Ann Brown News

Shortly after The Little Foxes opened on Broadway in 1939, Lillian Hellman summed up the meaning of her play in an interview in the New York Herald Tribune. I merely wanted, in essence, to say: 'Here I am representing for you the sort of person who ruins the world for us.'

Palm Beach Dramaworks takes great pride in announcing that Charles Busch, the celebrated playwright, actor, director, cabaret artist, and drag legend, will appear in concert today evening, September 16 at 8pm, at the Don & Ann Brown Theatre. An Evening with Charles Busch marks the kickoff of a new series, OutStage@PBD, which offers special performances and events tailored to the LGBTQ community.  

In about a month, from Fri., Sept. 15 through Tues. Sept. 19, it will be time to celebrate Boog's 26th anniversary with the 11th annual Welcome to Boog City poetry, music, theater, and film festival. It will feature 46 poets, 17 musical acts, 8 poets theater plays, 2 poets in conversation with one another, 1 d.a. levy lives visiting press, 1 panel, and 60 minutes of film screenings over the five days.

Shelley Keelor, who received rave reviews for her performance as the Beggar Woman in Palm Beach Dramaworks' acclaimed production of Sweeney Todd, brings her popular show, Sentimental Journey, to the cabaret series at the Perlberg Studio Theatre from August 18 - 20.

Palm Beach Dramaworks takes great pride in announcing that Charles Busch, the celebrated playwright, actor, director, cabaret artist, and drag legend, will appear in concert on Saturday evening, September 16 at 8pm, at the Don & Ann Brown Theatre. An Evening with Charles Busch marks the kickoff of a new series, OutStage@PBD, which offers special performances and events tailored to the LGBTQ community.  

There's a new tonsorial parlor setting up shop at Palm Beach Dramaworks this summer, and the proprietor possesses skills that can best be described as cutthroat. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, the brilliant Tony Award-winning musical thriller by Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and Hugh Wheeler (book), opens at the Don & Ann Brown Theatre on July 14, following a specially priced preview on July 13. This deliciously macabre and witty tale of a throat-slitting barber and his enterprising accomplice, Mrs. Lovett, who grinds his victims into meat pies, runs through August 6. Clive Cholerton directs and Emmanuel Schvartzman, making his PBD debut, is the musical director.

Audiences will be in for a bloody good time this summer, when Palm Beach Dramaworks presents Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Arts organizations throughout the country are on a constant quest to attract newer, younger, and more diverse audiences while maintaining their longtime, loyal supporters. Palm Beach Dramaworks is no exception. For a while now, PBD has been running a Pay Your Age initiative on select Sunday evenings for anyone 40 and under. The response has been so strong that, beginning with the run of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's Sweeney Todd (July 14 - August 6), and continuing throughout the 2017 - 2018 season, Pay Your Age tickets will be available for all performances. Several additional outreach ventures are under consideration for the upcoming season as well.

Broadway veteran and South Florida favorite Avery Sommers, whose voice has been described as a "powerhouse" by The New York Times, takes the stage in Palm Beach Dramaworks' new cabaret series at the Perlberg Studio Theatre from June 23 - June 25. Sommers will present a program of songs by Fats Waller, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, George and Ira Gershwin, Marvin Hamlisch, Whitney Houston, Donna Sumner, and others. She will be accompanied by Irwin Solomon at the piano.

There's a new tonsorial parlor setting up shop at Palm Beach Dramaworks this summer, and the proprietor possesses skills that can best be described as cutthroat. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, the brilliant Tony Award-winning musical thriller by Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and Hugh Wheeler (book), opens at the Don & Ann Brown Theatre on July 14, following a specially priced preview on July 13. This deliciously macabre and witty tale of a throat-slitting barber and his enterprising accomplice, Mrs. Lovett, who grinds his victims into meat pies, runs through August 6. Clive Cholerton directs and Emmanuel Schvartzman, making his PBD debut, is the musical director.

Come hear the music play! Palm Beach Dramaworks is pleased to announce the launching of its first-ever cabaret series, which will take place in the Perlberg Studio Theatre. The premiere event, which runs from June 9 - June 11, features local favorite Laura Hodos performing her acclaimed show, Julie and Mary and Ethel and Babs!, a program of songs associated with musical theatre legends Julie Andrews, Mary Martin, Ethel Merman, and Barbra Streisand. Selections include numbers from such shows as My Fair Lady, South Pacific, The Sound of Music, Gypsy, and Funny Girl. Hodos will be accompanied by Paul Reekie at the piano.

Dreams are in short supply on the desolate island of Inishmaan, particularly for the sensitive, physically challenged Billy Claven in Martin McDonagh's The Cripple of Inishmaan. So when word arrives that an American filmmaker is coming to the neighboring island of Inishmore to make a motion picture, Billy goes after a part in the movie, hoping for a trip to Hollywood and escape from the cruelty and bleakness that engulf him. McDonagh's darkly comic work opens at Palm Beach Dramaworks on May19 and continues through June 4, with specially priced previews on May 17 and 18.  

The Cultural Council of Palm Beach County has added six new members to its board of directors and has appointed global finance expert Nathan Slack as Chair. William Parmelee has been named Vice Chair, and Jean Sharf is now Secretary. School Board of Palm Beach County member Debra Robinson and Boca Raton Resort & Club President and Managing Director John Tolbert, have joined as ex-officio board members.

 "It's wanting to know that makes us matter," says one of the characters in Arcadia, Tom Stoppard's luminous comedy of ideas. In this profound, funny, moving, Olivier Award-winning masterpiece, Stoppard explores the great mysteries of science and art, and illuminates the very human desire for making connections - intellectual, romantic, and physical. Arcadia opens at Palm Beach Dramaworks on March 31 and continues through April 30, with specially priced previews on March 29 and 30.  

'Oh, it's very pretty, isn't it! We're going to have fun,' Truman Capote said as he walked into his Black & White Ball on November 28, 1966, according to The New York Times. He might have said the same thing on March 11, had he walked into the Kravis Center's Cohen Pavilion for Palm Beach Dramaworks 

The Poetry Project will host its first-ever gala in celebration of its 50th anniversary on Thursday, April 27, 2017. The gala will honor Anne Waldman for her radical and inspiring contributions to international contemporary poetry and activism, and for her past leadership of The Poetry Project. The evening will include performances by composer and performance artist Laurie Anderson, writer and vocalist LaTasha Diggs, and choreographer Yoshiko Chuma.

 "It's wanting to know that makes us matter," says one of the characters in Arcadia, Tom Stoppard's luminous comedy of ideas. In this profound, funny, moving, Olivier Award-winning masterpiece, Stoppard explores the great mysteries of science and art, and illuminates the very human desire for making connections - intellectual, romantic, and physical. Arcadia opens at Palm Beach Dramaworks on March 31 and continues throughApril 30, with specially priced previews on March 29 and 30.  

The World Premiere of Multiple Family Dwelling will be produced by New Jersey Repertory Company (NJ Rep) from March 9th to April 9th. Written by James Hindman, and directed by Alan Souza, it stars Dana Brooke, Dustin Charles, Maria Couch and Jared Michael Delaney.

Inspiration vs. appropriation. Loyalty vs. creative freedom. Friendship, betrayal, morality, and the artistic impulse. These are among the provocative issues raised by playwright Donald Margulies in Collected Stories, which opens at Palm Beach Dramaworks on February 3 and continues through March 5, with specially priced previews on February 1 and 2.

Inspiration vs. appropriation. Loyalty vs. creative freedom. Friendship, betrayal, morality, and the artistic impulse. These are among the provocative issues raised by playwright Donald Margulies in Collected Stories, which opens at Palm Beach Dramaworks on February 3 and continues through March 5, with specially priced previews on February 1 and 2.