Today’s Talk Features: Kleban Prize, Thoughts of a Colored Man, Podversation-Robert Cuccioli & Laila Robins, Broadway Profiles-Lena Hall & Cheyenne Jackson, Theater Reopening?, Tony Awards, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Golden Globes, Theatre Collective, Arena Stage, Folksbiene Live!
The Kleban Foundation celebrates the 31st anniversary of the annual Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre with the announcement of the 2021 prizewinners. The Kleban Prize for the most promising musical theatre lyricist has been awarded to Benjamin Scheuer. The Kleban Prize for the most promising musical theatre librettist has been awarded to co-librettists Melissa Li and Kit Yan. For the first time, The Kleban Foundation will present the 2021 prizes in a virtual ceremony streaming online starting Tuesday, March 16 at 10AM at www.NewDramatists.org/Kleban-Prize-Musical-Theatre. Free and open to the public, the event will feature musical performances from this year’s recipients and will be hosted by Tony Award winners and Kleban board members Richard Maltby, Jr. and Maury Yeston.
The Black Public Relations Society – New York (BPRS-NY) and the Black Theatre Network (BTN), in association with SimonSays Entertainment (SSE), have come together to create “Black Inspiration,” a virtual audience development initiative for the Broadway-bound production Thoughts of a Colored Man by Keenan Scott II, directed by Steve H. Broadnax III. Today the partnership announced its first event, “Black Inspiration: An Artistic Continuum, A Dialogue.” The program will take place on Tuesday, February 23, 2021 at 7 PM ET in celebration of Black History Month and will serve as the starting point for an ongoing conversation between the production and potential audiences. “Black Inspiration: An Artistic Continuum, A Dialogue” is free but an RSVP is required. To register visit http://bit.ly/3qtT8Mx Thoughts of a Colored Man will come to Broadway in the 2021-2022 season. For more information about the play visit www.thoughtsofacoloredman.com
National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene presents “Let’s Make Some Noise” International Purim Celebration February 22 thru 25. More Information at www.nytf.org/live
Monday, March 1st at 7:30 PM with a RemarkaBULL Podversation livestream with one of the classical theater’s power couples: Tony nominee Robert Cuccioli (Jekyll & Hyde) and Laila Robins (“The Blacklist,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Homeland”) will join host Nathan Winkelstein, Red Bull’s Associate Artistic Director, for a conversation focused on Shakespeare’s power couple, Antony and Cleopatra. The conversation will examine the quarrel from the third scene of the first act (‘I am sick and sullen’) of Antony and Cleopatra. They will read the scene and discuss their approach to character development and romance on stage. They will take questions through Youtube and Facebook LIVE. Advance reservations are recommended.
The John Gore Organization announced today that the newest episode of “Broadway Profiles with Tamsen Fadal” will feature Broadway favorites including Tony Award nominee Peter Gallagher,Tony Award winner Lena Hall, Shereen Pimentel, Cheyenne Jackson, and Nick Robinson. This week’s episode will premiere on WPIX-TV on Sunday, February 21 at 6PM.www.broadwayprofiles.com
CLUB44 RECORDS is proud toannounce that Come What May, the enchanting new album from international Billboard #1 pop/jazz vocalist Jane Monheit, will be available on CD and digital and streaming formats on Friday, March 12. This dynamic all-new collection of songbook classics – produced by Jane Monheit, Wayne Haun, and Jamey Tate – will honor Monheit’s 20th anniversary as a best-selling recording artist. She will celebrate Come What May with a special virtual concert, streaming live from Feinstein’s at Vitello’s, on Friday, March 12 at 8:00 PM Eastern. For tickets, please visit feinsteinsatvitellos.com. Pre-order the album at lnk.to/Jane-Monheit-CWMPreRelease
Can the Tony Award Voters Actually Vote with Accuracy after a one-year hiatus of seeing shows? See what UCLA Prof. of Psychology Alan Castel has to say about misremembering in Forbes (Hollywood & Entertainment by Marc Hershberg). Although nominees were announced Fall of 2020, all has been quiet since then until recently when American Theatre Wing and Broadway League announced polls would be open next month. Hard to recall many of the relevant points of voting as only highlights standout. So, let’s see just how reliable memory can be.
THEATER REOPENING?: “What We Talk About When We Talk About Reopening” by American Theatre’s Rob Weinert-Kendt – “The cautionary if not quite bad news is that [theater] will definitely not come back all at once in all U.S. cities and venues, and Broadway … is likely to be the last to reopen. We need not only to prepare for this uncomfortable fact, but to consider what it might mean for the performing arts to reorient their priorities. Could the center of gravity in the American theatre shift from Broadway and New York City, and might that not ultimately be a healthy development?” READ MORE HERE
Arena Stage stretching in new directions online with a film by Indigenous artists and 3 original musicals” by The Washington Post’s Peter Marks – “Proving that a theater can be groundbreaking even when its grounds are closed, Arena Stage is launching a virtual spring season that includes a film about Indigenous North Americans and their relationship to the land — entirely written, directed and acted by Native people.” MORE HERE
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) has announced its 2021 season, featuring a combination streamed OSF archive productions and new work for the digital platform O!, as well as in-person performances when it is safe to do so. More Information HERE
Golden Globes 2021 presenters include Awkwafina, Cynthia Erivo and more” by Page Six’s Nadine DeNinno – “Awkwafina, Cynthia Erivo, Joaquin Phoenix, Renée Zellweger, and … Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo are some of the names who will pass out awards. Read more HERE.
“Lileana Blain-Cruz, Eisa Davis, Jackie Sibblies Drury, More Form Theatre Collective” by Playbill’s Dan Meyer – “A group of Black, femme theatremakers have banded together to form a new collective called Afrofemononomy, which will present a series of digital and in-person events exploring explore Black women, art, health, and balance.” http://bway.ly/7b7su6
