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THEATRE NEWS FOR THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY

Posted by:	Richard Connema 12:34 pm EST 12/15/13

42ND STREET MOON ANNOUNCES SIX-TIME EMMY AWARD-WINNER BRUCE VILANCH TO STAR IN “DU BARRY WAS A LADY” – 42nd Street Moon, San Francisco’s only resident professional musical theatre company, has announced that six-time Emmy Award-winning actor/comedian Bruce Vilanch has signed on to star in the final production of its 2013-14 season, Cole Porter’s bawdy Du Barry Was a Lady. One of the most sought after comedy writers working today, Vilanch has written for the Oscars, the Emmys, the Tonys, and the Grammys. On stage he starred as “Edna” on Broadway and in the national tour of Hairspray, as well as on film in his own documentary, “Get Bruce!” Du Barry Was a Lady plays April 30 – May 18, 2014 at The Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson St., San Francisco. For tickets ($25-$75) and information the public may call (415) 255-8207 or visit 42ndStMoon.org. ############################## Magic Theatre Presents the World Premiere of Taylor Mac’s Hir – Magic Theatre is thrilled to welcome back Obie Award-winning playwright Taylor Mac with the world premiere of Hir. The production is directed by Niegel Smith and will run January 29 – February 23, 2014 at Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center, Building D, 3rd Floor. Press Dates are February 6-9, 2014. Newly enlightened Paige is determined to forge a deliriously liberated world for her two wayward children: Isaac, recently discharged from the army under dubious circumstances; and Max, tender, jaded, and sculpting a third-sex gender identity for hirself. Hailed as “one of this country’s most heroic and disarmingly funny playwrights” (American Theatre Magazine), Magic welcomes back renowned theatre artist Taylor Mac (The Lily’s Revenge) with this hilarious drama. Featuring: Tony Award-nominated actress Nancy Opel, Jax Jackson, Mark Anderson Phillips, and Ben Euphrat* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers Dates: Previews: January 29 – February 3, 2014 Location: Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center, Building D, 3rd Floor, SF Box Office: 415-441-8822; www.magictheatre.org ################################## AURORA THEATRE COMPANY ANNOUNCES NINTH ANNUAL GLOBAL AGE PROJECT PRIZE WINNERS Playwrights and directors explore present and future through new works – Berkeley’s Aurora Theatre Company announces the four plays chosen as prize winners by a committee of local directors for the ninth annual Global Age Project (GAP), the company’s new works initiative that promotes the creation of forward-looking theater: #therevolution* by Kristoffer Diaz; Technicolor Life by Jami Brandli; Sagittarius Ponderosa by MJ Kaufman; and Welcome Home by Stephen Brown. The selected GAP plays will be presented as staged readings in a four-week festival at the Aurora Theatre, Mondays, February 10-March 3, 7:30pm, coinciding with the company’s fully-staged Bay Area Premiere of Johnna Adams’ provocative new play, Gidion’s Knot (January 31-March 2), directed by Jon Tracy. Each of the four prize-winners will receive a $1,000 award and travel and accommodation expenses; their work will also be considered for further development and production during Aurora Theatre Company’s regular main stage season. Each GAP reading will be followed by an audience discussion of the contemporary issues raised in the work. For information on GAP events (free and open to the public) and Gidion’s Knot, the public may call (510) 843-4822 or visit auroratheatre.org. Aurora Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Tom Ross states, “The ninth year of The Global Age Project has brought the diverse perspectives of many new playwrights to our attention. We are excited to have the opportunity to present readings of fresh new works from Pulitzer Prize finalist (and author of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, presented by Aurora in 2012) Kristoffer Diaz, as well as rising stars Jami Brandli, MJ Kaufman, and Stephen Brown. We received over 360 script submissions, more than double the submissions we received last year, with subject matters focused primarily on home front issues, including parent and child relationships, sexual faithfulness, sexual identities, and bullying; we also received a number of relevant yet surreal political allegories. Lead by GAP co-producers M. Graham Smith and Deborah Taylor, this year’s GAP script reading committee and the GAP Director’s Council sessions were filled with strongly expressed opinions and no holds barred excitement; I believe that our GAP audiences will feel the same way.” The lineup for the 2014 GAP festival is as follows: Monday, February 10, 2014 #therevolution By Kristoffer Diaz (Brooklyn, NY) Directed by Ben Randle In #therevolution, a young woman accidentally starts a revolution and discovers that it’s much easier to overthrow the government than to actually govern. An Occupy-inspired fever dream in which artists and hipsters dispose of bankers, politicians, and theater critics, this social-media fueled absurdist comedy from the author of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (produced at Aurora in 2012), depicts what happens when the revolutionaries become the dictators. Monday, February 17, 2014 Technicolor Life By Jami Brandli (Pasadena, CA) Directed by Marissa Wolf In Technicolor Life, Maxine, a book smart teenager, is caught between her older sister, a wounded soldier just home from Iraq, and her ailing grandmother, who has a flair for classic movie musicals. Navigating the silver screen and real life, family arguments, online dating, and PTSD, Maxine learns what it means to grow up fast. Monday, February 24, 2014 Sagittarius Ponderosa By MJ Kaufman (Philadelphia, PA) Directed by M. Graham Smith When Archer (still Angela to his family) returns home to the forests of eastern Oregon to care for his ailing father, he meets a stranger who knows the history of the forests and the sadness of losing endangered things. As Archer says goodbye to his father he discovers the power of names and the histories they make and mask. Exploring the regeneration of landscape and body, Sagittarius Ponderosa questions how love is recycled after loss, and how we restore ourselves. Monday, March 3, 2014 Welcome Home By Stephen Brown (Brooklyn, NY) Directed by Darryl V. Jones In Welcome Home, a typical day in the life of 19-year-old Tommy involves triple shot lattes, light saber battles, and arson at Applebee’s. Such distractions are therapeutic when your older brother has been missing for months, but when a well meaning, if somewhat misguided, therapist shows up on his doorstep, Tommy must finally face his loss. Gidion’s Knot by Johnna Adams is the fully-staged anchor production in this season’s Global Age Project. A parent/teacher conference begins with a concerned mother wanting answers as to why her son was suspended from his 5th grade class. Was he a bully? A victim? A protector? Their discussion develops into a dramatically charged, volatile examination of personal responsibility, freedom of expression, the failure of our school system, bullying, and blame. Called “heart-stopping” by Washingtonian Magazine, this exploration of culpability received its World Premiere in 2012 at The Contemporary American Theater Festival. Published in its entirety in American Theatre Magazine, and a finalist for the 2012 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award, Gidion’s Knot raises profound questions about parenting, maternal loyalty, and who is ultimately responsible for the actions of our children. Jon Tracy (The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity) returns to Aurora Theatre Company to helm Gidion’s Knot, featuring Jamie Jones (Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance) and Stacy Ross (Wilder Times). For mature audiences. Following Gidion’s Knot is the Bay Area Premiere of Wittenberg by David Davalos in April, directed by Josh Costello. The season concludes in June with David Mamet’s searing drama American Buffalo, directed by Barbara Damashek. As a special addition to the season, Aurora Theatre Company presents its first fully-staged production in the company’s new second stage performance space, Harry’s UpStage; award-winning Bay Area auteur Mark Jackson directs this sixth addition to the season in April, John W. Lowell’s taut two-person drama The Letters. For tickets or more information about Aurora Theatre Company, the public can call (510) 843-4822 or visit auroratheatre.org. ############################## National Endowment for the Arts Awards Golden Thread Productions Abadan TicketNational Endowment for the Arts Acting Chairman Joan Shigekawa announced today that Golden Thread Productions is one of 895 nonprofit organizations nationwide to receive an NEA Art Works grant. Golden Thread Productions is recommended for a $10,000 grant to support the development and premiere of Ellington in Isfahan by Torange Yeghiazarian co-produced with the African American Shakespeare Company, and slated for 2015. Inspired by Ellington Orchestra's 1963 tour to Iran, Isfahan artistic team includes Music Director, Marcus Shelby; Director, Laura Hope; Dramaturg, Nakissa Etemad; and lead actors, L. Peter Callender and Vida Ghahremani. Acting Chairman Shigekawa said, "The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support these exciting and diverse arts projects that will take place throughout the United States. Whether it is through a focus on education, engagement, or innovation, these projects all contribute to vibrant communities and memorable experiences for the public to engage with the arts."

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