Karen Hartman News

Weston Playhouse Theatre Company continues its Reimagined 2020 Season with the debut of Songs for Today, a series of bite-sized musical tracks in the spirit of classic Playhouse shows. The project is the second in the recently launched new works initiative, Weston Writers.

September is Copyright Advocacy Month at the Dramatists Guild! For 30 days, the DG will share tips on what exactly copyright means, how it benefits theatrical writers, and what you can do to protect your copyright.

PRIMARY STAGES has announced its Fall 2020 Virtual Season. The Foundation Series will revisit the work of some of Primary Stages' family of artists, including The Tribute Artist by Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Award winner Charles Busch and The Night Watcher by Obie Award winner and Tony Award nominee Charlayne Woodard.

As part of Denver Center for the Performing Arts' Artist Spotlight, Episode 3, meet Neyla Pekarek, composer of the new musical Rattlesnake Kate and former member of the Grammy-nominated band, The Lumineers.

The McKnight Foundation and Playwrights' Center are continuing to invest in the future of theater by supporting some of today's most promising playwrights through the McKnight National Residency and Commission and McKnight Fellowships in Playwriting. The awards are all the more pertinent as many theater-makers face unprecedented challenges during this moment of crisis.

Merrimack Repertory Theatre Artistic Director Courtney Sale will teach two new, one-week virtual theatre classes - one for adults and one for youngsters in grades five through eight - in June.

Today we're checking in with Primary Stages, to find out how the health crisis is affecting them, how you can help, and more.

While Broadway remains shut down, BroadwayWorld is keeping up with your favorite stars and giving you a peek at what they have been up to! Check out yesterday's videos, from stars including Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sierra Boggess, Billy Porter, Ingrid Michaelson, Julie Halston, and more!

Just last spring, Sierra Boggess and Joshua Dela Cruz  led a staged reading of Richard Maltby, Jr., Karen Hartman, and David Shire's DANCERS AT A WATERFALL. Now, the two are reuniting to sing a song from the new musical. Boggess writes: 'This song expresses both lyrically and musically what is in our souls right now. Therefore, we wanted to debut this song in this way for all to hear too.'

A fourth evening of The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues streamed last night and is available now on IGTV @24hourplays and at https://24hourplays.com/viral-monologues/. 22 actors were paired with an unrivaled group of theatre writers, who worked through Monday night to create unique pieces especially for their actors.

A fourth unforgettable evening of The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues will stream tonight on IGTV @24hourplays and at https://24hourplays.com/viral-monologues/. 22 actors have been paired with an unrivaled group of theatre writers, who worked through the night to create unique pieces especially for their actors.

PRIMARY STAGES has announced their 2020/21 season, which will mark a return to 59E59 Theaters as the resident theatre company beginning in September 2020.

REPETITION by Doug Devita; directed by William Spinnato featuring Christopher DeSantis, Alex O'Shea, and Ellyn Stein; performing at Secret Theatre, 4402 23rd Street, Long Island City, NY on Saturday, February 1 at 3:00pm; Sunday, February 9 at 3:00pm; Sunday, February 16 at 7:00pm; Thursday, February 27 at 7:00pm. Tickets: $20 ($22 at the door) https://secrettheatre.showare.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=75

The Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT) Board of Trustees and Executive Director Bonnie J. Butkas announced today that Courtney Sale, Artistic Director of Seattle Children's Theatre, will become the Nancy L. Donahue Artistic Director here in March. She will be the first woman to serve as artistic director and the first to fill the position since it was named in honor of Founding Chair Nancy L. Donahue.

Today Keen Company Artistic Director Jonathan Silverstein announced his plans for Keen's Playwrights Lab, including readings from this year's participants as well as the playwrights for the 2020 Lab.

The 2ND ANNUAL ITHACA ONE-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL (#1MPF) returns to Ithaca for its second year, in partnership with the Kitchen Theatre Company. The 2nd Annual Ithaca One-Minute Play Festival runs for three performances only; July 13th at 8pm, and July 14th at 3pm & 7pm. All performances are at the Kitchen Theatre (417 W StateMLK, Jr. St). Tickets, priced at $20, are available at kitchentheatre.org.

The Orchard Project is announcing the artists participating in its thirteenth summer theatre residency program. More than 30 artists and ensembles were selected for residencies this summer from nearly 1000 theatre artists and companies who applied.

To ensure a separation of powers, the U.S. Federal Government is made up of three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. When authority runs amok, the ultimate check is the American citizen. 

On Thursday, May 16, 2019 there will be two staged readings in New York City of the Broadway-bound new musical, DANCERS AT A WATERFALL, with book by Richard Maltby, Jr. and Karen Hartman, lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr. and music by David Shire, based on the novel, 'Behind the Painting' by Siburapha.

WP Theater, under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Lisa McNulty and Managing Director Michael Sag, is thrilled to announce the inaugural WP Theater's 40th Anniversary Reading Series. In the first outing of this annual series, past meets present as WP shares staged readings of five extraordinary plays from throughout its history, directed by recent alums and current members of the WP Theater Directors Lab. The 5-night free series will launch on Monday, March 25 and run through Friday, May 3, 2019 at WP Theater, 2162 Broadway at 76th Street.