Lipica Shah News

New Ohio Theatre and Theatre 167 proudly present the World Premiere of I Like To Be Here: Jackson Heights Revisited, or, This Is A Mango, conceived and directed by Ari Laura Kreith, and written by Jenny Lyn Bader, J.Stephen Brantley, Ed Cardona, Jr., Les Hunter, Tom Miller, Melisa Tien, and Joy Tomasko. The play is part of the 2nd annual Theater:Village Festival, and runs from September 6 - 27, 2014 in a limited engagement at the New Ohio Theatre, located at 154 Christopher Street between Greenwich and Washington Streets in New York City. Previews begin September 6 for a September 8 opening.

The OBIE Award-winning Theater:Village festival, which is presented by Axis Theatre, Cherry Lane Theatre, New Ohio Theatre, and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, returns for its second year, September 4 - October 5. Following last year's The Hill Town Plays, which presented five works by the playwright Lucy Thurber, this year's festival, titled E Pluribus, will feature four new plays celebrating the diversity of America.

Identity and racial politics form the foundation of PASSING STRANGE, one of the seminal musicals of our time, and Mixed Blood Theatre's production honors that epic rock legacy, with the added dimension of the intimacy and immediacy of the Alan Page Auditorium. With disparate styles that range from '60's Europop to '70's punk to '80's electronica, to gospel, soul, and funk, to musical theatre, and with a nod to James Brown, this Tony Award winner is a play within a rock concert. Eschewing preconceptions, this band's lead singer is a middle class African American Buddhist rocker ex-pat story-teller, sharing the picaresque journey of his youth via 24 songs. The play's title is inspired by a passage in Shakespeare's OTHELLO.

Identity and racial politics form the foundation of PASSING STRANGE, one of the seminal musicals of our time, and Mixed Blood Theatre's production honors that epic rock legacy, with the added dimension of the intimacy and immediacy of the Alan Page Auditorium. With disparate styles that range from '60's Europop to '70's punk to '80's electronica, to gospel, soul, and funk, to musical theatre, and with a nod to James Brown, this Tony Award winner is a play within a rock concert. Eschewing preconceptions, this band's lead singer is a middle class African American Buddhist rocker ex-pat story-teller, sharing the picaresque journey of his youth via 24 songs. The play's title is inspired by a passage in Shakespeare's OTHELLO.

The New Group continues its 2013-2014 season with the world premiere of Intimacy, a new play by Thomas Bradshaw. Directed by Scott Elliott, Intimacy features David Anzuelo, Austin Cauldwell, Ella Dershowitz, Laura Esterman, Daniel Gerroll, Dea Julien and Keith Randolph Smith. A limited Off-Broadway engagement plays now through March 8 at TheNew Group @ Theatre Row (The Acorn Theatre / 410 West 42nd Street). BroadwayWorld was there for opening night and you can check out photos below!

Theatre 167 will bring its critically acclaimed JACKSON HEIGHTS TRILOGY to the Queens Museum for a site-specific performance on Sunday, January 19, 2014 from 2:00-5:00PM.

The Drama League has announced full casting for the 30th Annual DirectorFest, a festival of one-act plays staged by the Fall Directing Fellows, Elizabeth Carlson, Alexandru Mihail, Danny Sharron and Nicole A. Watson, for a limited 5-performance engagement, December 12 - 15, 2013 at TBG Theater (312 West 36th Street, between 8th & 9th Avenues).

Mixed Blood Theatre's 2013-14 Season kicks off with Aditi Brennan Kapil's DISPLACED HINDU GODS, an epic festival of three world premieres based on the trinity of Hindu deities Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva reconjured as contemporary inhabitants of the Western world. While each play stands alone and takes on a different genre - stand-up comedy routine, girl-gang thriller, post-colonial fantasy - they coexist in a common universe where dislocation, identity, immigration and puberty are explored through the lenses of creation, survival and destruction. Seven actors, five designers, three directors and one playwright comprise the creative team of this ambitious extravaganza!

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center presents the 2013 National Playwrights Conference. Under the leadership of Artistic DirectorWendy C. Goldberg, the Conference will run from today, July 3 to July 27 and develop eight new plays.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center has announced full casting for the 2013 National Playwrights Conference. Under the leadership of Artistic DirectorWendy C. Goldberg, the Conference will run from July 3 to July 27 and develop eight new plays.

Screen and stage actress, Reena Shah, will direct and star in the staged reading of Seth Freeman's short play, IMPERFECTLY FRANK, tonight, June 24th at 7pm, part of The Puzzle-a new play festival at the historic Marble Collegiate Church in New York City.

Screen and stage actress, Reena Shah, will direct and star in the staged reading of Seth Freeman's short play, IMPERFECTLY FRANK, Monday, June 24th at 7pm, part of The Puzzle-a new play festival at the historic Marble Collegiate Church in New York City.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center has announced cast members for the 2013 National Playwrights Conference. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Wendy C. Goldberg, the Conference will run from July 3 to July 27 and develop eight new plays.

If Betty Comden and Adolph Green were both born in Bombay, Singin' In The Rain might have wound up resembling The New Group's new musical, Bunty Berman Presents….  Not that Ayub Khan Din (book, music and lyrics) and Paul Bogaev's (music) Bollywood-set musical comedy is on the same level as that masterwork, but the spirit of silly 1950s MGM hijinks abounds throughout the evening.  It's got laughs, it's got tunes and it offers a fun, mindless time.

I suppose Richard Foreman doesn't have many talkbacks after performances of his plays because, really, how many times can you respond to an audience member asking, 'What the f***?'

The New Group announced today that Ayub Khan Din has stepped into the title role in the new musical Bunty Berman Presents..., replacing actor Erick Avari who withdrew from the production last week on doctor's orders following an injury. The world premiere of this musical comedy, with book & lyrics by Ayub Khan Din and music by Ayub Khan Din and Paul Bogaev, is directed by Scott Elliott. Previews began April 12. Performances resume Wednesday, April 24 in advance of Official Opening Night on Thursday, May 9 at 7:00pm. A limited Off-Broadway engagement is slated through June 1 at The New Group at Theatre Row (The Acorn Theatre / 410 West 42nd Street).

Preview performances of Bunty Berman Presents... will not take place Friday, April 19, Saturday, April 20 and Monday, April 22 at The New Group. Actor Erick Avari sustained an injury from a fall during a rehearsal earlier this week, and as a result, has withdrawn from the show on doctor's orders.

The New Group will present the world premiere of the new musical Bunty Berman Presents…with book & lyrics by Ayub Khan Din and music by Ayub Khan Din and Paul Bogaev. Directed by Scott Elliott, this production begins previews April 10 in advance of an Official Opening Night on Thursday, May 9 at 7:00pm. A limited Off-Broadway engagement is slated through June 1 at The New Group at Theatre Row (The Acorn Theatre / 410 West 42nd Street).

Theatre 167 will present the Manhattan Premiere of THE JACKSON HEIGHTS TRILOGY, a rotating repertory of three plays about the Queens, New York neighborhood famous for being the world's most diverse community. Created by 18 playwrights and starring a company of 37 actors playing 93 multicultural roles, the plays were conceived and will be directed by Ari Laura Kreith. The trilogy will inaugurate the newly renovated 777 Theatre, located at 777 8th Avenue at 47th Street beginning February 8th. While each of the plays has been presented individually in Queens to critical acclaim, this is the first time any of these plays will be seen in Manhattan and the first time they are being presented together in repertory, where audiences can see them individually or all in one day.

LAUGHistan has announced the world premiere production of Samrat Chakrabarti and Sanjiv Jhaveri's BUMBUG The Musical, directed by Mercedes Murphy. BUMBUG The Musical will play a limited engagement at The Clurman Theatre (Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street). Performances begin today, December 5 and continue through Saturday, December 22.