Industry Theatre Newsroom Page 63

ANDTheatre Company has announced a new industry reading of 'To Get to Saturn and Back', by playwright Marta Barceló from Mallorca, translated from the Catalan by H.J. Gardner. 'To Get to Saturn and Back' is a one-person monologue for a female character undergoing breast cancer, taking place in Palma de Mallorca.

RWS Entertainment Group, the world’s largest full-service live entertainment production company, has tapped Rochelle Wilhelm for the newly created Director of Business Development position.

Producers Isaac Robert Hurwitz and Seth A. Goldstein have announced the launch of Hugo Six, a transmedia production company with Broadway content and talent at its core. The company is dedicated to creating diverse and dynamic content for the stage and screen that will captivate, enlighten and inspire contemporary audiences. 

The theme of the past few weeks has shifted to labor strife and labor agreements, over ongoing concerns about COVID-19 and its variants - a welcome sign as the theatre industry gets back to work that much of the talk of changes is beginning to translate into action.

The National Theatre Conference, is an organization of theatermakers that connects, supports, and advocates for the field. Each year, leading theatre professionals and academics gather in New York City to engage in the essential questions of our art.

Building upon the success of its six week program in 2019, Fiasco Theater is offering a 9 Week Conservatory for emerging artists, to be held January 10 through March 13, 2022 in New York City.

INVINCIBLE The Musical, a new Broadway-Bound production featuring the music of Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo, with book by Bradley Bredeweg, direction by Scott Schwartz, choreography by Lauren Yalango-Grant & Christopher Grant, orchestrations by Neil Giraldo, music direction & arrangements by Jesse Vargas will have an industry presentation.

On Monday October 25th, 2021, the Stage Managers' Association will virtually present its annual Del Hughes Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Art of Stage Management, live from NYC and Las Vegas. 

Rob Richardson (Broadway: Jekyll & Hyde, Tale of Two Cities) and Haley Swindal (Broadway: Chicago, Jekyll & Hyde) will head the industry presentations of Roy O’Neil’s Save The Palace on Thursday, October 21 at 2 PM & 6:30 PM.

TRW Plays, the newly formed play licensing division of Theatrical Rights Worldwide, has announced the addition of Craig Pospisil to its staff. Bringing over 30 years of licensing experience, Craig will serve as Vice-President of TRW Plays working alongside Executive Director, Lysna Marzani.

Legendary costume designers Toni-Leslie James and Ann Roth each will be honored with a Ming Cho Lee Award for Lifetime Achievement in Design, bestowed by the Henry Hewes Design Awards at the 57th annual event on November 1 in a livestream awards ceremony.

The ever-changing COVID-19 pandemic landscape has resulted in continuous updates to public and workplace health guidelines. Due to this, the production industry was heavily impacted. After a long pause, the industry utilized the Safe Way Forward Protocols to resume production successfully and to keep employees safe on stage and on set.

Creative Goods Merchandise recently launched their newest program, Curtain Collect, which allows theater patrons to forego crowded theater lobbies and shop show merchandise directly from their seats.

On November 5th and 6th the American Alliance for Theatre & Education will be hosting its second annual Leaders of Color Institute for artists, teachers, arts professionals, administrators, and anyone who wants to learn from and interact with leaders in the field.

This week in NYC a cast of top Broadway performers will come together for an AEA 29-hour reading of Summer Stock - The Musical, based on the beloved Judy Garland & Gene Kelly 1950 MGM movie of the same name.

Alongside Founder and Artistic Director, NICOLE FOSSE, ALLEN FIELDS has been named as the Director of Creative Development and KATHERINE WINTER has been named the Development Coordinator of THE VERDON FOSSE LEGACY LLC.

Coming back from a year and a half shutdown was never going to be easy. The challenges brought not only by the pandemic but by individual artists standing up against the myriad of injustices that were normalized within the industry meant that as theatre artists got back to work, there were going to need to be serious changes to “business as usual”.

Joining the board at its annual fall meeting on October 7, 2021, were music director Ted Arthur, City National Bank Executive Vice President Linda Duncombe, actor Mandy Gonzalez, lyricist/composer Amanda Green, Times Square Alliance Executive Director Tom Harris, stage manager Kenneth J. McGee and actor John Eric Parker.

The Theatre Leadership Project (TTLP) has been approved by New York State as a qualifying diversity and arts job training program for the state’s $100 million New York City Musical and Theatrical Production Tax Credit

If confirmed, Shelly Lowe will be the nation’s first Native American to serve as Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities and Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson will be the first African American and Mexican American to serve as Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts.

The John Gore Organization (JGO) the leading presenter, producer, distributor, and marketer of Broadway theater worldwide, has partnered with Black Theatre Coalition (BTC), an organization dedicated to eradicating racial inequities in the theater industry, to create a comprehensive paid fellowship program for Black-identifying undergraduate college juniors, seniors and recent college graduates.

TRU hosts their Community Gatherings every Friday at 4:30pm ET via Zoom, to explore the creation of art and theater in the time of COVID-19. These crucial conversations will continue going forward as theater reopens.

Tony Award Winner Joanna Gleason, Tony Award Nominee Jeremy Jordan and Tony Award Winner Andre De Shields will star in an industry reading of Matthew Lombardo's new backstage comedy WHEN PLAYWRIGHTS KILL to be directed by Noah Himmelstein.

Jason Rodriguez, the unequivocal new face of voguing, and 2021 Hollywood Critics Association TV Award nominee for “Pose,” along with Ricardo Sebastián, Rodriguez's longtime manager turned business partner, announced today the inaugural roster of their newly formed Arraygency. 

New data this week that indicates many of the technological advances that occurred during the pandemic for audience interaction are here to stay - and have been adopted by older patrons in addition to younger patrons. A promising sign for a more efficient, digital first industry.