Top Women's Theatre & Arts Events of 2016

It was a banner year in women's theater, with several companies demanding equal rights and funding for women in the arts. The first lesbian opera returned to NYC, and Chicago laughed it up with their female comedy fest. And a whole lot of women were honored for their accomplishments.

First Lesbian Opera 'Patience & Sarah' Returns to NYC
After a sold-out run at the 1998 Lincoln Center Festival, the opera "Patience & Sarah" returned to New York as a staged concert performance coinciding with NYC's Pride Week for two nights only: Thursday, June 23 and Friday, June 24 at the Players Theatre. Composed by Paula Kimper, with libretto by Wende Persons, "Patience & Sarah" is the first opera to portray an openly romantic relationship between two self-affirming women. It tells the story of two 19th-century women who took a brave step against the social norms in pursuit of a dream of love, independence and a life together. Click here.

�
Epic Theatre Company Throws First-Ever 'Bitch Ball'
On Monday, November 7, the Epic Theatre Company threw its first-ever, full-out fundraiser -- and it was a bitchin' time. The Bitch Ball is a celebration of badass women, bold outfits, and brazen behavior. So get out that neon blazer with extra-long shoulder pads. Put on at least eight pounds of jewelry. Top hats? Yes, please. Mauve tuxedos? Why not. It's The Bitch Ball -- anything goes. Click here.

Odalys Nanin Creates Space for Latina Theater in MACHA
Playwright and actor Odalys Nanin was about to open her play "Skin of Honey" in 2006, when Thad Taylor, founder of the world-famous Globe Playhouse in West Hollywood, passed away. With the fate of the landmark theater in jeopardy, Nanin scrambled to gather the funds to purchase and preserve the theater. After years of working to restore the space, Nanin opened it as the MACHA (Mujeres Advancing Culture, History and Art) Theatre. It now serves as California's epicenter of Latina LGBT theater.

"I had always wanted to have my own space, so I put my wish out into the universe, and then this opened up," said Nanin. "A lot of people wanted to turn the Globe into a furniture store or a parking lot, but I really fought for it to remain a theater, not only because of its long history, but because it was such a good location for this space. It really became my passion." Click here.

Annenberg Center Celebrates the Great Women of Blues & Jazz
A musical tribute to Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and other female pioneers of jazz brought together New York's best vocalists and musicians to "Celebrate The Great Women Of Blues & Jazz," on Saturday, March 12 at Annenberg Center Live, as part of the African Roots, American Voices series.
�
Directed by Toshi Reagon and Allison Miller, "Celebrate The Great Women Of Blues & Jazz" honored the musical mothers of these performers in an evening of beloved jazz standards and blues hits which celebrate the women whose immense talent and unbreakable spirit shaped the future of jazz and blues. Reagon and Miller were joined by a cast of stunning vocalists and musicians as well as internationally renowned tap dancer/choreographer, Michelle Dorrance. Click here.

Oscar Wilde Tours' Shady Ladies of the Metropolitan Museum
Tackling the impressive offerings that The Metropolitan Museum of Art displays can be intimidating for the most informed art lovers among us. For a newcomer, it can be downright daunting. Enter Andrew Lear of Oscar Wilde Tours. With tours like "Gay Secrets" or "Shady Ladies of the Met," Lear focuses on works of art that might be interesting to niche audiences like the LGBT community, and explains them in a fun and interesting way.
"People look at art in a very funereal way, but in reality it's loaded with sex," said Lear. "The themes are very erotic, and people used any excuse to depict them. For example, there were no nude statues of females until late in the Classical Era, but eventually they got away with it by depicting an Amazon, with her breast bared and wounds all over." Click here.

Laugh Up at the 5th Annual Chicago Women's Funny Festival
With 400 artists from more than 95 groups performing 83 shows, the Chicago Women's Funny Festival packed the best in female comedy into four funny-filled days, June 16-19 at Stage 773. Stage 773 Director of Operations Jill Valentine and co-producer Liz McArthur were thrilled to announce the highly anticipated lineup for The Chicago Women's Funny Festival, the largest of its kind in the nation. Click here.

League of Pro Theatre Women Interviews Judith Light
On Monday, October 17, The League of Professional Theatre Women presented Judith Light as the next installation in their Oral History interview series. Light sat down to discuss her extensive body of work on and off-stage in the Bruno Walter Auditorium of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts on 65th Street & Amsterdam Avenue. Click here.

�
The 2016 International Centre for Women Playwrights 50/50 Applause Awards
The International Centre for Women Playwrights (ICWP) was thrilled to report that a record-breaking number of recipients received the 2016 50/50 Applause Awards, which recognizes theaters that produced 50 percent or more women playwrights in their 2015/16 season of shows. ICWP defines 50/50 by the number of qualifying performances in a theater's season. This allows a concrete measurement of the resources being devoted to women playwrights. Click here.

Philadelphia Women's Theatre Fest 2nd Annual Celebration of Women Artists

Philadelphia Women's Theatre Festival (PWTF) second annual festival, August 3-7, included staged readings, presented works, devised theater, cabaret and comedy. It was a celebration of the risks women have faced and continue to face with strength and conviction. As the 2016 lineup showcases, women take risks every day -- risks to pursue the passion to move, to sing, to dance, to teach, to write, to direct, to engage. Philadelphia Women's Theatre Festival is committed to building a community that honors creating financially and artistically fulfilling opportunities for women in theater and invites the community to enjoy the festival's risky lineup. Click here.

Nothing Like a Dame Benefits Actors' Fund Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative�
On Monday, October 24 at the Host committee members Betty Buckley, Misty Copeland, Kelli O'Hara, Bernadette Peters, and Janice Reals Ellig presented the 20th Anniversary of "Nothing Like a Dame." The evening, which featured all singing, all dancing, and all women, benefited The Actors Fund's Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative. "Nothing Like a Dame" honored Tony Award nominee Marin Mazzie with the first-ever Phyllis Newman Dame Award.�Produced by Phyllis Newman, with direction by Bebe Neuwirth, "Nothing Like a Dame" featured performances by Christine Ebersol, Melissa Errico, Julie Halston, Judy Kuhn, Tonya Pinkins, and Karen Ziemba, along with Ali Stroker and Erin Hill, and Ava Briglia, Willow McCarthy and Aviva Winick from the cast of "Matilda, The Musical." Click here.

Seattle Women's Jazz Orchestra Plays Benefit Concert
On May 9, The Seattle Women's Jazz Orchestra featuring Gail Pettis and the Ten O'Clock Quartet performed a benefit concert at Jazz Alley. KPLU's Midday Jazz Host Robin Lloyd will emcee the event. The Seattle Women's Jazz Orchestra showcases many of the finest female jazz artists in the region and proudly performs the contemporary jazz music of women composers and arrangers. Named "2010 Northwest Vocalist of the Year" by Earshot Jazz Society, (also 2007), Gail Pettis's rich, warm vocals and understated phrasing have been described as "deliciously soulful" by Cadence Magazine. She's been Artist In Residence at the Amersfoort Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, performed in Kobe, Japan, done tours in Russia and continues to perform at jazz festivals around the country. Click here.

Festival 51 Announces Winners of Women's Playwriting Festival
Festival 51 released the names of the winners of the 2016 finalists, and presented staged readings of the four winning plays over two evenings at the Contemporary Theatre Company. While women make up 51 percent of the world's population, the fact still stands that only 17 percent of plays produced in this country are female authored. Rhode Island-based Festival51 aims to change those numbers by putting women writers center stage in their 2nd annual Women's Playwriting Festival. Click here.

Rover Dramawerks Presents Festival of New Plays By Women
For the second year, Rover Dramawerks was pleased to partner with the playwrights' group 365 Women a Year to present a festival of plays by women, about women, for everyone. From May 5-14, his international playwriting coalition, founded by Jesslynn Eisenberg Chamblee, involved playwrights across the world who have signed on to write one or more plays about extraordinary women in both past and present history. The project's ambitious yet focused goal is to write women back into the social consciousness, as well as empower and promote female playwrights, and plant seeds of herstory around the country. Click here.

League of Pro Theatre Women Awards Celebration and Big Mingle
On Monday, May 2, the League of Professional Theatre Women (LPTW), a not-for-profit organization committed to promoting visibility and increasing opportunities for women in the professional theater, was pleased to recognize the talents of six outstanding women: Micki Grant, Jane Cox, Ari Laura Kreith, Lisa Kron, Lear DeBessonet, and Elsa Rael. The awards were presented at the League's 2016 Awards Celebration & Big Mingle, hosted by five-time Tony-Award nominee Estelle Parsons. Click here.

Launch of Firebrand Theatre Provides New Opportunities for Women
Harmony France�and�Danni Smith, Co-Artistic Directors, were pleased to announce the launch of�Firebrand Theatre, the first musical theater company committed to employing and empowering women by expanding opportunities on and off the stage. The company will focus on equal representation of women and men by seeking out female talent in all aspects of production, from the crew, to the artistic team, to the actors on stage.�Firebrand Theatre's productions will expand the traditional roles of women in musical theater by reimagining classics, producing unknown gems and commissioning new works. Click here.

Pride Films and Plays Holds 'Support Women Artists Now' Day
On Sunday, April 3 at Rivendell Theatre, Pride Films and Plays celebrated S.W.A.N. Day by hosting open "mic" performances, live music and talk back with community support group Not In Our House. This night is for celebrating women and their supporters! Admission is free but donations are encouraged for future Pride Films and Plays events. Click here.

Siren Nation Women Present 'Hell Hath No Funny'
On Wednesday, March 2, Portland's Siren Nation presented "Hell Hath No Funny," the their bi-annual comedy show featuring some of the funniest ladies in the business! Hosted by Joanie Quinn, the event features Elicia Sanchez, Emma Arnold and Natasha Muse. Click here.

�
LA Women's Theatre Festival Honors Six Women
On March 24, The Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival honored six women for their exceptional career and life achievements in its Opening Night Champagne Gala and Awards Ceremony at the Electric Lodge. The theme for the evening was "A Toast to Greatness." The evening was hosted by Starletta DuPois. Ana Maria Alvarez received the Rainbow Award, bestowed on an artist or individual for her diverse contributions in fostering non-traditional and multi-cultural theatre works. Alvarez is a Cuban-American choreographer, known for her daring, multidimensional and boundary blurring choreography. Click here.