Member Awards

In February 2019 I received the news that I had been awarded a commission from the Washington National Opera at  The Kennedy Center. There were approximately 85 semi- finalists for the award. My commission as librettist (author of the story line and words) and the commission of the composer, Carlos Simon, constitutes a team for the creation of a new opera.  

Here's the link:

https://www.kennedy-center.org/wno/mto/AOIInfo  

In September I went to DC for a week of rehearsals at the Washington National Opera's rehearsal hall with the composer, conductor, singers. This was the first time I had heard it sung. It was wonderful! On Saturday, September 21st there was a workshop performance at the REACH, a brand new facility at the Kennedy Center.

On Friday, January 10th, I returned  to DC for the premiere at the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theatre.

Here's the link:

https://www.kennedy-center.org/wno/mto/AOIInfo  

Night Trip was reviewed on Monday, January 13th in the Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/at-the-kennedy-center-wnos-opera-initiative-unveils-a-trio-of-novelties/2020/01/11/d6610810-34ad-11ea-91fd-82d4e04a3fac_story.html

On Saturday January 11, it was reviewed in the Washington Classical Review:

https://washingtonclassicalreview.com/2020/01/11/wnos-american-opera-initiative-serves-up-an-intriguing-trio-of-new-works/

Sandra de Helen's "Desire Returns for a Visit" collection of lesbian poetry tied for 2nd place for the 2018-2019 Rainbow Award. The book is published by Launch Point Press and is available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

This November 2019 KCPT, in partnership with Alchemy Bistro & Wine Bar, bring you one of Port Townsend's truly loved events - DINNER THEATER - which happens only twice a year and is always a unique, fun night out on the town.

Enjoy a themed 5-course dinner while being entertained by KCPT with a live theater show.

Tickets are $58 per person and include show, dinner, and gratuity. Drinks not included.

Sunday Nov. 10SOLD OUT

These light-hearted 10 minute plays will be featured in Dinner Theater's Fall Fling:

FAUX

by Jeffrey M. Brown

SMART HOME

by Christopher Clow

PICKLES

by Doug Given

UBER SOUP

by Judith Glass-Collins

DINNER FOR TWO

by David Hundhausen

THE PERFECT READING

by Mara Lathrop

Jennifer O'Grady's Paranormal Love  is an Honorable Mention/runner-up for the 2019 Pandora's Box New Works Festival.

Hummingbird in Underworld: Teaching in a Men's Prison, for Non-Fiction, Social Issues, 2019 International Book Awards, Readers' Favorite. 

Laura Shamas's play TOP SECRET DEER DAY CARE won the 2018-2019 National Playwriting Award for Theatre for Young Audiences, from the University of Central Missouri, Theatre and Dance, Warrensburg, MO. $1000. 

My play MAIZE, about Nobel-Prize-winner Barbara McClintock:

Read at Community Playhouse of Greater Lafayette, 1/26/19.

SciArts at LSU Playwriting Prize, 2019.

Semi-finalist, 2019 Mach 33: Caltech/Pasadena Playhouse Festival of New Science-Driven Plays,

2019 TRU Play Reading Series Finalist.

From Jen-Scott Mobley:

We are pleased to announce the winners for the 2019 Jane Chambers Feminist Playwriting Award. This year we received nearly 350 submissions and engaged 23 readers from around the country. Readers were thrilled by the level of artistic excellence and feminist ethos present in the diversity of plays submitted.   On behalf of the Women and Theatre Program and the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, I am delighted to inform you that your play The Butch Project is one [of four] of our honorable mentions for the Jane Chambers 2019 Award.

Lighting Martha, a one-act play about legendary lighting designer Jean Rosenthal and her partner Miki (Marion) Kinsella, just won a Patron's Choice and a Critic's Choice Award (for Tech) at the PortFringe Festival in Portland, Maine. The website for the play is https://carolyngage.weebly.com/lighting-martha.html

My play CRAZY BETTY was named a finalist in the 2019 O'Neill Conference.  The play was also a semifinalist in the Bay Area Playwrights Festival; the Bechdel Test Festival; and the Austin Film and Writers Conference.