David Schmitz News

The Lincoln Center Theater production of Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu's play Pass Over, directed by Obie Award winner Danya Taymor will begin performances August 4th, 2021, at Broadway's August Wilson Theatre with opening night scheduled for Sunday, September 12, 2021.

PASS OVER will begin performances August 4th, 2021, at Broadway's August Wilson Theatre with opening night scheduled for Sunday, September 12, 2021. This officially makes PASS OVER the first Broadway show to begin performances since the start of the pandemic, a full month before shows were originally expected to return.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival today announced that it will welcome back in-person audiences earlier than planned, on July 1, with Cheryl L. West’s Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer, staged in OSF’s outdoor Allen Elizabethan Theatre by director Henry Godinez and music director Felton Offard.

The Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3 production of Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s acclaimed, award-winning play PASS OVER, directed by Obie Award winner Danya Taymor (“Daddy”, Heroes of the Fourth Turning) will reopen Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre (245 W 52nd Street, New York, NY) for a limited engagement, with exact dates to be announced shortly. This will mark the Broadway debut of both Nwandu and Taymor. PASS OVER will be produced on Broadway by Matt Ross, Jujamcyn Theaters, Lincoln Center Theater, Concord Theatricals, Renee Montgomery, Blair Underwood, Madeleine Foster Bersin and Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival today announced that Laura Burgos is the organization’s new Director of Marketing and Communications, effective immediately. Burgos’s new position is the latest chapter in a dynamic career spanning a diversity of performing arts disciplines, organizations, and roles.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival announced today Anyania (Ahn-ya-nigh-ah) Muse will become its Director of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) on April 12, 2021. In this newly evolved role, Muse will join OSF's leadership team, providing vision and strategy for the integration of IDEA into all facets of OSF's operations. Muse will design, communicate, execute and monitor programs and initiatives that actively promote and foster a radically inclusive culture that is an anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-homophobic, and anti-ableist at the company.

The combination of multi-format programming is a celebration of OSF’s continued commitment to presenting world-class theatre on its stages and its recent foray into groundbreaking digital programming, introducing fans, supporters, and new audiences worldwide to the company’s award-winning artistry.

The 2021 digital on-demand streaming season includes a limited-run schedule for favorites from the OSF archives beginning with Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, directed by Shana Cooper; Manahatta by Mary Kathryn Nagle, directed by Laurie Woolery; and Snow in Midsummer by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, based on the classical Chinese drama The Injustice to Dou Yi That Moved Heaven and Earth and directed by Justin Audibert.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival announced today Amanda Brandes will become its new Director of Development in January 2021.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival announced today that half of the proceeds from donations raised October 23 through October 26, during its virtual 2020 Gala event which included all auction item sales, will be distributed to Rogue Valley organizations providing essential and ongoing fire relief throughout Southern Oregon.

This past Friday evening, Oregon Shakespeare Festival artists, supporters, patrons and arts supporters from around the world gathered for a virtual, fun and inspiring live stream event focused on supporting both OSF and the Rogue Valley communities it serves.

There is big news for Big Cherry! BroadwayWorld has just learned that Steppenwolf's production of The Minutes by Tracy Letts, directed by Anna D. Shapiro, will return to Broadway opening exactly one year after its original opening date of Sunday, March 15, 2020 at the Cort Theatre (138 W 48th Street). The Minutes was a limited engagement and was originally scheduled to close Sunday, July 26.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival announced today David Schmitz will become its fourth executive director in fall 2020. Schmitz succeeds Cynthia Rider, who held the position from 2013 through 2018, and Paul Christy, who became acting executive director in January 2019 and has been leading the Festival's transition throughout the executive search period. Schmitz has worked at Steppenwolf Theatre for the past 15 years, serving in the role of Director of Finance and Administration, General Manager, Managing Director, and currently as Executive Director. 

Steppenwolf Theatre Company announced today that Brooke Flanagan, who previously worked at Steppenwolf for seven years, will return to the organization in the role of Executive Director and will become the first woman to hold the title in Steppenwolf's 45-year history.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is replacing its 2020 Gala with a special online event, Pants Optional: A Steppenwolf Soirée, celebrating the power of theatre and raising vital funds to keep it alive during a time of necessary social-distancing.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company Artistic Director Anna D. Shapiro and the Steppenwolf ensemble announced the 2020/21 Season today. As the storied ensemble theatre company embarks on its 45th season, a lineup of thrilling plays will be featured in its current home at 1650 N Halsted with the final production of the season premiering in the new state-of-the-art theatre building at 1646 N Halsted in August 2021.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company will celebrate 44 years of trailblazing theatre and with an unforgettable evening inspired by the art and artists of our past, present and future. This phenomenal event will be emceed by esteemed ensemble member Gary Cole (Veep, The West Wing, Office Space), who will also tread the Steppenwolf boards for the first time in 20 years in this summer's production of Catch as Catch Can. A dynamic collaboration between artists and board members, Gala 2020 co-chairs include ensemble member Joan Allen; trustee Susan Berghoef; ensemble members Gary Cole and Sandra Marquez; and trustee Anne Phillips and Don Phillips. The Gala will take place at a new location, the stunningly renovated Old Post Office (415 S. Canal St., Chicago).

The House Theatre of Chicago's Board of Directors announce the 2nd annual incarnation of THE SPECTACULAR. Hosted by NPR's Peter Sagal (Wait, Waita?? Don't Tell Me!), the fundraiser celebrates the company's continuing commitment to amazing feats of storytelling with dinner, dancing, a silent auction, live music from This Must Be The Band, and a one-of-a-kind floor show. This year the organization will honor David Schmitz (Executive Director of Steppenwolf Theatre Company) with a roast in recognition of his many years of service on the Board of Directors of The House and his contributions to Chicago's theatre community. THE SPECTACULAR will be held Saturday, March 28 at 7 p.m. at the unique venue Ignite Glass Studios, 401 N Armour St. The event is co-chaired by board members Renee Duba (Sonder Wealth) and Roark Frankel (Obama Foundation), and the event committee includes Laura Jimenez (Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill), Kathryn Lipuma (Writers Theatre), Elizabeth Auman (TimeLine Theatre Company), and Jacqueline Russell (Chicago Children's Theatre). THE SPECTACULAR Event Sponsorships and Supporter packages, tables of ten and individual tickets may be purchased through The House Theatre of Chicago at 773-769-3832 or online at m.TheHouseTheatre.com/gala.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company will host two bold visiting companies as part of LookOut, a year-round series that presents the work of artists and companies across genre and form. Steppenwolf's 1700 Theatre will be the home to two productions from impressive Chicago storefront theatres next year: First Floor Theater and Definition Theatre.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company's 2019/20 season of complex, beautiful and maddening theater kicks off with a thrilling Chicago premiere by in-demand playwright, Lauren Yee, directed by Jesca Prudencio.