In the News: Dael Orlandersmith, Hilary Bettis, Nilo Cruz Pen Plays for Site-Specific 7 Deadly Sins, What the Constitution Means to Me Heads to Woodstock, More | Playbill

Industry News In the News: Dael Orlandersmith, Hilary Bettis, Nilo Cruz Pen Plays for Site-Specific 7 Deadly Sins, What the Constitution Means to Me Heads to Woodstock, More Plus, Tony winner Betty Buckley joins forces with the School of Arts and Enterprise Virtual Choir for a new music video to promote social justice.
Dael Orlandersmith

Read on for some recent theatre headlines and videos you may have missed.

Dael Orlandersmith, Hilary Bettis, Nilo Cruz, More Pen New Plays for Site-Specific 7 Deadly Sins
Miami New Drama will present 7 Deadly Sins—Temptations in the Magic City, a site-specific event that will be presented November through December in seven vacant storefronts along Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road. Playwrights Hilary Bettis, Nilo Cruz, Moisés Kaufman, Rogelio Martinez, Dael Orlandersmith, Carmen Pelaez, and Aurin Squire will premiere seven newly commissioned short plays, each focused on one deadly sin: Lust, Greed, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, Gluttony, and Pride. In rotation over 90 minutes, groups of 10 theatregoers will maintain social distance, listening through headphones while actors perform the short plays behind the windows of the vacant Lincoln Road storefronts. The production has been created with the support of the Lincoln Rd Business Improvement District and Mayor of Miami Beach Dan Gelber to help bring audiences and live performances back to the area that has been greatly affected by the ongoing pandemic. Visit MiamiNewDrama.org.

Roundabout Announces New Directors Group
Roundabout Theatre Company's second annual Roundabout Directors Group, launched last year to provide career assistance to emerging directors, will include Galia Backal, Abigail Jean-Baptiste, Sivan Battat, é Boylan, Miranda Cornell, Ryan Dobrin, Danilo Gambini, Raz Golden, Cara Hinh, Carsen Joenk, Lamar Perry, Jenna Rossman, and Julia Rufo. The new cohort, led by Roundabout Associate Artistic Director Jill Rafson and Associate Artist Cristina Angeles, will begin meeting this fall to connect with established theatre artists who offer mentorship and workshops on topics including leadership during a global pandemic, the transitioning from assisting to directing, directing for TV/film, self-producing, and finding representation. Among the many scheduled to meet with the group are directors Scott Ellis, Miranda Haymon, Sam Gold, Anne Kauffman, and Rebecca Taichman. For more information visit Roundabout Directors Group.

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Heidi Schreck Joan Marcus

Constitution Heads to Woodstock
The filmed version of Heidi Schreck's What the Constitution Means to Me will be screened at New York's Greenville Drive-In October 4 as part of the Woodstock Film Festival. A live Q&A will follow. For tickets, visit WoodstockFilmFestival.org. As previously announced, the play, directed for the screen by Marielle Heller, arrives on Amazon Prime Video October 16.

Betty Buckley Releases New Video to Promote Social Justice
Tony winner and Texas native Betty Buckley (Cats, Sunset Boulevard) has released a powerful new video, in which she performs “For the Beauty of the Earth/Jesus Loves the Little Children” with the School of Arts and Enterprise Virtual Choir. The video was created to promote social justice, turn out voters in her home state, and solicit donations for the American Civil Liberties Union, Save the Children, Black Lives Matter, and Voto Latino.

Buckley says: “I grew up as a military brat on Air Force bases around the World. My father Ernest Buckley was a Major turned Lt. Colonel in the United States Air Force. Kids of every race and color were my classmates and our neighbors. When I was in the fifth grade, my father retired from the military, and we settled in Fort Worth, Texas. Every Sunday morning we went to the Methodist Church. I sang in the Youth Choir on Sunday evenings. 'For The Beauty Of The Earth' is one of my favorite, most beloved hymns. I learned 'Jesus Loves The Little Children' when I was very young at Vacation Bible School. It is my hope that via the remembrance of the simple truths contained in the beautiful music and lyrics of these two traditional hymns some persons will feel a call to a soul remembrance of Truth. And it is my hope that the gorgeous faces and voices of the Children of the School of Arts and Enterprise will touch hearts and minds to remember our connected humanity. These children, their teachers, and families did these recordings from their homes. Over 200 people have participated in creating this project. If this music and the images in this video touch one person, ten or one hundred, it will have been worth it.”

Waiting for The Host's International Premiere Will Be Streamed
Marc Palmieri's Waiting for The Host, a full-length play composed for an online experience, will make its international premiere in Singapore at Pangdemonium Theatre. Directed by Tracie Pang, the cast will feature Mina Kaye, Neo Swee Lin, Petrina Kow, Adrian Pang, Gavin Yap, Keagan Kang, and Zachary Pang. Waiting for The Host begins on the last night of Passover in April 2020. While theatres, playgrounds, schools, and houses of worship are shuttered by a modern plague, the rector of a small church seeks to record a theatrical reading of the story of the Passion for the church website. The play will be streamed online Thursdays–Sundays October 15–November 1. An additional stream will be presented for U.S. audiences October 18 at 8 PM ET. For ticket information visit Pangdemonium.com.

A Live Streamed Circle Jerk
No, not like that. Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley will premiere Circle Jerk, a multi-cam live streamed performance about gay right-wing internet trolls and white supremacy in queer culture, through their new theatre and media collective Fake Friends. Performances, filmed at MITU580 in Brooklyn, will be streamed nightly at 7:30 PM ET October 18–23. Click here for tickets.

Watch Judy Whitmore's New Video for "My Favorite Year"
Cabaret performer Judy Whitmore has released a new music video for “My Favorite Year,” from her upcoming album Can't We Be Friends, out November 18. The LP features tunes from Great American Songbook, such as “It Had to Be You” and “S’Wonderful.” Named after Judy Garland, Whitmore co-founded the cabaret group Act Three with her brother Billy and her neighbor Lynn O'Hearn Wagner.

“When I put together the song list for this album, 'My Favorite Year' was at the very top of the list,” says Whitmore. “Who hasn’t reminisced about their favorite year, their first love, or a time in the past when they were younger or more carefree?”

 
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