Mary Schmidt News

The David Lynch Foundation will host two hundred women professionals, including leaders in finance, publishing and the arts, at a luncheon and panel discussion at the Paley Center for Media in New York City

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) will kick off the fourth season ofPUBLIC FORUM with the new series Drama Club, a book club for plays that will feature one-night-only readings and discussions of works by Kia Corthron, Tony Kushner, and Thornton Wilder at Joe's Pub. Curated by Jeremy McCarter, the popular PUBLIC FORUM series presents the theater of ideas: conversations and performances with leading voices in politics, media, and the arts.

Award-winning photographer and conceptual artist Laurie Simmons and her daughter, Lena Dunham, best known for writing, directing, producing, and acting in the HBO program Girls, will be honored at the eleventh annual Women in the Arts luncheon on Thursday, November 14, 2013. This is the first time the benefit will jointly honor two recipients--a mother-daughter pair. Proceeds from the event will benefit the many educational and artistic programs offered by the Brooklyn Museum and its Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art.

The Nominating Committee attends all productions during the Broadway season and meets on the date designated by the Administration Committee to determine, by vote, the Tony Award nominees for that season. The committee of Tony Nominators, which has been expanded to 46 members for the 2013-2014 season, includes:

Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis, Executive Director Patrick Willingham, and Chairman of the Board Warren Spector have announced the addition of seven new members to The Public's Board of Trustees. Candia Fisher, Anne Hathaway, Debby Landesman, Barbara Manocherian, and Audrey Wilf were appointed to the 40-person board in April for three-year terms, and Charlotte Relyea and Anne Clarke Wolff were appointed in June for three-year terms. A recent loss to the Board is the passing of long time Board member Nora Ephron who was honored for her service to the organization and the field at The Public's 2013 Gala this past June.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) and the Aspen Institute Arts Program (Director, Damian Woetzel) will welcome Christine Baranski, Gloria Reuben and Matt Damon for the free Public Forum, WHAT ARE WE WORTH? SHAKESPEARE, MONEY, AND MORALS, tonight, June 17 at 8:00 p.m. at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) and the Aspen Institute Arts Program (Director, Damian Woetzel) announced today that Christine Baranski, Gloria Reuben and Matt Damon will join the free Public Forum, WHAT ARE WE WORTH? SHAKESPEARE, MONEY, AND MORALS, on Monday, June 17 at 8:00 p.m. at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) and the Aspen Institute Arts Program (Director, Damian Woetzel) announced today that a special free Public Forum program, WHAT ARE WE WORTH? SHAKESPEARE, MONEY, AND MORALS, will take place at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park on Monday, June 17 at 8:00 p.m.

Nominations in 26 competitive categories for the American Theatre Wing's 67thAnnual Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards were announced today by Tony winning-actress Sutton Foster and star of both stage and screen Jesse Tyler Ferguson, at the Tony Award Nominations Announcement sponsored by IBM. The nominees were selected by an independent committee of 24 theatre professionals appointed by the Tony Awards Administration Committee. The 2013 Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) will continue its popular Public Forum season this month with SONNETS FOR THE CITY on Friday, April 26 at 7 p.m. at Joe's Pub at The Public. Presented in association with New York Magazine, this one-night-only event will feature insights from notable writers, contemporary artists, and members of the community, including celebrated young novelist Tea Obreht, New York Magazine book critic Kathryn Schulz, Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro, and acclaimed actor Sam Waterston.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) will kick off the spring PUBLIC FORUM season next week with two Public Forum Duets, focusing on music and the way it shapes our lives. Single tickets, priced at $35, are on sale now.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) announced the line-up today for two Public Forum Duets this February, kicking off the spring Public Forum season with an intense focus on music and the way it shapes our lives.

The Fashion Rock Show has become a recognizable brand and show in the UK after it's recent performance at London's Olympia arena, and feature in His and Her's Magazine two consecutive months in a row this past fall.

Tisch School of the Arts, the premiere institution of the performing, cinematic, and recording arts, has announced another gift of $1 million from Mr. Alec Baldwin ('94/Hon '10) in support of the Alec Baldwin Drama Scholarship Fund and the Talent Identification Process (TIP) at Tisch.

What follows is a transcript of the remarks by the First Lady Michelle Obama at the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards, held in the East Room this afternoon, November 19, 2012.

Multi-media Conceptual artist Yoko Ono will be honored at the tenth annual Women in the Arts luncheon today, November 15, 2012. Proceeds from the event will benefit the many educational and artistic programs offered by the Brooklyn Museum and its Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art.

The Public Theater (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Patrick Willingham, Executive Director), in association with PEN American Center, will present a Public Forum program on Monday, December 3 on behalf of writers and artists who have been imprisoned speaking truth to power. THOUGHT IS FREE: An Evening of Protest and Solidarity will be hosted by Liev Schreiber and feature Carl Bernstein, Nathan Englander, Shirin Neshat, Lou Reed, and Salman Rushdie. Member tickets, priced at $15, and single tickets, priced at $20, are on sale now and can be purchased at (212) 967-7555, www.publictheater.org, or in person at The Public Theater box office at 425 Lafayette Street.

Multi-media Conceptual artist Yoko Ono will be honored at the tenth annual Women in the Arts luncheon on Thursday, November 15, 2012. Proceeds from the event will benefit the many educational and artistic programs offered by the Brooklyn Museum and its Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art.

The Tony Awards Nominating Committee is a rotating group of up to 35 theatre professionals selected by the Tony Awards Administration Committee. Nominators serve for overlapping three-year terms. They are asked to see every new Broadway production and then meet each year shortly after the Tony eligibility deadline. They determine the nominations based on secret ballots supervised by an accounting firm. The results are announced early the following morning.

Today the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities announced the launch of a new artseducation initiative to help turn around low-performing schools, developed in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Education and the White House Domestic Policy Council. The Turnaround Arts initiative is a new public-private partnership designed to narrow the achievement gap and increase student engagement through the arts. Working in some of the nation's lowest-performing elementary and middle schools, this program will test the hypothesis that high-quality and integrated arts education boosts academic achievement, motivates student learning and improves school culture in the context of overall school reform, announced the committee's co-chairs, George Stevens Jr. and Margo Lion. Presidentially-appointed artists Chuck Close, Yo-Yo Ma, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kerry Washington, Forest Whitaker, Damian Woetzel and Alfre Woodard to work with schools in eight states as part of the program.