Shakespeare, The O'Neill, Bebe Neuwirth, Eve Ensler and More Set for the NYPL, May-June 2014
By: BWW News Desk May. 01, 2014
Scroll down to learn about some of the upcoming theater programs at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and other NYPL locations throughout the city!
EXHIBITION:
OPENS May 17 Through September 16, 2014
Launchpad of the American Theater: The O'Neill Since 1964
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
40 Lincoln Center Plaza
FREE
Since its founding in 1964, the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center has shaped the course of the American and world theater, creating standard practices and discovering new artists and new work in every discipline. Through its programs in plays, musicals, puppetry, cabaret, criticism, and an undergraduate school, the O'Neill has launched the careers of some of the most talented artists and most recognizable plays and musicals in the American theater. The exhibition celebrates the O'Neill's 50th birthday and will chart the journey from past to present to future with drawings, interviews, videos, photographs, original scripts, and sound. Please note: press preview opportunities are available May 16. Please contact noralyons@nypl.org for further details.
EVENTS:
Saturday, May 3 @ 1pm
Instant Shakespeare Company: King John
Columbus Library
742 10th Avenue
FREE
A reading of Shakespeare's King John by The Instant Shakespeare Company. The company's readings are set up to make Shakespeare accessible. The readings are usually without rehearsal, but they are on-your-feet Instant staged readings where the readers/actors move around as much as they feel comfortable. Founded and run by Paul Sugarman, the company organizes annual readings of ALL of Shakespeare's plays using original Folio & Quarto texts. Great for Shakespeare enthusiasts and newcomers alike.
Monday, May 5 @ 6pm
League of Professional Theatre Women: Oral History Project
With Bebe Neuwirth in Conversation with Patrick Pacheco
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
40 Lincoln Center Plaza
FREE
A conversation with prominent women in theatre, as part of the League's ongoing series which chronicles and documents the contributions of significant women in theatre. This installment features Bebe Neuwirth in conversation with arts journalist Patrick Pacheco. The videotaping of this Oral History will be preserved in the Library's Theatre on Film and Tape Archive.
Wednesday, May 7 @ 12pm
Books at Noon Series: With Author Eve Ensler
The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Astor Hall
5th Avenue and 42nd Street
FREE
http://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2014/05/07/books-noon-eve-ensler
Award-winning author and playwright Eve Ensler will be discuss and sign her books. Her theatrical works include The Good Body, and Necessary Targets. She's also written a political memoir, Insecure at Last, and I Am An Emotional Creature which she has adapted for the stage. Ensler is the founder of V-day, a global movement to end violence against women and girls.
Thursday, May 8 @ 6pm
A Salute To Broadway
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
40 Lincoln Center Plaza
FREE
Harwood Management vocal artists will perform selections from favorite Broadway musicals.
Saturday, May 10 @ 1pm
Instant Shakespeare Company: Romeo and Juliet
St. Agnes Library
444 Amsterdam Avenue
FREE
A reading of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet by The Instant Shakespeare Company. The company's readings are set up to make Shakespeare accessible. The readings are usually without rehearsal, but they are on-your-feet Instant staged readings where the readers/actors move around as much as they feel comfortable. Founded and run by Paul Sugarman, the company organizes annual readings of ALL of Shakespeare's plays using original Folio & Quarto texts. Great for Shakespeare enthusiasts and newcomers alike.
Saturday, May 17 @ 1pm
Instant Shakespeare Company: King Edward
Riverside Library
127 Amsterdam Avenue at West 65th Street
FREE
A reading of Shakespeare's King Edward by The Instant Shakespeare Company. The company's readings are set up to make Shakespeare accessible. The readings are usually without rehearsal, but they are on-your-feet Instant staged readings where the readers/actors move around as much as they feel comfortable. Founded and run by Paul Sugarman, the company organizes annual readings of ALL of Shakespeare's plays using original Folio & Quarto texts. Great for Shakespeare enthusiasts and newcomers alike.
Saturday, May 17 @ 2:30pm
An Afternoon of Opera and Song
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
40 Lincoln Center Plaza
FREE
A program of Broadway and opera music presented by Manhattan Opera Association, featuring soprano Tonia Manteneri, mezzo-soprano Jan Ariosto, bass-baritone Martin Broms, tenor Kevin Courtemanche, and pianist Elizabeth Hastings.
Monday, May 19 @ 6pm
Songbook: Broadway's Future
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
40 Lincoln Center Plaza
FREE
A concert of new music by Broadway composers and lyricists, sung by Broadway vocalists. Presented by Arts and Artists at St. Paul and directed by John Znidarsic.
Thursday, May 22 @ 2:30pm
Peggy-Ann
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
40 Lincoln Center Plaza
FREE
UnsungMusicalsCo. presents a reading of the hit 1926 musical comedy Peggy-Ann, featuring a book by Tony Award winner Herbert Fields and a score by the legendary team of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Set almost entirely within a razzle-dazzle dream sequence, with crazy characters and harebrained happenings, this delight follows a charmingly idealistic Peggy-Ann Barnes as she journeys after the love of her life and gets swept up in the lights of Broadway, the spirited high seas, and the steamy clubs of Havana.
Tuesday, May 27 @ 5pm
Eugene Onegin at NYPL
The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, South Court Auditorium
5th Avenue and 42nd Street
FREE
http://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2014/05/27/eugene-onegin-nypl
Please join the stars of Vakhtangov State Academic Theatre of Russia for a discussion of their U.S. Premiere of the original play Eugene Onegin, which is based on Alexander Pushkin's "novel in verse." Participating artists include Riman Tuminas, Sergey Makovetskiy, Irina Kupchenko, Ludmila Maksakova and Vladimir Vdovichenkov. The cast will discuss the modern interpretation of Pushkin's novel, as well as the history of The Vakhtangov Theater, Russia's most celebrated repertoire theater. The program will be in Russian but translated to English, and will include a Q&A session. The event will be presented by Irina Volkovich, of Literary Theater Dialogue. Vakhtangov State Academic Theater of Russia appears in New York courtesy of Cherry Orchard Festival foundation.
Thursday, May 29 @ 6pm
The O'Neill 50 Years Later: The Developmental Path to Production
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
40 Lincoln Center Plaza
FREE
The O'Neill Center in Waterford, CT. was created at the dawn of the regional theater movement to support the development of new theater. Through trial and error, the Center invented the signature "O'Neill process": a four week retreat for top theater professionals, culminating in public readings of early draft plays. Join us for a discussion about The O'Neill's development process with artists and O'Neill leadership past and present. Presented in conjunction with The Library for the Performing Arts' exhibition Launchpad of the American Theater: The O'Neill Center Since 1964.
Thursday, May 29 @ 6:30pm
We're All Mad Here: The Marx Brothers in Context
Mid-Manhattan Library
455 Fifth Avenue at 40th Street
FREE
The Marx Brothers were a force of nature; their madcap style of comedy has been sweeping audiences off their feet for a century. While it's tempting to think so, the world's most popular comedy team didn't emerge in a vacuum, and while they were the best in the business, they weren't one of a kind. In We're All Mad Here writer/ performer Trav S.D. discusses the vaudeville origins of the Marx Brothers, introducing listeners to the many performers who inspired the team and paved the way for their unique style of performance, including Weber & Fields, the Avon Comedy Four, Smith & Dale, and Gallagher & Shean. The talk will also feature many similar comedians and teams who were contemporaries of the Marx Brothers including Clarke and McCullough, Wheeler and Woolsey, Ed Wynn, Eddie Cantor, and others, and the legacy of these comedians on later generations. This program is part of Marxfest, a month-long celebration commemorating the 100th anniversary of the nicknaming of the Marx Brothers.
Saturday, May 31 @ 1:30pm
Instant Shakespeare Company: All's Well That Ends Well
Epiphany Library
228 East 23rd Street (near Second Ave.)
FREE
The Instant Shakespeare Company holds readings of Shakespeare plays performed by professional actors. Great for Shakespeare enthusiasts and newcomers alike. For this installment, the Company takes on All's Well That Ends Well.
Monday, June 2 @ 6pm
Cut - An Evening of Songs Cut from This Season's Broadway Musicals
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
40 Lincoln Center Plaza
FREE - Please note: About half of the seats for this event will be available for advance reservations. The rest will be available on a first come, first serve basis beginning an hour before the program. For reservation details, visit http://on.nypl.org/1hdX7ll
An evening of songs that have been cut from this season's new Broadway musicals, including songs from The Bridges of Madison County, If/Then, and Rocky featuring performance and commentary by songwriters Jason Robert Brown, Tom Kitt, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty.
Thursday, June 12 @ 6pm
The English Playwright on the Library's Stage: Lecture by Alan Pally with Video Excerpts
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
40 Lincoln Center Plaza
FREE
During his long career as head of the Performing Arts Library's Public Programs Department, Alan Pally brought several English playwrights to the Library. Tonight's presentation will focus on Pally's work with Alan Bennett, Michael Frayn, Simon Gray, and Peter Shaffer. Video excerpts taped live at the programs will feature Eileen Atkins, Simon Russell Beale, Swoosie Kurtz, Robert Sean Leonard, Julian Ovenden, and others.
Thursday, June 19 @ 6pm
Thanks to the O'Neill
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
40 Lincoln Center Plaza
FREE
Successful alumni of The O'Neill Center's National Theater Institute share memories about how the O'Neill shaped their career and craft. Presented in conjunction with The Library for the Performing Arts' exhibition Launchpad of the American Theater: The O'Neill Center Since 1964.
Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski
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