Matthew Dean News

The cast has been announced for the 2022-2023 national tour of Legally Blonde – The Musical. Hannah Bonnett will play America’s favorite blonde, Elle Woods.  

Michael R. Jackson's WHITE GIRL IN DANGER will begin previews on March 15, 2023 and will officially open on April 10, 2023 at Second Stage’s Off-Broadway home, the Tony Kiser Theater. The limited 8-week run will play through Sunday, May 21, 2023.

Vineyard Theatre has announced the company’s upcoming 40th Anniversary Season which will include three world-premiere productions. Kicking off the season will be David Cale’s Sandra, which reunites Cale and director Leigh Silverman following the acclaimed Harry Clarke, which premiered at the Vineyard in 2017.

Vineyard Theatre Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern have announced updates for the company’s season. Initially announced as a special event, Lessons in Survival: 1971 will now receive a full production on the Vineyard stage May 25 - June 30. 

Ensemble Theatre Company will present the third show of its 2021-2022 season, Nancy Travis (“Last Man Standing, “The Kominsky Method,” “Three Men and a Baby”) starring as Lillian, by David Cale and directed by Jonathan Fox. 

Vineyard Theatre Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern have announced that Jesse Cameron Alick will join the company in the newly created position of Associate Artistic Director. Jesse joins the Vineyard direct from the Public Theater where has spent 15 years in the artistic department.

The Vineyard has just announced its new season, which will include productions of Is This A Room, conceived and directed by Obie Award winner Tina Satter; and the Center Theatre Group, Goodman Theatre and Vineyard Theatre production of Dana H., by Obie Award winner Lucas Hnath and directed by Obie Award winner Les Waters. Both shows will come to Broadway's Lyceum Theatre (149 W 45th Street, New York, NY), playing on a rotating schedule.

The beloved East Village supper club Pangea, which came perilously close to closing during COVID, is announcing a mixture of ticketed and no-cover entertainment during the summer.  The announcement comes as Pangea earns the prestigious Village Award, presented by Village Preservation at their 31st annual meeting on Wednesday June 16.

Beginning in June and running through late August, programming will range from solo concerts to original commissioned plays to the storytelling series REAL PEOPLE REAL STORIES and the culminating theatre event of the summer, THE PLEIN AIR PLAYS, celebrating new performances in situ.

With the City demanding 2020 code upgrades that are beyond its reach financially, Pangea, which has helped countless artists freely develop work in a safe atmosphere of inclusion, experimentation and protest, finds itself in urgent need of life-saving support of its own.

Vineyard Theatre has announced the company's upcoming 2020-2021 Season which includes digital and outdoor productions, as well as the reopening when safe to do so of Vineyard Theatre's home at 108 East 15th Street with the return of the award-winning Dana H. by Lucas Hnath and two world premieres from Tori Sampson and David Cale.

Building on over 40 years of producing powerful contemporary theatre, Studio Theatre is pleased to announce its largest class ever of commissioned artists to Studio R&D, its incubator to support the creation of new work. Studio will award grants to 10 artists-playwrights, directors, and multidisciplinary creators-investing in its future while supporting theatre-makers and expanding the idea of what it means to be a generative artist. For the first time, Studio R&D commissions are being awarded to support the creation of audio plays, as Studio explores alternate modes of theatrical storytelling in response to the present moment.

Mario Cantone will host this year's Lucille Lortel Awards, which are being presented as a virtual broadcast and benefit for The Actors Fund on Sunday, May 3, at 7pm. The online event will bring together theatre performers, industry veterans, and fans worldwide in a celebration of Off-Broadway.

Nominations for the 35th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway were announced today by theatre veterans Jeremy Jordan and Ashley Spencer. The Awards will be presented during a special online event on Sunday, May 3, broadcast on the official website - www.LortelAwards.org - beginning at 7:00pm ET. A virtual 'host' and presenters will be announced at a later date. As always, the Lortel Awards will be a benefit for The Actors Fund and fans are encouraged to make donations at actorsfund.org/Lortel. The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League and the Lucille Lortel Theatre Foundation. Additional support is provided by TDF.

Clubbed Thumb's off-Broadway musical Tumacho will play its final performance tonight amid the Covid-19 outbreak. The company has announced that future performances have been canceled. '

Several Downtown legends are congregating at the alt-cabaret hotspot Pangea in Marcha?? Among the headliners taking risks and breaking ground are Penny Arcade with her new show, a?oeNotes from the Undergrounda?? (March 4 & 18); David Cale, with new show a?oeSandraa?? (March 8), and Charles Busch being himself in a new act (March 26).

Tony Award-nominated and five-time Obie Award-winning theater company Clubbed Thumb (Maria Striar, Producing Artistic Director; Michael Bulger, Associate Artistic Director; Quinn Metal Corbin, Advancement Director) announced that, due to popular demand, the return engagement of Ethan Lipton's TUMACHO, directed by Tony Award nominee Leigh Silverman will add one week of performances. First seen in the 2016 SUMMERWORKS season, TUMACHO began performances on February 17 and officially opened on Saturday, February 22 at the Connelly Theater (220 East 4th Street). The run will now conclude on Saturday, March 21, 2020. Tickets are on sale now at https://www.artful.ly/clubbedthumb.

The Drama League presents DirectorFest,  the only festival in the United States dedicated to the art of contemporary stage directing.  The festival series that began January 10, 2020 continues with an evening of short plays with The Lover  by Harold Pinter, directed by NJ Agwuna,  and Appearances by Tina Howe, directed by Lindsey Hope Pearlman.  

February is coming in HOT at Joe's Pub!

The Drama League (Artistic Director Gabriel Stelian-Shanks, Executive Director Bevin Ross) presents the 36th annual Directorfest, the only festival in the United States dedicated to the art of contemporary stage directing. Directorfest began January 10 and concludes on February 4, 2020 at various locations around NYC: The New Ohio Theatre (154 Christopher Street), The Drama League Theater Center (32 Avenue of the Americas), LaGuardia Performing Arts Center (31-10 Thomson Avenue), and Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette Street). For festival details and tickets, visit directorfest.org or call (212) 244-9494 x102. Industry/Theatre Professionals may request tickets by emailingDirectorFest@dramaleague.org.