Backstage Stories

  Theaters Led by Nataki Garrett (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Hana Sharif (St. Louis Rep), Teresa Coleman Wash (Bishop Arts Theater Center), and Dominique Morisseau (Detroit Public Theater) Partner with Garlia Cornelia Jones of Parent Artist Advocacy League (PAAL) and Blackboard Plays for 1st Annual National:   BLACK MOTHERHOOD AND PARENTING  NEW PLAY FESTIVAL FINALISTS: MELDA BEATY, EUREKA LEWIS, JULIE TAIWO ONI AND CYNTHIA G. ROBINSON NAMED IN DECEMBER OF 2020. PARENT ARTIST ADVOCACY LEAGUE (PAAL) AND BLACKBOARD PLAYS PARTNER TO UPLIFT THE EXPERIENCES OF BLACK PARENTHOOD Finalist plays stream weekly May - June 2021 on bmpfest.veeps.com   Pre-Festival Panels simulcast for Free  (April 19, 2020) - In October 2020, Parent Artist Advocacy League (PAAL) and Blackboard Plays announced an open call for submissions to The Black Motherhood* and Parenting New Play Festival . After a one week extension to the November 9th Deadline, the final plays were reviewed ...

Executive Assistant, Production (NY) Job ID 781773BR Location New York, New York, United States Business: Disney Theatrical Group Date posted Apr. 06, 2021 Job Description It’s the magic of immersing yourself in a motion picture masterpiece, or a new track from your favorite band, or the spectacle of a live Broadway show. It’s hard to define and even harder to create, but that’s what we do at The Walt Disney Studios. Ours is a culture of innovation, inclusion, collaboration and creativity. Stories shape how we see ourselves and everyone around us. As storytellers, we have the power to not only uplift and inspire, but also to champion the spectrum of voices in our world. If you want to help tell compelling, diverse and enduring stories through movies, music or live theater, then we want to hear from you. Disney Theatrical Group currently seeks an enthusiastic, hard-working Assistant to support the Senior Vice President of Production / Co Producer. In this role, the Assistant will be res...

The 2021 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has been awarded to U.S. playwright Erika Dickerson-Despenza for her play about the Flint, Michigan water crisis, cullad wattah . Awarded annually since 1977, The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize is the largest and oldest international prize honoring Women+ playwrights. On April 7, a livestream of the award ceremony honored Dickerson-Despenza and the other 9 Finalists. Award-winning star of stage and screen, and one of this year’s Blackburn Prize Judges, Paapa Essiedu , announced the winning play, which comes with an award of $25,000 and a signed and numbered print by artist Willem de Kooning .   To download Erika’s acceptance speech, please click here . “What a play. Oh my God, what a play! When I say that this play hit me like a train. Like a ton of bricks. I don’t think I slept for about three weeks after reading this play. It did something very significant to me. … Through its passionate exploration of the black female experience ...

  BROADWAY RECORDS AND BLACK THEATRE COALITION ANNOUNCE CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR  BLACK WRITERS AMPLIFIED A NEW ALBUM  CONSISTING OF ENTIRELY NEW WORK BY BLACK MUSICAL THEATRE WRITERS SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS MONDAY MAY 17, 2021  Broadway Records and Black Theatre Coalition (BTC) announced today the call for submissions for Black Writers Amplified, a new album consisting entirely of new works by Black musical theatre writers, to be released in 2021. Black Writers Amplified is a project to immediately take steps toward significantly increased representation of Black writers in musical theatre and hold the American Theatre accountable through the creation of a resource for artistic directors, producers and other theatre creators to find and support new voices and emerging Black talent. The album will feature approximately two dozen tracks from established and emerging Black musical theatre writers. Each participating writer will contribute a never-before recor...

“THOUGHTS OF A COLORED MAN” PLAYWRIGHT KEENAN SCOTT II SELECTED AS A TED2021 FELLOW   SCOTT, AN EXCITING NEW VOICE OF THE AMERICAN STAGE, JOINS THE NEWEST CLASS OF 20 GLOBAL VISIONARIES, SHARING THEIR BIG IDEAS THROUGHOUT THE TED EVENTS PLANNED FOR 2021   Playwright  Keenan Scott II , whose new play  Thoughts of a Colored Man  will have its Broadway premiere at the Golden Theatre  (252 West 45 th  Street) in the upcoming season, has been selected as a TED2021 Fellow, joining a class of 20 remarkable individuals who are collaborating across disciplines to spark positive change around the world.    Scott said, “Growing up in Queens, New York, I never thought of my life being a part of a global community of artists, inventors, and scientists. I am humbled and honored to be a playwright among these giants. With being a Fellow, I pray I can extend the reach of my work through imparting empathy in my audience for years to come.”   Thoughts of ...