Industry Theatre Newsroom Page 94

Soho Rep. today announced technology entrepreneur Victoria Meakin-a board member of seven years-as the organization's new Chair, and acclaimed poet, playwright, and MacArthur Fellow Claudia Rankine as a new board member. Meakin succeeds longtime Chair Jon Dembrow, who will now serve as Chair Emeritus.

The Dramatists Guild of America announces a new program designed to engage playwrights across the country by working with them to create a brand-new play, to or revise an old one. In March 2020, the Guild will celebrate a?oeEnd of Playa?? month. Writers who participate in the month's a?oeEnd of Playa?? initiative will set a goal for themselves at the beginning of March, and will then post weekly updates to their community regarding their progress. Goals may include writing a new full-length play or musical, or writing two one-act plays/musicals, or completing a second draft of any of the above. At the end of March, participants may be invited to a local party in their region to celebrate writing. Ultimately, the goal of a?oeEnd of Playa?? is to get writers to the finish line through motivation, community, and a party.

Soraya Nadia McDonald is the winner of this year's George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism. McDonald is the cultural critic for The Undefeated, and her writing focuses on the subject of race in American Theater.

Nancy Carol Lewis Jones died peacefully on December 20, 2019 at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City after a short illness.  She was born on the February 20, 1943 in Detroit to Mack and Carol Edith (nee Schulz) Lewis. She attended Cooke Elementary, Redford High, and Michigan State University, where she majored in TV and Radio Production. At MSU she was Campus Correspondent for Billboard and first became seriously interested in the British Music scene when she went to review a concert of The Dave Clark Five in Lansing.

Mentorship is at the core of StateraArts' mission of creating pathways that bring women* into full and equal participation in the arts. Melinda Pfundstein, Statera's Executive Director, said, 'Professional mentorship for women and non-binary artists is a positive, proactive, and proven way to counter gender imbalance in the workplace. And we're thrilled to share that in 2020, Statera Mentorship will expand to classes in sixteen regions.'

Today, the Asian American Writers' Workshop (AAWW) Board of Directors announced that they have appointed Jafreen M. Uddin as their new Executive Director, following Lillian Cho who has been overseeing the critical 6-month transition phase as the Interim Executive Director after Ken Chen, who had served as the Executive Director since 2008. Ms. Uddin will be the seventh Director since AAWW's founding in 1991 and the first woman in the long-term Executive Director role.

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) presents the January Panel, New Year, New Rules: The Updated Equity Agreements and Contracts, on Thursday, January 16, 2020 at 7:30pm at Polaris North Theater, 245 W. 29th Street, 4th floor, NYC. E-mail TRUStaff1@gmail.com or register online at https://truonline.org/events/new-year-new-rules/.

Broadway's Courtney Reed, Nic Rouleau & more join Shadow Star: Broadway's first mentoring App!

Richard and Susan Bloch will present an invitation only industry presentation of the new play THE GOD BOX by Drama Desk winner, Jim Brochu. Brochu will appear in the reading with Tony nominees, Robert Cuccioli and Bryce Pinkham. Emmy Award winner Dorothy Lyman directs the reading to be held on in New York City January 6, 2020.

Global Creatures will be holding a 12-day developmental lab of Muriel's Wedding in February, 2020 in New York City. The developmental lab will culminate in a private reading.

According to The New York Times, Max Yu has won the Relentless Award, a $45,000 reward from the American Playwriting Foundation, granted to one playwright a year for work that has not yet been produced.

The Situation Project has partnered with The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical and is now offering a behind-the-scenes look at an immersive experience they have created.

The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs has announced $51.3 million in grants to support public cultural programming at 985 organizations across New York City as part of its fiscal year 2020 annual funding cycle. The funds support groups working in a vast range of disciplines, serving audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Together, the hundreds of cultural organizations receiving this support form the backbone of New York City's vibrant cultural life. The total includes funding set aside for underserved communities and major new investments in nonprofits that directly support individual artists working throughout the city. The agency continues to prioritize funding equity for culture in every corner of NYC and support for goals outlined in the CreateNYC cultural plan.

Today, Congress announced the largest yearly funding increase for the National Endowment for the Arts in recent years. The spending agreement released earlier today includes an increase of more than $7 million in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.

The enduring legacy of one of America's most decorated composers has been the basis for launching the Marvin Hamlisch International Music Awards, aimed at recognizing and enabling the next generation of music composition talent. The sold out inaugural concert and awards ceremony last month in New York was organized in collaboration with Queens College and took place at Lefrak Concert Hall of the Kupferberg Center for the Arts. Celebrities Martha Stewart, Brian d'Arcy James, Robert Klein, Joe Torre, Marissa McGowan and Paul Shaffer presented the awards and star singer Capathia Jenkins made a surprise guest appearance.

Niall Cunningham (Socrates, a?oeLife in Piecesa??) and Erin Wilhelmi (To Kill a Mockingbird, A Doll's House Part 2) will star in an industry reading of Trick of the Eye by Dennis Haseley, and directed by Jay Scheib (Bat Out of Hell) on Wednesday, December 18th, 2019 at Open Jar Studios (1601 Broadway).

Five-time Broadway veteran Bart Shatto (War Paint, Hands on a Hard Body, The Civil War, Les Miserables) stars in an invitation-only workshop production of The Confessions of Davy Crockett.

CPR - Center for Performance Research, an independent 501(c)3 organization dedicated to supporting the development of new works in contemporary dance, performance and related forms, is proud to announce that it has been awarded a special grant of $100,000 from the Howard Gilman Foundation. The Howard Gilman Foundation has supported hundreds of performing arts organizations that are committed to serving geographically and culturally diverse organizations devoted to excellence in both artistic achievement and audience experience. CPR is honored to be among those receiving support.

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) presents the December Panel, The Good Shepherds: How Producers Guide the Development of New Work, on Thursday, December 19, 2019 at 7:30pm at Polaris North Theater, 245 W. 29th Street. E-mail TRUStaff1@gmail.com or register online at https://truonline.org/events/the-good-shepherds/.

Freedom to ACT, developed by Ann Rodiger and Belinda Mello, is in its 9th year! This year's conference topic is on how the Alexander Technique supports On Camera Presence. The conference will take place on January 10th-12th at Balance Arts Center: 151 West 30th Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY. Register for the full conference or sign-up for individual workshops. Freedom to ACT is a collaboration between AT Motion and Balance Arts Center.

It's beginning to look a lot like a thousand holiday movies, and we've got one more to add to your Christmas queue!

GREEN LIGHT GROUP PRODUCTIONS (GLG) has announced the first New York City reading of AUDREY: The New Musical as part of the 2020 season of the EAST BROADWAY THEATER PROJECT (Artistic Director: GAIL KRIEGEL) at THE MANNY CANTOR CENTER on January 6th, 2020 at 7PM.

On November 7, 2019, the nonprofit organization Theatre Forward announced the launch of the Bank of America ACTivate Awards, a Theatre Forward program that awards grants to member theatres that help promote social good by building lasting relationships, one community at a time. The breakfast event, held at Bank of America Tower in Manhattan unveiled the next phase of Theatre Forward's community access grant program, made possible by Bank of America. With this substantial, multi-year partnership with exclusive corporate sponsor Bank of America, Theatre Forward will continue to support theatre programs that accelerate change in the areas of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and expand the audiences and communities engaged with theatre throughout the country. The first round of grants will be awarded in 2020, and the second round awarded in 2021, with each grant of $50,000 or more.

From a horse ranch in Texas to the Great White Way, this Broadway production stage manager has never stopped.

Jayne & Wayne Productions to present an invite only industry presentation of the new play GONER by Drew Morrison and is directed by Matthew McVey-Lee. The reading will be held in New York City on December 11, 2019.