Disney Theatrical Productions Reveals Next Steps for Hercules and The Jungle Book Musicals, Aida Revival, More

Following the news that the musical adaptation of Frozen would not reopen on Broadway once the industry reaches the other side of the ongoing coronavirus crisis, Disney Theatrical Productions has offered a glimpse of what's to come—at least on stages beyond New York's theatre district.

Also heading across the pond instead of its initial U.S. plans is the revival of Elton John, Tim Rice, and David Henry Hwang's Aida. The new production, directed by Schele Williams, will premiere in Germany in spring 2022, as opposed to a 2021 North American tour launching at Paper Mill Playhouse. No word yet on new dates for a U.S. bow.

Read more at Playbill

Mint Book Club: May Selection M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang

May is Asian Pacific American History Month — an umbrella that encompasses way too many people, cultures and amazing books for a one-to-three-books-a-month book club to adequately cover.

This month, I chose three books that deal with the relationship between the East and the West. These books deal with cultures clashing, adjusting and changing. They offer insight into how many of us perceive Asian cultures and the problems with those perceptions.

As always, you’re required to read every book. I’ll know if you haven’t.

M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang

This one is a play, but honestly, I know you read Shakespeare in high school. Set up a Zoom call and act this one out if you have to, but we should all read more plays anyway.

French officer Rene Gallimard is stationed in China and falls in love with an opera singer. Fast forward twenty years and he’s in prison for treason. Throughout the course of this play Gallimard tells what led to this, how he should’ve seen it coming and why he didn’t.

It’s hard to talk about “M. Butterfly” without giving away spoilers. This play has a lot to say about the relationship between the West and Asia but again, it’s very hard to be specific without giving away the plot. I’ll just say that the relationship between Gallimard and Song Liling (the singer) has much more to it than you’d expect. Trust me.

Read more at The Summer Evergreen

Re-Imagined AIDA Will Not Premiere at Paper Mill Playhouse; Plans Underway for German Production in 2022

As BroadwayWorld first reported last year, a new North American tour of Elton John and Tim Rice's Tony-winning Broadway smash Aida was previously set to premiere at Paper Mill Playhouse in 2021. Plans have changed however. BroadwayWorld has learned that the musical will no longer be a part of the upcoming Paper Mill season. A rep confirmed: "We look forward to continuing our partnership with Disney on Aida and other projects in the future."

The new production, updated and re-imagined, retains the beloved Tony and Grammy-winning score and features a book revised by David Henry Hwang, who co-authored the acclaimed original production with Linda Woolverton and Robert Falls.

Read more at Broadway World

Anton Sattler, 2020 Bridge Award Winner!

The Final Selecting Judge was David Henry Hwang.

"I was deeply impressed and moved by the quality and range of the Bridge Award finalist plays. They all exhibited great skill, intelligence, craftsmanship, and most importantly, were personal expressions of unique voices and experiences. I felt each author telling the story they needed to tell -- first for themselves, and then for others. Several, but not all, of the plays captured military or veteran life, delving into an experience which has become marginalized in our country and is often portrayed stereotypically. 

All the finalist plays dealt in some way with the experience of otherness -- feeling like an outsider, struggling to find an authentic place in our communities, our nation, and our world. Though I could easily have given the Award to any of these works, I could only pick one.”

Read more at Arts In The Armed Forces

Look Back at Disney's Tarzan on Broadway

The stage adaptation of the classic animated film opened at the Richard Rodgers Theatre May 10, 2006. The musical, based on the classic Disney animated film, played 35 previews and 486 performances before closing July 8, 2007, earning a Tony nomination for Best Lighting Design of a Musical.

Adapted from Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel, Tarzan tells the story of the young son of an English couple who is raised by a tribe of gorillas and his journey when an English naturalist crosses his path. The musical featured music and lyrics by Phil Collins and book by David Henry Hwang.

Read more at Playbill

David Henry Hwang to Take Part in Adventure Theatre MTC Digital Presentations Celebrating API Heritage Month

Adventure Theatre MTC will present a celebration of API Heritage with a full lineup of API Heritage Month storytimes, interviews, and digital presentations. These online events honor the creativity, tradition, and innovation of the Asian Pacific Islander population and focus upon the impact they continue to make daily through their art. All presentations are free and available streaming live on Facebook.

Read more at Broadway World

2020 Outer Critics Circle Award Honorees

The OCC celebrated up to five honorees in each of its 26 categories this year due to the COVID-19 crisis

Watch the full announcement above. As previously announced, in lieu of selecting traditional nominees with one winner from each category, the 2020 Outer Critics Circle Awards celebrate up to five honorees in each of its 26 categories. The adjustment is to make room for a greater celebration in light of the public health crisis.

Soft Power, with a book and Lyrics by David Henry Hwang, and music and additional lyrics by Jeanine Tesori.

Read more at Playbill

Breaking News: Drama League Announces 2020 Nominations

The Drama League has announced the 2020 Drama League Awards Nominees for Outstanding Production of a Play, Outstanding Revival of a Play, Outstanding Production of a Musical, Outstanding Revival of a Musical, and the much- coveted Distinguished Performance Award.

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL

Soft Power

Directed by Leigh Silverman
Book and Lyrics by David Henry Hwang, Music and Additional Lyrics by Jeanine Tesori. Public Theater

Read more at Broadway World

Theaters are closed but the music plays on in Ghostlight Records’ original cast albums

Though audiences aren’t able to enjoy live on-stage performances during the ongoing coronavirus shutdown, Ghostlight Records offers cast recordings from a selection of popular musicals for digital download. Among the latest releases from the 2019-20 season are three award-nominated Off-Broadway favorites, featuring powerhouse performances of the original music and lyrics by the shows’ renowned stars.

Soft Power – A hot-button collaboration between Tony Award winners David Henry Hwang (book and lyrics) and Jeanine Tesori (music and additional lyrics), Soft Power examines American democracy from the perspective of China in a riotous and relevant new musical-within-a-play that had its New York premiere at The Public Theater last fall. Francis Jue, Conrad Ricamora, and Alyse Alan Louis lead the spirited cast through hard-hitting numbers filled with sharp-witted parodies and heartfelt honesty that will leave you laughing and thinking.

Read more at DC Metro Arts

The Santa Fe Opera Cancels 2020 Season

The Santa Fe Opera's 64th Season was scheduled to present 39 performances of five operas, including the world premiere of Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly; two company premieres, Wagner's Tristan und Isolde and Dvořák's Rusalka; Steven Barlow's inventive new production of Rossini's The Barber of Seville; the revival of Tim Albery's much-loved production of Mozart's The Magic Flute; and two Apprentice Scenes performances. The 2020 Season reflected the time-tested programming model pioneered by Santa Fe Opera founder John Crosby: a balanced and varied repertory of new, rarely performed and standard works portrayed in a new light. All other activities and services, including theater tours, preview dinners, shuttles, tailgate picnics, prelude talks, opening night dinners, opera storytellers summer camp, adult learning seminars and the Tristan und Isolde symposium, have been canceled.

Read more at Broadway World

Philip Glass and David Henry Hwang's new opera with Cirkus Cirkör premieres at Malmö Opera in 2021.

In 2021, Circus Days and Nights will have its world premiere. A new opera by Philip Glass with libretto by David Henry Hwang and Tilde Björfors, based on a collection of poems by Robert Lax. Circus Days and Nights is co-produced by Cirkus Cirkör and Malmö Opera, with a world premiere at Malmö Opera May 29, 2021. The tour then continues to Stockholm, Hong Kong and venues in England, Norway, France and USA.

Read more at mynewsdesk

See more at cirkor.se

The 2020 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Drama

NEW YORK CITY: The Pulitzer committee has announced the recipients of the 2020 Pulitzer Prizes. The Pulitzer Prize for drama, with a $15,000 cash prize, was awarded to Michael R. Jackson for A Strange Loop. This year’s finalists were Will Arbery for Heroes of the Fourth Turning and David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori for Soft Power. Jackson’s is just one of 10 musicals to take home the Drama Pulitzer.

The Pulitzer Prize was established in 1917 by Joseph Pulitzer and recognizes achievements in journalism, literature, drama, and music composition. The award is administered by Columbia University.

Read more at American Theatre

The 2020 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Drama

A Strange Loop by Michael R. Jackson Wins 2020 Pulitzer for Drama

Heroes of the Fourth Turning and Soft Power were named finalists.

Michael R. Jackson's musical A Strange Loop has won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The musical ran in the summer of 2019 at Playwrights Horizons.

A Strange Loop explores the thoughts of Usher, a black, queer writer working a job he hates while writing his original musical: a piece about a black, queer writer, working a job he hates while writing his original musical. Jackson's blistering, momentous new musical (and his professional debut) follows a young artist at war with a host of demons — not least of which are the punishing thoughts in his own head — in an attempt to capture and understand his own strange loop. It was presented by Playwrights Horizons alongside Page 73 Productions.

Joining A Strange Loop on the Pulitzer Prize for Drama lineup are finalists Heroes of the Fourth Turning, by Will Arbury, and the musical Soft Power, written by David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori. Heroes also premiered at Playwrights Horizons, with Soft Power having its New York premiere at the Public Theater.

Read more at Theatremania

The 2020 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Drama

Soft Power, by David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori

A multi-layered and mischievous musical that deconstructs a beloved, original American art form to examine the promise and the limits of representation in both the theatrical and political senses of the word.

Read more at Pulitzer.org

Track-by-Track Breakdown: David Henry Hwang on the Reverse King and I of Soft Power

Nominated for 11 Drama Desk Awards, the Off-Broadway musical's cast album is now available from Ghostlight Records.

"A King and I, but from China’s point of view!” David Hnery Hwang says of the show-within-a-show that makes up the bulk of Soft Power. The musical, which Hwang co-wrote with Jeanine Tesorie, premiered Off-Broadway at the Public Theatre October 15, 2019, eventually earning 11 Drama Desk Awards nominations.

The cast album from Ghostlight Records, featuring the original Off-Broadway cast, is now available. Flipping the script on Western-centric representations of foreign cultures, Soft Power centers on a Chinese-American playwright who descends into an elaborate dream in which a Chinese theatrical producer travels to America and forges a powerful bond with then-Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Read more at Playbill

‘Soft Power’ leads Drama Desk nominations

Mandy Hackett, Sam Pinkleton, David Henry Hwang, Leigh Silverman and Oskar Eustis attend the 'Soft Power' opening night. (Photo by Jim Spellman/Getty Images)

“Soft Power,” an Off-Broadway musical by David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori, received the highest number of Drama Desk nominations Tuesday. 

The musical, which was directed by Leigh Silverman and played the Public Theater in September 2019, received 11 nominations, followed by “The Wrong Man” with nine nominations and “Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven” with eight. The nominations took into consideration Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway shows that opened before March 11. 

The nominations were announced on Stars in the House Tuesday afternoon. The winners will be announced on May 31. 

Read more at Broadway News

2020 Drama Desk Nominations: Soft Power, The Wrong Man Lead the Pack in Condensed Season

Conrad Ricamora and Francis Jue in Soft Power Joan Marcus

he 65th annual ceremony—now taking place virtually—will go on as scheduled in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Nominations for the 2020 Drama Desk Awards were revealed April 21 on the afternoon edition of Stars in the House, the daily live stream benefit for The Actors Fund hosted by Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley. The series itself was named an honorary recipient during the announcement.

As previously reported, the 65th annual ceremony will take place as scheduled May 31, albeit digitally instead of at Town Hall due to continued restrictions on mass gatherings in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the March shutdown of New York productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and beyond, the eligibility window for the season was revised to end March 11.

Soft Power, the collaboration between playwright David Henry Hwang and composer Jeanine Tesori, topped the list with 11 nominations for its New York premiere at the Public Theater last year. In addition to Outstanding Musical, the show's nominations included nods to both Hwang and Tesori, director Leigh Silverman, and stars Francis Jue (also nominated for Cambodian Rock Band), Conrad Ricamora, and Alyse Alan Louis.

Read more at Playbill

BWW Album Review: SOFT POWER Packs a Punch

The groundbreaking musical from Tony Award winners David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly, Yellow Face) and Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home; Violet; Caroline, or Change), Soft Power, ran last fall at the Public Theater and is an exploration of America's place in the world, told through an East-West musical from China's point of view, in which a theater producer from Shanghai forms a unique bond with Hillary Clinton. Soft Power challenges us to dig deep and ask the bigger questions around how America fits with the rest of the world and what democracy means for every one of us.

Read more at Broadway World

DRAMA DESK AWARD NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED

Nominations for the 65th Annual Drama Desk Awards have been announced, honoring the outstanding achievements of professional theater artists on Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway. The winners will be announced May 31, 2020.

In keeping with the Drama Desk’s mission and the theater industry shutdown in mid-March, the nominators considered productions that opened on Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway during the 2019-2020 New York theater season, the end of which the Drama Desk determined to be March 11, 2020.

Read more at The Broadway Blog

DCMTA Spring 2020 Staff Favorites: Outstanding Community Theater Productions, Performances, and Design Elements

Normally we who cover theater for DC Metro Theater Arts collect our favorites as the year draws to a close, but this has not been a normal year. In mid-March the 2020 season was interrupted by a pandemic and theaters went dark for who knows how long. Shows that were running closed. Shows in production got canceled. Suddenly the theater community felt profound uncertainty and anxiety.

Yellow Face at Silver Spring Stage
Silver Spring Stage put a unique imprint on this important work by playwright David Henry Hwang. Employing satire to explore racism, Yellow Face explores ethnic divisions through parody only to find some questions too serious to laugh at. The elements combined to make this production one not to miss. —Andy Arnold

Read more at DC Metro