Announcing: The Blank Theatre 2013 Young Playwrights Festival Now Accepting Submissions – March 15 Deadline

THE BLANK THEATRE’S
NATIONWIDE YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL
SUBMISSIONS NOW BEING ACCEPTED

The Blank Theatre’s Young Playwrights Festival is seeking submissions nationwide from playwrights 19 years of age and younger. The submission deadline is March 15, 2013. Winning plays will be presented by professional actors and directors in June, 2013 at the Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood, CA.

Celebrating its 21st anniversary year, The Blank Theatre’s Young Playwrights Festival is a nationwide competition that produces the work of twelve young writers each year. Since 1993, the festival has produced 236 plays by playwrights 19 and younger from 27 states.

Each winning play will have four performances in a weekend run. The productions are made possible in part by grants from National Endowment for the Arts, Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, The Plum Foundation, The Rosenthal Family Foundation, Los Angeles County Arts Commission and City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. Hollywood’s Blank Theatre has had its work featured on MSNBC, CNN Showbiz Today, Entertainment Tonight, BBC, CBS, ABC, NBC, PBS, NPR, in Entertainment Weekly magazine, and in the Financial Times of London.

“Every year I am amazed at the depths to which these teenagers go in their writing. They are brave, bold and uninhibited,“ said Noah Wyle (star of television’s ER and Falling Skies), Artistic Producer at The Blank. “The winners are thrilled to see their plays presented by professionals, but these professionals are often given a great gift in return: a renewed sense of artistic purpose. We learn from the playwrights as they learn from us.”

The rules for the festival competition are as follows: playwrights must be 19 years of age or younger on March 15, 2013; original plays and musicals can be any length, on any subject. Scripts must be legible; pages must be numbered and unbound; submissions must be postmarked or emailed by March 15, 2013. There is a limit of three (3) plays per playwright. All plays must include a cover sheet with the play’s title, playwright’s name, date of birth, school (if any), mailing address, contact phone number, e-mail address and the play’s production history (if any). Visit www.YoungPlaywrights.com for further information.

Each playwright whose work is accepted will be assigned a mentor: professional writers who will help the youngsters hone their work for performance. Past mentors have included Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally, Tony Award-nominated composer Michael John LaChiusa, writer Jeff Greenstein (Will & Grace), Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening), television and film director Garry Marshall, among many others. The playwrights then experience the thrill of seeing their plays performed by industry professionals in fully staged productions.

Past festivals have featured well known actors such as Jeremy Sisto (Law & Order), Chris Pine (Star Trek), Noah Wyle, Molly Shannon, Tiffani Thiessen (White Collar), Michael Welch (The Twilight Saga), Tom Lenk, Nicholas Brendon, and Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy The Vampire Slayer), Josh Radnor and Alyson Hannigan (How I Met Your Mother), Sherri Shepherd (The View), Kelly Lynch, Debra Messing, Mark Valley, Constance Zimmer (Boston Legal), Kathryn Joosten (Desperate Housewives), Jerry O’Connell, Tony Award-winning actress Daisy Eagan, Emmy Award-winning actor Edward Asner, and many others.

In past years, some winning plays have gone on to have a life on The Blank’s mainstage for full-scale production. Should this happen, the playwright is treated as a full professional, from signing an option agreement to being paid royalties for his/her play. The Why, a play by 19-year-old Victor Kaufold, received a Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Award nomination for ‘Best Writing – World Premiere’ as a result of The Blank’s production. Kaufold is the youngest nominee in his category in 22 years of Ovation Award history. Three-time Festival winner Stephen Karam was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

For more information, visit the festival’s website at www.YoungPlaywrights.com or The Blank Theatre’s website at www.TheBlank.com.

# # #

01-29-13

Announcing: Virginia Madsen and Steven Weber Perform Pulitzer Prize Finalist Stephen Karam’s First Play (Written at Age 17) at The Blank Theatre’s YPF Benefit, Sunday 6/3

VIRGINIA MADSEN AND STEVEN WEBER
WILL PERFORM 2012 PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST
STEPHEN KARAM’S FIRST PLAY (WRITTEN AT AGE 17)
AT THE BLANK THEATRE’S BENEFIT EVENING
20 Years of Winners: Scenes, Songs and Speeches from 20 Years
of the Young Playwrights Festival
SUNDAY, JUNE 3 AT 6PM AT AVALON HOLLYWOOD

Virginia Madsen and Steven Weber have been set to perform A Work Of Art, Pulitzer Prize finalist Stephen Karam’s first play (which he wrote at age 17), at 20 Years of Winners: Scenes, Songs, and Speeches from 20 Years of the Young Playwrights Festival on Sunday, June 3 at 6pm. A Work of Art was produced in The Blank Theatre’s Young Playwrights Festival in 1997.

Karam, a three-time YPF winner, was a 2012 Pulitzer Prize finalist for his critically acclaimed play Sons of the Prophet. His other plays include Speech and Debate (presented on The Blank’s mainstage in 2008), Columbinus (with PJ Paparelli), Emma, and Dark Sisters. In a recent Los Angeles Times story on the history of the YPF, Karam, now 32, said of his experience, “When you see people taking your work seriously at that age, it makes a big impression. For the first time, I thought of myself as a real writer.”

Additionally, Vanessa Williams has joined the cast of stars of stage, screen, and television scheduled to participate, which, along with Madsen and Weber, includes (in alphabetical order) Ed Asner, Barbara Bain, Nicholas Brendon, Brianna Brown, Dale Dickey, Daisy Eagan, Kat Foster, Thea Gill, Peri Gilpin, Lenny Jacobson, Michael E. Knight, Tom Lenk, Scott Lowell, Justina Machado, Allison Mack, Angel Parker, Jessy Schram, Rex Smith, DB Sweeney, Kirsten Vangsness, Gedde Watanabe, Virginia Williams, Noah Wyle, Bellamy Young, and Constance Zimmer.

The 20 Years of Winners event will take place at Avalon Hollywood, 1735 N. Vine Street, in Hollywood. Tickets for the benefit evening, which range in price from $50-$250, may be purchased online at www.TheBlank.com, or by calling (323) 661-9827.

# # #

05-30-12

Announcing: The Blank Theatre Presents “20 Years of Winners,” A Benefit for The Young Playwrights Festival

THE BLANK THEATRE PRESENTS
20 YEARS OF WINNERS
SCENES, SONGS, AND SPEECHES FROM 20 YEARS
OF THE YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL
ONE NIGHT ONLY: SUNDAY, JUNE 3 AT 6PM

Benefiting The Blank Theatre, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit arts organization, honorary host Jennifer Garner will welcome (in alphabetical order) Ed Asner, Barbara Bain, Nicholas Brendon, Brianna Brown, Gordon Clapp, Dale Dickey, Daisy Eagan, Thea Gill, Peri Gilpin, Gale Harold, Lenny Jacobson, Michael E. Knight, Tom Lenk, Scott Lowell, Allison Mack, Virginia Madsen, Angel Parker, Rex Smith, Jennifer Stone, DB Sweeney, Kirsten Vangsness, Gedde Watanabe, Virginia Williams, and Noah Wyle as they perform scenes, songs, and speeches from 20 years of The Blank’s Young Playwrights Festival. Artists subject to change. This one night only event will take place on Sunday, June 3, 2012 at 6pm, at Avalon Hollywood.

About The Blank Theatre
Started in 1990 by Founding Artistic Director Daniel Henning, The Blank Theatre is Hollywood’s regional theatre, consistently offering some of the most high quality and entertaining productions in the area. In its 21-year history, The Blank has won hundreds of awards including every major award in Los Angeles for Outstanding Production, such as the LA Drama Critics Circle, Ovation, LA Weekly, NAACP, and Back Stage Garland awards. The Blank has been at the forefront of providing high quality productions with a risk-taking sensibility and entertaining experiences. The Blank Theatre is committed to developing excellence in artistic talent, and providing the opportunity for artists to take bold risks. For more information, please visit www.TheBlank.com.

BENEFIT PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

DATE/TIME:  Sunday, June 3, at 6pm

ADMISSION:  $50 – $125. VIP packages available for $250-$350 (includes post-performance reception with the cast).

TICKETS:        Online at www.TheBlank.com or by calling (323) 661-9827.

LOCATION:    Avalon Hollywood, 1735 Vine Street, Hollywood, 90028.

# # #

05-08-12