Polly Pen News

Today's subject, Alexandra Silber, is known on both sides of the pond as a versatile, killer performer. This international dynamo is currently living her theatre life onstage at Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) as Guenevere in Camelot. The production has been extended and now runs through July 8th in STC's Sydney Harman Hall space.

Drury Lane Theatre announces casting for its sultry summer drama, Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Tony nominee Marcia Milgrom Dodge (2009 Broadway revival of Ragtime, Drury Lane's Smokey Joe's Cafe). Cat on a Hot Tin Roof runs July 5 - August 26, 2018, at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace. The press opening is scheduled for Thursday, July 12 at 8:00 p.m.

The Dramatists Guild of America is pleased to announce more recipients of their annual awards, which will be presented at their national conference on Saturday, July 28, 2018, at The Hilton Midtown in New York.

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu has approved more than $80 million in grants as part of the NEA's second major funding announcement for fiscal year 2018. Included in this announcement is an Art Works grant of $20,000 to the Sarasota Youth Opera program to support their 2018 re-mount of The Little Sweep by Benjamin Britten. The Art Works category is the NEA's largest funding category and supports projects that focus on the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and/or the strengthening of communities through the arts.

Head Trick Theatre announces a season of wit, magic, and danger, following its recently acclaimed productions of Gabriel and God of Vengeance. Titled "Making a World," the 2018-19 season asks audiences to join Head Trick's performers in creating new worlds through innovative approaches to three classics.

Magic Theatre (Loretta Greco, Artistic Director and Jaimie Mayer, Managing Director) announced today the complete cast of Jessica Hagedorn's World Premiere THE GANGSTER OF LOVE, the final production of the 2017-2018 season. Previews begin on Wednesday, April 11, 2018 at Magic Theatre's Fort Mason location, with a press opening on Wednesday, April 18, 2018 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are on-sale now.

Black Button Eyes Productions is pleased to announce its 2018-19 season, kicking off late this summer with the world premiere of NIGHTMARES AND NIGHTCAPS: The Stories of John Collier, a non-musical adaption of British author and screenwriter John Collier's phantasmagoric short stories. Written and directed by Producing Artistic Director Ed Rutherford, the production will feature choreography by Derek Van Barham and star Kevin Webb with additional casting to be announced.

Magic Theatre (Loretta Greco, Artistic Director and Jaimie Mayer, Managing Director) announced today the complete cast of Jessica Hagedorn's World Premiere THE GANGSTER OF LOVE, the final production of the 2017-2018 season. Previews begin on Wednesday, April 11, 2018 at Magic Theatre's Fort Mason location, with opening night on Wednesday, April 18, 2018 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are on-sale now.

Magic Theatre (Loretta Greco, Artistic Director and Jaimie Mayer, Managing Director) announced today the complete cast of Jessica Hagedorn's World Premiere THE GANGSTER OF LOVE, the final production of the 2017-2018 season. Previews begin on Wednesday, April 11, 2018 at Magic Theatre's Fort Mason location, with a press opening on Wednesday, April 18, 2018 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are on-sale now.

Magic Theatre (Loretta Greco, Artistic Director and Jaimie Mayer, Managing Director) announced today the complete cast of Jessica Hagedorn's World Premiere THE GANGSTER OF LOVE, the final production of the 2017-2018 season. Previews begin on Wednesday, April 11, 2018 at Magic Theatre's Fort Mason location, with a press opening on Wednesday, April 18, 2018 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are on-sale now. 

Seven theatre artists have gathered for the nineteenth annual Sundance Institute Playwrights & Composers Retreat at Ucross Foundation in Wyoming, currently underway from February 5 to February 23, 2018. Designed to support theatrical writing in its earliest stages, the residency is dedicated to uninhibited creativity, peer mentorship and professional growth.

Vineyard Theatre presents the world premiere production of Harry Clarke by Obie Award-winner David Cale (LILLIAN), directed by Obie Award-winner Leigh Silverman (VIOLET) and starring Tony Award-winner Billy Crudup (THE COAST OF UTOPIA, Spotlight, Vineyard's THE METAL CHILDREN), extended through December 10. The production launches Vineyard Theatre's 35th Anniversary Season, opening tonight, November 21.

Magic Theatre announced today the complete cast of Barbara Hammond's World Premiere The Eva Trilogy.

Vineyard Theatre Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern announce that the world premiere production of Harry Clarke by Obie Award-winner David Cale (LILLIAN), directed by Obie Award-winner Leigh Silverman (VIOLET) and starring Tony Award-winner Billy Crudup (THE COAST OF UTOPIA, Spotlight, Vineyard's THE METAL CHILDREN) will extend through December 10.

Magic Theatre (Loretta Greco, Artistic Director and Jaimie Mayer, Managing Director) announced today the complete cast of Barbara Hammond's World Premiere The Eva Trilogy. Previews begin on Thursday, October 19 at Magic Theatre's Fort Mason location, with a press opening on Saturday, October 28. The production is helmed by Magic's Artistic Director Loretta Greco. Tickets are on-sale now, and subscriptions to Magic Theatre's 2017-2018 Season are also available.

Black Button Eyes Productions is pleased to announce casting for its Chicago premiere musical NEVERMORE The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe, the moving life story of the iconic American writer told through haunting music, poetic storytelling and stunning stagecraft, with book, music and lyrics by Jonathan Christenson.

The Ziegfeld Club, Inc., one of New York City's first performing arts charities to benefit women, has announced that Lucile Lortel Award-Nominee Shaina Taub (Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812) has been named the recipient of the third annual Billie Burke Ziegfeld Award (BBZA).

Magic Theatre announced today the complete cast of Barbara Hammond's World Premiere The Eva Trilogy.

The Old Globe presents the first show of its 2017-2018 Season, the world premiere musical Benny & Joon, with book by Kirsten Guenther, music by Nolan Gasser, and lyrics by Mindi Dickstein. Based on the beloved 1993 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture written by Barry Berman and Leslie McNeil, Benny & Joon is directed by Jack Cummings III, Artistic Director of New York's Transport Group.

'Goblin Market' is a macabre fairytale about two women struggling to fight against temptation. Based on the narrative poem by Christina Rossetti, this one-act musical is a world-premiere written by Polly Pen and Peggy Harmon. As a musical production, 'Goblin Market' tells the bulk of the narrative through song, living in this space between being a musical and an opera that makes for an elegant and evocative body of work.