre Company and with the participation of four lead partner organizations: Actionplay, CO/LAB Theater Group, DreamStreet Theatre Company and EPIC Players.
Artists from around the country have submitted their works of original theatre – monologue, spoken word, dance or music – based on creative prompts on the theme of “Connection.” From that pool, the partner organizations chose 24 participating artists to develop their pieces and work alongside Roundabout’s Collaborating Artists over the next few weeks. The festival’s participating artists are April Alario, Preston Burger, Angelica Cabral, Evan Cummings, Shane Dittmar, Harrison Gottfried, Nicky Gottlieb, Isaac Grivett, Anita Hollander, Lance Horne, Carol Hoverman, Sarah Kaufman, Eileen Merritt, Makena Metz, Melissa Noris, Cuquis Robledo, Magda Romanska, Imani Russell, Michael Shutt, Lakshmi Shyamakrishnan, Lauren Stock, Jackson Tucker-Meyer, Caity-Shea Violette & Garrett Zuecher. www.roundabouttheatre.org
DirectorFest 2021 – The Drama League (Artistic Director, Gabriel Stelian-Shanks; Executive Director, Bevin Ross) announcedthe dates and line-up for a multi-week festival celebrating the art of stage directing and honoring the service organization’s 2020-21 Directors Project class of New York and Classical Fellowship recipients. Five select Directors Project fellows, early to mid-career artists chosen each year from hundreds of applicants worldwide, will direct vibrant new theatrical productions to be staged, filmed, and produced this spring and made accessible to audiences online. Four productions, directed by New York Fellows Cristina Angeles, Signe V. Harriday, Taylor Haven Holt, and Cait Robinson, will premiere this June and will each be available for ticket-holders to stream for one week only. In addition to the June line-up, a benefit reading of John Lyly’s Gallathea, directed by Classical Fellow Emma Rosa Went and presented in collaboration with Red Bull Theater, will premiere March 15 and will be available to stream for four days. The 87th Drama League Awards will stream May 21. www.directorfest.org. www.dramaleague.org
Rush Limbaugh, famed conservative talk show host dead at age 70 after long cancer battle. The monumentally influential media icon who transformed talk radio and politics in his decades behind the microphone, helping shape the modern-day Republican Party, died February 17. Limbaugh’s wife, Kathryn, made the announcement on his radio show. “Losing a loved one is terribly difficult, even more so when that loved one is larger than life,” she said. “Rush will forever be the greatest of all time.”
Limbaugh is considered one of the most influential media figures in American history and has played a consequential role in conservative politics since “The Rush Limbaugh Show” began in 1988. Perched behind his Golden EIB (Excellence in Broadcasting) Microphone, Limbaugh spent over three decades as arguably both the most beloved and polarizing person in American media. In his final radio broadcast of 2020, Limbaugh thanked his listeners and supporters, revealing at the time that he had outlived his prognosis.
