The Public Theater announced today the Public Forum and Public Shakespeare Initiative fall line-up that will explore the intersection of art, ideas, and action and illuminate the study and performance of Shakespeare's works. Highlights of the upcoming season include a conversation with playwright David Henry Hwang, political scientist Joseph S. Nye, Jr., and former United States Ambassador to the Netherlands Cynthia Schneider; a closer look at acting in Shakespeare's plays with actress Lily Rabe; a gathering inspired by Ntozake Shange's groundbreaking choreopoem for colored girls... featuring Ifa Bayeza, Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi, Erika Dickerson-Despenza, Camille A. Brown, and Dianne McIntyre; an in-depth discussion of Shakespeare's stories of disruptive female desire and resistance withprofessor Jenny C. Mann and actors Lily Santiago and Aneesh Sheth; the continuation of monthly Civic Salon gatherings; and more.
The 14 Shows You Must Catch This Fall /
As if there weren’t enough theater to keep up with all summer, here comes the fall. Students head back to school, people reevaluate their cool-weather wardrobes, and theaters across the city get a ton of new shows ready for the public. For Broadway producers and companies on a traditional theater calendar, fall marks the boom time of the first half of the season. It often brings thoughtful dramas, some transferring from London, but a lot of them homegrown. In our autumn short list, below, we’ve aimed for a mix of new American plays, new musicals (drawn from song catalogs by Tina Turner, David Byrne, and Alanis Morissette), and a sprinkling of foreign work.
Soft Power
Veteran playwright David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly) and brilliant composer Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home) collaborate on a musical satire that weaves together the 2016 national election, Eastern and Western cultural values, and details from Hwang’s own life—including a random stabbing that he survived near his home in Brooklyn.
A CONVERSATION WITH DAVID HENRY HWANG /
China meets America and a play meets a musical in David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori’s SOFT POWER, which examines American ideology and dramatizes how art can advance political agenda. The co-commission between The Public Theater and Center Theatre Group makes its New York premiere at The Public this fall. Theater arts writer Yan Chen speaks with playwright and lyricist David Henry Hwang.
Exeunt NYC Recommends: September 2019 /
As the fall theater season begins in earnest, an onslaught of new productions have our critics humming. From British imports on Broadway to experimental art downtown, Exeunt NYC recommends it all and more this September.
Soft Power (Public Theater) (September 24-November 3): I follow the works of playwright David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly and Yellow Face) due to their fascinating interrogation of Asian identity. For a fraught Trumpian era, his new musical Soft Power questions the love of American democracy with an interesting exploration of East-West relations. Jeanine Tesori’s (Fun Home and Caroline, or Change) musical involvement also amplifies my interest. (Caroline Cao).
David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori's Soft Power Releases Rehearsal Photos /
The Public Theater has rehearsal photos from the New York premiere of Soft Power, running September 24-November 10.
A co-commission and co-production with Center Theatre Group, Tony nominee Leigh Silverman directs this new musical-within-a-play featuring a book and lyrics by Tony winner David Henry Hwang and music and additional lyrics by Tony winner Jeanine Tesori, with choreography by Tony nominee Sam Pinkleton.
White Plains Performing Arts Center to Present Newsies, Aida, More in 2019 Fall Season /
Aida will run at the Westchester venue October 11–27. Based on the Verdi opera of the same name, the musical features a score by Elton John and Tim Rice and a book by Linda Woolverton, Robert Falls, and David Henry Hwang.
Jeanine Tesori & David Henry Hwang's New Musical Soft Power Gets Extension at Public Theater /
Off-Broadway's Public Theater has announced a one-week extension to the upcoming New York premiere staging of Soft Power. Originally announced to run through November 3, the production will now conclude its limited off-Broadway engagement on November 10. The new musical is scheduled to begin previews on September 24 and officially open on October 15.
Tarzan comes to Peoria Players Theatre /
Based on Disney’s 1999 animated musical take on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ archetypal feral child, this touring production features music by Phil Collins and a book by Tony Award-winning playwright, David Henry Hwang.
What’s Coming to Off-Broadway Fall 2019? /
September 24: David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori's new musical-within-a-play, Soft Power, begins previews at the Public Theater. Directed by Leigh Silverman with choreography by Sam Pinkleton, the show rewinds recent political history and plays it back, a century later, through the Chinese lens of a future, East-meets-West musical.
Roundabout Announces Winners Of Columbia@Roundabout's 2019 New Play Reading Series /
Roundabout Theatre Company and Columbia University School of the Arts have announced the winners of Columbia@Roundabout's 2019 New Play Reading Series. As part of the collaborative partnership between Roundabout Theatre Company and Columbia University, the reading series awards three playwrights from the current MFA program and recent alumni with a cash prize as well as a reading in Roundabout's Rehearsal Hall, followed by a post-reading reception. Five finalists have also received cash prizes in recognition of their exceptional work. No other collaborative partnership in the New York area brings together an esteemed Ivy League MFA program with a Tony Award-winning, not-for-profit theatre. The reading series is made possible by a grant from The Tow Foundation.
Playwrights featured in the fourth annual Columbia@Roundabout New Play Reading Series include Matt Barbot (The Venetians), Gordon Penn (Black Garden) and Gina Stevensen (The Colony). Finalists include Melis Aker (Field, Awakening), Elisabeth Frankel (2076), Dayoung Jeong (Sweet Pee), Devon Kidd (Not Even God) and Adam North (Spin).
Jeanine Tesori & David Henry Hwang's New Musical Soft Power Gets Extension at Public Theater /
Off-Broadway's Public Theater has announced a one-week extension to the upcoming New York premiere staging of Soft Power. Originally announced to run through November 3, the production will now conclude its limited off-Broadway engagement on November 10. The new musical is scheduled to begin previews on September 24 and officially open on October 15.
The Best and Biggest Theater Performances to See This Fall: Soft Power, The Inheritance, Jagged Little Pill /
After an August that seemed to bring the closing of nearly every Broadway show in quick succession, the New York theater world is gearing up once again for a season that feels simultaneously cautious and offbeat. On Broadway, there are fewer big-gamble musicals than last season, with producers opting for a steady supply of jukebox, from Tina Turner to Alanis Morrissette, but there are also straight play imports from London and summer theater festivals, as well improv rap, just to mix things up. Elsewhere, you’ll find intriguing revivals, directors taking big swings, and of course, many gestating movie-to-musical adaptations.
Yellow Face at Sierra Madre Playhouse on September 23 /
The September selection for the ongoing Off The Page series of staged readings at Sierra Madre Playhouse is Yellow Face by David Henry Hwang on Monday, September 23, at 7:00 p.m.
The lines between truth and fiction blur with hilarious and moving results in David Henry Hwang’s unreliable memoir. Asian-American playwright DHH, fresh off his Tony award win for M. Butterfly, leads a protest against the casting of Jonathan Pryce as the Eurasian pimp in the original Broadway production of Miss Saigon, condemning the practice as “yellowface.”
10 Most Expensive Broadway Musicals Ever Produced /
Tarzan was held at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, with its first performance in 2006.
For many professionals, being part of a Broadway musical is a high point in their career. Unsurprisingly, producing a Broadway musical demands a high investment that goes to actors, directors, costumes, productions and the list goes on.
However, there are no guarantees that a musical will be a success once it reaches the stage. Therefore, some plays go under a trial period in other cities before arriving on Broadway. Here are the 10 most expensive Broadway musicals ever produced.
Disney Theatrical Productions commissioned David Henry Hwang, a Tony Award winner, to write the Tarzan musical book. The play was based on the 1999 animated movie and cost $14 million, according to the New York Times.
'M. Butterfly' author coming to Augustana in 2020 /
On Feb. 12 and 13, 2020, Tony-winning playwright David Henry Hwang will be in residence in the Quad-Cities as part of the 2019-2020 Visiting Artist Series from Quad City Arts. The 62-year-old Los Angeles native will be at a reception at 5 p.m. Feb. 12 at Augustana and then give a public lecture at 7:30 p.m. that night.
To save opera, we have to let it die /
Plácido Domingo performs in the San Francisco Opera's production of "Herodiade" in 1994. (Dwayne Newton/AP)
Perhaps it’s time to decentralize the star system that currently fuels opera. There are plenty of composers, performers and directors who manage to reflect on the canon even as they create works that speak to audiences today.
Many work on the fringes, but some are coming to main stages. Next year, the Santa Fe Opera will give the premiere of Huang Ruo’s “M. Butterfly,” an adaptation of David Henry Hwang’s play of the same name, which rethinks Puccini’s opera via the lens of a real-life encounter between a French diplomat and a Chinese spy. The Tuscan-born Puccini’s themes of exoticism and orientalization will be repurposed by a composer born in the Chinese province of Hainan.
Do You Know These 7 Straight Plays With Opera Ties? /
![[0463]_Jin Ha and Company in M. BUTTERFLY, Photo by Matthew Murphy, 2017.jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5650c08ce4b0d0315338fd6a/1565813537287-BKPHLWVISECT083CB3CP/%5B0463%5D_Jin+Ha+and+Company+in+M.+BUTTERFLY%2C+Photo+by+Matthew+Murphy%2C+2017.jpg)
The world of opera has plenty of connections to Broadway, but it's usually within the world of musical theatre. These seven straight plays break that mold, bringing bel canto, high notes, and that unmistakable theatricality to the theatre stage.
M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang
The story of a Frenchman who falls in love with a male Peking opera singer disguised as a woman and becomes ensnared in an espionage plot sounds made up. But this Madama Butterfly-adjacent play is actually based on a true scandal that emerged in the ‘80s when authorities discovered evidence implicating the pair.
This day in history /
Happy Birthday David!!
Playwright David Henry Hwang is 62. Actress Arlene Dahl is 94. Songwriter-producer Kenny Gamble is 76. Rock musician Jim Kale (Guess Who) is 76. Magazine columnist Marilyn Vos Savant is 73. Country singer John Conlee is 73. Singer Eric Carmen is 70. Computer scientist and Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak is 69. Wrestler-actor Hulk Hogan is 66. Singer Joe Jackson is 65. Actor Miguel A. Nunez Jr. is 60. Actress Viola Davis is 54. Actor Duane Martin is 54. Actor-host Joe Rogan is 52. Actress Anna Gunn is 51. Actress Ashley Jensen is 51. Actress Sophie Okonedo is 51. Rock guitarist Charlie Sexton is 51. Hip-hop artist Ali Shaheed Muhammad is 49. Actress Merritt Wever is 39. Actor Chris Hemsworth is 36. Rock musician Heath Fogg (Alabama Shakes) is 35. Singer J-Boog is 34. Actress Alyson Stoner is 26.
6 Operas That Were Transformed Into Musicals /
Heather Headley in Aida Joan Marcus
What 2017 Tony-nominated revival is based on a 1904 opera? Which musical adaptation earned Anika Noni Rose a 2019 Lucille Lortel Award?
When words fail in theatre, characters have no choice but to sing. For these six operatic masterpieces, the words had to be sung twice. From a gripping story of love and loss from Verdi to Puccini’s story of betrayal and tragedy, here are half a dozen operas that received a musical theatre makeover.
Aida into Aida
Giuseppe Verdi’s 1870 opera of forbidden love sees the Ethiopian princess, Aida, captured and held hostage by Egyptian officers who are unaware of her true identity. During her imprisonment, she and Radamès, an Egyptian soldier, fall in love, and are forced to choose between their hearts and their homes. In 1998, Elton John, Tim Rice, and book writers Linda Woolverton, Robert Falls, and David Henry Hwang adapted the tragic love story.
Close the Curtain on ‘Miss Saigon’ /
Why is a musical that perpetuates a Western fantasy of Asians as small, weak and effeminate people still so popular?
“Miss Saigon” is revived and on tour again, playing in a theater near me. This is exciting news for some fans of Broadway musicals, and for Asian and Asian-American actors with the chance for important roles. For others, to whom “Miss Saigon” perpetuates deeply held notions of Asian inferiority, this is bad news.
The playwright David Henry Hwang saw the absurdity of this story. His still-relevant play “M. Butterfly” precedes “Miss Saigon" but might as well be satirizing it, too.