(NEW YORK, NY) -- Vineyard Theatre Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern and Managing Director Suzanne Appel announce that the company will be receiving a proclamation from the Mayor’s Office on November 3 to celebrate Vineyard Theatre Day, recognizing the institution's contributions to the city of New York and its neighborhood of Union Square. East 15th Street has been the home of Vineyard Theatre for 30 of its 40 years.
Kathryn Erbe, a board member of the Vineyard Theatre, will speak at the 3:30 pm celebration and Jennifer Falk, Executive Director of Union Square Partnership will also be in attendance and say a few words about the company’s impact in Union Square.
In celebration of their 40th anniversary season, Vineyard Theatre also recently announced a new visual identity that honors the company’s 40 years of fearless theatre-making in New York and will unveil its new awning.
November 3 will coincide with the first performance of Sandra, a new one-woman thriller from David Cale, and the first show in Vineyard Theatre’s 40th season. Sandra seeks to get to the bottom of the mysterious disappearance of her closest friend, a young pianist and composer, who went on a trip to Mexico and never returned. Her search for clues leads her into both a highly charged love affair, and increasingly dangerous territory. Featuring an original piano score by Matthew Dean Marsh, direction by Obie Award-winning director Leigh Silverman, and starring Marjan Neshat (English and Selling Kabul), Sandra asks how far would you go for love?
Following Sandra will be the world premiere of the musical White Girl in Danger, a co-production by Vineyard Theatre and 2ndStage, written by Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop) and directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz (The Skin of Our Teeth). White Girl in Danger will be presented at 2ST from March 15, 2023 - May 21, 2023 with an opening night on April 10, 2023. Vineyard’s final production of their 40th season will be the world premiere of This Land Was Made by Tori Sampson (If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must be a Muhfucka), directed by Taylor Reynolds (The Movement Theatre Company) and presented at Vineyard Theatre (108 East 15th Street).
Vineyard Theatre’s 2022-2023 Season is generously supported by The Howard Gilman Foundation and The Shubert Foundation. The Ford Foundation has made a major gift commitment to support White Girl in Danger. The Edgerton Foundation has made a major commitment to This Land Was Made. Additional support for Vineyard’s 40th Anniversary Season productions has been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NYSCA and NYC Women’s Fund. Artistic Directors’ Circle sponsors for the season currently include Jamie deRoy (Sandra), Sally Horchow, Bobby and Vicki Freeman, Ken and Rande Greiner, Susan Marks, Fiona and Eric Rudin, Salmira Productions (White Girl in Danger), and Annette Stover and Richard Feiner. Corporate support for the season includes gifts from Atlantic Records and Con Edison.
Under the artistic leadership of Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern, Vineyard Theatre develops and produces new plays and musicals that push the boundaries of what theatre can be and do. For nearly 40 years, The Vineyard has nurtured a community of fearless theatre makers whose work has expanded the form, the field, and the larger culture. Vineyard Theatre has transferred eleven shows to Broadway, seven directly after their acclaimed Vineyard premieres: Lucas Hnath’s Dana H. and Tina Satter’s Is This A Room (both New York Times Best Theatre of 2021); Paula Vogel’s Indecent; Nicky Silver’s The Lyons; Kander, Ebb and Thompson’s The Scottsboro Boys; Bell and Bowen’s [title of show]; and Avenue Q by Marx, Lopez and Whitty (Tony Award, Best Musical). In recent years, four additional shows launched at The Vineyard have been revived in their first Broadway productions: Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer Prize-winning How I Learned to Drive; Lanie Robertson’s Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar And Grill; Becky Mode’s Fully Committed; and Edward Albee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Three Tall Women.
From their home in NYC’s Union Square, The Vineyard develops and premieres new plays and musicals which go on to be seen around the country and the world. Recently, Jeremy O. Harris’ play “Daddy” (2019) received its London premiere at the Almeida; Ngozi Anyanwu’s Good Grief (2018) and David Cale’s Harry Clarke (2017) were recorded by Audible; Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Gloria (2014), a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, transferred to Chicago’s Goodman Theatre; Paula Vogel’s Tony Award-winning Indecent (2016) aired on PBS’s “Great Performances” and was one of the most-produced plays nationwide in 2019; and Colman Domingo’s Dot (2016) is being adapted into an AMC series. The Vineyard’s first major digital work, Lessons in Survival, was named one of the top theatrical experiences of 2020 by the New York Times and has been viewed by audiences in more than 40 countries.
The Vineyard’s Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, Susan Stroman Directing Award, and Colman Domingo Award provide residencies to early-career artists and our education programs serve over 700 New York City public high school students annually, culminating in Developing Artists’ REBEL VERSES Youth Arts Festival. The Roth-Vogel New Play Commission is awarded annually to a mid- to late-career playwright to create and develop a new play with The Vineyard. Our work and artists have been honored with numerous awards including Pulitzer Prizes and Tony Awards, and the company is proud to be the recipient of special Drama Desk, Obie, and Lucille Lortel Awards for artistic excellence and support of artists.
Vineyard Theatre’s leadership includes Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern and Managing Director Suzanne Appel.
