Hi and bye!

Summer has finally arrived, and we know that we’re not likely to be on your minds for a little bit, so we wanted to catch your attention one more time to let you know what’s happening at PTC.

Some of our PTC family members were honored at the Tony Awards this month.  Terrence McNally received a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award.  You can watch his graceful speech here, and read a gorgeous reflection on that speech by the Chicago Tribune’s Chris Jones.

Rachel Chavkin (the only woman who directed a musical on Broadway this season) won the Tony Award for Best Director, my husband (!) Nevin Steinberg won for Best Sound Design along with co-designer Jessica Paz (first woman ever nominated, so thus first winner!), all for Hadestown.

And finally, congrats to Ali Stroker (Olive in our production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), who won the Best Featured Actress in a Musical award for her performance as Ado Annie in Oklahoma!

Ali is the first woman in a wheelchair to win the award.  In her triumphant remarks she said, "This award is for every kid who is watching tonight who has a disability, who has a limitation or a challenge, who has been waiting to see themselves represented in this arena — you are.” We are super proud that Ali graced the stage of the Suzanne Roberts Theatre early in her career.  Our theatre is fully ADA-accessible not only to patrons, but also backstage, so that differently-abled actors can work here.

Summer’s coming, so it must be new play festival time.  The PlayPenn New Play Development Conference has some amazing writers coming in July, and PTC reps will be scouting all things new at the Williamstown Theatre Festival (WTF), New York Stage & Film's Powerhouse Theater and Barrington Stage, to name a few.  If you’re really curious, write me back and I’ll share a few highlights we’re looking forward to, including The Elementary Spacetime Show at the Powerhouse from July 12-14, and Adam Bock’s play Before the Meeting, at WTF, August 7-18th.

We are thisclose to announcing final casting for our own 2018-20 season, with just a few more roles to fill.  Our design teams are also coming together and feature lots of new faces along with some rising stars in the field. Stay tuned for an announcement later in the summer.

Finally, our fiscal year closes at the end of August, so our annual fund campaign is up and running - but don’t run!  We hope you’ll continue to support PTC, to end the year strong as we kick off our 45th Season. Artists Circle members will have access to a private reception with Bebe Neuwirth, so this is a fun year to join our Artists Circle for special experiences and access!

Warmly,