Bronwen Sharp’s Portraits of American Playwrights are currently on view at New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza (65th St and Columbus Ave) in New York.
Playwrights who are featured in the series include Lynn Nottage, Suzan-Lori Parks, Lucas Hnath, Mac Wellman, Mike Folie, Benjamin Scheuer, Christopher Shinn, John Logan, Sarah Ruhl, Austin Pendleton, Sheila Callaghan, Anne Washburn, Amy Herzog, David Ives, Lisa Kron, Colman Domingo, and Gregory S. Moss.
Bronwen Sharp. Photo by Lia Chang
Bronwen Sharp, an award-winning portrait photographer who has spent the last 10 years photographing theatre in London’s West End, was celebrated at the opening reception for her exhibition, Portraits of American Playwrights, at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center on April 11, 2018. Ms. Sharp’s subjects – playwrights Lucas Hnath, Mac Wellman, Mike Folie, Benjamin Scheuer and Christopher Shinn, were in attendance.
Benjamin Scheuer, Mike Folie, Bronwen Sharp, Mac Wellman, Christopher Shinn, Lucas Hnath. Photo by Lia Chang
Ms. Sharp has a specific interest in and passion for photographing playwrights. Her recent exhibitions include Playwrights in Focus at the Southwark Playhouse, Generate in Toronto Canada’s Theatre Centre, and Meet the Writers, which is currently on display at the Bush Theatre in London. Her portraits have been featured in both the Guardian and The Stage.
Doug Reside, Bronwen Sharp, Curator, Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center and Lucas Hnath. Photo by Lia Chang
Bronwen Sharp’s American Playwrights Series celebrates playwriting and documents American theatre history in the making. “Writers are interesting to photograph, very different from actors,” Sharp writes. “I really enjoy the journey of reading their plays, then meeting and spending time with them. I hope that these new portraits reveal a bit more about the writers and bring playwrights into the spotlight.”
Christopher Shinn, Bronwen Sharp. Photo by Lia Chang
Doug Reside, Curator, Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center and Jacqueline Z. Davis, Executive Director of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. Photo by Lia Chang
Doug Reside, Bronwen Sharp, Curator, Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center. Photo by Lia Chang
Bronwen Sharp. Photo by Lia Chang
Barry Grove,Executive Producer of the Manhattan Theatre Club and Doug Reside, Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center. Photo by Lia Chang
Sheree Sharp, Bronwen Sharp and Kim Depole. Photo by Lia Chang
Mike Folie. Photo by Lia Chang
Mike Folie and Bronwen Sharp. Photo by Lia Chang
Stephanie Karpell, Mike Folie and Doug Reside, Curator, Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center. Photo by Lia Chang
Benjamin Scheuer. Photo by Lia Chang
Christopher Shinn. Photo by Lia Chang
Lucas Hnath. Photo by Lia Chang
Mona Pirnot and Lucas Hnath. Photo by Lia Chang
Mona Pirnot, Lucas Hnath, Benjamin Scheuer, Jemima Williams. Photo by Lia Chang
Mac Wellman. Photo by Lia Chang
Hazen Cuyler, Bronwen Sharp. Photo by Lia Chang
Vasilis Onwuadu, Maria Paz Alegre, Bronwen Sharp, Steven Meehan and Jobina Tinnemans. Photo by Lia Chang
These portraits were taken in the living rooms, hotels, rehearsal studios, and writing rooms of these playwrights.
Bronwen Sharp’s Portraits of American PlaywrightsBronwen Sharp’s Portraits of American PlaywrightsBronwen Sharp’s Portraits of American PlaywrightsBronwen Sharp’s Portraits of American Playwrights
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia is also an internationally published and exhibited photographer, a multi-platform journalist, and a publicist. Lia has appeared in the filmsWolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Jade Magazine and Playbill.com
Primary Stages (Andrew Leynse, Artistic Director; Shane D. Hudson, Executive Director; Casey Childs, Founder) is presenting a special talkback for FEEDING THE DRAGON with guest Colman Domingo following the performance on Sunday, April 15, 2018.
Sharon Washington. Photo by Lia Chang
FEEDING THE DRAGON is written and performed by Sharon Washington (While I Yet Live), directed by Maria Mileaf (A Body of Water), and presented in a co-production with Hartford Stage. FEEDING THE DRAGON, began performances on March 21, 2018 at the Cherry Lane Theatre, opened on Tuesday, April 3, and runs through April 27, 2018.
Colman Domingo. Photo by Lia Chang
Colman Domingo is an Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League Award, NAACP Award nominated, OBIE and Lucille Lortel Award winning actor, playwright and director. He currently stars on AMC’s “Fear The Walking Dead” as Victor Strand. He stars in Barry Jenkins new film If Beale Street Could Talk, Sam Levinson’s Assassination Nation and the Netflix recent hit First Match. He is currently represented on Broadway as the co-book writer of the new musical SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical.
Award-winning actress Sharon Washington, beloved by audiences for her performances in Primary Stages’ productions of While I Yet Live and String of Pearls, as well as The Scottsboro Boys on Broadway, returns to Primary Stages to share a uniquely personal story with the New York premiere of FEEDING THE DRAGON. As both playwright and star of this autobiographical solo piece, Sharon revisits her time growing up in an apartment on the top floor inside the St. Agnes Branch of the New York Public Library, where her father served as the building’s custodian. Shrouded in family mystery, Sharon’s story boldly examines how both the power of forgiveness and her lifelong love for the written word have helped her battle dragons of all forms.
FEEDING THE DRAGON features scenic design by Tony Ferrieri, costume design by Toni-Leslie James, lighting design by Ann Wrightson, and sound design by Lindsay Jones.
The performance schedule for FEEDING THE DRAGON is as follows: Tuesday-Saturday at 8pm; Sunday at 3pm. Exceptions: there will be no performances on Tuesday, April 17. There will be an additional performance on Wednesday, April 25 at 2pm.
Single tickets for FEEDING THE DRAGON are priced starting at $70. All tickets are available at PrimaryStages.org or by calling OvationTix at 212-352-3101. Group tickets are available for $45 per ticket ($35 for student groups) by contacting 212-840-9705.
Cast member Keith David, director Phylicia Rashad and cast members Glynn Turman, Lillias White, Jason Dirden and Damon Gupton from August Wilson’s ”Ma Raineys Black Bottom,” at Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum at the Los Angeles Music Center. Photo by Luke Fontana
Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum’s production of August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, has been nominated for 5 NAACP Theatre Awards in the categories of Best Director for Phylicia Rashad, Best Lead Female for Lillias White, Best Lead Actor for Jason Dirden and Glynn Turman, and Best Sound – Larger Theatre for Dan Moses Schrier. The play is set in 1927 Chicago at a white-owned studio with the legendary singer – inspired by real-life Mother of the Blues-Gertrude “Ma” Rainey.
Glynn Turman and Jason Dirden Photo by Craig Schwartz
The 27th Annual NAACP Theatre Awards are presented by the NAACP Beverly Hills/Hollywood Branch’s Theatre Viewing Committee. To honor such outstanding examples of black excellence in theatre, an extravagant dinner show will be held on Monday, February 26, 2018, 6:00 p.m. at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California.
Pulitzer prize winner Suzan Lori Parks’ “Father Comes Homes from the War Parts 1, 2 and 3,” “Fly,” and “Barbecue” have all received 8 nods in The Equity Theatre (larger theatre) nominations.
L-R: Julian Rozzell Jr., Roger Robinson, Sterling K. Brown and Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris in “Father Comes Home From The Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3)” at Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum. Written by Suzan-Lori Parks and directed by Jo Bonney, the West Coast premiere of “Father Comes Home From The Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3)”. Photo by Craig Schwartz
Pulitzer prize winner Suzan Lori Parks’ “Father Comes Homes from the War Parts 1, 2 and 3” has been nominated for Best Playwright, Best Lead Male for Sterling K. Brown, Best Supporting Female for Patrena Murray and Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris, and Best Supporting Male for Roger Robinson and Larry Powell, Best Costumes for ESosa and Best Music Director for Steven Bargonetti. Parks has written an intense drama that details the life of a slave as he joins the battlefield during the Civil War – an unexpected twist, he is a confederate soldier.
“Fly”. Photo by Jim Cox
“Fly” has been nominated Best Choreography for Hope Clarke, Best Director for Ricardo Khan, Best Ensemble Cast, Best Producer for The Pasadena Playhouse and Crossroads Theatre Company, Best Sound for John Gromada, Best Costumes for Toni-Lesli James, Best Lighting for Rui Rita and Jake DeGroot, and Best Playwright for writers Ricardo Khan and Trey Ellis, the latter of which wrote a piece recently nominated for an Emmy. It follows the story of 4 Tuskegee airmen on their quest to integrate the United States Air Force.
Cherise Boothe, Yvette Cason, Omar J. Dorsey, Kimberly Hébert Gregory and Heather Alicia Simms. Photo by Jeff Lorch Photography.
Robert O’Hara’s “Barbecue” a humorous analysis of typical American family dynamics with an unexpected twist, has been nominated in the categories of Best Playwright, Best Director for Tony Award nominee Coleman Domingo, Best Costumes for Kara Harmon, Best Ensemble Cast, Best Lighting for Lap Chi Chu, Best Producer for Geffen Playhouse, Best Set Design for Sibyl Wickersheimer, and Best Sound for Lindsay Jones.
[See Full List of Nominations Below]
27th Annual NAACP Theatre Awards Nominations Best Choreography – Larger Theatre Fly – Hope Clarke Merrily We Roll Along – Eamon Foley Memphis – Edgar Godineaux
Best Choreography – 99 Seat Theatre When Jazz Had the Blues – Cassie Crump The Boy From Oz – Janet Roston Ferguson – Peachanda DuBose
Best Costumes – Larger Theatre Barbecue – Kara Harmon Father Comes Home from the Wars Parts 1, 2 and 3 – ESosa Fly – Toni-Leslie James
Best Costumes – 99 Seat Theatre The Prequel to Othello, The Cause, My Soul – Mylette Nora No Place to be Somebody – Naila Aladdin Sanders When Jazz Had the Blues – Michael Mullen
Best Director – Larger Theatre Fly – Ricardo Khan Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Phylicia Rashad Barbecue – Colman Domingo
Best Director – 99 Seat Theatre The Mask We Wear – William Scales No Place to be Somebody – Ben Guillory Bars and Measures – Weyni Mengesha
Best Director of a Musical – Larger Theatre Recorded In Hollywood – Denise Dowse Merrily We Roll Along – Michael Arden Memphis – Edgar Godineaux
Best Director of a Musical – 99 Seat Theatre Much Ado About Nothing – Gloria Gifford The Boy From Oz – Michael A. Shepperd Down on your Knees and Up to the Moon – Gloria Gifford
Best Ensemble Cast – Larger Theatre The Last Tiger in Haiti Barbecue Fly
Best Ensemble Cast – 99 Seat Theatre A Nice Family Gathering It’s Just Sex When Jazz Had the Blues
Best Lead Female – Larger Theatre Memphis – Krystle Simmons The Fantasticks – Ashley Park Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Lillias White
Best Lead Female – 99 Seat Theatre The Mountaintop – Danielle Truitt Broken Fences – Donna Simone Johnson The Mask We Wear – Sade’ Moore
Best Lead Male – Larger Theatre
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Glynn Turman
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Jason Dirden
Father Comes Home from the Wars Parts 1,2 and 3 – Sterling K. Brown
Best Lead Male – 99 Seat Theatre No Place to be Somebody – Sammie Wayne IV No Place to be Somebody – Leith Burke The Mask We Wear – Wallace Demarria
Best Lighting – Larger Theatre Icebergs – Daniel Ionazzi Fly – Rui Rita and Jake DeGroot Barbecue – Lap Chi Chu
Best Lighting – 99 Seat Theatre My Manana Comes – Jennifer Edwards When Jazz Had the Blues – Leigh Allen No Place to be Somebody – Michael D. Ricks
Best Music Director – Larger Theatre Father Comes Home from the Wars Parts 1, 2 and 3 – Steven Bargonetti Merrily We Roll Along – Matt Gould & Adam Wachter Memphis – Darryl Archibald
Best Music Director – 99 Seat Theatre Ferguson – Dean O’Leary When Jazz Had the Blues – Rahn Coleman Billy Holiday – Front and Center – Casey McCoy
Best One Person Show – 99 Seat Theatre Women on the Verge – Faith Collins Journey This – Cheray O’Neal Billy Holiday – Front and Center – Sybil Harris
Best Playwright – Larger Theatre Father Comes Home from the Wars Parts 1, 2 and 3 – Suzan-Lori Parks Barbecue – Robert O’Hara Fly – Trey Ellis and Ricardo Khan
Best Playwright – 99 Seat Theatre Journey This – Cheray O’Neal The Prequel to Othello, The Cause, My Soul – Ted Lange The Mask We Wear – Wallace Demarria
Best Producer – Larger Theatre
Fly – The Pasadena Playhouse and Crossroads Theatre Company
Icebergs – Geffen Playhouse
Barbecue – Geffen Playhouse
Best Producer – 99 Seat Theatre No Place to be Somebody – Ben Guillory & Robey Theatre Company The Mask We Wear – Wallace Demarria and William Scales When Jazz Had the Blues – Leigh Fortier & Tiffany Thomas
Best Set Design – Larger Theatre Icebergs – Anthony T. Fanning The Last Tiger in Haiti – Takeshi Kata Barbecue – Sibyl Wickersheimer
Best Set Design – 99 Seat Theatre The Prequel to Othello, The Cause, My Soul – Peter Hickok No Place to be Somebody – Thomas Meleck When Jazz Had the Blues – Se Hyun Oh
Best Sound – Larger Theatre Fly – John Gromada Barbecue – Lindsay Jones Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Dan Moses Schrier
Best Sound – 99 Seat Theatre When Jazz Had the Blues – Christopher Moscatiello The Boy From Oz – Eric Snodgrass The Prequel to Othello, The Cause, My Soul – Will Mahood
Best Supporting Female – Larger Theatre Father Comes Home from the Wars Parts 1, 2 and 3 – Patrena Murray Father Comes Home from the Wars Parts 1,2 and 3 – Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris Disgraced – Karen Pittman
Best Supporting Female – 99 Seat Theatre A Lady in Waiting – Malika Blessing Blessing A Lady in Waiting – Pia D. Days No Place to be Somebody – Kacie Rogers
Best Supporting Male – Larger Theatre Father Comes Home from the Wars Parts 1, 2 and 3 – Roger Robinson Icebergs – Keith Powell Father Comes Home from the Wars Parts 1, 2 and 3 – Larry Powell
Best Supporting Male – 99 Seat Theatre The Mask We Wear – Jerrel O’Neal No Place To Be Somebody – Hawthorne James Ferguson – Alfred Rutherford
The NAACP Theatre Viewing Committee considers all candidates who submit their productions from January 2016 through December 15, 2016, for possible nomination. All productions must run for at least six (6) full performances in Southern California (San Diego to Bakersfield included). Previews, invited dress rehearsals, and other similar showings do not count towards eligibility. Eligibility for this year’s edition was limited to theatre productions opening in January 2016 through December 2016. Productions who meet all eligibility requirements before the deadline are considered eligible for a 2017 NAACP Theatre Award.
For more information on the NAACP Theatre Awards, please visit www.naacptheatreawards.comor email: lisa@premierconceptspr.com
About the NAACP Theatre Awards
The NAACP Theatre Awards is presented by the Beverly Hills/Hollywood NAACP Branch in partnership with the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles City Council President/District 10 Councilman, Herb Wesson Jr. The event is co-chaired by Councilman Herb Wesson, Beverly Hills/Hollywood NAACP Branch President Ron Hasson, and the Executive and Creative Producer, Tia Boyd. The mission of the Theatre Awards is to entertain, educate, inspire the community and create diversity in the arts and entertainment industry. The prestigious star-studded gala aims to honor the highest achieving persons in the field of dramatic arts. The branch also celebrates a four-day theatre festival, which provides a platform for thespians to express their craft and share their contributions with an audience of their peers, the community and other individuals who celebrate live theatre in Los Angeles.
Playwrights who are featured in the series include Lynn Nottage, Suzan-Lori Parks, Lucas Hnath, Mac Wellman, Mike Folie, Benjamin Scheuer, Christopher Shinn, John Logan, Sarah Ruhl, Austin Pendleton, Sheila Callaghan, Anne Washburn, Amy Herzog, David Ives, Lisa Kron, Colman Domingo, and Gregory S. Moss.
