American Theatre Features Calendar
Story calendar is subject to change
COMING IN MARCH 2012:
IF MOMMA WAS MARRIED (TO MOMMA)
At theatres large and small, a wave of new plays and performance pieces are tackling the topic of same-sex marriage—from Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays (featuring Beth Leavel and Polly Draper at Off Broadway’s Minetta Lane Theatre) to Joan Lipkin’s freewheeling comedy The State of Marriage in St. Louis, Mo. Critic Mark Blankenship surveys the field, and concludes that theatrical opinion on the marriage debate, while predictably pro-gay, is more varied and ambiguous than he (and probably you) anticipated.
THE PASSIONS OF AMY HERZOG
What makes the characters in Amy Herzog’s plays seem so real? Probably because they’re trying so hard. “The relationships are authentic, difficult, complex, funny, frustrating,” declared the judges of the 2011 Whiting Writers Award, one of several high-visibility prizes the Brooklyn-based playwright has copped for her dramas 4000 Miles and After the Revolution. Arts reporter Alexis Soloski delves into Herzog’s rich political genealogy and eyes the prospects for her major new work, Belleville.
ALSO - A profile of Michigan playwright Joseph Zettelmaier; A first-person essay by playwright Stephanie Zadravec about how art and life intertwined in writing her play “Electric Baby,” premiering this spring in Pittsburgh.
Issue Closed.
COMING IN APRIL 2012: FOCUS ON ACTIVISM
Full-Length Playscript:
4000 MILES by Amy Herzog
An aging grandmother with a politically colorful past and her aimless and alienated 21-year-old grandson share a few life-changing weeks of co-habitation in Amy Herzog’s funny and moving drama, 4000 Miles, which recently premiered in a Lincoln Center Theater LCT3 production featuring Mary Louise Wilson and Gabriel Ebert. Charles Isherwood of the New York Times called the play “altogether wonderful,” and David Cote of Time Out New York observed that Herzog “digs deeply and humanely into her characters’ psyches, tracing the emotional fault lines that link them to a painful family history.”
Also Featured:
TALES FROM THE OCCUPATION By Christopher Wallenberg
The Occupy Wall Street movement is nothing if not theatrical—so it’s no surprise that theatre artists and organizations feel compelled to join the fray, from one perspective or another. Some, like Pulitzer-winning playwright Lynn Nottage and soloist extraordinare Mike Daisey, show up to offer vocal support; the Civilians ensemble documents the movement in interview-based shows; far-flung theatre venues open their doors to OWS-themed performances. Where do we go from here? Arts reporter Christopher Wallenberg hits the streets to figure it out.
GHOST BROTHERS OF DARKLAND COUNTY - an upcoming musical written by Stephen King with original music by John Mellencamp scheduled to debut at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, GA in the spring.
WILL ENO Profile, and a report on February’s COLORADO NEW PLAY SUMMIT.
Reservation Deadline: February 9 Ad Materials Due: February 20
MAY / JUNE 2012: INTERNATIONAL ISSUE
FOCUS ON CANADA
Feature: Shaw and Stratford Festivals
International Summer Festival Listings
Reservation Deadline: March 9 Ad materials due March 19
Advertise in May/June, take 50% off advertising in JULY / AUGUST 2012: :
Full-length playscript to be announced
CHIME mentorship for choreographers
Reservation Deadline: May 9 Ad materials due May 21