How America’s Playwrights Saved the Tony Awards

This post was originally published on NY Times - Theater

Written by: Michael Paulson

The screenwriters’ strike threatened next month’s broadcast, a key marketing moment for the fragile theater industry. That’s when leading dramatists sprang into action.

Martyna Majok, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, was revising her musical adaptation of “The Great Gatsby” after a long day in a developmental workshop when she heard the news: The union representing striking screenwriters was not going to grant a waiver for the Tony Awards, imperiling this year’s telecast.

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A Compelling Search For ‘Proof’ At Actors’ Playhouse

If you’re someone who’s always taken your own sanity for granted, you may be blessedly unfamiliar with some of the emotions explored in Proof, which poses, for its main character, the compelling and unsettling question of whether she is losing her grasp. Now playing at Miami’s Actors’ Playhouse, this 2001 Pulitzer Prize winning play by David Auburn is, if not a terribly iconoclastic choice of work, still one that gives audiences a good deal to consider.

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All the Lonely Tracys

Written By: Mindy Leaf

When playwright Stephen Kaplan was fresh out of college, he wrote the first draft of a comedy about loneliness and the universal longing for connection called TRACY JONES. He cites the famous Beatles’ song “Eleanor Rigby” as inspiration, and if you listen carefully, you can find a few insider references in his show. Fourteen years would pass till Kaplan took up the play again, in 2018. And, like another famous Beatles’ song, it would all fortuitously “Come Together,” culminating in a third Rolling World Premiere Production in 2022/23. 

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‘DISENCHANTED’ TAKES A FUNNY LOOK AT FAIRY TALE PRINCESSES

“Disenchanted”, a musical comedy created by Dennis T. Giacino and Fiely Matias that gives a mature view of the fairy tale princess over a decade ago, has had a popular run internationally and audiences at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach learned why within the first minute of the show. The show opened on May 12 and runs until Memorial Day weekend on May 27.  

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It’s Hard to Object to Legally Blonde: The Musical at the Kravis Center

As a movie, Legally Blonde has had a profound cultural impact. No, really! Few sources of entertainment can easily unite both those who loved sorority life and those who snarkily avoided it, those who unironically consider themselves girlbosses and those with a more nuanced understanding of feminism. The musical based on the 2001 film adeptly carries on that universally appealing campy-yet-inspirational, farcical-yet-aspirational balance, garnering countless fans (many of whom wear pink to the show in solidarity with the main character) for reasons that are on full display by the Legally Blonde national tour currently finishing its run at the Kravis Center.

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Two South Florida Cantors Honored for Lifetime Achievements in Two Musical Events This Weekend

Two beloved South Florida Cantors, Israel Rosen of Temple Solel in Hollywood and Rachelle Nelson of Temple Israel in Miami, each will be honored for lifetime achievements by their congregations in two musical events this weekend.

The event for Rosen titled “From Broadway to The Bimah” is a Jewish traditional Friday night Shabbat service that will take place on Friday, May 19 at 7:30 p.m. at Temple Solel.

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Embracing the Inner Woman in ‘Casa Valentina’

Written By: Mindy Leaf

The great American playwright (also acclaimed actor and screenwriter) of “Torch Song Trilogy” and “Hairspray” fame, and early “out” gay celebrity Harvey Fierstein, 68, still questions his gender identity. But he’s okay with that. In a 2022 interview, Fierstein confided: “I’m still confused as to whether I’m a man or a woman…. As a boy attracted to men, finding out about gay was enough.” The term non-binary bothers him, though, as he’s simply “comfortable being me and if I ask myself, ‘Would you want to transition? The answer’s no.”

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“Miami Dances” A 3-Day Celebration of Multi-Genre and Multi-Cultural Dance May 19, 20 & 21

Miami, FL (May 14, 2023) — As the 2022-2023 Dance Season comes to a close, Miami Dance Hub steps-up with “Miami Dances,” a celebration of multi-genre and multi-cultural dance held from May 19 through May 21 at the Lehman Theater on Miami Dade North Campus. The event presents a diverse mix of dance genres performed by 12 professional South Florida dance organizations and includes classical ballet, West African Folklore, Flamenco, hip hop, Tap and more all under one roof. The 3-day event will include two performances with panel discussions, daily Masterclasses, plus a free Yoga class.

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