Latest news with #PublicTheater
Express Tribune
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Original Hamilton cast to reunite at 2025 Tony Awards for 10th anniversary
The original cast of Hamilton will reunite at the 78th Annual Tony Awards to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Lin-Manuel Miranda's acclaimed Broadway musical. The event, set to air live on CBS on Sunday, June 8, 2025, will feature a special reunion performance highlighting the show's enduring cultural impact. The announcement was made by Tony Award Productions and CBS, sparking excitement among Broadway fans and theater lovers worldwide. Hosted by Cynthia Erivo, this year's Tony Awards will bring together the iconic ensemble that helped launch Hamilton into theatrical history. Confirmed cast members participating in the reunion include Lin-Manuel Miranda, Daveed Diggs, Leslie Odom Jr., Phillipa Soo, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Jonathan Groff, Anthony Ramos, Okieriete Onaodowan, Jasmine Cephas Jones, and more. The full list also includes original ensemble performers such as Ariana DeBose, Ephraim Sykes, and Sasha Hutchings. Hamilton first premiered Off-Broadway at the Public Theater in early 2015 before transferring to Broadway's Richard Rodgers Theatre later that year. At the 70th Tony Awards, the musical earned a record-breaking 16 nominations and won 11, including Best Musical. The show also received a Grammy, an Olivier Award, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and a Kennedy Center Honors citation. In a landmark achievement, the Hamilton Original Broadway Cast Recording recently became the first cast album to be certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), further cementing its legacy in musical theater history. Fans can expect a powerful tribute as the original Hamilton cast takes the stage once again to celebrate a decade of revolutionary theater.
Time Out
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Twelfth Night
Photograph: Courtesy of the artist | Lupita Nyong'o After taking last summer off for renovations to the open-air Delacorte Theater in Central Park, the Public Theater 's cherished annual series Shakespeare in the Park returns with one of the Bard's most popular plays: an ever-popular comedy of cross-purposes, cross-dressing and cross-gartered socks. R esident director Saheem Ali ( Buena Vista Social Club ) directs a starry cast: Lupita Nyong'o and her brother Junior Nyong'o as Viola and Sebastian, nearly-identical siblings separated by a shipwreck; Sandra Oh as the mourning noblewoman who takes a shine to Viola when she is dressed as a boy; and Peter Dinklage, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Khris Davis, Bill Camp, Daphne Rubin-Vega and Moses Sumney as various figures in the lovely Olivia's orbit. Tickets are, as always, free; see our complete guide to Shakespeare in the Park tickets for details. Thu, Aug 7, 2025 Fri, Aug 8, 2025 Sat, Aug 9, 2025 Sun, Aug 10, 2025 Tue, Aug 12, 2025 Wed, Aug 13, 2025 Thu, Aug 14, 2025 Fri, Aug 15, 2025 Sat, Aug 16, 2025 Sun, Aug 17, 2025 Show more By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions. 🙌 Awesome, you're subscribed! Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon! Discover Time Out original video
Forbes
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
A Glass Girl, Gods, Ghosts And An Imp. Inside Caryl Churchill's Universe
Deirdre O'Connell in GLASS. KILL. WHAT IF IF ONLY. IMP., written by Caryl Churchill and directed by ... More James Macdonald, at the Public Theater Joan Marcus This past November when Deirdre O'Connell was sent the script of a quartet of Caryl Churchill's short plays that would be performed together, there was no question that she had to be a part of the ensemble. 'I knew that my life was about to be swallowed up with the plays. There was the brilliance of the writing. And it's rare to feel there is only mining and nothing incomplete about it,' says the Tony-winning actor about the mosaic of themes and characters in Churchill's plays Glass. Kill. What If If Only. IMP. 'All I have to do is surrender to it and try to understand how it needs to be done. Because it is perfect.' All vastly different, yet linked together in subtle ways, the plays feature a girl made of glass who has to navigate her world, a God on a white cloud giving her take on humanity, a bunch of ghosts who have a keen insight on mortality and two kissing cousins, (who don't kiss), who may have an escaped IMP from a bottle running amok in their living room. Directed by James Macdonald, who often collaborates with Churchill, the four one acts are presented together for the first time and playing at the Public Theater. Often considered one of the world's finest playwrights, Caryl Churchill's work delves into sexual politics, identity, power, human instincts and why we behave the way we do. A pioneering, boundary pushing playwright, she blows the lid off convention and creates her own forms. (From left): John Ellison Conlee, Adelind Horan, and Deirdre O' Connell in GLASS. KILL. WHAT IF IF ... More ONLY. IMP Joan Marcus Oskar Eustis, the Public Theater's artistic director calls Churchill the most influential living playwright in the English language. 'For over 50 years she has been creating utterly unique, unpredictable plays that combine formal experimentation with deep social engagement. She's a profoundly political playwright whose work is always aesthetically compelling; she's a brilliantly innovative artist whose work tackles the deepest and most difficult issues we face,' writes Eustis in the show's playbill about the Public Theater's collaboration with Churchill that has spanned nearly five decades. 'She isn't the most commercially successful writer we have; indeed, she's never aimed at that kind of success. But her influence on generations of playwrights is unequalled in the Anglo-American theater.' O'Connell is part of an ensemble featuring Japhet Balaban, Ruby Blaut, John Ellison Conlee, Adelind Horan, Maddox Morfit-Tighe, Cecilia Ann Popp, Sathya Sridharan, Junru Wang, Ayana Workman, Kyle Cameron, Orlagh Cassidy and Anya Whelan-Smith. When asked about why she believes Churchill's work has endured all these decades O'Connell points to the depths of her writing. 'She has a very clear headed way that she looks at the world combined with this acknowledgement of its mysteries,' says O'Connell of the plays that are running at the Public Theater through May 25. 'There is the glee she has as a writer. And she offers that pleasure to the artist making it and, hopefully, to the world watching it.' Jeryl Brunner: In the one act IMP you play Dot, a former nurse who is nursing her own bad back and stays put in her reclining armchair. While in Kill you take on the role of 'Gods' and are perched on a cloud delivering an epic monologue. Both pieces are extremely different. What is that like for you? Deirdre O'Connell: They are each remarkable in their own way and so utterly different from each other. One kind of earns you the ability to do the other. Kill , in particular, was terribly intimidating. On the page, there is very little punctuation. It's just four single spaced pages of ferocious writing about death, war, families and cultures. It's about how the world creates an impossible situation for each generation and tries to move out of it, Yet it's impossible to do, because you are birthed into a legacy of some kind of violence and revenge fantasy. It seemed very prescient , yet she had written it around six years ago. I guess it will never stop feeling like this is the exact story that needs to be told right now. I was terrified reading Kill . I thought, Can I just do IMP , the fun British comedy? But of course, no, you can't. You have to be able to do both things. And the fun British comedy wouldn't be the same thing without the Gods in Kill , and the Gods wouldn't be the same thing without the fun British comedy. Brunner: Were you able to connect with Caryl Churchill at some point? O'Connell: A little bit. She did some Zoom meetings with us from London as a group when we were beginning rehearsal. Imagine social anxiety. We didn't know each other yet. There was all of us in a room on one screen, and then there was her and her cat, by herself in London. She was very nice. It was like we all came over for tea and she was such a great hostess to us. I did not sit down and have in-depth question answer sessions with her. We had our director James, who has worked with her so much and understands her writing so well and had directed these plays before [in the United Kingdom] a few years ago. It was funny because it was long ago enough so when I would ask him very specific questions, like: 'How did you solve this problem?' But he would say, 'I don't remember.' So we were starting from scratch, but with someone who had already figured out and knew that worked. It was as if we were working with a magician who solved the tricks but had to teach them to you. Brunner: How has doing the play impacted you? O'Connell: It might be something about the nature of the dark and the light of the task, but it makes me feel extremely happy. I don't always feel that way. Even when I'm in something I really like, feel excited and challenged. This is a particular kind of happiness. And even sometimes when I have the dark moments of the soul, I remember how this makes me incredibly happy. As dark as the play is, it's also extremely pleasurable to do. Brunner: Why do you think that is? O'Connell: I believe that has a lot to do with Carol and James. James is incredibly gentle as a director, but he also puts out breadcrumbs through the forest for you. They are these brilliant, bright breadcrumbs and you just have to follow them. He is so gentle that anytime you start to bite down, he says, 'No, no, no. You don't have to freak yourself out about this.' He has a way of not freaking out as a director, in terms of having faith that the soup will brew up into the thing it needs to be. James trusted us a lot and let us build. But at the same time, he was guiding with such a gentle hand. So I felt very held by him while feeling a lot of freedom inside a very tight structure. (From left:) Adelind Horan, Ayana Workman, Sathya Sridharan and Japhet Balaban in Glass. Joan Marcus Deirdre O'Connell Courtesy The Public Theater
New York Times
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins on Winning a Pulitzer for ‘Purpose'
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins was getting ready for his first Met Gala on Monday afternoon when he got the news: his latest play, 'Purpose,' which is now on Broadway, won this year's Pulitzer Prize for drama. The other finalists were Cole Escola's 'Oh, Mary!,' which is also running on Broadway, and 'The Ally,' by Itamar Moses, which had an Off Broadway run last year at the Public Theater. Jacobs-Jenkins, 40, has been a Pulitzer finalist twice before, for 'Gloria' in 2016 and for 'Everybody' in 2018, and last year he won a Tony Award for 'Appropriate.' In 2016 he also won a so-called genius grant from the MacArthur Foundation. He grew up in Washington, D.C., and now lives in Brooklyn. 'An Octoroon' and 'The Comeuppance' are among his other well-received works. 'Purpose,' directed by Phylicia Rashad, was first staged last year by Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago, which had commissioned the play; Jacobs-Jenkins wrote it for the company's actors. The Broadway production opened in March, and has been nominated for six Tonys, including best play. 'Purpose' is currently on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theater in Manhattan. The cast includes, from left: LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Jon Michael Hill, Kara Young and Alana Arenas. Credit... Sara Krulwich/The New York Times Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
When the Goddess of Evil Looms Large, Cue the Music
In 'Goddess,' an original musical about a mysterious singer in Mombasa, Kenya, Moto Moto is not just an Afro-jazz nightclub, it's a great equalizer, where Kenyans of all faiths, tribes and social classes shake and spin their bodies in rapture. 'I've literally met the loves of my life on dance floors,' the director Saheem Ali said. 'So I understand the power of a life-changing event that happens in a space of communal dancing and joy.' It's that electric sense of belonging that Ali sought to recreate in 'Goddess,' now in previews at the Public Theater after an 18-year development process. 'My first child is Liban,' Ali said to his cast on the first day of rehearsal for 'Goddess.' 'He was born in 2006.' 'My second child is 'Goddess,'' he said, referring to the musical. 'And she was born in 2007. Eighteen years, never again for one show.' (It arrives on the heels of his Broadway production of 'Buena Vista Social Club,' the lively stage adaptation of the beloved 1997 album that is set in Havana nightclubs and was nominated for 10 Tony Awards, including for Ali's direction.) Creating an original musical from scratch is its own tall order. And at the heart of this passion project is the African folklore myth of Marimba, the goddess of music who created songs from heartbreak. It took Ali years to find the right collaborators and hone the plot. While the long-running, Tony-winning Broadway show 'Hadestown' is based on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, it shines as a kind of exception to the stories that tend to get turned into musicals. 'Goddess' doesn't have an underworld, but it might hold a similar appeal, with characters that include a soothsayer, deity infighting and a trio of sultry, singing narrators who act as conduits between the human and spirit worlds. The themes at its core are universal: resisting familial pressures, nurturing the talents that bring joy, listening to the quiet voice within. The key, Ali said, was making it personal. 'I needed to slowly kind of piece together the power that was at the center of the story that meant something to me,' Ali, who is from Nairobi, said. The story centers on Nadira (Amber Iman), a gifted singer who begins performing at Moto Moto, transfixing the club's patrons with her heavenly voice. Drawn to her is Omari (Austin Scott), fresh off studying in the United States, and playing the saxophone in secret against the wishes of his more tradition-minded father, the governor of Mombasa. Nadira, who isn't quite what she seems, also has a controlling parent — a mother who is the goddess of evil. Such is the premise for 'Goddess,' a love story. 'It's personal, it's cultural, it's his home, it's his people, it's his story,' Iman said of Ali. 'Everyone is invested in a different way because that level of investment and love comes from the top down.' The long journey for the show (which had a run at the Berkeley Rep Theater in 2022) extends back even further — to 1994, when a teenage Ali, sitting in an English literature class in Kenya, first learned of the myth of Marimba, the goddess who turned a weapon into a musical instrument and whose jealous mother cursed her never to find love. 'Those ingredients,' Ali said, 'the kind of human nature, extremity of it, how someone can be so gifted and have a curse — those ingredients kind of stuck with me.' Years later, in 2007, as he was finishing an M.F.A. in directing at Columbia University, he said he asked himself, 'If I wanted to make something original from my place of birth, what would it be?' He thought of Marimba. 'And she just had not left me from age 16.' But he was still finding his voice as an artist. 'I need to go back to my roots,' Ali, who is now the associate artistic director of the Public Theater, realized. 'I need to go back to storytelling from when I was a kid, and doing skits, and how we would use drums to create atmosphere.' He enlisted the playwright Jocelyn Bioh ('Jaja's African Hair Braiding') to write the book, Michael Thurber for music and lyrics, and Darrell Grand Moultrie for choreography; they all worked on 'Merry Wives' — a Shakespeare adaptation set in an African diasporic community in Harlem — for Shakespeare in the Park in 2021. (In March, the Public announced that Bioh was stepping away from the creative team; James Ijames, who wrote the Pulitzer-winning play 'Fat Ham,' which Ali also directed, was named a new collaborator, and has contributed additional book material.) What emerged was a story line that draws from Ali's own familial expectations, which he defied to pursue theater. Ali grew up in an observant Muslim household, one where, he said, music and art were prohibited. 'My own theater making was very surreptitious,' he said. Ali later moved to the United States to study computer science, but quickly switched his major to theater. He didn't tell his parents until six months before graduation. Only his father attended. 'So I understood the pressure of trying to be an artist in a family where, you know, culturally, religiously, even, there was that pressure there,' he said. In order to pull off something authentic, the attention to detail would need to be microscopic. Ali knew that Swahili, an official language of Kenya, would be interwoven throughout the musical, and that his cast would speak English, also an official language, with Kenyan accents. So he tapped Karishma Bhagani, who is from Mombasa, as a dramaturg and cultural consultant. 'I think we feel the responsibility so deeply to bring these stories to life,' Bhagani said, 'because we were told these stories through a different mode of archiving, through our grandmothers, or through oral storytelling traditions that we see vibrant in the world of the musical that we've created.' Each time Bhagani taught the cast the Kenyan English pronunciation of a word — like 'MOHM-bah-sah' instead of 'MUM-bah-sah' — they taught her American dialects in return. (She has perfected the Valley girl inflection.) 'You have to relearn how to sing with this dialect and where you're placing it, what vowels you're using,' Scott said of playing Omari. 'And that's a whole other breaking open of this instrument you've been using for years, and reconfiguring it.' Swahili, as language, music and food, is a mix of African, South Asian and Middle Eastern influences. And the music in 'Goddess' — buoyant, lush and kaleidoscopic — mirrors that diversity in a great blend of jazz, pop, taarab, Afrobeat and soul, with Arab and Indigenous African influences. It's a change, Thurber said, from the West African music Western audiences tend to know. 'East Africa has its own musical lineage, its own tradition,' Thurber said. 'And it turns out that it's phenomenally unique and phenomenally rich because of the Swahili influence.' The choreography also draws from a deep well of East African cultural lineage, as well as Pan-African contemporary dance to exhibit Mombasa's sweeping diversity. With a Mombasa nightclub, Moultrie said, 'I get to play in different fields and genres.' Ali plans to continue presenting those traditions this summer in a starry production of 'Twelfth Night' at the reopened Delacorte Theater, in which the play's twins immigrate from Kenya to the mythical land of Illyria, featuring Lupita Nyong'o (who met Ali in 1998 in a production of 'Romeo and Juliet' in Nairobi) as Viola, and her brother Junior Nyong'o as Sebastian. There's one through-line, Ali said, to all of his work. 'I'm all about joy,' he said. 'When you feel the joy, when you feel the transformation, it reorganizes the cells in your body.'
