Glory Days/Keen Company Concert – Black Theatre Coalition Gala – Hermitage Major Theater Award/Chris Bush-The Interestings/New Musical-The Flea/Bathhouse.PPTX-Sunday In the Park w/George, Newly Reimagined/Alexrod Performing Arts-Vineyard Theatre Gala/Jesse Tyler Ferguson
The Flea announced today the complete cast and design team for the world premiere production of BATHHOUSE.PPTX, written by Jesús I. Valles and directed by Obie Award winner Chay Yew. BATHHOUSE.PPTX will run at The Flea Theater (20 Thomas Street) from Tuesday, March 19 through Monday, April 22, with opening night set for Saturday, March 23. In line with The Flea’s radical new operating model, BATHHOUSE.PPTX has been developed in partnership with Valles as co-producer on all elements of their production. When he selected BATHHOUSE.PPTX as the recipient of the 2023 Yale Drama Series Prize, one of the theater world’s most prestigious playwriting prizes, Jeremy O. Harris said, “This is one of the most exciting, speculative fictions I’ve encountered in years . . .” Shape shifting cast of actors include Claudia Acosta as ‘Chela’ and others, Manuel C. Alcazar as ‘Daniel’ and others, Esteban Andres Cruz as ‘Mx. Vazquez’ and others, Yonatan Gebeyehu as ‘Shaun’ and others, and Gilbert Diego Sanchez as ‘Carlos’ and others. www.theflea.org
Upcoming benefit concert of Glory Days by Nick Blaemire and James Gardiner. Directed by Keen Company’s Artistic Director Jonathan Silverstein featuring new musical arrangements by Van Hughes, the all-star cast for this one-night-only event features Jordan Dobson (Bad Cinderella, Hadestown), Derek Klena (Moulin Rouge, Jagged Little Pill, Anastasia), Colton Ryan (New York, New York; Dear Evan Hansen), and George Salazar (Keen’s Tick, Tick…BOOM!, Be More Chill, Godspell). The concert takes place on Monday, February 12, 2024 at 7pm at Peter Norton Symphony Space (2537 Broadway, Manhattan). Tickets, which start at $25, are currently on sale at www.keencompany.org.
Vineyard Theatre Artistic Director Sarah Stern and Managing Director Suzanne Appel are pleased to announce artists that will participate in the Vineyard’s 2024 Gala honoring Tony Award-winning actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Take Me Out). Celebratory toasts will also be given to Rosemarie Bray, Educator at Union Square Academy of Health Sciences and Christina Poon, General Manager of W Hotel – New York – Union Square. The Gala will be held Monday, February 26, 2024, beginning at 6:00 PM at the Edison Ballroom (240 West 47th Street).
Confirmed artists for the Gala include Sara Bareilles, Chelsea Clinton, Lea DeLaria, Crystal Dickinson, Brandon J. Dirden, Michael R. Jackson, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Tony Kushner, Luke Macfarlane, Deirdre O’Connell, Zachary Quinto, Rolanda Watts and Rosie’s Theatre Kids. Additional names will be announced in the coming weeks. Tickets and info: www.vineyardtheatre.org gala@vineyardtheatre.org.
The Interestings to be Adapted into a Musical – Meg Wolitzer’s novel “The Interestings” is being adapted for the stage by two-time Grammy Award winner Sara Bareilles has signed on to write the score and two-time Pulitizer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl will pen the book for the musical, which is being produced by Matt Ross. Additional creative team members and production details will be announced.Released in 2013, the novel “The Interestings” follows six teenagers who meet at summer camp in the 1970s and form lifelong connections over their shared dream of leading artistic and fascinating lives.
Co-founders T. Oliver Reid, Warren Adams, and Reginald “Reggie” Van Lee, along with Board Members Aaliytha Stevens and Naila McKenzie, announced today that Black Theatre Coalition will honor Producer and Director Ava DuVernay with the first Poitier-Belafonte Award for Cultural Activism at its Inaugural “Building the Change” Gala on Monday, February 12, 2024 in New York City at the Rainbow Room (30 Rockefeller Plaza, 65th Floor). Black Theatre Coalition is deeply honored, with permission of the Poitier and Belafonte families, to present the first Poitier-Belafonte Award at this year’s gala. This award was created in recognition of these two groundbreaking Black artists and activists in the entertainment industry and will be presented virtually to Ava DuVernay. As previously announced, the evening will honor La La Anthony with the Lynn Nottage Bold Beacon Award, National Black Theatre with the Chadwick Boseman Change Maker Award and will include special performances by six-time Grammy-winning musician and producer BeBe Winans, Tony and Grammy Award winner Jennifer Holliday, and TIME’s 2023 Breakthrough Artist of the Year and Tony Award winner Alex Newell. https://blacktheatrecoalition.org/.
Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director and CEO of the Hermitage Artist Retreat, announced today that UK-based playwright and Olivier Award-winning lyricist Chris Bush has been selected as the fourth recipient of the Hermitage Major Theater Award (HMTA). This jury-selected prize, established by the Hermitage in 2021 with generous support from Flora Major and the Kutya Major Foundation, offers one of the largest nonprofit theater commissions in the United States, and now adds the United Kingdom to its expanding international footprint. Bush will receive a cash prize of $35,000, as well as a residency at the Hermitage (Sarasota County, Florida) and a developmental workshop in a major arts capital – which for this commission will be London in late 2025. HermitageArtistRetreat.org.
The Axelrod Performing Arts Center, in collaboration with Grind Arts Company, presents a bold new production of Stephen Sondheim’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE from March 8-24. The show is directed and choreographed by Eamon Foley (Broadway’s Gypsy, Assassins, 13: The Musical) and starring TV and film star Graham Phillips (CBS’s The Good Wife, CW’s Riverdale) and Broadway’s Talia Suskauer (Wicked’s Elphaba). Music director Nate Patten (Broadway’s Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, School of Rock) will conduct the 11-piece orchestra. www.axelrodartscenter.com.
Featured Image: Glory Days Benefit Concert – Keen Company
