William Gibson News

March Madness may be in town but Midlands stages are still open for business!

The award-winning, autobiographical comedy MY LIFE ON A DIET, starring Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning writer and actress Renee Taylor ("The Nanny"), kicks off a national tour this weekend with three performances at The Gateway, Performing Arts Center of Suffolk County (215 South Country Road, Bellport, NY 11713) on Friday, March 15 at 8pm and Saturday, March 16 at 3pm & 8pm.  The tour continues with a limited run at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts' Lovelace Studio Theater (9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90210) from Friday, April 5 through Sunday, April 14.

It's a packed St. Pat's weekend on Midlands stages!

5th Wall Theatre and TheatreLAB are teaming up again to co-produce the Women's Theatre Festival beginning March 27, 2019. With the increased focus on Women's Rights, the Equal Rights Amendment, and the #MeToo movement, the Artistic Directors of 5th Wall Theatre and TheatreLAB, Carol Piersol and Deejay Gray, have created this festival to celebrate, champion, and advance women's rights, women's stories, and the work of female theatre artists in Richmond.

The Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts presents the Los Angeles premiere of Renee Taylor's MY LIFE ON A DIET, the award-winning, autobiographical comedy written by Taylor and Joseph Bologna, which opens its 12 performance, limited engagement on Friday, April 5 and continues through Sunday, April 14, 2019, in The Wallis's Bram Goldsmith Theater.

The award-winning, autobiographical comedy MY LIFE ON A DIET, starring Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning writer and actress Renee Taylor, will kick off a national tour this spring with three performances at The Gateway, Performing Arts Center of Suffolk County (215 South Country Road, Bellport, NY 11713) on Friday, March 15 at 8pm and Saturday, March 16 at 3pm & 8pm. The tour continues with a limited run at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts' Lovelace Studio Theater (9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90210) from Friday, April 5 through Sunday, April 14. Dates in other cities across the U.S. and in Canada will be announced in the coming weeks.

Last night, Renee Taylor won the annual The United Solo Special Award, which recognizes artists who have made significant recent contributions to solo theatre during the year, for her critically acclaimed autobiographical comedy MY LIFE ON A DIET. Along with Ms. Taylor, this year's nominees included Derek DelGaudio (In & Of Itself), Alison S. M. Kobayashi (Say Something Bunny!), John Lithgow (Stories By Heart), Chita Rivera (An Evening with Chita Rivera) and Bruce Springsteen (Springsteen on Broadway).

Artists Repertory Theatre presents Everybody, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, a Pulitzer Prize finalist for Drama. The production is co-directed by Jessica Wallenfels and Damaso Rodriguez, and is an inventive twist on a medieval morality play. Everybody runs from November 25 through December 30 on the Alder Stage.

After being crowned 2017 Oldie of the Year and appearing in the first two series of Jack Dee's critically-acclaimed sitcom Bad Move, the ninety-three year old star returns as Golda Meir in this renowned adaptation of William Gibson's Golda.

Drayton Entertainment will present a knockout playbill in 2019 packed with Broadway blockbusters, hilarious comedies, stirring tributes, fun-filled family musicals and a few more dramas than in previous seasons. Artistic Director Alex Mustakas continues his bid to bring a wide variety of crowd-pleasing productions to the award-winning charitable not-for-profit theatre organization's seven stages throughout Ontario.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) opens its 2018-19 season with Frank Galati's award-winning adaptation of John Steinbeck's, "The Grapes of Wrath." Gary English will direct. Performances will be held in the Harriet S. Jorgenson Theatre from October 4th through October 14th, 2018. For tickets and information please visit crt.uconn.edu or call (860) 486-2113.

My Life On A Diet, Renee Taylor's critically acclaimed autobiographical solo comedy, announce that the Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning writer and actress will hold three scheduled post-show talkbacks. The talkbacks will happen immediately following the performances on Friday, August 24th at 7 pm, Saturday, August 25th at 7 pm, and Friday, August 31st at 7 pm. Written by Ms. Taylor and her late husband Joseph Bologna, and originally directed by Mr. Bologna, MY LIFE ON A DIET is scheduled to run through Sunday, September 2, 2018 Off-Broadway at Theatre at St. Clement's (423 West 46 Street, between Ninth & Tenth Aves).

MORMON BOY TRILOGY, three solo plays written and performed by Outer Critics Circle Award Nominee Steven Fales and directed by Bay Street Theater's Artistic Director, Scott Schwartz, will play Bay Street this week in a special engagement.

Bay Street Theater is pleased to announce Confessions of a Mormon Boy as a special Mainstage Season bonus production this summer, written and performed by Outer Critics Circle Award Nominee Steven Fales and directed by Bay Street Theater's Artistic Director, Scott Schwartz.

Bay Street Theater and Sag Harbor Center for the Arts is pleased to announce that Confessions of a Mormon Boy, a special Mainstage Season bonus production, is now in rehearsal. Confessions of a Mormon Boy is written and performed by Outer Critics Circle Award Nominee Steven Fales and directed by Bay Street Theater's Artistic Director, Scott Schwartz. The one-man play will have five showings only from July 17 - July 22 and is Part 1 in Fales' new Mormon Boy Trilogy. Performances will be held on Tuesday, July 17 at 7 pm; Thursday, July 19 at 5 pm for a special Twilight Performance; Friday, July 20 at 8 pm; Saturday, July 21 at 5 pm for a second Twilight Performance; and Sunday, July 22 at 2 pm. Tickets for Confessions of a Mormon Boy are on sale now and range from $40 - $136. To purchase, visit baystreet.org or call the Box Office at 631-725-9500.

Two broken souls reach out to each other in an attempt to stick themselves back together again.

In the past, immersive theater productions were something seen in bigger cities. But now, Seed Art Share has brought immersive 'shared art' experiences to the Triangle. Next month, the company is presenting William Gibson's classic play THE MIRACLE WORKER at The Borden House in Fletcher Park. I had the chance to sit down with Dustin Britt (Director), Havana Blum (Helen) and Heather Strickland (Anne Sullivan) on location at The Borden House to talk about the challenges of staging an immersive production and Helen Keller's legacy.

The story of young Helen Keller and her tenacious teacher Annie Sullivan has captivated audiences and historians for years. In his 1959 play, The Miracle Worker, William Gibson documented the Keller family's journey out of darkness, thanks to Annie's disciplined tutelage. The audience moves throughout the production--retracing the Kellers' month-long emotional journey--in the beautiful Borden Building and surrounding gardens of Raleigh's Fred Fletcher Park. The action happens in and around the audience, providing for a uniquely immersive and transporting experience. Rather than watching from a cold distance, patrons are fully present inside the Keller homestead, the Perkins School for the Blind, and even within Annie Sullivan's subconscious. The production includes a diverse cast of nearly 20 artists, including a number of promising child actors and the Keller family dog.

Buckland Theatre Company is making its West End debut in July at Trafalgar Studios with William Gibson's 1950s comedy-drama, Two For The Seesaw. Charles Dorfman, a founder of the company who has done work across theatre and film, will star as Jerry. Elsie Bennett, who has worked across television, film, and theatre, will play Gittel.

You know a play is good if it moves you. If it moves you to tears, it's really good. And if it moves you to tears mixed with laughter, it is almost a miracle.