Kira Obolensky News

Today (August 3) in live streaming: Cheyenne Jackson sings with Seth Rudetsky, The Muny is back with Summer Variety Hour, and so much more!

The Echo Theater Company, named LA Weekly's a?oeBest Bet for Ballsy Original Plays,a?? presents an online reading of a three-course play with recipes by Kira Obolensky. Ingredients: a middle-class Midwestern family, a modest urban kitchen, a larger-than-life mother who visits, a striving woman, a somewhat supportive man, and a daughter named Hurricane. Mix with the world outside, the never-ending attempt to nourish and be nourished, and a 21-year time span filled with changes, both epic and ever so small.

In collaboration with The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, HowlRound Theatre Commons established the National Playwright Residency Program (NPRP) in 2013.

The Playwrights' Center is continuing its commitment to developing playwrights and new work through their Core Writers program. Seven of the country's most thrilling playwrights are joining the program. The 2020-2023 Core Writers are Sharon Bridgforth, Mashuq Mushtaq Deen, Andrew Rosendorf, Riti Sachdeva, Charly Evon Simpson, Crystal Skillman, and Jonathan Spector.

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.

Long recognized for its dedication to creating new work for the theater, Los Angeles-based Echo Theater Company is uniquely positioned to nurture the next generation of playwrights during the current public health crisis.

Trademark Theater announces the launch of a brand-new commissioning platform today. The platform awards artists with development opportunities for their new works as well as a two-week workshop and staged reading in an upcoming season.

The Queens Theatre may cause a stir when it premieres Relic, or, I Was Bubbie's Favorite by Joel Feinman (as told to Lojo Simon), an outrageous new comedy by playwright Lojo Simon and directed by Will Pomerantz, that explores the cult of celebrity, religion and idolatry in modern times. The play, set in the Queens neighborhood of Rego Park, revolves around an out-of-work actor who finds what purports to be the world's greatest relic in his grandmother's attic, offering him the fame and fortune he always sought. He discovers, however, that it may not be all he wants! Performances will be held Friday, May 10th through Sunday, May 19th (Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays).

Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts is pleased to announce Title Wave at Bay Street: The 6th Annual New Works Festival, May 3 - 5. All readings are free, but tickets are required, as these events typically sell out. Tickets are available now at baystreet.org or by calling the Bay Street Theater Box Office at 631-725-9500, open Tuesday through Saturday 11 am to 5 pm, or until show time.

Briskly written and dynamically staged, this world premiere tells a complicated, true, little known story with wit and economy. From the early days of commercial airlines, stewardesses were hired based on looks, required to pass weekly weight checks, forbidden to wear glasses or marry, and fired automatically when they reached age 32. They were also not allowed to apply for the higher paying bursar jobs. Though it took decades, literally, a stewardess named Mary Pat Laffey got all that to change, persisting with a lawsuit under Equal Employment statutes that derive directly from the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Core Writer program at the Playwrights' Center gives 25-30 of the most exciting playwrights from across the country the time and tools to develop new work for the stage. The Center is announcing new Core Writers Darren Canady, Erin Courtney, Marisela Treviño Orta, Stacey Rose, Ariel Stess and Ray Yamanouchi. In addition, the Playwrights' Center is pleased to welcome three new student playwrights to its Core Apprentice program for 2018-19: Lily Padilla, Drew Paryzer and Lauren Wimmer.

The Playwrights' Center today announced the recipients of the 2018-19 McKnight National Residency and Commission and 2018-19 McKnight Fellowships in Playwriting.

The 2017-18 Ruth Easton New Play Series at the Playwrights' Center closes April 9 and 10 with Core Writer Harrison David Rivers' new play 'the bandaged place.' The readings begin at 7 p.m. at the Playwrights' Center, located at 2301 E. Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis. They are free, but reservations are recommended and can be made at pwcenter.org.

The 2017-18 Ruth Easton New Play Series at the Playwrights' Center continues March 5 and 6 with Core Writer Meg Miroshnik's new play 'Quiver.' The readings begin at 7 p.m. at the Playwrights' Center, located at 2301 E. Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis. They are free, but reservations are recommended and can be made at pwcenter.org.

January's Ruth Easton New Play Series readings at the Playwrights' Center were standing room only, so theater fans will want to reserve their tickets early for February's offering: 'Three Quarter Inches of Sky' by Core Writer Sherry Kramer. The readings are February 5 and 6 at 7 p.m. at the Playwrights' Center, 2301 E. Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis. The readings are free, but reservations are recommended and can be made at pwcenter.org.

Actress Anna May Wong (1905-1961) was incredibly prolific, appearing in silent movies, 'talkies,' television, plays and vaudeville. She was also stifled by a close-minded industry which largely limited the Chinese American actress to stereotyped roles, and the Hays code which kept her out of romantic leads.

Actress Anna May Wong (1905-1961) was incredibly prolific, appearing in silent movies, 'talkies,' television, plays and vaudeville. She was also stifled by a close-minded industry which largely limited the Chinese American actress to stereotyped roles, and the Hays code which kept her out of romantic leads.

As chilly weather settles into Minnesota, local playwright Kira Obolensky has a wintery new musical to share. 'The Overcoat: A Low-Fi Musical' is the first play in the Playwrights' Center's 2017-18 Ruth Easton New Play Series, a long-running series offering Playwrights' Center Core Writers 20 hours of workshop time to develop a new play and giving theater fans a chance to see free public readings of the plays in progress.

Of the 70+ new plays developed at the Playwrights' Center each year, eight are selected to be part of the public season, giving playwrights expanded workshop time with collaborators and the chance to see their new work on its feet in front of two different audiences. These readings are free to attend and take place at the Playwrights' Center, located at 2301 E Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis.