Theater Review: Newsies

Read All About it! Extra, Sugar, but Very Wholesome
By Lauren Yarger
Think “Mickey Mouse Club on steroids” and you have a pretty quick picture of Disney’s latest Broadway offering, a staged musical version of their 1992 hit movie Newsies.
The stage is filled with an ensemble of more than 30, most of them males, hopping, tapping, flipping, tumbling, spinning and singing their way through music by Alan Menken (Beauty & the Beast) and lyrics by Jack Feldman (the over-the-top choreography is by Christopher Gattelli). 
Director Jeff Calhoun delivers two and a half hours of non-stop smiles, sweetness and staged cute, but hold the presses, the audiences love the entertaining and family-friendly show. It has been extended through Aug. 19. Indeed, the night I attended, the crowd enthusiastically laughed on cue and willingly delivered thundering applause whenever possible.
This stage version has a book by Harvey Fierstein to tell the story of a group of newsies, boys who make their living delivering newspapers for the World, one of New York’s largest papers at the turn of the 20th century. They go on strike when publisher Joseph Pulitzer (John Dossett) decides to increase the amount the newsies (all except one here, cast as much older than you would expect when thinking newsboy) must pay to purchase their papers.

Leading the revolt is streetwise Jack Kelly (Jeremy Jordan) who teams up with newbie newsboy, Davey (Ben Fankhauser) and his kid brother, Les (shared by Lewis Grosseg and Matthew J. Schechter), who have left school to earn some money to support their family following an accident which has put their father out of work. If he had been in a union, they discover, things might have been different, so they eagerly join the newsies’ efforts to organize and make a stand against the sleazy Pulitzer. 

Assisting them in their efforts are a woman reporter, Katherine (Kara Lindsay), who hopes reporting on the strike will bump her from reviewing theater to the front page. There might also be some romance in store between her and Jack. Entertainer Medda Larkin (Capathia Jenkins) also helps by lending her theater as a rally venue for the strikers. Standing out from the ensemble in other roles are Andrew Keenan-Bolger as Crutchie, a newsie who walks with a limp and who takes a terrible beating (not seen) for the cause, and Kevin Carolan as Gov. Teddy Roosevelt.

The action takes place around or on a three-story, three-piece moving truss (Tobin Ost). Jack’s sketches (he’s an artist) and some location paintings are projected onto it (Swen Ortel, projection design). Costumes are by Jess Goldstein. The score is pleasant, but not Menken’s best. In amongst the 18 numbers is some noticeable repetition. Michael Kosarin supervises the music played by a full-sounding orchestra and provides the vocal arrangements. The nice orchestrations are by Danny Troob.

Newsies runs at the Nederlander Theatre, 208 West 41st Street. Tickets: 866-870-2717
Christians might also like to know: -- No notes. It doesn’t get more wholesome than this. Enjoy.

Theater Review: End of the Rainbow

Tracie Bennett in "End of the Rainbow" (c) Carol Rosegg

Profoundly Sad Look at the End of a Star
By Lauren Yarger
Soft floral patterns and architecture reminiscent of a time gone by are a sad metaphor for the drug-addicted, out-of-control Judy Garland (Tracie Bennett) who occupies the luxurious suite in London's Ritz Hotel in Broadway's End of the Rainbow.

There isn't any rainbow in Peter Quilter's play describing the last months of the star's career. It's all grey skies as the entertainer tries to hold on while doing shows at The Talk of the Town. Her performances there deteriorate, as does her personal life, blurred by an addiction to drugs and alcohol.  She clings to younger fifth husband Mickey Deans (Tom Pelphrey) who at first tries to keep her clean, but who eventually supplies what she needs to be able to perform -- and earn the much-need paychecks that will, among other things, keep them in the hotel suite for which she hasn't paid.

Also trying to help is longtime friend and pianist Anthony (Michael Cumpsty) who doesn't like Mickey. Judy won't accept his advice, or the marriage of convenience he offers as an alternative.

Terry Johnson's taut direction allows Bennett to channel Judy Garland without making her a caricature (and don't be surprised if Bennett walks away with this year's Best Actress Tony). The actress creates a Judy we recognize through mannerisms, songs (a number are used with accompaniment by piano or a band concealed and revealed as needed by the hotel set) and look (Dudley also designs the costumes). It's a portrait of a sad, lonely person caught in a downward spiral. Such a great talent; such a waste.

Jay Russell nicely plays a few minor parts, including a humorous BBC correspondent who interviews Judy, to round out the able cast.

The End of the Rainbow plays at the Belasco Theatre, 111 West 44th st., NYC. Discounted tickets for our readers are available by clicking here.

Christians might also like to know:
-- Sexual dialogue
-- God's name taken in vain
-- Drug usage

Theater Review: Jesus Christ Superstar

Super Superstar for a New Generation
By Lauren Yarger
It's big and glitzy and pulses like a rock concert more than a reverent telling of the story of the last days of Jesus on earth. What's more, Director Des McAnuff's revision of Jesus Christ Superstar, the Andrew Lloyd-Weber/Tim Rice classic heading to Broadway from an acclaimed run at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, reportedly focused on a love triangle between Jesus, Judas and Mary Magdalene. I was prepared to not like it much.

So imagine my surprise when that triangle didn't seem nearly as sharply angled as had been described and I found myself profoundly moved by a passionate Christ played by a terrific high-belting, rock singing Paul Nolan. Not only that, but having grown up singing the songs along with all the other friends of my generation -- despite the fact that I was an atheist back then -- I really enjoyed these new arrangements which give the score a modern sound and bring the music out of the 70s (Music Direction by Rick Fox). It's much more interesting, say, than the 2000 Broadway revival which I thought was a tired re staging.

In fact, with Robert Brill's metallic, scaffolded set and Paul Tazewell's fabulous costumes that blend biblical fashion with what you might see at a modern dance club, this Superstar should appeal to a new generation. No longer an athesist, and happy to see Jesus on a Broadway stage, I think that's a great thing.

Rice's libretto isn't perfect. It focuses more on Jesus' more human aspects. He spends a lot of time being angry, scared, tired and questioning God's plan. There really isn't any of his teaching included in the story which is told more from the point of view of Judas (Josh Young, who appeared to be suffering from voice strain early on the night I attended, but held on to give a fine performance). The disciple is conflicted between his love for Jesus and his jealousy of him. Here, there's a hint that he might also not like the constant attention he receives from Mary Magdalene (Chilina Kennedy), who does seem attached to the Messiah's hip.

I really didn't see much more than that hint of a triangle, however. There isn't any real indication of a romantic attachment between Mary and Jesus and there definitely isn't any chemistry or sparks between them. In fact Kennedy herself is without much animation period, though I did enjoy "I Don't Know How to Love Him" because it sounded very much like the Helen Reddy version I know so well. We get the feeling that maybe Mary is interested in something more, but Jesus seems unaware. And beyond that hint that Judas might be a little jealous, there's nothing between him and Mary either. (So if you have been avoiding this version because it sounded like Dan Brown ("The DaVinci Code") might have helped revise this show's book, feel free to buy a ticket).

Nolan's carrying of the cross is really moving. It brought to mind Christ's suffering in a real way. McAnuff's vision (given personality with lighting, sound and video design by Howell Binkley, Steve Canyon Kennedy and Sean Nieuwenhuis) also creates a hard-to-watch scourging of Jesus, where there stripes appear one by one (all 39) in red on the set until it is all washed in blood.

Lisa Shriver choreographs modern dance movements -- it looks like "Simon Zealotes" might be performed by your local gospel choir here -- and together all of the elements reinforce the theme that what took place in ancient times has real meaning for today.

McAnuff's vision also takes us to a temple that looks like a dance club, a Jerusalem that reminds us of Times Square with a news ticker announcing the latest scene and an ethereal Calvary where Christ appear to float while on the cross. It might be technical glitz, but it also shows a more-than-human element of Jesus which I liked, especially for a show that often ends with the death of the Messiah on the cross without resurrection. Jesus walks out from the cross out to take his bow with the words "To the Ends of the Earth" emblazoned on the set. I liked it a lot.

Also giving notable performances in the vocally strong cast are Tom Hewitt as Pontius Pilate, Marcus Nance as Caiaphas and Bruce Dow, whose humorous depiction of Herod provides one of the show's few laughs.
Jesus Christ Superstar plays at the Neil Simon Theatre, 250 West 52nd St., NYC. Tickets; 800-745-3000, 877-250-2929.

Christians might also like to know:
-- Not exactly the gospel version
-- Sexual moves
-- Suicide

Godspell Prepares the Way for a New Jesus: High School Musical's Corbin Bleu

Prepare ye! On Tuesday, April 17 the company of Broadway's first-ever revival of Stephen Schwartz's legendary rock musical GODSPELL welcomes a new leading man -- stage and screen star Corbin Bleu (Disney's "High School Musical," Broadway's In the Heights) -- to the starring role of Jesus.

Bleu follows original star Hunter Parrish, who is set to play his final performance as Jesus on Sunday, April 15  before returning to Los Angeles to begin filming the eighth season of the Showtime series "Weeds."
"I know Corbin Bleu has a special affinity for GODSPELL, and with his great talent, charisma, and radiant energy, I know he will be terrific in the show," said Stephen Schwartz. "I am very much looking forward to working with him and seeing him as our new Jesus." 

Bleu made his Broadway stage debut in 2010 as the lead character, bodega-owner Usnavi, in the critically acclaimed musical In the Heights.
  
He starred in the Emmy-award winning Disney Channel Original Movie "High School Musical" and its sequel, "High School Musical 2" alongside Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, and Ashley Tisdale. "High School Musical 2" premiered to 18 million viewers, making it the highest rated Disney Channel Original Movie in history and the overall highest rated program in cable history.
Following to the worldwide success of "High School Musical," Bleu reprised his role in "High School Musical 3: Senior Year." The film broke opening weekend records and grossed over $250 million worldwide.
In March 2009, he released his second studio album, Speed of Light (Hollywood Records), a collaboration with some of the top producers and writers in the industry including Eric Hudson (Kanye West, Jennifer Hudson), Claude Kelly (Akon, Michael Jackson) and Brian Kennedy (Rihanna). He co-wrote the songs "Moments that Matter" and "Champion" with Claude Kelly (both tracks produced by Eric Hudson).
His debut solo album Another Side was released in May 2007. The album featured the hit single "Push it to the Limit" from the film Jump In! His single "Run It Back Again," from the Disney Channel Original Movie "Minutemen," became one of the top 10 downloaded songs on iTunes. Bleu performed material from "Another Side during" his North America tours in 2007 and 2008. He was subsequently nominated for a 2008 NAACP Image Award for Best New Artist.

His other film credits include Catch That Kid opposite Kristen Stewart, Soldier opposite Kurt Russell, Galaxy Quest opposite Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver, Mystery Men opposite Ben Stiller and Hank Azaria, Duane Clark's Family Tree and William Dear's Free Style, which Bleu also produced.
 
He is the national spokesperson for the Starlight Children's Foundation and is also involved with St. Jude's Children's Hospital and the Make-a-Wish. 
Godspell plays at Broadway's Circle in the Square Theatre (1633 Broadway at 50th Street). For discounted tickets, click here. For more information, visit www.godspell.com.

Additional Casting Announced for 50th Anniversary Shakespeare in the Park

David Furr, Stephen Spinella Join As You Like It
Jack Broderick, Gideon Glick, Cooper Grodin, Ivan Hernandez, Tina Johnson, Josh Lamon, Jessie Mueller, Laura Shoop, Tess Soltau go Into the Woods.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Patrick Willingham) announced additional casting today for the 50th Anniversary season of free Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte.David Furr (Orlando) and Stephen Spinella (Jaques) join the previously announcedMacIntyre Dixon (Adam), Renee Elise Goldsberry (Celia),Omar Metwally (Oliver), and Lily Rabe (Rosalind) in Shakespeare’s comedyAS YOU LIKE IT, directed by Daniel Sullivan.

Jack Broderick(Narrator), Gideon Glick(Jack), Cooper Grodin (Rapunzel’s Prince), Ivan Hernandez(Cinderella’s Prince/Wolf), Tina Johnson (Granny), Josh Lamon(Steward), Jessie Mueller (Cinderella), Laura Shoop (Cinderella’s Mother), and Tess Soltau (Rapunzel) join the cast ofStephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s beloved musical INTO THE WOODS.

AS YOU LIKE ITwill begin previews on Tuesday, June 5 and continue for four weeks through Saturday, June 30.INTO THE WOODS, directed by Timothy Sheader with co-direction by Liam Steel, will begin previews on Monday, July 23 and continue for five weeks through Saturday, August 25 with an official press opening on Thursday, August 9.

Grammy®and Emmy winning actor/comedian/musician and bestselling authorSteve Martin will compose original music for AS YOU LIKE IT which will feature a live Bluegrass band.AS YOU LIKE IT is Shakespeare's most musical play, containing more songs than any other. Sullivan will set the play's famous Forest of Arden in the rural American South, circa 1840, where folk and roots music perfectly capture the mood of the time.

Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers’ latest albumRare Bird Alert debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Bluegrass Chart and at #43 on the Billboard Top 200.  The album was nominated for aGrammy® for “Best Bluegrass Album” and features 13 new Martin-penned tracks, including a live version of “King Tut,” and special guest vocals by Paul McCartney and the Dixie Chicks.  His debut albumThe Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo won Best Bluegrass Album in 2009.  Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers were also named ‘Entertainer of the Year’ at the 2011 International Bluegrass Association Awards.

Bank of America returns once again as proud season sponsor in support of The Public’s mission to keep Shakespeare in the Park free for everyone.
Celebrating its 50th Anniversary, THE DELACORTE THEATER officially opened in Central Park on June 18, 1962 withThe Merchant of Venice, directed by Joseph Papp and Gladys Vaughan and featuring George C. Scott as Shylock.The Merchant of Venice was followed that summer by a production of The Tempest, directed by Gerald Freedman and featuring Paul Stevens as Prospero and James Earl Jones as Caliban. The first Delacorte summer season concluded withKing Lear, directed by Joseph Papp and Gladys Vaughan and featuring Frank Silvera as Lear.  Since then more than 100 productions have been presented for free at the Delacorte Theater. Highlights of past Delacorte productions includeOthello in 1964 with James Earl Jones; Hamlet in 1975 with Sam Waterston;The Taming of the Shrew in 1978 with Raul Julia and Meryl Streep; The Pirates of Penzance in 1980 with Kevin Kline and Linda Ronstadt;Henry V in 1984 with Kevin Kline; Much Ado About Nothing in 1988 with Kevin Kline and Blythe Danner;Richard III in 1990 with Denzel Washington; Othello in 1991with Raul Julia and Christopher Walken; The Tempest in 1995 with Patrick Stewart;The Seagull in 2001 with Natalie Portman, Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline and Philip Seymour Hoffman;Mother Courage in 2006 with Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline; Macbeth in 2006 with Liev Schreiber;HAIR in 2008 with Jonathan Groff and Will Swenson; Twelfth Night in 2009 with Anne Hathaway;The Merchant of Venice in 2010 with Al Pacino and Lily Rabe; and most recently last summer’s acclaimed productions ofAll’s Well That Ends Well and Measure for Measure.
AS YOU LIKE IT features scenic design by John Lee Beatty; costume design by Jane Greenwood; lighting design by Natasha Katz; and sound design by Acme Sound Partners.
INTO THE WOODS features scenic design by John Lee Beatty and Soutra Gilmour; costume design by Emily Rebholz; movement direction by Liam Steel; and sound design by Acme Sound Partners.

InAS YOU LIKE IT, Rosalind, Shakespeare’s most breathtaking heroine, and her boyfriend Orlando find themselves in the enchanted Forest of Arden, where all the world’s a stage, and where sudden infatuation is as confusing as it is beautiful.  Along with other “country copulatives,” they discover that nothing transforms, redeems, or enriches experience quite as powerfully as love. AS YOU LIKE IT has everything we adore about Shakespearean comedy: mistaken identity, cross-dressing, madness, mayhem, rage, lust, laughter, and of course plenty of romance, both heartbreaking and joyous.

In INTO THE WOODS, a witch’s curse condemns the Baker and his Wife to a life without children. They embark on a quest to find the four items required to break the spell: the cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold. Will they succeed?  And what happens after“happily ever after?” A Tony Award-winning masterpiece by musical theater giants Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine,INTO THE WOODS is a witty and irreverent reimagining of beloved classic fairytales: Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Cinderella.

INTO THE WOODS opened on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre on November 5, 1987 and played 764 performances. It earned three Tony Awards, the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award for Best Musical and a Grammy Award.  Directed by James Lapine, the original Broadway production featured a cast that included Bernadette Peters as the Witch and Joanna Gleason as the Baker’s Wife. James Lapine also directed the 2002 Broadway revival that opened on April 30, 2002 at the Broadhurst Theatre and starred Vanessa Williams as the Witch and Laura Benanti as Cinderella.

The 2012 Shakespeare in the Park summer production ofINTO THE WOODS is based on the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre London Production, produced by Timothy Sheader and William Village for Regent’s Park Theatre Ltd.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets to Shakespeare in the Park are FREE and are distributed, two per person, at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park the day of the show. The Public Theater will again offer free tickets through ourVirtual Ticketing lottery at www.shakespeareinthepark.org on the day of the show.

In honor of five decades at the Delacorte, The Public Theater launched the50th Anniversary Fellows Program this year to help support free Shakespeare in the Park for years to come.  For more information on the Fellows Program, please call 212-967-7555 or visitwww.shakespeareinthepark.org.
Summer Supporter Tickets, first conceived by Joe Papp, are available now forAS YOU LIKE IT and INTO THE WOODS.  A fully tax-deductible contribution of $175 entitles each Supporter to one reserved seat for either production. A limited number of Summer Supporter seats are available to ensure that as many free seats as possible will be available to distribute to the general public on the day of the show.  Supporter contributions help to underwrite free Shakespeare in the Park.

Summer Supporter donations can be made at The Public Theater Box Office at 425 Lafayette Street, by phone at (212) 967-7555, or online atwww.publictheater.org. Seating locations for donors are allocated strictly by giving level and in the order that they are received.

The Delacorte Theater in Central Park is accessible by entering at 81st Street and Central Park West or at 79th Street and Fifth Avenue.

Yussef El Guindi Receives $25,000 Steinberg Award

American Theater Critics Association Awards Additional $7,500 Citations to Ken LaZebnik and A. Rey Pamatmat
The American Theatre Critics Association has named Yussef El Guindi’s Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World, a play about immigration and assimilation, winner of the $25,000 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award for 2012. The Steinberg/ATCA recognizes the best American scripts that premiered professionally the previous year outside New York City.
Ken LaZebnik’s On the Spectrum and A. Rey Pamatmat’s Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them received Steinberg/ATCA citations and $7,500 each. Both LaZebnik and Pamatmat are first-time new play award winners, while El Guindi won ATCA’s 2009 M. Elizabeth Osborn Award for an emerging playwright.
Checks and commemorative plaques were presented to all three at Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival of New American Plays, March 31.
The award was created by ATCA in 1977 to recognize excellence in playwriting by honoring the best new plays not yet produced in New York City. Since 2000, it has been generously funded by The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, making the $40,000 Steinberg/ATCA the largest national new play award of its kind.
The Steinberg Charitable Trust was created in 1986 by Harold Steinberg on behalf of himself and his late wife. Pursuing its primary mission to support the American theater, it has provided millions of dollars to encourage new productions of American plays and educational programs for those who may not ordinarily experience live theater.
“The long-standing partnership between the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust and the American Theatre Critics Association has recognized some of today's greatest writers, and helped identify the great playwrights of tomorrow,” said trustee Jim Steinberg. “We're delighted to help support the unique telling of tales on the American stage.”
El Guindi’s Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World is a gentle romantic comedy wrapped around a serious examination of issues facing immigrants today, much as they did in the past. An Egyptian immigrant who drives a cab strikes up a romance with a quirky American-born waitress, but the clash of cultures is only the hook El Guindi uses to explore the diversity of opinions even within ethnic groups in the struggle for assimilation and belief in the American Dream. It premiered June 17 at ACT Repertory in Seattle.

Born in Egypt, raised in London and now based in Seattle, El Guindi received a B.A. from American University in Cairo and a 1985 MFA in playwriting from Carnegie-Mellon University. He frequently examines the collision of ethnicities, cultures and politics that face Arab-Americans. He has had at least 16 plays produced since 2001 in regional theaters from Durham to Anchorage. At the same time, he has worked as resident playwright at Silk Road Theatre Project; literary manager for Golden Thread Productions in San Francisco; playwright in residence, dramaturg and lecturer at Duke University; and dramaturg for Eureka Theatre and reader for The Magic Theatre, both in San Francisco.

LaZebnik’s On the Spectrum depicts a young man with Asperger’s Syndrome passing as “typical” after years of mainstreaming and therapy. He connects with a woman who proudly champions her autism as a difference, not a disorder. Their love story reveals the contradictions between the desire for acceptance and for achievement. Among the choices: live in a fantastic world of the mind or join the more mundane society that typecasts you as your illness. The work premiered November 12 at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis.
A. Rey Pamatmat’s Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them was first produced in a Rolling World Premiere by Actor’s Theatre of Louisville/Humana Festival of New Plays, New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, and Actor’s Express in Atlanta. This moving, bittersweet play portrays a very untraditional family of three young misfits: a brilliant 16-year-old and his precocious 12-year-old sister, abandoned by their widowed father, and the brother’s lover who runs from a family denying his nascent homosexuality. Their fanciful bonding against the challenges of the real world, their resilience and their realization of their limitations result in a meaningful comic drama infused with empathy and wry humor.
The 2012 Steinberg/ATCA award recipients were selected from 27 eligible scripts, submitted by ATCA members, by a committee of 12 theater critics led by chairman Wm. F. Hirschman, FloridaTheaterOnStage.com. Other committee members are Misha Berson, Seattle Times; Bruce Burgun, Bloomington Herald Times and Back Stage; Michael Elkin, Jewish Exponent (Pa.); Pam Harbaugh, Florida Today (Melbourne); Elizabeth Keill, Independent Press (Morristown, N.J.); Jerry Kraft, aislesay.com (Port Angeles, Wash.) ; Julius “Jay” Novick, freelancer (New York City); Wendy Parker, The Village Mill (Midlothian, Va.); David Sheward, Back Stage (New York); Herb Simpson, totaltheater.com and capitalcriticscircle.com <http://www.capitalcriticscircle.com> (Geneseo, NY); and Tim Treanor, DC Theater Scene (Washington, D.C.).
“Despite vanishing government support and faltering donations, America’s regional theaters have persevered and prevailed as this country’s preeminent crucible for vibrant and important new works,” said Hirschman. “This year’s submitted plays encompass a dizzying range of styles and themes, produced by a cadre of experienced and novice playwrights who are inarguable proof that theater remains a vital and relevant art form in the 21st century.”
Honorees since 1977 have included Lanford Wilson, Marsha Norman, August Wilson, Jane Martin, Arthur Miller, Adrienne Kennedy, Donald Margulies, Lynn Nottage, Horton Foote, Craig Lucas and Bill Cain. Each year’s winning plays are chronicled in The Best Plays Theater Yearbook, edited by Jeffrey Eric Jenkins, alongside the 10 best plays produced that year in New York City. For a complete list of Steinberg/ATCA plays, go to www.americantheatrecritics.org <http://www.americantheatrecritics.org> , under Awards.
ATCA was founded in 1974 and works to raise critical standards and public awareness of critics’ functions and responsibilities and to recognize excellence in the American theater. The only national association of professional theater critics, with several hundred members working for newspapers, magazines, radio and TV stations and websites, ATCA is the U.S. national section of the International Association of Theatre Critics, a UNESCO-affiliated organization that sponsors seminars and congresses worldwide.
ATCA also sponsors the M. Elizabeth Osborn Award for an emerging playwright and administers the $10,000 Francesca Primus Prize, funded by the Francesca Ronnie Primus Foundation, honoring outstanding contributions to the American theater by a female artist who has not yet achieved national prominence. Annually ATCA makes a recommendation for the Regional Theater Tony Award presented by the American Theatre Wing/Broadway League, and its members vote on inductions into the Theater Hall of Fame. For more information on ATCA, visit www.americantheatrecritics.org.