Events
Come Learn About The New York Festival Circuit For Plays and Musicals

Tomorrow Tuesday, February 25th, at 7pm for networking, and a panel at 7:30 come to The Actors Temple Theatre, 339 W. 47th Street
The Actors Temple Theatre, 339 West 47th Street, for Festivals: Working Hard to Give Your Show a Chance
Panelists include Suzanna Bowling, producing manager for NYTheaterfest (Summerfest, Winterfest); Cate Cammarata, literary manager TRU Voices Reading Series; Gene Fisch, Jr., festival director New York New Works Theatre Festival; Lou Lopardi, executive director and Dennis Corsi, artistic director of Fresh Fruit Festival; Valerie Novakoff, producing artistic director Rave Theater Festival; Michael Scott-Price, curator Dream Up Festival at Theatre for the New City; Lenore Skomal, festival director Broadway Bound Theatre Festival; Van Dirk Fisher, artistic director Strawberry Festival.
If you think it’s daunting to produce yourself in a festival, take a moment to consider the complexity and challenge of running the festival itself. Here’s a behind the scenes peek at the history and evolution of a range of these safe havens for developing new work … why and how they came into being … what their mission is (and whether it is in sync with your own goals) … and how they may need to evolve and adapt to changes in our cultural and political environment. One of the major festivals just closed its doors, and others have gone on hiatus to regroup and redefine themselves. What changed? It isn’t easy, and they need you to be a part of their producing community. So come and learn all the basics about the submission process, deadlines, what’s expected of you and what you can expect from them. Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments, roundtable introductions of everyone in the room will start at 7:30pm – come prepared with your best 30-second summary of who you are, and what you need. Free for TRU members; $13 for non-members in advance ($16 at door). Please use the bright red reservation box
- Suzanna Bowling is dedicated to helping the development of new works as producing manager of NYTheaterfest, which offers seasonal festivals in a creatively supportive environment: Winterfest and Summerfest. She also co-owns and publishes the newspaper Times Square Chronicles or T2Conline.com. At one point a working actress, she has performed in numerous productions in film, TV, cabaret and theatre. She has performed at The New Orleans Jazz festival, The United Nations and Carnegie Hall. She has a screenplay and a TV series in the works, which she developed with her mentor and friend the late Arthur Herzog.
- Cate Cammarata is a producer, director, dramaturg and writer in NYC and is the Associate Artistic Director for Rhymes Over Beats Hip Hop Theater Collective. Cate has produced The Assignment off-Broadway and My Father’s Daughter with Ursula Rucker at La Mama for Rhymes Over Beats. Regionally she produced My Life Is a Musical at Bay Street Theater and has directed many readings of new work in NYC. She is the Literary Manager for Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) and is the Director of Creative Development for MusicalWriters.com. Cate holds a BFA in Acting/Directing from Syracuse University and an MFA in Dramaturgy at SUNY Stony Brook, and teaches Theatre Arts at Baruch College. Her latest book, “Contemporary Monologues for a New Theater,” was listed as one of the Top Ten Books for theatre lovers by BroadwayDirect in 2018. catecammarata.com, createtheater.com
- Dennis Corsi is the Artistic Director of the Fresh Fruit Festival, and Director of New Works at Live & In Color, a theatre company developing new plays and musicals celebrating diversity. He is the Creative Director of Script Match, a web app connecting playwrights and producers. Dennis is the video director at B • OUT, an LGBTQ media company, where he is directing the new television series In Pursuit. Dennis is a dramaturg for NYMF and is on their selection committee for new musicals. Select theatrical directing credits: The Commedia Cinderella (Theatre Row – winner of Off Broadway Alliance Award), The Phillie Trilogy (Fresh Fruit Festival – winner Outstanding Production 2018), The Fierce Urgency of Now (Fresh Fruit Festival – winner Outstanding Production 2017), Nell Dash (Winterfest – winner Best Director), The Turing Test (Gallery Players), Siren’s Den (Gene Frankel), Junie B. Jones (Theatreworks USA), Dust and Ash (Samuel French OOB), and bare (Michigan State University). @corsidennis | www.denniscorsi.com
- Gene Fisch, Jr. has been a passionate fan of the arts his entire life. Though only as a hobby these past ten years, he has either produced, directed, or invested in 100+ shows during that span, most all at the Off Broadway and Broadway levels. Philanthropy being his primary focus, he was the lead producer for Carnegie Hall performance / Album that donated the proceeds to establish music programs in NYC schools. He has two television pilots in his repertoire, one of which was his directorial debut that was funded for four episodes by a group who worked for ABC. Fisch is particularly fond of his work directing the Off Broadway parody of the television show, “Dexter”. Subsequent to being part of the Broadway producing team for High starring Kathleen Turner, Gene founded The New York New Works Theatre Festival, helping over 1,000 artists by giving them a shot on a top tier stage (historically the Duke and Acorn Theaters). Three shows from NYNW’s stages are on their way to Broadway and one (“12 Angry Voices” produced by his mentor and panelist, Lauren Class Schneider) is generating traction for its national tour. Submissions are free and NYNW outlays most all of the upfront costs with the hopes that the NYNW stage is only the first step of the project’s journey (Numerous shows have moved forward). Every submission is reviewed by at least one Broadway producer. Gene has led a wonderfully diverse career outside of the arts and currently teaches Engineering Technogenesis at the Stevens Institute of Technology. “The bottom line is that theatre is awesome and if there is a way that we can help someone take their art to the next level while having a ton of fun, we’re all in!” nynwtheatrefestival.com
- Lou Lopardi is executive director of the Fresh Fruit Festival, and also Artistic Director of the 30-year-old A Company Of Players. He has directed such staples as Equus, Wozzeck, Three-penny Opera, Die Fledermaus, Don Giovanni, considerable Shakespeare, Brecht, and Dutch, German, and Russian theatre & opera, both here and in Europe. At the Chekhov Theatre he has directed Fassbinder’s Petra von Kant, Bad Evidence, Lysistrata, Cyrano de Bergerac, and his own plays The Frankenstein Journals and Visiting Grishka. Louis has received awards for Lighting, Sound Design, Original Music, Playwriting, Direction, and has been awarded by the AFM Musicians’ Union for “promoting live music for the dance.” Better known as a Director, Louis is a published poet and author whose other stage works include The Strange Case of Rudolph Hess, The Greatest Show On Earth, Aliens in Maspeth, a new translation and performing edition of Buchner’s Woyzeck, and the nationally acclaimed Purgatory Project, in which the audience examines current mores by visiting great figures of the past in purgatories of their own creation.
- Valerie Novakoff is the Associate Producer at Davenport Theatrical Enterprises, Ken Davenport’s theatrical and media producing company. As Associate Producer, Valerie is engaged in all aspects of developing, producing, and managing major Broadway productions and tours, including the critically acclaimed revival of Once On This Island and Gettin’ the Band Back Together, as well as developmental readings and workshops. Valerie was previously the Assistant Producer at Jeffrey Finn Productions, Broadway productions included An Act of God starring Sean Hayes and Sunday in the Park with George starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford, and oversaw the corporate events division Hot on Broadway. As part of general management office 321 Theatrical Management, select productions include Wicked, Fun Home, If/Then, andSpongeBob SquarePants. Valerie worked for director Des McAnuff (dramaturgy work on Dr. Zhivago and several projects in development) and in the events department of The Drama League. Independently, Valerie is the Associate Producer of the first-ever app-enabled theatrical event Blank! The Musical, a fully improvised Off-Broadway musical currently running at the Broadway Comedy Club. As a creative producer, Valerie champions innovative and insightful storytelling. Valerie studied Dramatic Literature and Producing at New York University.
- Michael Scott-Price is the Director of New Projects at Theater for the New City. Michael still maintains his role as Literary Manager at TNC. You are welcome to send your new stage projects for (full/co) production consideration to him at literary@theaterforthenewcity.net He is a director/creator and artistic director of the Asteroid B612 Theatre Company. Michael has written and directed productions presented nationally as well as in Canada, Ireland, and England. As a playwright, Michael’s play LYNCH PLAY was selected for a performance residency at Antioch College (2006). He has studied at the School of Physical Theatre in London, England and the Odin Teatret in Hostelbro, Denmark. Scott-Price is a member of Lincoln Center Theater Director’s Lab. He also serves as curator of TNC’s New City, New Blood Readings Series, Scratch Night at TNC (works-in-progress) and of its summer Dream Up Festival.
- Lenore Skomal is a theatre producer and career writer. An author of 17 books, including three bestsellers, she is the sole proprietor of Lenore M Skomal Productions, LLC, which produces her plays and Broadway Bound Theatre Festival. In addition to BBTF, she produced The Exes (Theatre Row, 2019) for a 9-week run and Bluff at Hudson Guild (2016), both licensed plays with 2020 productions in community and regional theatres. The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter, her first book, is being made into a movie by AmframEntertainment with a release date of spring 2022. A proud member of the Dramatists Guild, Commercial Theatre Institute, Theater Resources Unlimited, Off Broadway Alliance, Theater Communications Group, the National Newspaper Columnists Association, Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), and the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA), Lenore is dedicated to empowering artists. www.lenoreskomal.org
Celebrity
The Glorious Corner

WOODSTOCK COVER STARS — (Via Best Classic Bands) — Bobbi Ercoline’s name may not be familiar to most, but millions own her photograph: Bobbi, whose last name at the time was Kelly, and her then-boyfriend, Nick Ercoline, were huddled together under a quilt at the 1969 Woodstock festival when photographer Burk Uzzle snapped their picture. The couple, both then 20, were unaware that their photo had even been taken until several months later, when the three-LP Woodstock soundtrack album was released. They were among friends when they first realized the couple on the album cover was them.
“We were passing the jacket around when someone pointed out the staff with the orange and yellow butterfly,” Nick told AARP in 2019 for the organization’s magazine. “That belonged to Herbie, a guy from Huntington Beach, Calif. He was lost and having a bad trip, and we hooked arms with him until he was clear-headed. Then we saw the blanket. Oh my lord, that’s us!”
Bobbi and Nick only lasted one night at Woodstock, and never even got near the stage. They had given it their all trying to get to the festival, ditching their car when traffic became snarled and walking the final two miles. They spent most of their single day there on the hillside where the famous photo was taken.
Two years later, in 1971, they married. They remained together until Bobbi Ercoline’s death Saturday (March 18, 2023).
Nick posted the news on Facebook: “It’s with beyond great sadness that I tell my FB family and friends, that after 54 years of life together, of the death of my beautiful wife, Bobbi, last night surrounded by her family. She lived her life well, and left this world in a much better place. If you knew her, you loved her. She lived by her saying, ‘Be kind.’ As a School Nurse she always championed the kids … ALWAYS! As a person, she always gave. ‘How much do you really need if you have all you need or want?’ So she gave and gave and gave. She didn’t deserve this past year’s nightmare, but she isn’t suffering from the physical pain anymore and that brings some comfort to us.”
We’ve spoken much over the years about how that Woodstock event was so cataclysmic – culturally; musically; and certainly philosophically. Elliot Tiber wrote beautifully about it in his first book Taking Woodstock – a classic if you’ve never read it.
They tried to re-create it in 1994 and though it was good, it just didn’t have that magical flavor of the first one. I wasn’t at either, but as you can imagine, music from that 1969 concert still lives passionately today. I was, however, at Live Aid and that was my Woodstock for sure.
Not to get too poetic, but I came across a great quote yesterday: It’s worth being older now, to have been young then.
SHORT TAKES — Derek & The Dominoes Bobby Whitlock on Jim Gordon: “Carl Radle and Jim Gordon … Didn’t get any better than that. The only other alternative [for Derek and the Dominoes] was Jim Keltner. And that’s who should have been the guy and who was supposed to be the guy. But it didn’t turn out that way. He was busy. The rhythm section of Carl and Jim propelled the songs we put together. Jim Gordon is the most musical drummer I ever heard. All of the drums were in tune. literally tuned to a key on the piano. Big kit. But Jim had this wonderful ability to interpret the nuances you could feel but not hear. Carl was solid as a rock. A downbeat player and right on it. So, we have Carl who is solid and down and Jim who is up and on it. So, it was perpetual motion” …
Do you remember “Vehicle” by The Idea of March back in 1970? It became the fastest-selling single in Warner Brothers history. A little-known fact is that 14 seconds of the completed master of “Vehicle” was accidentally erased in the recording studio, (primarily the guitar solo), and the missing section was spliced in from a previously discarded take. The song reached #2 in Billboard, and #1 in Cashbox. The album “Vehicle” reached #55 nationally … Dolly Parton sings with Elton John on “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” on her forthcoming rock ‘n roll album. I bet it’ll sound great, but how many covers of that song has there been? Maybe they should have picked a John/Taupin deep-cut like “Come Down In Time” or “Amoreena.” Just saying … Does the phrase DLYZECOMKIN mean anything to you?
Believe it or not, in one of those crazy-jumble games online, the phrase translates into Micky Dolenz. Crazy, right? See for yourself: https://invasion24.com/2023/03/19/daily-jumble-puzzle-answers-march-19-2023/
… Speaking of Dolenz, he departs Thursday on a Flower Power Cruise; then starts his Headquarters-tour on April 1 in Orlando …
Charles F. Rosenay does the Zach Martin Big Fat American Podcast next week, for his new release, The Book of Top 10 Beatles Lists (KIWI Publishing) … HAPPY BDAY Gia Ramsey!
NAMES IN THE NEWS — Carol Geiser; Bob Meyerowitz; eYada; Andy Rosen; Tom & Lisa Cuddy; Paul Haig; Terry Jastrow; Anthony Pomes; Mark Bego; Charles F. Rosenay; Bill Graham; Kip Cohen; Heather Moore; Charley Crespo; [Robert Miller; John Luongo; LIME; Carl Strube; Jen Ramos; and CHIP!
Dance
Rockefeller Center presents Ice Theatre of New York, Inc

Ice Theatre of New York (ITNY) is proud to hit the ice at The Rink at Rockefeller Center on March 23, 2023 at 12:30pm with ITNY Ensemble members Liz Yoshiko Schmidt and Danil Berdnikov performing Lorna Brown’s Timelessness. For more information, visit icetheatre.org/calendar.html.
Events
Jason Robert Brown, Chuck Cooper, Janet Dacal, Sutton Foster, Lillias White and More To Perform at TheaterWorksUSA Spring Gala

TheaterWorksUSA, currently presenting the hit family show Dog Man The Musical at New World Stages, will host its annual Spring Gala on Monday, April 24 (cocktails begin at 6 PM) at The Current at Chelsea Piers.
100% of the net proceeds from the event will support our mission to create exceptional, transformative theatrical experiences that are accessible to young and family audiences in diverse communities across New York City and North America.
This year TWUSA will honor Lisa Chanel (TWUSA Board Chair 2019-2022), Andréa Burns (Award-winning Broadway actress & educator), Peter Flynn (TWUSA alumnus and award-winning director, writer, and educator), and Holly McGhee (Founder and Creator of Pippin Properties, New York Times best selling author). The event will feature appearances by some of Broadway’s biggest stars, including Jason Robert Brown, Chuck Cooper, Janet Dacal, Kevin Del Aguila, Sutton Foster, Lillias White and more.
On behalf of TheaterWorksUSA’s Board of Directors, we are thrilled to celebrate the people who have generously supported our mission, making it possible for us to bring high-quality theater to young audiences of all backgrounds throughout the country. We look forward to recognizing Lisa, Andréa, Peter, and Holly publicly at this very special event. – Tracy A. Stein, Board Chair
It’s a privilege to honor these individuals for playing such an important role in the work we do. Their vision, creativity, and ongoing commitment to our mission is truly something to celebrate. They are very much a part of our TheaterworksUSA family.- Barbara Pasternack, Artistic Director
TheaterWorksUSA (Barbara Pasternack, Artistic Director; Michael Harrington, Executive Director) has led the Theater for Young and Family Audiences movement in New York City and across North America for over half a century. At TWUSA, we believe that access to art—and theater, in particular—is vital for our youth. Since 1961, the 501(c)3 not-for-profit has captured the imaginations of 100 million new and veteran theatergoers with an award-winning repertoire of over 140 original plays and musicals. Acclaimed alumni include Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (Disney’s Frozen), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Rent), Jerry Zaks (The Music Man), Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen), Miguel Cervantes (Hamilton), Kathleen Chalfant (Angels in America), and Chuck Cooper (Tony award-winning actor, The Life). WWW.TWUSA.ORG
-
Tech2 years ago
How to Take Advantage of Virtual Numbers for SMS
-
Business2 years ago
Entre Institute Review – Is Jeff Lerner’s Program a Scam?
-
Entertainment2 years ago
A Star is Born – Barvina Takes Entertainment World by Storm
-
Events3 months ago
New Year’s Eve Traditions In The US and Around The World
-
Film9 months ago
Elvis and The Mob Connection
-
Broadway2 years ago
Broadway Reopening: The Theatre Listings
-
Spiritual2 years ago
The History of Numerology
-
Events2 years ago
The Question On Everyone’s Mind Should Be How Did The Haitians Get To Mexico
-
Family2 years ago
Who Is Justine Ang Fonte and Why Are We Letting Her Near Children?
-
Broadway11 months ago
Funny Girl Makes Julie Benko a Star