Public Theatre
David Henry Hwang's drama FOB, set in a small restaurant in California, opens Off-Broadway in 1980 on its way to winning an OBIE for Best Play.
1980 The dichotomy between Chinese traditions and Americanization is the focus of FOB, which opens at The Public Theater. David Henry Hwang’s drama, set in a small restaurant in California, wins Obies for Best Play and for star John Lone.
Monday, June 1, 2020 Streaming on The Public's website, YouTube, and Facebook.
Co-Chairs: Kwame Anthony Appiah, Candia Fisher, Joanna Fisher, Laure Sudreau, and Lynne Wheat
Honorees: Audrey & Zygi Wilf
Artistic Honoree: Sam Waterston
WE ARE ONE PUBLIC will include performances and appearances by Antonio Banderas, Laura Benanti, Kim Blanck, Ally Bonino, Danielle Brooks, Glenn Close, Jenn Colella, Elvis Costello, Claire Danes, Holly Gould, Danai Gurira, Anne Hathaway, Stephanie Hsu, Oscar Isaac, Nikki M. James, John Leguizamo, Audra McDonald, Grace McLean, Sandra Oh, Mia Pak, David Hyde Pierce, Phillipa Soo, Trudie Styler & Sting, Will Swenson, Shaina Taub, Kuhoo Verma, Ada Westfall, Kate Wetherhead, Todd Almond, Troy Anthony Burton, Michael Cerveris, Daniel Craig, Carla Duren, Danaya Esperanza, Jane Fonda, Nanya-Akuki Goodrich, David Henry Hwang, Brian d’Arcy James, Alicia Keys, John Lithgow, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Margaret Odette, Kelli O’Hara, Suzan-Lori Parks, Phylicia Rashad, Jay O. Sanders, Liev Schreiber, Deandre Sevon, Martin Sheen, and Meryl Streep.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson is a star in his own right but even he has had to gulp at the wattage on tap for the upcoming benefit for New York City's fabled Public Theater.
Meryl Streep, Antonio Banderas, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Alicia Keys, Daniel Craig, Danielle Brooks, Glenn Close, Elvis Costello, Claire Danes, Danai Gurira, Anne Hathaway, John Leguizamo, Audra McDonald, Sandra Oh, David Hyde Pierce and Sting are just some of stars expected to attend the June 1 virtual event, called “We Are One Public.”
“It is a pretty impressive list,” said Ferguson, who will be the host. “I can't believe I'm going to have a one-on-one conversations with these people. Some are friends, but I also have to prepare that I'm going to have a conversation with Sting — which is really mind-blowing.”
Other participants include Laura Benanti, Todd Almond, Troy Anthony Burton, Michael Cerveris, Carla Duren, Danaya Esperanza, Jane Fonda, Nanya-Akuki Goodrich, David Henry Hwang, Brian d’Arcy James, John Lithgow, Phillipa Soo, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Nikki M. James, Margaret Odette, Kelli O’Hara, Suzan-Lori Parks, Phylicia Rashad, Jay O. Sanders, Liev Schreiber and Martin Sheen.
The event is free and will be livestreamed on The Public’s website, YouTube channel and Facebook page. The celebration replaces The Public's annual gala held beside the stage where it offers Shakespeare in the Park.
NEW YORK — Filipino American set designer Clint Ramos has won this year’s Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Scenic Design for his work on the play “Grand Horizons.”
Outer Critics Circle (OCC) is an organization of writers covering the New York theater industry for out-of-town news and media outlets.
OCC president David Gordon said, “The Outer Critics Circle has thought long and hard about a way to honor the nearly 200 productions that opened [2019 to 2020], while also respecting those shows that were canceled, postponed, or forced to close shortly after opening.
Filipino American theater makers were involved in productions that won in different categories.
One of the two winners of Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical is David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori’s “Soft Power,” staged at The Public Theater.
Though audiences aren’t able to enjoy live on-stage performances during the ongoing coronavirus shutdown, Ghostlight Records offers cast recordings from a selection of popular musicals for digital download. Among the latest releases from the 2019-20 season are three award-nominated Off-Broadway favorites, featuring powerhouse performances of the original music and lyrics by the shows’ renowned stars.
Soft Power – A hot-button collaboration between Tony Award winners David Henry Hwang (book and lyrics) and Jeanine Tesori (music and additional lyrics), Soft Power examines American democracy from the perspective of China in a riotous and relevant new musical-within-a-play that had its New York premiere at The Public Theater last fall. Francis Jue, Conrad Ricamora, and Alyse Alan Louis lead the spirited cast through hard-hitting numbers filled with sharp-witted parodies and heartfelt honesty that will leave you laughing and thinking.
NEW YORK CITY: The Pulitzer committee has announced the recipients of the 2020 Pulitzer Prizes. The Pulitzer Prize for drama, with a $15,000 cash prize, was awarded to Michael R. Jackson for A Strange Loop. This year’s finalists were Will Arbery for Heroes of the Fourth Turning and David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori for Soft Power. Jackson’s is just one of 10 musicals to take home the Drama Pulitzer.
The Pulitzer Prize was established in 1917 by Joseph Pulitzer and recognizes achievements in journalism, literature, drama, and music composition. The award is administered by Columbia University.
Michael R. Jackson's musical A Strange Loop has won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The musical ran in the summer of 2019 at Playwrights Horizons.
A Strange Loop explores the thoughts of Usher, a black, queer writer working a job he hates while writing his original musical: a piece about a black, queer writer, working a job he hates while writing his original musical. Jackson's blistering, momentous new musical (and his professional debut) follows a young artist at war with a host of demons — not least of which are the punishing thoughts in his own head — in an attempt to capture and understand his own strange loop. It was presented by Playwrights Horizons alongside Page 73 Productions.
Joining A Strange Loop on the Pulitzer Prize for Drama lineup are finalists Heroes of the Fourth Turning, by Will Arbury, and the musical Soft Power, written by David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori. Heroes also premiered at Playwrights Horizons, with Soft Power having its New York premiere at the Public Theater.
A multi-layered and mischievous musical that deconstructs a beloved, original American art form to examine the promise and the limits of representation in both the theatrical and political senses of the word.
