The Weekend Report: Cirque du Soleil Christmas Casting; Barry Manilow Harmony Team Revealed
Welcome to TheaterMania's Weekend Report, where you'll find recent news stories from the New York theater scene and beyond.
(© David Gordon)
Tim Sanford to Depart Playwrights Horizons
After 24 years, Tim Sanford will step down from the position of Artistic Director at off-Broadway's Playwrights Horizons in July 2020. Succeeding him is his current associate, Adam Greenfield. The pair will collaborate on the theater's upcoming 50th anniversary season (2020-21), with Sanford remaining with the company through June 2021 as outgoing artistic director.
Over the course of his tenure at Playwrights Horizons, Sanford has programmed works by Annie Baker, Adam Bock, Kirsten Childs, Michael Friedman, Amy Herzog, Lucas Hnath, Michael R. Jackson, Kenneth Lonergan, Bruce Norris, Lynn Nottage, Sarah Ruhl, Jeanine Tesori, and many others. In that time, Playwrights-originating productions have earned 3 Pulitzer Prizes, 7 Tony Awards, and 40 Obies.
(photo provided by the Madison Square Garden Company)
Meet the High-Flying Cast of Cirque du Soleil's New Christmas Show
Cirque du Soleil and the Madison Square Garden Company's new Christmas show 'Twas the Night Before… has announced its casting. The show will run at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden December 12-29.
The international cast of acrobats includes Tuedon Ariri (Canada) performing the aerial hammock, Katharine Arnold (United
Kingdom) performing aerial cart, Rosie Axon (United Kingdom) and Adam Jukes (England) performing inline skating, Louis
Chen, Peter Lin, Tim Wang, and Alexandar Yu (Taipei) performing diablo, Michele Clark (United States) performing hula hoop,
Nicole Faubert (Canada) and Guillaume Paquin (Canada) in aerial duo straps, Quentin Greco (Canada), Jacob Gregorie
(Canada), Chauncey Kroner (United States), Timothé Vincent (Canada), Jinge Wang (China), and Evan Tomlinson Weintraub
(Canada), performing hoop diving and acrobatic table, José Ignacio Flores Lopez (Spain) performing block balancing, Alexis
Vigneault (Canada) performing aerical acrobatic lamp, and Jenna Beltran, Lyndsay Marie Farias, Kalila Hermant, Samuel
Moore, Paul Ross, Diana Schoenfield, Paul Ross and Bianca Vallar (United States) as ensemble dancers.
(© Deborah Feingold)
Hear Jodi Picoult Speak About Between the Lines
Novelist Jodi Picoult will lead talkbacks following the upcoming off-Broadway musical adaptation of her book Between the Lines. Picoult will take part in discussions of May 19, June 5, July 25, August 12, and August 22. She will be joined by her daughter and the book's co-author, Samantha Van Leer, for talkbacks on April 24, June 6, July 8, and July 24.
Between the Lines is adapted for the stage by Elyssa Samsel & Kate Anderson (score) and Timothy Allen McDonald (book). Jeff Calhoun directs and Lorin Latarro choreographs. Performances begin April 21 at the Tony Kiser Theater at Second Stage.
Page 73 to Make Stew
Zora Howard's new play Stew, directed by Colette Robert, will have its world premiere beginning January 20 at Walkerspace. The run, presented by Page 73, marks Howard's professional playwriting debut, and will run through February 22.
"Stew is described as follows: "Mama is up early to prepare an important meal, and even with her family on hand to help, time is running short. Tensions simmer with three generations of Tucker women under one roof, but things come to a boil as the violence hovering around the periphery of their lives begins to intrude upon the sanctity of Mama's kitchen."
(© Seth Walters)
Extensions
• Zawe Ashton's For All the Women Who Thought They Were Mad will now run through November 24 at Soho Rep's home on Walker Street.
• Signature Theatre's revival of Horton Foote's The Young Man From Atlanta, starring Aidan Quinn and Kristine Nielsen, will now run through December 15 at the Pershing Square Signature Center.
• Alexis Scheer's Our Dear Dead Drug Lord, presented by Second Stage and WP Theater, will now run through November 3.
(© David Gordon)
In Other News…
• The creative team for Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman's Harmony: A New Musical will include John O'Neill (musical director), Beowulf Boritt (set), Linda Cho (costumes), Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer (lighting), and Dan Moses Schreier (sound). Warren Carlyle directs and choreographs the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene production, running February 11-March 29 at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.
• New York Stage and Film's upcoming reading series at Barnard College will feature Majkin Holmquist's Tent Revival (October 28), Jessica Huang's Mother of Exiles (November 4), and Keelay Gipson's The Lost Or, How to Just B'' (November 18).
• MCC Theater will host the panel discussion About the Journey – A conversation exploring the unique stories behind the musicals of today as part of its "Let's Talk" series, on October 19 at 5:15pm at the Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space. Moderated by Ianne Fields Stewart, panelists will include The Wrong Man writer Ross Golan, Hadestown star Amber Gray, A Strange Loop writer Michael R. Jackson, and In the Green writer/star Grace McLean.
• Broadway's The Great Society will partner with Broadway For All's Access For All initiative, to provide students from across all socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds in New York City tickets to see the show.
• Sierra Boggess, Melissa Errico, Norm Lewis, Patrick Page, and Tony Yazbeck will perform at Manhattan Theatre Club's fall benefit, to be held November 11 at 583 Park Avenue.
Hot Shots
Here are some photos you may have missed, including Gary Busey in off-Broadway's Only Human, the 2019 Primary Stages gala, and more.
