Regina King shares her experience hosting SNL, explains the timely relevance of her film One Night in Miami and gushes over watching old Golden Girls episodes during quarantine.
Stage auteur May Adrales has been selected as The Lark’s new artistic director, with the announcement arriving less than a week after John Clinton Eisner shared his retirement from the Off-Broadway company. Adrales returns to The Lark after nearly a decade at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, which she joined as a board member in 2012 and became associate artistic director of in 2017.
Prior to Milwaukee Rep, Adrales served as The Lark’s director of artistic programs from 2008 to 2010 and then continued served on its artistic board until 2014. During her tenure, she created several programs that remain as a toolbox of play development, including Monthly Meeting of the Minds, Winter Writers’ Retreat, and Playground. From 2006 to 2009, she was an artistic associate at The Public Theater.
“May Adrales is like family coming home,” said The Lark Executive Director Stacy Waring. “As two women of color, we can not only bring awareness to the challenges our communities face, but as benefactors of The Lark’s mission we understand the value of its promise.”
In her career as a director, Adrales has helmed numerous world premieres and productions of works, including Qui Nguyen’s Vietgone. She’s also worked with Katori Hall, David Henry Hwang, Lauren Yee, and Rajiv Joseph on bringing their plays to the stage.
“My vision for The Lark is to wholly empower artists and encourage their fullest potential by providing artistic, financial and career building support,” Adrales said. “My hope is that the work created under the wing of The Lark reveals the widest range of human experience and works towards an equitable, compassionate, and imaginative world.”
In addition to her work on stage, Adrales has taught and directed at Yale School of Drama (where she received an MFA in directing), Brown University, Juilliard, NYU, Fordham, and more. She is the recipient of the TCG Alan Schneider Directing Award, League of Professional Women Josephine Abady Award, Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation’s inaugural Denham Fellowship, and the recipient of a TCG New Generations grant. Adrales also serves on the board of Theater Communications Group.
On this day in 1995, the Leiber and Stoller musical revue Smokey Joe’s Cafe opened on Broadway
1900 Composer Kurt Weill is born in Dessau, Germany. He composes the scores for Bertolt Brecht‘s Threepenny Opera and Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. His greatest Broadway success is the 1941 musical Lady in the Dark, written with Moss Hart and Ira Gershwin, which runs 467 performances.
1921 The Klaw Theatre on West 45th Street opens with a production of Rachel Crothers‘ Nice People. Owned by theatrical producer Marc Klaw, the house is renamed the Avon in 1929. Columbia Broadcasting System takes it over for its radio studio in 1934. The theatre is demolished in 1954.
1955 Harold Clurman directs Bus Stop. Kim Stanley and Elaine Stritch are two of the stranded passengers in the William Inge play.
1960 Don Ameche stars in the memorable flop 13 Daughters, with book, music, and lyrics by Eaton Magoon, Jr. The show runs 28 performances at the 54th Street Theatre.
1975 Did anyone guess the careers Gilda Radner, John Belushi, and Bill Murray would have? All three appear in The National Lampoon Show at the Palladium in New York. The revue, directed by Martin Charnin, runs 23 weeks.
1989 Ken Ludwig‘s Lend Me a Tenor, starring Victor Garber, Philip Bosco, and Tovah Feldshuh, opens on Broadway at the Royale Theatre. Bosco and director Jerry Zaks win Tony Awards for their work.
1995 Opening night for Smokey Joe’s Cafe, the musical revue saluting the songs of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Directed by Jerry Zaks, the show runs 2,036 performances at the Virginia Theatre, making it the longest-running revue in Broadway history, save Oh! Calcutta!
2000 Susan Stroman and John Weidman‘s dance play Contact starts performances at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. The show, which sold out its Off-Broadway run at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, gains Broadway status (and Tony eligibility) in the move. It officially opens March 30, and wins the Tony Award for Best Musical, despite using an entirely pre-recorded score of jazz music and pop tunes.
2014 The New York premiere of Sarah Ruhl‘s romantic comedy Stage Kiss opens Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons. Jessica Hecht and Dominic Fumusa star as actors in a forgotten 1930s melodrama who quickly lose touch with reality as their onstage story follows them offstage.
2017 Joshua Harman‘s Significant Other opens on Broadway at the Booth Theatre, following a successful Off-Broadway run. Gideon Glick stars as a gay, single 20-something New Yorker whose bond with his once-inseparable group of friends begins to fracture as the women in his life get married. The production runs 61 performances.
2020 Company returns to Broadway (with a twist) as a new revival of the Stephen Sondheim and George Furth musical begins previews at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. Marianne Elliott’s gender-reversed production was officially scheduled to open March 22—Sondheim’s 90th’ birthday—but is currently on hiatus due to the ongoing pandemic. Two Tony winners headline the staging: Katrina Lenk (The Band’s Visit) as Bobbie (a new take on the musical’s central Bobby) and Patti LuPone (Evita, Gypsy) as Joanne.
2020 Diana, the new musical about the late Princess of Wales, begins previews at Broadway’s Longacre Theatre March. The musical, scheduled to officially open March 31, is currently on hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic. Jeanna de Waal (Kinky Boots) stars in the title role, alongside Roe Hartrampf as Prince Charles, Erin Davie (Side Show) as Camilla Parker Bowles, and two-time Tony winner Judy Kaye (Nice Work If You Can Get It) as Queen Elizabeth.
More of Today’s Birthdays: Marc Blitzstein (1905-1964). Martin Ritt (1914-1990). Desi Arnaz (1917-1986). Eddie Lawrence (1919-2014). Lilo (b. 1925). John Cullum (b. 1930). Daniel Craig (b. 1968).
Watch Anika Noni Rose and Raúl Esparza rehearse for a 2013 production of Marc Blitzstein’s musical The Cradle Will Rock:
Post #42. Last in a short series on the art of collaboration. Part 5: What happens when you split up? Why should you have had a Collaboration Agreement?
Enjoy!
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