Jess Barbagallo News

Today is quite the magical day because it's the birthday of one of the most famous wizards in the wizarding world, Harry Potter! To celebrate the special occasion, we're looking back at opening night of The Boy Who Lived's venture on Broadway: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child! Hop on the Hogwarts Express and check out the video to see Jamie Parker, Sam Clemmett, Anthony Boyle, and more on the special night!

Initial casting and remaining directors have been announced for Pride Plays, an upcoming festival of play readings to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. Nick Mayo serves as Festival Director.

LA MAMA SQUIRTS - presented by La MaMa, the Tony Award-winning theater in NYC, in association with Helix Queer Performance Network - will gather a collective of exciting voices from New York City's queer performance world, across multiple generations and with deep roots in the community to mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, with a weekend of performances curated by three trans women, May 31 - June 2 at Ellen Stewart Theatre (66 East 4th Street) in Manhattan as part of World Pride celebration.

Queer|Art, New York City's home for the creative and professional development of LGBTQ+ artists, is pleased to announce the Summer 2019 season of Queer|Art|Film at IFC Center (323 Sixth Avenue at West 3rd St.), May 13-August 26. Curated by filmmakers Ira Sachs and Adam Baran, the season features films about (and starring) fierce, funny, and fabulous women, presented by a multigenerational lineup of queer drag icons, playwrights, and performance artists.

May is Lower East Side History Month, and Queer|Art is the new kid on the LES block, having recently relocated their offices from Nolita to the East Village this past year. Heralding their arrival to the neighborhood, they've organized four days of programming throughout May to celebrate the queer past, present, and future of their beloved new East Village home.

The Chocolate Factory Theater (www.chocolatefactorytheater.org) continues its Thirteenth Anniversary season with the premiere of More Problems with Form, a new performance by Lauren Bakst. Tickets are $20 and may be purchased in advance at (212) 352-3101 or www.chocolatefactorytheater.org.

Queer|Art, the New York City-based non-profit supporting the creative and professional development of LGBTQ artists, continues the Winter 2019 season of Queer|Art|Film at IFC Center on March 4 and April 8. Queer|Art|Film, presented by HBO, is a monthly screening series in which some of New York's most unique artists present and discuss the films that have most inspired them. This season Queer Art's flipping the script by inviting celebrated drag queens to present and discuss films that have inspired their craft in post-screening kikis. Curated by Adam Baran and Brooklyn drag diva Lady Quesadilla, this season entitled 'Winter's a Drag,' serves as the sequel to the 2014 Summer of Drag season. More info is below; screenings begin at 8pm.

Queer|Art, the New York City-based non-profit supporting the creative and professional development of LGBTQ artists, is pleased to announce the Winter 2019 season of Queer|Art|Film at IFC Center, presented by HBO. Queer|Art|Film is a monthly screening series in which some of New York's most unique artists present and discuss the films that have most inspired them. This season Queer Art's flipping the script by inviting four celebrated drag queens to present and discuss films that have inspired their craft in post-screening kikis. Curated by Adam Baran and Brooklyn drag diva Lady Quesadilla, this season entitled 'Winter's a Drag,' serves as the sequel to the 2014 Summer of Drag season. A full itinerary follows. All screenings begin at 8pm.

Queer|Art, the New York City-based non-profit, is pleased to announce the judges for the second annual Barbara Hammer Lesbian Experimental Filmmaking Grant: archivist and curator Carmel Curtis, and video artists Cecilia Dougherty and Ayanna U'Dongo.

Over 100,000 tickets at all price points will be released on today at 11:00 AM ET for the Tony Award-winning Broadway production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the fully renovated Lyric Theatre (214 West 43rd Street, New York, NY). This further block of tickets is for performances through June 9, 2019 at all price points starting from $40.

The Tank will present the World Premiere of When We Went Electronic, written by Caitlin Saylor Stephens

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center presents its annual PRELUDE FESTIVAL on October 4, 5, and 6 at The Graduate Center, CUNY, The City University of New York, curated by Andrew Kircher in collaboration with Frank Hentschker.

Over 100,000 tickets at all price points will be released on Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 11:00 AM ET for the Broadway production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. More details will be announced soon

Queer|Art, the New York City-based non-profit supporting the creative and professional development of LGBTQ artists, is pleased to announce the Fall 2018 season of Queer|Art|Film at IFC Center (323 Sixth Avenue at West 3rd St.), September 17-December 3. Curated by filmmakers Ira Sachs, Adam Baran, and Vanessa Haroutunian, the season brings together an eclectic mix of independent, experimental, and Hollywood cinema, presented by a multigenerational lineup of queer visual artists, poets, composers, and cinema legends. A highlight of the season is a special experimental shorts program on the evening of December 3 (organized with legendary experimental filmmaker Barbara Hammer), which coincides with the announcement of the winner of the 2018 Barbara Hammer Lesbian Experimental Filmmaking Grant. A full itinerary follows. All screenings begin at 8pm.

The Tony and Olivier Award-winning Best Play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has set a new Broadway record for weekly ticket sales for a play, reporting a gross of $2,277,446 for the week ending June 17, 2018. This passes the high mark set by the two-part play in previews the week ending April 8, 2018 ($2,138,859) and the previous top grossing play, All The Way, which peaked at $1,623,495 in 2014.

Ahead of the 2018 Tony Awards this weekend, John Dickerson of the CBS This Morning podcast has an extended interview with two stars of the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The two-part, five-hour play catches up with the beloved characters 19 years after the final book, as adults with children at Hogwarts. It is nominated for 10 Tony Awards.

Hailed as "The best LBGTQ Theater Festival in New York" by The Village Voice, HOT! The NYC Celebration of Queer Culture returns to Dixon Place for its 27th season. The oldest festival of its kind in the world, HOT showcases over 100 artists' most daring new work in theatre, dance, music, puppetry, literature, visual arts, and homoeroticism for the whole family! Tickets, ranging from free to $21, can be purchased from the Festival page at http://dixonplace.org/category/hot-festival/ or by calling 866-811-4111. All performances are at Dixon Place, 161A Chrystie Street, in Manhattan's lower east side.

In the final scene of the last 'Harry Potter' movie, Harry, Ron and Hermione send their children off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. That's where the new Broadway play, 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,' picks up. J.K. Rowling's beloved characters are adults and their children are having adventures at Hogwarts. The two-part, five-hour play is nominated for 10 Tony Awards and already won a record nine Olivier Awards in England. Jamie Parker, who plays Harry Potter, and Noma Dumezweni, who plays Hermione Granger, join 'CBS This Morning' to discuss stepping into the shoes of such beloved characters, the decision to cast a black woman to play Hermione, and why fans have helped keep the plot under wraps.

After a sold out performance in February, trans actor, performer and writer, Becca Blackwell returns to Joe's Pub with laugh out loud family tragedy, They, Themself and Schmerm, for two nights only, Sunday, June 24th (Gay Pride Day) and Tuesday, June 26th.