Quiara Hudes News

The current American president is never mentioned in bookwriter/lyricist Quiara Alegria Hudes and composer/lyricist Erin McKeown's lovely and touching chamber musical MISS YOU LIKE HELL.  But even though the piece has been in development well before anyone thought of the former reality TV star as a serious candidate, his presence is well-felt in their story of an undocumented Mexican-American mom who is facing deportation while trying to rebuild her relationship with her citizen daughter.

According to Deadline, the upcoming IN THE HEIGHTS film was able to successfully remove itself from the control of The Weinstein Company before it went into bankruptcy.

Producers Darlene Kaplan, Laura Janik Cronin and Scott Newsome, in association with Alec Seymour, present the Off-Broadway premiere of The Stone Witch, a play by Shem Bitterman (A Death in Colombia, Influence).  Performances begin Monday, March 12, 2018 for an open-ended engagement atThe Westside Theatre - Upstairs (407 West 43rd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues).  Opening Night is Sunday evening, March 25, 2018 at 6:30PM.

The third and final play, THE HAPPIEST SONG PLAYS LAST, is being presented by the Latino Theater Company, directed by Edward Torres with the heart and soul of Latino culture brought into crystal clear focus. Set to the joyful sounds of traditional Puerto Rican folk music beautifully played onstage by guitarist Nelson Gonzalez, HAPPIEST SONG chronicles a year in the life of two kindred souls as they search for love, meaning and a sense of hope in a quickly changing world. At the dawn of the Arab Spring in an ancient Jordanian town, Elliot, an Iraq War veteran (Peter Pasco), struggles to overcome the traumas of combat by taking on an entirely new and unexpected career: an action-film hero. At the same time, halfway around the world in a cozy North Philadelphia kitchen, his cousin, Yaz (Elisa Bocanegra), takes on a heroic new role of her own as the heart and soul of her crumbling community, providing hot meals and an open door for the needy.

Quiara Alegria Hudes is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who wrote the book for the Broadway musical "In the Heights," which received the 2008 Tony Award for Best Musical, a Tony nomination for Best Book of a Musical and was a 2009 Pulitzer Prize finalist. Her Pulitzer-nominated and winning trilogy of plays known as the "Elliot Trilogy" are now being presented concurrently, giving Los Angeles theatre audiences a rare opportunity to immerse themselves in this exciting playwright's work. ELLIOT, A SOLDIER'S FUGUE, the first in her trilogy of Elliot plays, is being produced by Center Theatre Group at the Kirk Douglas Theatre at the same time they are presenting the second play in the trilogy, Hudes' Pulitzer-winning WATER BY THE SPOONFUL at the Mark Taper Forum. The Latino Theater Company will present the final installment of the trilogy with their production of THE HAPPIEST SONG PLAYS LAST at the Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC) opening later this month.

Elizabeth Birnkrant, known for her roles in JESUS HOPPED THE A TRAIN for Eclipse Theatre, 1984 at Steppenwolf, VICES AND VIRTUES: THE GREAT WAR at Profiles Theatre and other roles with Sideshow, First Floor and Roadworks theatre companies, has been cast in the leading role of L'il Bit in The Artistic Home's production of Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize winning HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE. The Artistic Home co-founder John Mossman will play Uncle Peck, the family member who has a sexual relationship with his niece Li'l Bit during her pre-teen and teenage years. Mossman, who directed The Artistic Home's BY THE BOG OF CATS last year, as an actor has most recently appeared as Leontes in THE WINTERS TALE and O'Trigger in THE RIVALS at Lakeside Shakespeare Theatre.  He has also appeared with The Artistic Home as MACBETH and as Shannon in NIGHT OF THE IGUANA. He played Atticus Finch in Oak Park Festival Theatre's TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and performed in the Steppenwolf production of THE MARCH.

The Artistic Home will continue its 2017-18 season with Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize winning HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE, to be directed by The Artistic Home's Associate Artistic Director Kayla Adams. It will open to the press Sunday, March 25 at 7:00 pm, following previews from March 21-24. HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE, which premiered in 1997, was a Pulitzer Prize winner and a pioneering drama for its examination of pedophilia and sexual abuse of women. It follows a young woman, named L'il Bit, from age 11 to age 18 and her friendship and sexual affair with her uncle. Director Adams says, this courageous and surprising script reminds me again and again of the healing power of storytelling. In reviewing the 2017 production by the Cleveland Playhouse, the Cleveland PLAIN DEALER said, We can rejoice that 'How I Learned to Drive' feels as fresh and fearless as it did two decades ago - and mourn for the same reason.

Quiara Alegria Hudes, who was nominated for a 2007 Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize for Drama for writing the book for Broadway musical IN THE HEIGHTS, has requested The Weinstein Company relinquish its ties to the show.

Pivot Arts is pleased to present the world premiere of DON'T LOOK BACK/MUST LOOK BACK, a site-specific performance experience in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood, conceived by Julieanne Ehre, written by Tanya Palmer, directed by Devon de Mayo and devised by an ensemble of actors and designers. Audience members are taken on an immersive journey inspired by the stories and experiences of Uptown residents, many of whom came to Uptown as refugees.

Greenhouse Theater Center is pleased to present USE IT OR LOSE IT: An Evening of Short Plays About Your Rights, original works inspired by contemporary and historic legal battles the ACLU has fought on behalf of Americans' rights and freedoms

Greenhouse Theater Center (GTC) and Artistic Director Jacob Harvey are pleased to announce the formation of the new MC-10 Playwrights Ensemble, a collection of ten of the country's most sought-after established and mid-career Chicago playwrights and theatre-makers. The ensemble will be in residence at the Greenhouse Theater Center and will create new works for its stages. Beginning with the 2018-19 season, the Greenhouse will present one play per season by MC-10 member playwrights, eventually expanding to two MC-10 productions per season. These world and regional premieres aim to expand the scope, diversity and visibility of work happening at the Greenhouse and underscore the institution's commitment to creating new vital works for the American theatrical canon.

Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT) announces a world-class lineup of teaching artists for 2017-18 Young Company, the one-of-a-kind youth program that has kids tell their own stories through theatre and stay connected with MRT all year long.

Primary Stages presents the New York premiere of FADE, written by Tanya Saracho (Mala Hierba) and directed by Jerry Ruiz (Basilica). The cast of FADE will feature Annie Dow (SONG FOR THE DISAPPEARED) as 'Lucia' and Eddie Martinez ('Sense8') as 'Abel'.

Daryl Roth, Elizabeth Ireland McCann and Cody Lassen, the producers of Indecent -- the newest work by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel (HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE) -- have announced that the entire original Off-Broadway ensemble will travel to Broadway when the production begins previews at the Cort Theatre (138 West 48th Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues), on April 4, prior to its official opening night on April 18.

Primary Stages presents the New York premiere of FADE, written by Tanya Saracho (Mala Hierba) and directed by Jerry Ruiz (Basilica). The cast of FADE will feature Annie Dow (SONG FOR THE DISAPPEARED) as 'Lucia' and Eddie Martinez ('Sense8') as 'Abel'.

Primary Stages has announced complete casting today for the New York premiere of FADE, written by Tanya Saracho (Mala Hierba) and directed by Jerry Ruiz (Basilica).

Artists Repertory Theatre, in collaboration with Staged!, presents A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS: AN AMERICAN MUSICAL CELEBRATION for the holidays.

Artists Repertory Theatre, in collaboration with Staged!, presents A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS: AN AMERICAN MUSICAL CELEBRATION for the holidays.

La Jolla Playhouse presents the world-premiere production of Miss You Like Hell, book and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara Alegria Hudes (In the Heights, Water by the Spoonful), music and lyrics by acclaimed singer/songwriter Erin McKeown, directed by Lear deBessonet (Public Theatre's The Odyssey) and choreographed by Danny Mefford(Broadway's Fun Home).