Drama Playwright Alum Receives NEA New Play Development Honor
Date: 11/10/2008
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced last month the first of seven selections for the NEA New Play Development Program, which includes a new work from Drama alum Lloyd Suh (2001).
Matthew Kelty Named Drama’s Associate Director
Date: 11/3/2008
The New School for Drama recently announced the appointment of Matthew Kelty as associate director of the division
The New School for Drama to Present Stage Door
Date: 11/3/2008
The New School for Drama presents Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman’s Stage Door as the second offering of the FIRST LOOK Performance Series
Drama’s First Look Performance Series off to a Great Start
Date: 10/27/2008
The New School for Drama has begun its First Look performance series, which features presentations of classical and contemporary works staged in a final rehearsal atmosphere with minimal sets, lights, costumes, and props.
Drama Playwriting Faculty Member Enjoys Another London Success
Date: 10/20/2008
Playwright and New School for Drama faculty member Chris Shinn’s new play, Now or Later, has been extended until November 1 at the Royal Court Theatre in London after its critically acclaimed world premiere last month.
Drama Playwriting Faculty Member Has Two Plays Currently Off-Broadway
Date: 10/6/2008
Playwright and Drama faculty member Michael Weller is having a prolific start to the theater season, having recently opened two new plays off-Broadway: Beast at New York Theatre Workshop this past August and Fifty Words at MCC last week.
Drama to Present Ibsen’s The Pillars of Society
Date: 10/6/2008
The New School for Drama presents Henrik Ibsen’s The Pillars of Society as the first offering of the FIRST LOOK Performance Series.
Drama Receives Grant from Harold & Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust
Date: 9/29/2008
TCG New Generations Future Leaders Grant Awarded to Alumni Director
Date: 9/22/2008
Directing Alum Vijay Mathew, class of 2003, was recently awarded Theater Communications Group (TCG) New Generations Future Leaders Grant.
Drama Student Takes “Stock” of his Shakespearean Summer
Date: 9/15/2008
New School for Drama student Christian Jacobs, class of 2010, spent his summer days as a witch and his evenings as a drummer / wild-haired, dirty mountain man.
The New School for Drama Names John Turturro Artist-In-Residence
Date: 9/2/2008
The New School for Drama Names John Turturro Artist-In-Residence
Drama Announces 2008 Fall Season of First Look
Date: 8/11/2008
FIRST LOOK is a unique performance series presented by The New School of Drama, which will feature classical and contemporary works staged in a final rehearsal atmosphere, using minimal sets, lights, costumes, and props.
The New School for Drama Students and Alumni Dominate 2008 Samuel French Short Play Festival
Date: 7/28/2008
The New School for Drama students and alumni were once again well-represented at the 33rd annual Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival, which featured a selection of 40 plays this past month at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre in New York City.
Apexart 2008 Selects New School Drama Student Performance Installation
Date: 6/23/2008
"Perverted by Theater," a curatorial project created by New School Drama student Paul David Young (Playwriting '09) and artist Franklin Evans, was selected as the winning proposal for an art exhibition and performance by the contemporary visual arts organization Apexart
Drama Alum Receives Emerging Playwright Residency at Florida Stage
Date: 6/9/2008
Andrew Rosendorf, a 2008 graduate of The New School for Drama’s playwriting program, was recently awarded a ten-month playwriting residency with Florida Stage through the National New Play Network (NNPN).
Drama Faculty Members Receive Backstage Readers’ Choice Award
Date: 5/19/2008
Two faculty members at The New School for Drama received Readers’ Choice Awards in Backstage’s recent survey.
Drama Announces Final Draft 2008 Playwright Showcase
Date: 5/5/2008
The New School for Drama presents Final Draft, its annual playwright showcase, Monday through Wednesday, May 12-14.
Drama’s Playwrights Featured in Final Week of Random Acts Festival
Date: 4/21/2008
The New School for Drama’s Random Acts One-Act Play Festival gives audiences the opportunity to experience some of the best work of the school’s up-and-coming actors, directors, and playwrights. This week, April 24–26, the sixth and final weekend of the festival, original plays by Drama’s graduating playwrights will be presented. Performances are free and open to the public.
Drama Alumnus Receives Brooklyn Historical Society Grant
Date: 4/14/2008
Drama alumnus Michael Schwartz (’97) recently received a $6,000 grant from the Brooklyn Historical Society to take part in their Interpreting Brooklyn Project. The ten artists participating in the project are producing works that reinterpret the society’s collections, to be presented in an exhibition and a series of readings, performances, and other events.
Drama’s Playwrights Featured in Final Weeks of Random Acts Festival
Date: 4/7/2008
The New School for Drama continues its six-weekend Random Acts One-Act Play Festival, giving audiences the opportunity to experience some of the best work of the school’s up-and-coming actors, directors, and playwrights. Beginning with week five of the festival, April 10-12, original plays by Drama’s graduating playwrights will be presented.
Drama Playwright Awarded Disney Screenwriting Fellowship
Date: 4/7/2008
Drama Alumnus Roberto Marinas (’03) was awarded the 2008 Disney Screenwriting Fellowship, one of the industry's best known and most respected writing fellowships. Marinas is one of four writers selected from over 1200 entries. He received the good news last month and said that it was “Very cool.”
Drama Alum’s Documentary Split: A Divided America Premieres at Dallas Film Festival
Date: 3/31/2008
Split: A Divided America, a documentary by Drama graduate Kelly Nyks (class of ’99), will premiere at the AFI Dallas Film Festival this week. Split is one of only six films selected for this prestigious documentary competition. Running through April 6, the festival will present more than 200 screenings, making it one of the largest film festivals in the Southwest.
Drama’s Random Acts One-Act Play Festival Continues
Date: 3/24/2008
The New School for Drama’s six-weekend Random Acts One-Act Play Festival continues, giving audiences the opportunity to experience the best of the school's up-and-coming actors, directors, and playwrights. Free and open to the public, the plays are presented every other week and include both classic and contemporary works, ranging from Tennessee William's 27 Wagons Full of Cotton to Tony Kushner’s Terminating.
Drama's Random Acts! Festival at the Halfway Mark
Date: 3/3/2008
The New School for Drama continues its six-weekend Random Acts One-Act Play Festival, giving audiences the opportunity to experience some of the best work of the school’s up-and-coming actors, directors, and playwrights. Free and open to the public, the plays are presented every other week.
Random Acts! Festival Off to a Great Start
Date: 2/19/2008
Last week, The New School for Drama began its six-weekend run RANDOM ACTS One-Act Play Festival, inviting audiences to experience some of the best work of the school’s up-and-coming actors, directors, and playwrights. Free and open to the public, the plays are presented every other week and include both classic and contemporary works.
The New School Dedicates Sheila C. Johnson Design Center
Date: 2/19/2008
On Wednesday, The New School will celebrate the dedication of the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center. The 32,800-square-foot center for Parsons The New School for Design was made possible in part by a $7 million gift from New School trustee and Parsons Board of Governors Chair Sheila C. Johnson.
Random Acts Kicks Off This Month
Date: 2/4/2008
The New School for Drama’s RANDOM ACTS One-Act Play Festival begins its six-weekend run on Thursday, February 14. Audiences are invited to experience work by some of the best of the school’s up-and-coming actors, directors, and playwrights.
Drama Students Get a Taste of Global Filmmaking
Date: 1/28/2008
This fall, acting students from The New School for Drama had the opportunity to work on films with foreign students through a partnership with France’s renowned film school Ecole Superieure de Realisation Audiovisuelle (ESRA). In September, ESRA brought 60 students from its graduate program in filmmaking to New York to spend a year learning about the American film industry.
Drama Alumnus on Broadway This Season
Date: 1/14/2008
Drama graduate Eisa Davis, class of ’97, will appear in the upcoming New York production of Passing Strange, which arrives at Broadway’s Belasco Theatre February 8 after an off-Broadway run at the Public Theater.
Star-Studded Reception Honors Drama’s Supporters
Date: 12/17/2007
On December 10, The New School for Drama held a cocktail reception to thank its many supporters and to acknowledge the work of Tony-Award winning Director Doug Hughes, Drama’s artist-in-residence.
Drama to Present Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream Directed by Austin Pendleton
Date: 12/3/2007
The New School for Drama presents William Shakespeare's romantic comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream as final offering of the FIRST LOOK production series. FIRST LOOK is a performance series of classical and contemporary works staged in a final rehearsal atmosphere with minimal sets, lights, costumes, and props.
An Evening with Richard Foreman
Date: 11/12/2007
On Monday, November 19, the Eugene Lang College Arts Program, in association with The New School for Drama, presents an evening with Richard Foreman, one of the most influential playwrights and directors in contemporary American theater.
The Drama Alumni Play Project Presents Staged Reading of Nailing Jell-O
Date: 11/12/2007
The New School for Drama's Alumni Play Development Project will present its first offering of the year, a staged reading of Nailing Jell-O.
Drama Alumna Named “Groundbreaking Latina”
Date: 11/5/2007
Tatiana Suarez Pico (’05) was recently named one of Catalina Magazine’s “Groundbreaking Latinas” of 2007. Every year during Hispanic Heritage Month, which begins September 15, Catalina and the National Association of Latina Leaders (NALL) celebrate Latinas who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and achieved success in the Hispanic community and beyond.
Oscar Winner Olympia Dukakis Teaches at Drama
Date: 10/29/2007
This fall, Olympia Dukakis, an Oscar-winning actress, producer, author, and director, is leading a series of master classes at The New School for Drama. In the course, Directing Chekhov and Beckett, directing students analyze important works from these ground-breaking playwrights to gain a better understanding of how to stage their plays.
Drama to Present Miller’s The Crucible
Date: 10/22/2007
The New School for Drama presents Arthur Miller’s seminal play The Crucible as the second offering of the FIRST LOOK program. Drama’s FIRST LOOK program is a series of performances of classical and contemporary works staged in a final rehearsal atmosphere, with minimal sets, lights, costumes, and props. The production of The Crucible features second-year MFA Acting students and is directed by Drama directing alum Brian Cichocki (’04).
Drama Presents A Month in the Country
Date: 10/1/2007
The New School for Drama presents A Month in the Country (After Turgenev) by Brian Friel, adapted from the novel by Ivan Turgenev. The production features the third-year MFA Acting students and is directed by Drama alumnus Merve Taskan (’06).
Lloyd Suh's (Drama '01) The Children of Vonderly Premieres This Month
Date: 9/26/2007
This past week, Ma-Yi Theater Company presented the world premiere of Lloyd Suh's (Drama ’01) new play The Children of Vonderly at the East 13th Street Theatre.
Drama Alums Participate in Visionfest Film Festival in New York City
Date: 9/18/2007
Off Duty, a feature film by New School for Drama alum Vijay Mathew (’03), will be screened in the Visionfest Film Festival 2007.
Doug Hughes Named Artist-in-Residence at Drama
Date: 9/11/2007
The New School for Drama is proud to welcome award-winning director Doug Hughes as this year’s Distinguished Artist-in-Residence.
Teaching Excellence Awards
Date: 9/10/2007
At the Convocation Ceremony on September 6, the Office of the Provost presented the Teaching Excellence Awards to four distinguished teachers at The New School: Susan Mayer, Parsons The New School for Design; Inessa Medzhibovskaya, Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts; Christopher Roselli, The New School for Drama; and Reggie Workman, The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music.
Doug Hughes Named Artist-In-Residence at Drama(1)
Date: 9/10/2007
The New School for Drama is proud to welcome award-winning director Doug Hughes as this year’s Distinguished Artist-in-Residence. Hughes comes to the school on the heels of directing the Broadway revival of Inherit the Wind, starring Christopher Plummer and Brian Dennehy.
Drama Announces Fall Season with First Look 2007
Date: 9/4/2007
First Look 2007, is a unique performance series from the New School for Drama, featuring classical and contemporary works staged as in a final rehearsal, with minimal sets, lights, costumes, and props. “With the production values of a play stripped away, both the actors and the audience are freer to embrace the play and the characters,” said Robert LuPone, Drama director.
Drama Welcomes Filmmakers From Overseas
Date: 8/27/2007
The New School for Drama and Ecole Superieure de Realisation Audiovisuelle (ESRA) have combined forces in programming a joint venture for the fall semester.
Christopher Shinn's Dying City Selected For Best Plays of 2006-2007
Date: 8/14/2007
Dying City, by Drama playwriting faculty member Christopher Shinn, was selected for the Best Plays of 2006-2007.
Drama Staff Member Matthew Kelty Named a Winner in the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Original Short Play Festival
Date: 8/14/2007
Samuel French, Inc. and Love Creek Productions recently announced the winners of its 32nd Annual Off-Off Broadway Original Short Play Festival. Matthew Kelty, Drama’s Director of Academic Affairs, won for his play Opening, which will be published in the next Samuel French annual collection of short plays.
Drama Students and Alumni Participated in the 24 Hour Plays
Date: 7/17/2007
This year, The New School for Drama has two recent alumna and three current students who participated in the 24 Hour Plays
Drama Alumnus to Appear in TV Show
Date: 7/17/2007
Bradley Cooper (’00) is scheduled to appear in five episodes of the fifth season of Nip/Tuck.
A Fantastic Start for Sweat; Drama’s Summer Music Theater Intensive
Date: 6/18/2007
This week, The New School for Drama kicked off SWEAT a program that immerses graduate and undergraduate students in an intense, three-week training in music theater. This year’s program runs June 11-27 and aims to give participants a comprehensive understanding of the skills and techniques they will need to have a successful career in music theater.
Theatre World Award Given to Drama Alumnus
Date: 6/1/2007
Xanthe Elbrick (‘06) was awarded the 2007 Theatre World Award for a Broadway Debut for her performance in Coram Boy. At the ceremony and reception, which was attended by former winners and members of the theater community, six actresses and six actors were awarded for Debut Performance in a Broadway or Off-Broadway production.
The New School for Drama Presents Screenplay
Date: 5/21/2007
SCREENplay is an opportunity for the graduating writers of The New School for Drama’s MFA Playwriting program to introduce their screenplays to a community audience and industry professionals. Each of the students will present one of their current projects along with a brief project description, and a short staged reading of a scene from the screenplay.
Alumnus Wins Honorable Mention at the Tribeca Film Festival
Date: 5/1/2007
Roberto Marinas (’03) won honorable mention for his screenplay Last Road Home at the fourth Tribeca All Access (TAA) Creative Promise Awards—a program designed to help foster relationships between film industry executives and filmmakers from traditionally underrepresented communities.
Xanthe Elbrick Receives Tony Award Nomination
Date: 5/1/2007
New School for Drama Alumnus Xanthe Elbrick (’06) was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in this season’s Coram Boy.
Megan Lohne Accepted in the Royal Court’s Young Writers Program
Date: 5/1/2007
Playwright Megan Lohne, ’07, is spending this summer in London as part of the Royal Court Theatre’s prestigious Young Writers Program. The program will allow Lohne to further develop her work through writing projects, staged readings, and workshop performances. The experience will provide a developmental link from her work right to the world-famous Royal Court stage.
Playwright to Participate in Kennedy Center College Theater Festival Finals
Date: 4/1/2007
Third-year Drama playwright Bekah Brunstetter (07) recently participated in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival after her play Green was selected to be read as part of the regional section of the competition this past January in Poughkeepsie, New York. As part of the festival, students compete regionally and nationally in acting, directing, writing, and design.
Faculty Member to Receive Lortel Award
Date: 4/1/2007
The League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers announced nominations for the 22nd Annual Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway, which will be presented on Monday, May 7, at New World Stages, New York City. Among this year’s recipients of special awards, already announced will be Drama faculty member Rick Sordelet, who teaches Stage Combat for The New School for Drama.
Eisa Davis Nominated for Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Date: 4/1/2007
When Eisa Davis (‘97) play Bulrusher had its world premiere at Urban Stages, directed by Leah C. Gardiner, in March 2006, little did she know at the time that it would be nominated for the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Drama Playwrights Showcased in Final Draft
Date: 4/1/2007
Final Draft, a festival of new play readings presented by The New School for Drama’s MFA playwriting class of 2007, will be held May 14–16, at The New School for Drama Theater, 151 Bank Street, 3rd floor. It is an introduction of the students’ work to the theater community, providing networking opportunities and the chance to present them as emerging playwrights.
Drama Desk Awards: Faculty Member Receives Special Award, and Alumna Nominated for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
Date: 4/1/2007
Xanthe Elbrick (‘06) has been nominated for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play, and Drama faculty member Austin Pendleton will receive a special award for his contributions to American theater at the 52nd Annual Drama Desk Awards on May 20 at Lincoln Center.
Drama Playwright to Participate in Kennedy Center College Theater Festival Finals
Date: 4/1/2007
Third-year Drama playwright Bekah Brunstetter (07) participated in the 2007 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival after her play Green was selected to be read as part of the regional section of the competition this past January in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Drama Alumnus in World Premiere of Ashlin Halfnight’s Mud Blossom
Date: 4/1/2007
Jennifer McCabe (’98) will appear in the world premiere of Ashlin Halfnight's Mud Blossom at Walkerspace in New York City, presented by Emergency Theater Project.
Drama Grads Collaborate to Bring a Modern Japanese Play to Life
Date: 3/1/2007
Woken'glacier theatre company, a troupe founded by Drama alumus Matthew Paul Olmos ('04), is collaborating with two other companies to produce the U.S. premiere of Hideo Tsuchida's award-winning play The Steel Tower. The play was translated by M. Cody Poulton and adapted by Olmos. Ronit Muszkatblit ('04) will direct the performance, slated to open March 3 at the TBG Theater on 36th Street in Manhattan.
Drama School Alumni Playwright Wins 'Two-Headed Challenge'
Date: 3/1/2007
Playwright Jeremy Kareken (2000) has won the fourth annual Two-Headed Challenge co-sponsored by the Playwrights' Center and Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. The contest challenges playwrights to write a play in collaboration with a non-theater professional. Kareken proposed a play about a female molecular biology student who defies ethics by offering to fertilize one of her own human eggs with chimpanzee sperm and proposing to carry the resultant organism to term.
Drama Playwright Named Finalist in Graduate Playwriting Competition
Date: 2/1/2007
Third-year Drama playwright Bekah (Rebecca) Brunstetter was recently named a finalist in the Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition at the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta, with her play Green. The competition is designed to develop and produce powerful new plays, foster new playwrights, and strengthen the national theater field by supporting the work of young writers.
Amy Miller Gets Big Break While Waiting Tables!
Date: 1/1/2007
It was a slow, snowy morning at the New York City restaurant where Amy Miller, Drama ’06, was waiting tables when she received her first big break in musical theater.
Drama Alumnus Poised for the Great White Way
Date: 1/1/2007
Drama graduate Xanthe Elbrick, class of 2006, will make her Broadway debut in the upcoming New York production of Coram Boy, a tale of two orphans at the Coram Hospital for Deserted Children. She will be playing one of the lead roles, Aaron, the abandoned son of the heir to a great estate. The production is currently having a successful run at the National Theatre in London and will premiere stateside in May 2007 at the Imperial Theater.
Drama Graduate Selected for New Playwrights Commissioning Program
Date: 12/18/2006
The New School for Drama playwriting alumnus Jason Holtham 2000 has been selected to participate in the new Time Warner Commissioning Program at Second Stage Theatre.
Drama Alumnus to Star in Major Motion Picture
Date: 12/11/2006
Austin Basis, Class of 2001, cast in the new romantic comedy My Sassy Girl.
Drama Alumni Playwrights Featured in Vital Signs New Works Festival
Date: 12/4/2006
Three Alumni Playwrights have plays featured in The Vital Theatre Company’s VITAL SIGNS New Works Festival.
Message from the Director
Date: 6/13/2006
Message from the Director, Robert LuPone, about the future of The New School for Drama
Two New School for Drama Playwrights Named Winners In The Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Original Short Play Festival
Date: 6/5/2006
Two Drama Playwriting students awarded publication in the next Samuel French annual collection of short plays.
Drama Library named in honor of Mr. Herbert Robinson
Date: 5/2/2006
The New School for Drama acknowledged the contributions of avid supporter Herbert Robinson by naming its loaning library in his honor.
Six Drama Playwrights Named Semi-Finalists In The Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Original Short Play Festival
Date: 4/3/2006
Six Drama Playwriting students eligible to move on in this prestigious competition.