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NYCPlaywrights December 28, 2024
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NYCPlaywrights
Dec 28, 2024, 5:09:20 PM12/28/24
to NYCPlaywrights
Greetings NYCPlaywrights
During the Lunar New Year, family reunions can be moments we eagerly anticipate—or seek to avoid. The concepts of “family” and “home” mean vastly different things to each of us. How do we then celebrate the Lunar New Year? What might a reunion dinner look like? Director Zhenyu Meng (PhD in Theatre and Film Studies from the Shanghai Theatre Academy) collaborates with SpArkling Theatre Studio to present New Year's Eve Dinner at the Gene Frankel Theatre from January 17 to 19.
The Museum of Chinese in America is delighted to host Director Zhenyu Meng and the production team for a participatory theater workshop, Threads of Home. This workshop offers a unique opportunity to glimpse the creative process behind the production, using Chekhov’s acting techniques. Participants will step into the floor plan of a typical northern Chinese household and reflect on their personal experiences. Through guided theatrical activities, participants will engage in an immersive exploration of “home,” where every detail — from props to dialogue to imagined memories — carries intentional meaning. This workshop is open to general public and will be conducted in English.
Saturday, January 11, 2025 · 5:30 - 6:30pm EST
Museum of Chinese in America
215 Centre Street New York, NY 10013
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/moca-presents-threads-of-home-a-participatory-theatre-workshop-tickets-1124737593419?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
*** OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAYWRIGHTS ***
LaBute New Theater Festival 2025
Successful entries will have no more than four characters and be crafted specifically to exploit our intimate performance space. (18′ x 18′ stage) Changes in scenery or setting should be achievable quickly and with few major set moves. Our focus is on fundamental dramaturgy: plot, character and theme.
***
NYLon Fusion is back and so is “This Rounds on Us”!
We’re excited to present: LIFE IN TRANSITION.
Please submit any scripts that speak to the following themes (each will have a separate festival within the 2025-26 season)
~ The Gilded Age/Cage
~ The New Deal
~ The Great Society
***
The Alcazar Theatre Ensemble in Carpinteria, California is looking for submissions.
We call it “Spring Break Theater” and traditionally it incorporates Fairytales reimagined and/or a mash up.
This year we want to do the show for kids during the day, and for families in the evening.
Have you written a short (25-45 min) Fairytale play that would appeal to both kids and adults? Maybe even a G version and a PG version?
*** FOR MORE INFORMATION about these and other opportunities see the web site at https://www.nycplaywrights.org ***
*** TOP 10* MOST-PRODUCED PLAYS OF THE 2024-25 SEASON ***
What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck (16 productions)
Note the last two words in the title of Heidi Schreck’s hit show, “What the Constitution Means to Me”: This is a highly personal take, not a historical or legal lecture. Yet Schreck succeeds in widening her autobiographical play into a paean for basic fairness: The American Constitution, admired as it is, fails to protect all of us from violence and discrimination.
Like the recent captures of “Hamilton” and “American Utopia,” albeit on a much more intimate scale, “What the Constitution Means to Me” (streaming on Amazon) successfully preserves a Broadway experience for the screen. Schreck, who has the amiable presence, storytelling verve and pedagogical chops of an ideal schoolteacher, starts off by recounting how she paid for college with the money she earned as a teenager giving speeches about the Constitution in American Legion halls.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/22/movies/what-the-constitution-means-to-me-review.html
***
Fat Ham by James Ijames (14)
But the critical ask takes place at a backyard barbecue (a lush set by scenic designer Maruti Evans), a fete celebrating the nuptials of Tedra (Nikki Crawford), Juicy’s mother, and Rev (Jones brilliantly doubles as father and uncle). Juicy isn’t a Denmark prince but heir to a barbecue joint and butcher legacy, one that he has turned his back on for an online degree in human resources. The murder is his chance to prove he isn’t what the men of the family take him for: soft, weak.
Under Saheem Ali’s direction, Fat Ham is an exhilarating example of Ijames’s world-building, his prowess for merriment and lyrical musing. Ijames crafts a tender story on Juicy navigating heaps of trauma and betrayal: the murder of his bullish father; his mother’s new marriage; being queer, Black and “soft” in the American south. But amid its tragic undertones, Fat Ham dishes a masterful balance of humor and joy throughout.
More...
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2023/apr/13/fat-ham-review-broadway-hamlet-pulitzer
***
King James by Rajiv Joseph (14)
It takes a while to figure out if Rajiv Joseph’s latest play, “King James” — centered on two fans of the N.B.A. legend LeBron James — is actually about basketball.
This coproduction between Steppenwolf Theater, in Chicago, and Center Theater Group, in Los Angeles, arrives at the Manhattan Theater Club after runs in both of those cities. Similarly, like an imperfect play on the court, the plot travels quite a bit before making its shot. But with two emotionally precise performances agilely directed by Kenny Leon, Joseph’s latest rebounds from its initial inertia, revealing a touching examination of male friendship and the powerful social currents beneath it.
In 2004, Matt (Chris Perfetti), a Cleveland bartender, is trying to unload his season tickets to the Cavaliers’ home games after a bad investment leaves him needing cash fast. Despite not knowing how to check for texts on his Motorola Razr — one of the production’s clever pleasures is the way Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen’s sound design and Todd Rosenthal’s scenic design trace time through evolving cellphones and ringtones — he manages to arrange a meet-up with Shawn (Glenn Davis), a fledgling writer who’s just sold his first story.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/16/theater/king-james-review.html
***
Primary Trust by Eboni Booth (13)
“Primary Trust,” which opened at the Laura Pels Theater in Manhattan on Thursday, finds Kenneth (William Jackson Harper, of “The Good Place”) approaching 40 when the bookstore where he’s worked for 20 years closes shop. (The owner, played by Jay O. Sanders, needs cash for surgery.) But Kenneth has never found a job on his own; social workers helped him get his current one some years after he was orphaned.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/25/theater/primary-trust-review.html
***
Jersey Boys by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice (book), Bob Gaudio (music), Bob Crewe (lyrics) (11)
Jersey Boys is a documentary-style musical about the lives of the original four members of the 1960s Rock & Roll band, The Four Seasons, and its lead vocalist Frankie Valli. It charts the band member’s early days in New Jersey through its rocky early years, where they borrowed money from mobsters to record their first singles, through to national and international fame. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2005, beating The Drowsy Chaperone, The Color Purple and The Wedding Singer.
More...
http://www.keithgow.com/2019/03/review-jersey-boys-by-marshall-brickman.html
***
Waitress by Jessie Nelson (book, adapt. from Adrienne Shelly), Sara Bareilles (music & lyrics) (11)
“Initially we kept Old Joe as a man as that’s how he was portrayed in Adrienne Shelly’s beautiful film and we wanted to honor that,” says book writer Jessie Nelson of writing the character of Old Joe for Broadway’s Waitress. “As our lead character Jenna was surrounded and supported by her women Waitress comrades, it seemed good for the balance to have an irascible male grumpy fairy godfather presence.”
But as time went on, the creative team continued to examine the precedents of the Waitress world. Beginning in 2017, Waitress honored Breast Cancer Awareness month by switching the diner uniforms from the powder blue to pink. In September 2018, the production welcomed the first black actor to tackle the lead role with Nicolette Robinson playing Jenna. “In this moment of time, it seems like a wonderful brush stroke to make the owner a woman—a strong, savvy business woman who is trying to help another woman find her footing.”
More...
https://playbill.com/article/why-sara-bareilles-diane-paulus-and-jessie-nelson-changed-waitress-old-joe-to-josie
***
POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive by Selina Fillinger (11)
POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive begins with Harriet (Yuen) and Jean (Latreille) deliberating over the latest news stemming from the President’s sex and sexism scandals. This includes a disastrous press conference in which he publicly disrespected his wife, Margaret, (a compelling Crystin Gilmore). More female characters are introduced via shocking surprises and humorous twists. The opening scenes set up what should have been coming — a biting commentary on the American political landscape and the strain it puts on professional relationships among women who take up that line of work.
More...
https://artsfuse.org/280327/theater-review-potus-or-behind-every-great-dumbass-are-seven-women-trying-to-keep-him-alive/
***
Dial M for Murder by Frederick Knott, adapt. by Jeffrey Hatcher (10)
The original play Dial M For Murder by Frederick Knott premiered in 1952 first on the West End and then on Broadway, followed in 1954 by the Hitchcock film that cemented its enduring fame. Hatcher reinvigorates the old chestnut with a number of savvy updates, most notably gender swapping the character of Max Hadley and giving Maxine more investigative prowess.
By making Margot’s lover a woman, Hatcher creates a more nuanced, sophisticated story for a contemporary audience. Now, Margot is not merely trapped in an unhappy marriage but, in the 1950s, she is a closeted queer woman. This raises the stakes considerably, and made me root even more for Margot and Maxine to prevail. (Though the script downplays the consequences of outing a queer relationship during this period, this was the height of the lavender scare. While laws prohibiting queerness only applied to men, homophobic policy and sentiment was rampant in both the UK and the US. 1954 was the year Alan Turing died from suicide following his state-sanctioned chemical castration for “gross indecency,” or, for calling the police while he was being robbed and having a man in his bed when they arrived.)
More...
https://rescripted.org/2024/01/02/dial-m-northlight/
***
The Heart Sellers by Lloyd Suh (10)
Admittedly, I have a soft spot for stories about the Asian-American experience. Korea, in particular, has always fascinated me. When I was growing up, I heard my mother’s stories about her life in Korea and the challenges she encountered as an immigrant to the United States. My grandmother’s hardships were worse. Entering the United States as an adult was a culture shock. A new language, different customs, and a life that was completely unrecognizable from the one she had known for thirty years took a toll. I wish I had listened more and asked more questions. She was lonely and yearned for companionship with someone who understood her unique position, much like the two characters in Lloyd Suh’s poignant take on friendship, The Heart Sellers. Its Northern California premiere is happening now at Capital Stage, after which it will then go on to two other Bay Area theatres in a triple co-production.
More...
https://www.broadwayworld.com/sacramento/article/Review-THE-HEART-SELLERS-at-Capital-Stage-is-a-Poignant-Look-at-Friendship-and-Courage-20241023
***
A Case for the Existence of God by Samuel D. Hunter (9)
“A Case for the Existence of God,” which opened on Monday in a Signature Theater production directed exquisitely by David Cromer, is another of Hunter’s public explorations of his own private Idaho: a post-boom, existential vastness in which emotional and economic collapse are conjoined. Earlier plays set in Lewiston, Boise, Pocatello and others have dealt with people failing to thrive in the barrenness of Costcos, Hobby Lobbys and sub-Olive Garden restaurants.
And though “A Case” makes the connection between personal and societal calamity more explicit than ever — can it be just an accident that it’s set in Twin Falls? — it may also be the purest example yet of Hunter’s approach to playwriting as an experiment in empathy.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/02/theater/review-a-case-for-the-existence-of-god-samuel-hunter.html
***
The Play That Goes Wrong by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, Henry Shields (9)
The Play That Goes Wrong, written by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields, and Jonathan Sayer, is a farce that takes place on the opening night of an overly ambitious 1920s-style murder mystery. The play is being performed by a fictional, accident-prone amateur troupe, the Cornley Drama Society, who experiences technical mishaps, minor miscues, and multiple missed lines during the production that quickly escalate into all-out mayhem and the potential for loads of laughs at the actors' expense. Clearly, it's a troupe with "What's the worst that could happen?" as its vision statement and "The show must go on!" as its motto.
More...
https://www.austinchronicle.com/arts/2023-02-17/review-the-play-that-goes-wrong/
*11 due to ties.
*** FREE THEATER IN NYC ***
MOCA PRESENTS - Threads of Home, A Participatory Theatre Workshop
MOCA PRESENTS - Threads of Home, A Participatory Theatre Workshop
During the Lunar New Year, family reunions can be moments we eagerly anticipate—or seek to avoid. The concepts of “family” and “home” mean vastly different things to each of us. How do we then celebrate the Lunar New Year? What might a reunion dinner look like? Director Zhenyu Meng (PhD in Theatre and Film Studies from the Shanghai Theatre Academy) collaborates with SpArkling Theatre Studio to present New Year's Eve Dinner at the Gene Frankel Theatre from January 17 to 19.
The Museum of Chinese in America is delighted to host Director Zhenyu Meng and the production team for a participatory theater workshop, Threads of Home. This workshop offers a unique opportunity to glimpse the creative process behind the production, using Chekhov’s acting techniques. Participants will step into the floor plan of a typical northern Chinese household and reflect on their personal experiences. Through guided theatrical activities, participants will engage in an immersive exploration of “home,” where every detail — from props to dialogue to imagined memories — carries intentional meaning. This workshop is open to general public and will be conducted in English.
Saturday, January 11, 2025 · 5:30 - 6:30pm EST
Museum of Chinese in America
215 Centre Street New York, NY 10013
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/moca-presents-threads-of-home-a-participatory-theatre-workshop-tickets-1124737593419?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
*** OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAYWRIGHTS ***
LaBute New Theater Festival 2025
Successful entries will have no more than four characters and be crafted specifically to exploit our intimate performance space. (18′ x 18′ stage) Changes in scenery or setting should be achievable quickly and with few major set moves. Our focus is on fundamental dramaturgy: plot, character and theme.
***
NYLon Fusion is back and so is “This Rounds on Us”!
We’re excited to present: LIFE IN TRANSITION.
Please submit any scripts that speak to the following themes (each will have a separate festival within the 2025-26 season)
~ The Gilded Age/Cage
~ The New Deal
~ The Great Society
***
The Alcazar Theatre Ensemble in Carpinteria, California is looking for submissions.
We call it “Spring Break Theater” and traditionally it incorporates Fairytales reimagined and/or a mash up.
This year we want to do the show for kids during the day, and for families in the evening.
Have you written a short (25-45 min) Fairytale play that would appeal to both kids and adults? Maybe even a G version and a PG version?
*** FOR MORE INFORMATION about these and other opportunities see the web site at https://www.nycplaywrights.org ***
*** TOP 10* MOST-PRODUCED PLAYS OF THE 2024-25 SEASON ***
What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck (16 productions)
Note the last two words in the title of Heidi Schreck’s hit show, “What the Constitution Means to Me”: This is a highly personal take, not a historical or legal lecture. Yet Schreck succeeds in widening her autobiographical play into a paean for basic fairness: The American Constitution, admired as it is, fails to protect all of us from violence and discrimination.
Like the recent captures of “Hamilton” and “American Utopia,” albeit on a much more intimate scale, “What the Constitution Means to Me” (streaming on Amazon) successfully preserves a Broadway experience for the screen. Schreck, who has the amiable presence, storytelling verve and pedagogical chops of an ideal schoolteacher, starts off by recounting how she paid for college with the money she earned as a teenager giving speeches about the Constitution in American Legion halls.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/22/movies/what-the-constitution-means-to-me-review.html
***
Fat Ham by James Ijames (14)
But the critical ask takes place at a backyard barbecue (a lush set by scenic designer Maruti Evans), a fete celebrating the nuptials of Tedra (Nikki Crawford), Juicy’s mother, and Rev (Jones brilliantly doubles as father and uncle). Juicy isn’t a Denmark prince but heir to a barbecue joint and butcher legacy, one that he has turned his back on for an online degree in human resources. The murder is his chance to prove he isn’t what the men of the family take him for: soft, weak.
Under Saheem Ali’s direction, Fat Ham is an exhilarating example of Ijames’s world-building, his prowess for merriment and lyrical musing. Ijames crafts a tender story on Juicy navigating heaps of trauma and betrayal: the murder of his bullish father; his mother’s new marriage; being queer, Black and “soft” in the American south. But amid its tragic undertones, Fat Ham dishes a masterful balance of humor and joy throughout.
More...
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2023/apr/13/fat-ham-review-broadway-hamlet-pulitzer
***
King James by Rajiv Joseph (14)
It takes a while to figure out if Rajiv Joseph’s latest play, “King James” — centered on two fans of the N.B.A. legend LeBron James — is actually about basketball.
This coproduction between Steppenwolf Theater, in Chicago, and Center Theater Group, in Los Angeles, arrives at the Manhattan Theater Club after runs in both of those cities. Similarly, like an imperfect play on the court, the plot travels quite a bit before making its shot. But with two emotionally precise performances agilely directed by Kenny Leon, Joseph’s latest rebounds from its initial inertia, revealing a touching examination of male friendship and the powerful social currents beneath it.
In 2004, Matt (Chris Perfetti), a Cleveland bartender, is trying to unload his season tickets to the Cavaliers’ home games after a bad investment leaves him needing cash fast. Despite not knowing how to check for texts on his Motorola Razr — one of the production’s clever pleasures is the way Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen’s sound design and Todd Rosenthal’s scenic design trace time through evolving cellphones and ringtones — he manages to arrange a meet-up with Shawn (Glenn Davis), a fledgling writer who’s just sold his first story.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/16/theater/king-james-review.html
***
Primary Trust by Eboni Booth (13)
“Primary Trust,” which opened at the Laura Pels Theater in Manhattan on Thursday, finds Kenneth (William Jackson Harper, of “The Good Place”) approaching 40 when the bookstore where he’s worked for 20 years closes shop. (The owner, played by Jay O. Sanders, needs cash for surgery.) But Kenneth has never found a job on his own; social workers helped him get his current one some years after he was orphaned.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/25/theater/primary-trust-review.html
***
Jersey Boys by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice (book), Bob Gaudio (music), Bob Crewe (lyrics) (11)
Jersey Boys is a documentary-style musical about the lives of the original four members of the 1960s Rock & Roll band, The Four Seasons, and its lead vocalist Frankie Valli. It charts the band member’s early days in New Jersey through its rocky early years, where they borrowed money from mobsters to record their first singles, through to national and international fame. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2005, beating The Drowsy Chaperone, The Color Purple and The Wedding Singer.
More...
http://www.keithgow.com/2019/03/review-jersey-boys-by-marshall-brickman.html
***
Waitress by Jessie Nelson (book, adapt. from Adrienne Shelly), Sara Bareilles (music & lyrics) (11)
“Initially we kept Old Joe as a man as that’s how he was portrayed in Adrienne Shelly’s beautiful film and we wanted to honor that,” says book writer Jessie Nelson of writing the character of Old Joe for Broadway’s Waitress. “As our lead character Jenna was surrounded and supported by her women Waitress comrades, it seemed good for the balance to have an irascible male grumpy fairy godfather presence.”
But as time went on, the creative team continued to examine the precedents of the Waitress world. Beginning in 2017, Waitress honored Breast Cancer Awareness month by switching the diner uniforms from the powder blue to pink. In September 2018, the production welcomed the first black actor to tackle the lead role with Nicolette Robinson playing Jenna. “In this moment of time, it seems like a wonderful brush stroke to make the owner a woman—a strong, savvy business woman who is trying to help another woman find her footing.”
More...
https://playbill.com/article/why-sara-bareilles-diane-paulus-and-jessie-nelson-changed-waitress-old-joe-to-josie
***
POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive by Selina Fillinger (11)
POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive begins with Harriet (Yuen) and Jean (Latreille) deliberating over the latest news stemming from the President’s sex and sexism scandals. This includes a disastrous press conference in which he publicly disrespected his wife, Margaret, (a compelling Crystin Gilmore). More female characters are introduced via shocking surprises and humorous twists. The opening scenes set up what should have been coming — a biting commentary on the American political landscape and the strain it puts on professional relationships among women who take up that line of work.
More...
https://artsfuse.org/280327/theater-review-potus-or-behind-every-great-dumbass-are-seven-women-trying-to-keep-him-alive/
***
Dial M for Murder by Frederick Knott, adapt. by Jeffrey Hatcher (10)
The original play Dial M For Murder by Frederick Knott premiered in 1952 first on the West End and then on Broadway, followed in 1954 by the Hitchcock film that cemented its enduring fame. Hatcher reinvigorates the old chestnut with a number of savvy updates, most notably gender swapping the character of Max Hadley and giving Maxine more investigative prowess.
By making Margot’s lover a woman, Hatcher creates a more nuanced, sophisticated story for a contemporary audience. Now, Margot is not merely trapped in an unhappy marriage but, in the 1950s, she is a closeted queer woman. This raises the stakes considerably, and made me root even more for Margot and Maxine to prevail. (Though the script downplays the consequences of outing a queer relationship during this period, this was the height of the lavender scare. While laws prohibiting queerness only applied to men, homophobic policy and sentiment was rampant in both the UK and the US. 1954 was the year Alan Turing died from suicide following his state-sanctioned chemical castration for “gross indecency,” or, for calling the police while he was being robbed and having a man in his bed when they arrived.)
More...
https://rescripted.org/2024/01/02/dial-m-northlight/
***
The Heart Sellers by Lloyd Suh (10)
Admittedly, I have a soft spot for stories about the Asian-American experience. Korea, in particular, has always fascinated me. When I was growing up, I heard my mother’s stories about her life in Korea and the challenges she encountered as an immigrant to the United States. My grandmother’s hardships were worse. Entering the United States as an adult was a culture shock. A new language, different customs, and a life that was completely unrecognizable from the one she had known for thirty years took a toll. I wish I had listened more and asked more questions. She was lonely and yearned for companionship with someone who understood her unique position, much like the two characters in Lloyd Suh’s poignant take on friendship, The Heart Sellers. Its Northern California premiere is happening now at Capital Stage, after which it will then go on to two other Bay Area theatres in a triple co-production.
More...
https://www.broadwayworld.com/sacramento/article/Review-THE-HEART-SELLERS-at-Capital-Stage-is-a-Poignant-Look-at-Friendship-and-Courage-20241023
***
A Case for the Existence of God by Samuel D. Hunter (9)
“A Case for the Existence of God,” which opened on Monday in a Signature Theater production directed exquisitely by David Cromer, is another of Hunter’s public explorations of his own private Idaho: a post-boom, existential vastness in which emotional and economic collapse are conjoined. Earlier plays set in Lewiston, Boise, Pocatello and others have dealt with people failing to thrive in the barrenness of Costcos, Hobby Lobbys and sub-Olive Garden restaurants.
And though “A Case” makes the connection between personal and societal calamity more explicit than ever — can it be just an accident that it’s set in Twin Falls? — it may also be the purest example yet of Hunter’s approach to playwriting as an experiment in empathy.
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/02/theater/review-a-case-for-the-existence-of-god-samuel-hunter.html
***
The Play That Goes Wrong by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, Henry Shields (9)
The Play That Goes Wrong, written by Henry Lewis, Henry Shields, and Jonathan Sayer, is a farce that takes place on the opening night of an overly ambitious 1920s-style murder mystery. The play is being performed by a fictional, accident-prone amateur troupe, the Cornley Drama Society, who experiences technical mishaps, minor miscues, and multiple missed lines during the production that quickly escalate into all-out mayhem and the potential for loads of laughs at the actors' expense. Clearly, it's a troupe with "What's the worst that could happen?" as its vision statement and "The show must go on!" as its motto.
More...
https://www.austinchronicle.com/arts/2023-02-17/review-the-play-that-goes-wrong/
*11 due to ties.
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