Launch CT Chapter League of Professional Theatre Women

Women working in theater throughout Connecticut have launched an official chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women with events in northern and southern Connecticut.

The first launch event was held Aug. 15 in Hartford and included a panel featuring Playwright T.D. Mitchell, Hartford Stage's Associate Artistic Director ElizaBeth Williamson and Jacqueline Hubbard, Executive Artistic Director at Ivoryton Playhouse. Tracey Moore, an associate professor at University of Hartford's Hartt's Theatre Division, moderated.

A "Seal of Approval" award was presented to Hartford Stage in recognition of the theater's efforts to present works by women on its stage last year as well as this year. Williamson accepted the award.

A second Launch event (starting at 6 with light refreshments and a chance to mingle, will be held Monday, Sept. 12 at Westport Country Playhouse's Lortel White Barn. Longtime League veteran Betty Corwin (producer of the League's Oral History series at the NY Pulic Library of the Performing Arts) will give welcoming remarks, followed by a panel discussion on the theme "Lean In and Branch Out: Claiming our Voice as Women in Connecticut Theater."

Panelists include Anne Keefe (former artistic director at Westport Country layhouse and curator of its popular Script in Hand play reading series), Pat Flicker Addiss (Tony-Award-winning Broadway producer and producer of BUYER AND CELLAR which recently had a run at The Playhouse), Director Jenn Thompson (BYE BYE BIRDIE at Goodspeed and THE CALL at TheaterWorks) and actresses Mia Dillon. The moderator is Producer/Director Marie Reynolds.

A second Seal of Approval award will be presented.

This event is free to women working in theater, but reservations are required because of limited space. Register for this event here: http://tinyurl.com/CT-LAUNCH-WESTPORT

The Connecticut Chapter of LPTW is co-founded by state residents and members of the League of Professional Theatre Women Lauren Yarger (Broadway and Connecticut theater critic and contributor to BroadwayWorld.com), Reynolds (theater director/producer), Mary Miko, (special events coordinator at Goodspeed) and Moore. All women in Connecticut working in professional theater are invited to join the chapter which will hold regional meetings throughout the year. A festival of works by women will be presented in Fall of 2017.

For more information, contact LaurenYarger@hotmail.com.

ABOUT THE WESTPORT PANELISTS:

Pat Flicker Addiss has produced numerous shows on and Off Broadway including Buyer and Cellar, Vanya, and Sonia and Masha and Spike, A Christmas Story The Musical, Promises, Promises, The 39 Steps, Spring Awakening, Passing Strange. Chita Rivera; The Dancer's Life Bridge and Tunnel and Little Women.Currently serving on the Board of the League of Professional Theatre Women, her passion is for creating opportunities for young women in the 21st Century.

Mia Dillon has appeared at Westport Country Playhouse in Once A Catholic, Return Engagements, Speed-The-Plow, Angel Street, Our Town, A Song at Twilight and in various Script-In-Hand play readings. Her many award nods include a a Clarence Derwent Award and Tony, Barrymore and Drama Desk Award nominations.

Anne Keefe, an associate artist at Westport Country Playhouse, served as artistic director there with JoAnne Woodward in 2008 and as associate artistic director from 2000-2006. At Westport Country Playhouse, she co-directed a production of David Copperfield, directed readings of And Then There Were None, Harvey, Bedroom Farce, A Song at Twilight, Chapter Two and many more, as part of the popular Script in Hand program. She was awarded the Del Hughes Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Stage Managers' Association. In October of 2012, she was honored by the Connecticut Women's' Hall of Fame as one of 10 Women of Distinction as well as receiving the Westport Arts Award for Theatre. In 2016 she received the Tom Killan Award from the Connecticut Critics Circle

Jenn Thompson's freelance directing work has been seen in NYC and across the country. Her recent production of Women Without Men, for Off-Broadway's Mint Theatre Company, garnered 2016 Lortel and Off-Broadway Alliance Award nominations for Outstanding Revival as well as five Drama Desk Award nominations including Outstanding Director and Revival. She served as co-artistic director of Off-Broadway's TACT/The Actors Company Theatre from 2011 to 2015. She has developed work at MCC, Primary Stages, The Mint Theatre Company, Hartford Stage, York Theatre Company, Abingdon Theatre Company, The Bridge Theatre and Rattlestick, among others. She also spent 19 seasons with Connecticut's award-winning River Rep at the Ivoryton Playhouse where she served as producing director working on more than 50 productionS. Thompson was a 2012 finalist for the SDC's Joe A. Callaway Award, for excellence in New York City directing.

Marie Reynolds (moderator) was a model for 35 years and shot more than 80 national TV commercials. On TV, she played Mickey Barlowe on "All My Children," traded comedy lines on "Late Night" with Conan O'Brien, and on David Letterman's "Late Show," and has many other appearance credits. Since receiving an MFA in Theatre at Sarah Lawrence College in 2002, Marie has concentrated on directing and producing. She was a Founding Producer of the New York Musical Festival (NYMF), produced Pterodactyl Island, The Seagull (musical), directed for Falcon Rep and Theatre Actors Workshop in Connecticut and served two terms on the board of Shakespeare on the Sound. She is currently developing a new play, Florence Nightingale, The Bitch Of Balaclava.

ABOUT THE LEAGUE OF PROFESSIONAL THEATRE WOMEN:

An advocacy organization with a mission to reinforce the positive image of, promote the visibility of, and increase opportunities for women in the arts and entertainment industries, more particularly professional theater, with a goal to enrich and infuse culture, the League is a support system for women in theatre, in which they serve as resources for each other by mutual sharing of experiences, insights and work. The League links women in professional theater with colleagues in college and university theaters and with women in other performing arts organizations in the United States and abroad. For more information about the league or to join the Connecticut chapter, visit theatrewomen.org.

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