NEWS RELEASE — STEVEN LEIGH MORRIS NAMED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT LA STAGE ALLIANCE

LA STAGE ALLIANCE ANNOUNCES
STEVEN LEIGH MORRIS
AS NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

THE LASA BOARD LOOKS TO NEW LEADERSHIP
TO CONTINUE THE WORK OF THE 40-YEAR-OLD
ARTS SERVICE ORGANIZATION

Steven Leigh Morris has been named Executive Director of LA STAGE Alliance, it was announced today by Brian Kite, LASA Board Chair. Morris succeeds longtime leader Terence McFarland, who left the post in April of this year. Morris’s start date with the not-for-profit arts service organization will be announced shortly.

“Steven Leigh Morris is an incredible presence in Los Angeles theatre,” said LASA Board Chair Brian Kite. “As a community, he has praised us when our work soared and looked us in the eye when we missed the mark — he is a true leader. It is my honor to introduce such a talented, inspiring, and creative force as the new leader of LA STAGE Alliance.”

Said Morris, “I’m grateful and honored by the trust LASA has placed in me and I feel privileged to be working with this fine organization to serve such a smart and impassioned community. The key word in LASA’s name is “alliance,” and that’s what I hope to accentuate in this new role — how can we work together to forge the kinds of alliances that can help give the LA theatre community the traction, recognition and audiences it needs and deserves?”

Steven Leigh Morris is the founding editor of the community-funded digital arts venture Stage Raw (www.stageraw.com). Morris chaired the Jury for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2012 and served on that Jury in 2011. For his writings in the LA Weekly he received the Critic of the Year prize from the National Entertainment Journalism Awards in 2011. His play Moskva, adapted from Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel The Master and Margarita was produced by City Garage in Santa Monica’s Bergamot Station last year. His play Beachwood Drive was presented off-Broadway and was subsequently published by both Samuel French and Smith & Kraus (in its Best New American Playwrights of 2009 anthology). His farce about the press, Red Ink, has been in development at the New York Theatre Workshop, The Yale Cabaret Hollywood, and Echo Theater Company. Morris has been the lead theatre critic at the LA Weekly for 15 years. His theatre features have also been published in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, American Theatre Magazine, Back Stage, World’s Fair Magazine in San Francisco, and DRAMA Magazine in London. From 2006 to 2011 Morris served on the faculty of the NEA/Annenberg School of Journalism Institute for Criticism in Theatre and Musical Theatre. He has been an adjunct professor of theatre at the University of Southern California, and currently serves as adjunct professor of theatre at California State University San Bernardino and Dominguez Hills. Morris’s first novel, Fowl Play, combining his dual passions for theatre and barnyard poultry, will be published by Padaro Press and Open Road Media in the spring of 2016.

Since 1975, LA STAGE Alliance has dedicated to building awareness, appreciation, and support for the performing arts in Greater Los Angeles. All of its initiatives aim to serve and strengthen the sector — both at an individual and community level — providing resources that facilitate audience engagement, collaborative marketing, community building, and professional development.

For more information, visit lastagealliance.com.

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11-03-15

Photo by Ron Bird Photography.

NEWS RELEASE — 2015 OVATION AWARD NOMINATIONS TO BE ANNOUNCED DIGITALLY THURS 9/24 ON @ THIS STAGE MAGAZINE (ThisStage.LA)

2015 OVATION AWARD NOMINEES
TO BE ANNOUNCED DIGITALLY
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
ON @ THIS STAGE MAGAZINE (ThisStage.LA)

2015 OVATION AWARDS CEREMONY
SET FOR MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9
AT THE AHMANSON THEATRE

For the first time, the announcement of the 2015 LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Award nominees will take place digitally on Thursday, September 24 on @ This Stage Magazine (ThisStage.LA).

Said Brian Kite, Chair of the LA STAGE Alliance Board of Governors, “I’ll be online and ready for the nominee announcement along with everyone else. We’ll all find out together.” He continued, “This year’s ceremony will be thrilling, right in the heart of downtown Los Angeles at the beautiful Ahmanson Theatre. I’m looking forward to celebrating the incredible work of our community on November 9.” Variety is the media partner for the 2015 event.

The LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles. Voters are Los Angeles theatre professionals who are chosen each year, through an application process, by the Ovation Rules Committee. The list of nominees is determined by a tabulation of scores conducted by Green Hasson Janks.

More information about this year’s digital nominee announcement is forthcoming. Tickets to the 2015 Ovation Awards Ceremony will go on sale September 24 at OvationAwards.com.

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08-20-15