Aretta Baumgartner

New Jersey Thespians is set to host its first-ever virtual Thespian Festival this weekend, January 16 - January 18. The Festival will center around the theme, 'I AM. WE ARE. Find Your Light'.

Thanks to Broadway World, I was given the opportunity to attend this impressive online festival and participate in some of the over fifty workshops that the festival had to offer. 

Northern Kentucky University's School of the Arts will launch its 2019-2020 Theatre + Dance Season with THE AFRICAN COMPANY PRESENTS RICHARD III by Carlyle Brown, running Sept. 26-Oct. 6 at NKU's Corbett Theatre.

The Center for Puppetry Arts will introduce Harold and the Purple Crayon to the puppet stage, April 2-May 26. Based on five of the books from Crockett Johnson's beloved series, the original production invites audiences to watch as a curious young boy discovers his power to create anything he can imagine, simply by drawing it with his oversized purple crayon. From enchanted gardens to the circus - even a wild ride to the moon - audiences will watch Harold create his fantastic world in real time on stage.

Xperimental Puppetry Theater (XPT) will take the stage at the Center for Puppetry Arts, May 11-14. XPT is the Center's platform for new, innovative works for puppet theater, allowing artists from all disciplines to present original pieces conceived and designed for adult audiences. This year's featured artists will present a variety of puppetry styles, including live performances, short films and an art installation. 

On April 4, Pete the Cat makes its stage debut at the Center for Puppetry Arts!Based on The New York Times best-selling book series by Georgia authors James and Kimberly Dean, this original production has been in the making for more than two years. Inspired by Pete the Cat's many adventures, the production invites audiences to join a meeting of the "Pete the Cat Club" - a place where everyone loves to read Pete the Cat. 

Highlights of the 2016-2017 Family Series include the brand-new puppet production of Pete the Cat, adapted from the widely popular and imaginative book series by Atlanta artist James Dean. Inspired by Dean's real-life cat, Pete pounces from the page to the stage as his laid-back, easy-going spirit takes him and his fine friends on a host of groovy adventures including surfing, skateboarding and playing guitar. Pete goes with the flow, and his positive outlook carries him through whatever obstacles come his way. Also debuting is an original production for children ages 2 and older, Old MacDonald's Farm. This Theatre for the Very Young production is a barnyard bonanza of fun and furry animals. Soaring back to the Center's Mainstage for its seventh consecutive holiday season is the Center's own beloved adaptation of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Closing this weekend is Out of Box Theatre's stunning production of Lee Blessing's Two Rooms, a potent political drama that its audiences have called 'intense,' 'tremendous,' and 'passionate.' Atlanta actors Candace Mabry and Olubajo Sonubi star as husband and wife, embroiled in an international hostage crisis. Professor Michael Wells (Sonubi) is taken captive by political terrorists in Beirut, leaving his wife Lainie (Mabry) behind to deal with the emotional trauma and political maneuverings of the government and the media. Also featuring Aretta Baumgartner and Aaron Goodson, and directed by Joel Coady, this production has garnered much success with audiences.

?Lee Blessing's Two Rooms focuses on the relationship of Michael, an American professor kidnapped by political terrorists in Beirut, and his wife Lainie, who has imprisoned herself in a bare room to share in his captivity. Blindfolded Michael (Olubajo Sonubi) dictates love letters to his wife (Candace Mabry) as she struggles to deal with her loneliness and fear in the wake of his uncertain return. Government policy prevents negotiation for his life, and this inaction is what crusading reporter Walker Harris (Aaron Goodson) tries to leverage to get Lainie to speak out against government policy, despite the attempts of her State Department handler Ellen VanOss (Aretta Baumgartner) to keep her in check. Lainie is caught in the push and pull of her own emotions and outside forces, yet fettered by her own grief. 

'You never know quite where you are with Neil LaBute... and in this highly entertaining, 100-minute two-hander he pulls the rug from under our feet so often that we end up feeling breathless,' says The Guardian (London) of LaBute's In a Forest, Dark and Deep. Starring Aretta Baumgartner and Travis Young and directed by Kara Cantrell, this utterly absorbing production takes its time exploring what is true, what is not, and the lies we tell ourselves to get by.

Building off its 2015 successes in presenting programming uniquely modified for patrons with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), the Center for Puppetry Arts is proud to announce a full slate of sensory-friendly programming to occur during its 2015-16 season. These modifications of the Center's regular programming will allow guests with Autism Spectrum Disorder to experience sensory-friendly Family Series performances, museum exhibits and Create-A-Puppet Workshops. Guests will be welcomed by staff members who have been trained in interactions with patrons with ASD.

Get ready for a brand-new barnyard tale like you've never 'herd' before! Featuring Farmer Brown and his clever, comical cows, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type grazes the Center for Puppetry Arts stage with its debut today, June 9, through July 26. Directed by the Center's artistic director Jon Ludwig, this bovine bunch illustrates what happens when cows learn to type and chickens go on strike!

Get ready for a brand-new barnyard tale like you've never "herd" before! Featuring Farmer Brown and his clever, comical cows, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type grazes the Center for Puppetry Arts stage with its debut June 9-July 26. Directed by the Center's artistic director Jon Ludwig, this bovine bunch illustrates what happens when cows learn to type and chickens go on strike!

Georgia Ensemble Theatre (GET), North Fulton's only professional theatre company, will open its 2012-2013 20th anniversary season-long celebration tonight, September 6th with The Man Who Came to Dinnerby Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, directed by Artistic Director Robert J. Farley.

Georgia Ensemble Theatre (GET), North Fulton's only professional theatre company, will open its 2012-2013 20th anniversary season-long celebration on Thursday, September 6th with The Man Who Came to Dinnerby Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, directed by Artistic Director Robert J. Farley.

The Know Theatre of Cincinnati will present Jason Loewith and Joshua Schmidt's ADDING MACHINE: A MUSICAL from February 13-March 6.

Know Theatre of Cincinnati is pleased to announce its third production of the season, Adding Machine: A Musical, with original music by Joshua Schmidt and libretto by Jason Loewith & Joshua Schmidt based on the play The Adding Machine by Elmer Rice. Adding Machine: A Musical will open on Know Theatre's mainstage February 13 and play through March 6, 2010. Michael Burnham will direct the production and Alan Patrick Kenny is the Musical Director. PLEASE NOTE: the dates have changed from the original production announcement. The opening has been pushed back one week from February 6 to February 13, 2010.

Know Theatre of Cincinnati is pleased to host a fundraising opportunity for the Acclaim Award's Guest Equity Artists Grant.

Know Theatre of Cincinnati is pleased to announce its third production of the season, Adding Machine: A Musical, with original music by Joshua Schmidt and libretto by Jason Loewith & Joshua Schmidt based on the play The Adding Machine by Elmer Rice. Adding Machine: A Musical opened on Know Theatre's mainstage February 13 and will play through March 6, 2010. Michael Burnham will direct the production and Alan Patrick Kenny is the Musical Director. PLEASE NOTE: the dates have changed from the original production announcement. The opening has been pushed back one week from February 6 to February 13, 2010.

Know Theatre of Cincinnati is pleased to host a fundraising opportunity for the Acclaim Award's Guest Equity Artists Grant.