Laila Robins News

Last night, The Jimmy Awards held their 11th annual ceremony at Broadway's Minskoff Theatre. The top awards went to Ethan Kelso and Ekele Ukegbu, for Best Performance by an Actor, and Actress, respectively. Kelso took home the prize for his performance as Will Bloom in Big Fish at Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts in Logan, Utah, while Ukegbu won for her performances as the title role of Aida at Elmont Memorial Junior-Senior High School in New York City.

On Monday, June 10 nearly 250 people gathered at the Tribeca Rooftop for the HB Studio Gala celebrating the centennial of its long-time master teacher, the two-time Tony Award winning actress Uta Hagen, whose 100th birthday is Wednesday, June 12.

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. 

Marylouise Burke (True West) and Andre De Shields (Hdestown) are the recipients of the annual Richard Seff Award presented by the Actors' Equity Foundation to veteran female and male character actors for the best performance in a supporting role in a Broadway or Off-Broadway production.  The announcement was made by Judy Rice, president of the Foundation, which administers the award.

Baryshnikov Arts Center presents Estado Vegetal (Vegetative State), an exuberant and polyphonic one-woman show written and directed by Manuela Infante,one of the most prolific voices in contemporary Chilean and Latin American theater (May 2-3).

ENSEMBLE STUDIO THEATRE announces its 50th Birthday Gala honoring the people and legacy of EST's Marathon of One-Act Plays. The 50th Birthday Gala will take place on Monday, May 13, 2019 at 6:30PM at the New York Museum of Contemporary Art (528 West 39th Street, 3rd Fl.).

Gingold Theatrical Group (David Staller, Artistic Director) continues the 14th Season of Project Shaw, Art as Activism: A Theatrical Survival Guide, a special series of evenings of plays that embrace human rights and free speech. All of GTG's programming, inspired by the works of George Bernard Shaw, are designed to provoke peaceful discussion and activism.

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center will join Uta Hagen at 100, HB Studio's season-long celebration of the centennial of the legendary actress, activist, and HB Studio master teacher, with a look into her life and legacy.   The Library's Billy Rose Theatre Division houses three major collections related to Uta Hagen: The Uta Hagen/Herbert Berghof Papers; The HB Studio Records; and The HB Playwrights Foundation Records.

Gingold Theatrical Group (David Staller, Artistic Director) is proud to continue the 14th Season of Project Shaw, Art as Activism: A Theatrical Survival Guide, a special series of evenings of plays that embrace human rights and free speech. All of GTG's programming, inspired by the works of George Bernard Shaw, are designed to provoke peaceful discussion and activism.

 Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) continues its Spring 2019 season on Friday, April 12, 2019 at 7:30pm with a performance by St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble +Adam Rosenblatt, percussionist, at BAC's Jerome Robbins Theater (450 W. 37th Street). Rosenblatt will perform Belgian composer Thierry de Mey's theatrical and dramatic piece Light Music, in which movements and gestures produce light and sound through interactive technology. This interdisciplinary solo performance will be bookended by Viennese classics - Joseph Haydn's festive Divertimento for Strings from 1754 and Joseph Lanner's charming 19th century waltzes, performed by the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble. These virtuosic musicians make up the artistic core of the renowned Orchestra of St. Luke's - who share the performing arts complex with BAC at 450 W. 37th Street.

Red Bull Theater today announced the cast for the next REVELATION READING, Mike Poulton's (Fortune's Fool, Wolf Hall) Don Carlos by Friedrich Schiller, directed by Mr. Berger: Ron Canada, Helen Cespedes, Celeste Ciulla, Kelley Curran, Sanjit De Silva, Ezra Knight, Sam Lilja, Ismenia Mendes, Patrick Page, Rod Singleton, and Paxton Whitehead.  This will take place on Monday February 25 at 7:30pm at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, between Bleecker and Hudson Streets).

HB Studio, one of New York's original acting studios, has announced UTA HAGEN at 100, a series of special events and workshops celebrating the centenary of its master teacher, the legendary actress and activist Uta Hagen. UTA HAGEN at 100, honoring the three-time Tony Award winning actress and her legacy as a pioneering theater artist, activist and master teacher of HB Studio, will kick off on Monday, February 25 with a series of centennial events. The celebration will culminate on Monday, June 10 with a centennial gala honoring the actress, whose 100th birthday is Wednesday, June 12.

Written and directed by Nathan Catucci, Impossible Monsters will have its World Premiere at the Cinequest Film Festival on Saturday, March 9, 2019.  

Under Sarah Rasmussen as Artistic Director, the 150 seat Jungle Theater in Minneapolis punches above its weight frequently, mounting finely tuned productions of important new works. They've done it again with the current show: a play for grownups called THE CHILDREN, the first production in the US after the Broadway run. Three accomplished veteran actors with Twin Cities roots, working under Casey Stangl's direction, drop us into a contemporary apocalyptic twist on a 'kitchen sink' play. Only here, environmental disaster has established a new normal where water and food are rationed, electricity is spotty, and questions of morality and mortality are immediate and intertwined.

On December 3, Tony winner Philip Bosco passed away from complications of dementia. He was 88 years old.

At an SRO ceremony held at Zion Lutheran Church in Pittsfield, the Board of the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association presented the Berkshire Theatre Awards on the evening of Monday, November 12, 2018. This was the third year the awards have been presented to honor and celebrate the excellence and diversity of theatre in the greater Berkshire region.

Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) concludes its Fall 2018 season on Wednesday, December 5, 2018 at 7:30pm with Quodlibet Ensemble: Music by Biber, Martynov + Sharlat at BAC's Jerome Robbins Theater (450 W. 37th Street). Quodlibet (Latin for 'whatever pleases') Ensemble is a string chamber orchestra of some of today's most sought-after musicians who come from top string quartets as well as period and new music groups. Highlighting their musical diversity, the ensemble performs an eclectic evening of classical music that spans different time periods and styles.

The Broadway at Birdland concert series was proud to present Barb Jungr and John McDaniel on the stage on Monday, October 22.

Red Bull Theater hosted an all-star benefit performance of Noel Coward's Tonight at 8:30. Check out photos from the event below!

This week the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association is voting on the final award list in preparation for the Third Annual Berkshire Theatre Awards. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony to be held on Monday, November 12 at 7 pm at the Zion Lutheran Church, 74 First Street (Route 7) in Pittsfield, MA.