DOWNSTAGE PRESS

Avery Willis Hoffman has taken the reins as the new Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director of the Court Theatre in Chicago, succeeding Charles Newell, who guided the institution for three decades. Hoffman, a leader known for her classical training and extensive international experience, steps into the role with a background that spans academic rigor, global production, and museum development. A Childhood Turning Point Hoffman's journey into theater leadership began not on the st

NEW YORK, NY — Universal Theatrical Group announced Monday that Tony nominee Betsy Wolfe will take over the lead role of Madeline Ashton in the hit musical comedy Death Becomes Her following the departure of Tony nominee Megan Hilty. Hilty’s final performance as Madeline Ashton is scheduled for Sunday, January 4, 2026. Wolfe is set to begin her run in the role on Friday, January 16, 2026. Hilty originated the role in both the Chicago world premiere and the subsequent Broadwa

For centuries, the magic of theater was defined by its ephemeral nature - a fleeting, unique experience shared solely by the performers and the audience in that moment. The live performance was the only performance. Even as technology advanced, attempts to capture this magic often fell short. Most recorded theatrical performances were recorded as-is, rushed and captured as an afterthought or purely for archival purposes. The resulting footage is often static, uninspired, and

For Sean San José and Luis Alfaro, collaboration is not merely a professional arrangement; it is a decades-long journey down a "beautiful, long, endless road." This partnership has recently culminated in The Travelers at the Magic Theatre, a production that San José describes as a life-changing experience that "wants to keep walking with us." The project is deeply rooted in the history of the Magic Theatre itself. Alfaro views the venue as a mythical space, built by poets and

The 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, which includes a $15,000 award, has been granted to Branden Jacobs-Jenkins for his play, Purpose. The winning work premiered at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago. The Pulitzer committee lauded Purpose as "a play about the complex dynamics and legacy of an upper-middle class African American family whose patriarch was a key figure in the Civil Rights movement. A skillful blend of drama and comedy that probes how different generations

Amber Ruffin may currently hold a Tony nomination for co-writing Some Like It Hot and is celebrating the Broadway opening of The Wiz revival—for which she contributed "additional material"—but she often has to remind herself of her roots. "I always forget—oh yeah, I started in theatre," Ruffin noted in a recent interview. "It was a decade of eight shows a week." While the wider public recognizes her distinct comedic voice from Late Night with Seth Meyers and her own program,

Tom Lee is a multidisciplinary artist whose work uniquely bridges traditional Japanese puppetry with cutting-edge technology and modern themes, often exploring the deeply emotional intersection of the fantastical and the familiar. Splitting his time between New York and Chicago, Lee has forged a distinctive career that has taken him from experimental off-off-Broadway spaces to the Metropolitan Opera. Real-Time, Cross-Continental Performance Lee’s experimental approach was exe

Award-winning Black and Filipinx playwright Roger Q. Mason is finally receiving well-deserved widespread recognition, marked by three major regional productions rolling out across the American theater landscape. Mason’s work uses a revisionist historicist lens, transforming complex histories into vivid, site-specific theatrical experiences that dialogue between the past, present, and future. Mason’s three current productions, each a site-specific activation, include: The Prid

When Stephen Sondheim began writing Sweeney Todd, his stated goal was to "scare the hell out of the audience." For the actors who tackle the macabre musical, the feeling is often mutual. The complexity of Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's score—which The New York Times once hailed as perhaps "the closest we’ve yet come to a genuine popular American opera"—makes the titular role one of Broadway’s most daunting challenges. Aaron Tveit, the star of the current revival at the Lunt-Font

Playwright and professor Nathan Alan Davis is experiencing a long-overdue moment of wide recognition in 2023, marked by a highly productive year of premieres. The 43-year-old dramatist has seen three world premieres already this year—The High Ground (Arena Stage, D.C., February), Eternal Life: Part 1 (Wilma Theater, Philadelphia, April), and Origin Story (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Ohio, May)—all leading up to his most ambitious work yet. The Epic Commitment: The Refug

Director, actor, and author Schele Williams is undertaking the significant task of giving "new life"—the core meaning of revival—to two iconic Broadway musicals: Aida and The Wiz. As an original cast member of Aida and a lifelong fan of The Wiz, Williams is deeply aware of the cultural weight these stories carry, especially within the context of Black theater. Her goal is to ensure these new iterations resonate powerfully with contemporary and future audiences. Reorienting Ai

Writer and director Tina Satter is making her Broadway debut with Is This A Room, a development she admits was not on her career "dream boards." The play, which Satter conceived and directed, is based entirely on the verbatim transcript of the FBI's interrogation and arrest of whistleblower Reality Winner. After acclaimed runs at the Off-Off-Broadway Kitchen Theatre and the Vineyard Theatre in 2019, the production begins previews at the Lyceum Theatre on September 24, playing