An evening of 7 short plays by women playwrights of color: Naveen Bahar, Ruby Dee, J.e Franklin, P.J. Gibson, Lynn Nottage, Cori Thomas and Bridgette Wimberly.
Consistently drawing full houses and critical raves from the New York Times and New York Beacon during its successful Going To The River run at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, Woodie King Jr.'s NEW FEDERAL THEATRE in association with the CASTILLO THEATRE continue this highly praised hit!
In Fred Newman’s new play with music, Negro League baseball great Josh Gibson hits yet another towering home run, but as he rounds the bases, he meets genius Albert Einstein, aviator Amelia Earhart, and revolutionary poet Otto René Castillo — all on third base with no way home. Relativity theory meets baseball meets the Wizard of Oz in this whimsical theatrical fantasy.
Long before Castillo was performing the world it was performing the city, and the All Stars Talent Show Network is the name of that performance. For over two decades Director of Youth Programs Pam Lewis and her All Stars have been a source of young talent, and those vibrant performances continue this year—across the five boroughs and in cities around the country.
An ensemble of young theatre artists is embarking on three months of discussions and workshops with social scientists, community activists, and workers of all kinds about work, in all its multiplicity—as a career, as a passion or as a paycheck. In the tradition of Youth Onstage!, the young performers are coached by skilled playwrights and theatre directors as they create a new performance piece that is both challenging and entertaining.
The Task January 22 – March 7, 2010 Held Over by Popular Demand!
The promise of revolution comes to Jamaica in 1799, as the timeless themes of love, loss and betrayal collide in a challenging play by acclaimed German avant-gardist Heiner Müller.
Castillo continues expanding the boundaries of political theatre as popular director Gabrielle L. Kurlander mounts the first-ever American production of Müller's The Task performed by an all-Black cast. With Fred Newman's avant-garde songs, Billy Taylor's gospel, R&B classics and rap, this is New York City experimental theatre at its best.
Frank Galati’s skillful and stirring adaptation of John Steinbeck’s classic story won a TONY award for Best Play in 1990. In this City Lights/Youth Onstage! co-production, the struggles of Tom Joad and his family are given voice by our young people: “Maybe a fella ain’t got a soul of his own, but on’y a piece of a big one.”
An evening of plays featuring Ché Guevara: physician, author, revolutionary leader and pop cultural icon.
In Ché, Mario Fratti imagines the final moments of the revolutionary leader. With his execution both certain and near, Ché remains defiant to the authorities, and compassionate and loving to the people around him, including the guards who will soon be his firing squad.
In Fred Newman's magical love story, Ché is the Risky Revolutionary, reappearing decades after his murder to urge his old comrade Fidel Castro to take the greatest risk of all.
The All Stars Hip-Hop Cabaret is a raw, edgy and entertaining evening of uncensored, in-your-face hip-hop, laced with the flavors and influences of European cabaret. The show contains strong language and adult situations.
The lovable lunatics who brought you This is Your Ridiculous Life!! will storm the Castillo stage (again) with an all-new improv concoction. (How new? It doesn’t even have a name yet!)
Time spins out of control, shifting between Russia in the early 20th century and Harlem a hundred years later; characters change identities; and every answer opens into a new question.
Audience members brave the stage for an impromptu conversation with a therapist. On the spot, the Castillo Players transform their life stories into improvised scenes. Hilarity ensues. Lather, rinse and repeat. Don’t miss the triumphant return of Castillo’s most ridiculous offering!
For the first time ever, Castillo presents a series of new plays — entertaining, experimental and developmental — by young, socially-engaged playwrights and directors new to the Castillo stage.
It’s the end of the Korean War and three young GIs from New York City — one Latino, one Black and one Jewish — confront the harassment of the brass, the racism of the military and the brutality of the United States occupation of South Korea. Coming of Age in Korea also features music by Fred Newman and Grammy-nominated composer Annie Roboff that takes us on a journey through the “coming of age” of American popular music — blues, swing, doo-wop, rock and country.
A Season in the Congo is an epic drama about a major turning point in the Cold War and in the history of Africa— the CIA-engineered assassination of Patrice Lumumba, leader of the independence movement of the Congo. It is one of the few plays written by the late Aimé Césaire, one of the great surrealist poets of the 20th century and a founder of the Negritude Movement.
Hear hot young poets from the streets of New York City spitting their latest rhymes in the new Lobby Theatre at the All Stars Project on 42nd Street. All-new poems and raps are woven into an evening of stimulating theatre by an ensemble of socially-engaged poet/performers from the youth programs of the All Stars Project
Hamletmachine explores late 20th century Western culture, in a richly poetic and layered text. Heiner Müller’s masterpiece borrows from Shakespeare, T.S. Eliot and Jean-Luc Godard, among others. (He was “sampling” before there was such a thing!) This innovative production featuring a multi-racial, multi-generational cast is under the direction of Viennese theatre director, Müller scholar, and Castillo founder, Eva Brenner. If you like your theatre teasing the imagination and pushing the envelope, don’t miss this one-of-a-kind international collaboration.
Hip-hop cabaret is a new theatre form, drawing on emerging talent from the All Stars Talent Show Network, and melding the provocation of European political cabaret with the creativity and energy of hip-hop. The result is an edgy and entertaining mix of song, dance, rap and spoken word created by the young performers themselves, that springs from the streets of New York with something important to say to the world.
The first winner of the Mario Fratti-Fred Newman Political Playwriting Contest, this powerful and disturbing two-person play follows the fate of a conservative "everyman" caught up in the twisted logic of the Patriot Act, which turns even the most loyal citizen into a traitor and a terrorist, and leaves the Constitution an empty shell.
On Tuesday, June 3, 2008 the All Stars will be celebrating its grand re-opening of the newly redesigned performance and development center on 42nd Street. Hundreds of people from the All Stars community of theatre goers, youth, community and business leaders and supporters will celebrate this exciting and historic event which will include tours of the center. We'll be celebrating the success of the All Stars as a national and international center— a cultural jewel of New York.
The Compass Project Sunday, May 18, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Youth Onstage! invites you on a theatrical journey exploring gender and its many roles. Created in collaboration with the young women of the viBe Theater Experience, The Compass Project investigates what it means to be a man or a woman, from the perspective of contemporary young people. Join us for this dynamic performance from two of the city’s most cutting-edge youth theaters!
When a young African American Harvard undergrad gets on an Amtrak train to visit his grandfather in Florida and sits down next to the impossibly old Satchel Paige on his way to spring training, you know you are in for a strange ride.
The National Black Touring Circuit in association with the Castillo Theatre present: A Rose Among Thorns (Rosa Parks)
Friday, February 15, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
A Rose Among Thorns (Rosa Parks) explores the famous incident that sparked the modern civil rights movement in the 1950's segregated South. The play looks beyond the iconic figure to see Rosa, a woman with quiet dignity as well as a quiet fire of human emotions, strengths, weaknesses, humor, and triumphs..
Our City Special Performances
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
Youth Onstage! is bringing its hit 2005 production, Our City, on tour! Inspired by Thornton Wilder’s classic play Our Town, Our City presents a vibrant portrait of New York, with the young performers taking on a diverse range of characters from all five boroughs. YO! will be bringing this exciting and innovative show to public schools and other community venues all across the city this fall.
Who but Castillo would dare to
perform your life! It’s improv comedy with a psychological
twist, as volunteers from the audience come up on stage, chat
with a therapist, and then watch as Castillo's fearless
improvisers turn their lives into scenes, sketches and songs –
right on the spot!
Youth Onstage! And the All Stars Talent Show Network invite you to come to the cabaret you won’t see on Broadway! Hip-Hop explodes on 42nd Street, with the hottest acts straight out of Bed-Stuy and Brownsville, Jamaica, Harlem, the Bronx... dancers who amaze, rappers who dazzle with political rhymes, comedians, crooners, poets, steppers, and more!
This world premiere play by Fred Newman explores the history of the early women’s movement and its relationship to the abolitionist movement. Featuring Madelyn Chapman as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Gabrielle L. Kurlander as Susan B. Anthony.
Famed dancer Desmond Richardson will direct 15 young performers from the All Stars Talent Show Network and Youth Onstage! in this season’s follow-up to the acclaimed production of Have You Ever Seen a Dream Rapping?
America (A Conversation) February 16 - March 4, 2007 Fridays and Saturdays 7:30 PM
Sunday 2:00 PM
America (A Conversation) places Youth Onstage!'s freshest young actors in a dialogue with their country, their audience, and with themselves, asking "Who speaks for America? What does America have to say? Who is America anyway?"
Over There/Over Here is a provocative new play written by 22-year-old Iraq war veteran Michael Reyes in collaboration with the performers of Youth Onstage! It is a drama created by young people about the war
Outing Wittgenstein October 20 - December 10, 2006
Fridays and Saturdays 7:30 PM
Sunday 2 PM
When the brilliant (and uptight) Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein meets his gay alter ego "Wiggy" on a popular reality TV show, "This is Your Death", nothing will ever be the same again.
A wild and witty look at the Broadway (and Off-Broadway) theatre season, this improv review/revue presents The Great White Way as only next-door neighbors can.
What happens when a married social worker falls in love with a client — and that client is another woman? To celebrate Gay Pride Month, Five Points Presents... continues its tradition of presenting plays about strong, independent women by strong, independent women; this is a debut production by new playwright Maggie Zarillo-Gouldin. Directed by Fred Newman and Mary Fridley.
All Stars Hip-Hop Cabaret May 12 - June 3, 2006
Fridays and Saturday at 7 PM, Thursday, June 1st at 7 PM
Youth Onstage! and the All Stars Talent Show Network invite you to come to the cabaret you won’t see on Broadway! Hip-Hop explodes on 42nd Street, with the hottest acts straight out of Bed-Stuy and Brownsville, Jamaica, Harlem, the Bronx… dancers who amaze, rappers who dazzle with political rhymes, comedians, crooners, poets, steppers, and more!
Combining storytelling, dance and drama, Youth Onstage! brings its always risky experimentation to Left of the Moon, a poetic play about the beginnings of the cultural movement that we now call "The Sixties." This workshop production of the play, written by Fred Newman, is directed by Dan Friedman and Franceli Chapman.
The Castillo Theatre celebrates 20 years of producing Müller American-style with its upcoming production Heiner Müller: A Man Without a Behind. This avant-garde variety show features the writings of the East German playwright, along with original music, sketch comedy and video — designed especially for an American audience (not to mention by an American theatre company!)
Castillo celebrates Black History Month with performers from the All Stars Talent Show Network, who bring to the stage a new evening of performances honoring the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr..
Our City November 11 – December 4, 2005
Fridays and Saturdays at 7 PM, Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 PM
Always working to expand the borders of 'youth theater' this year the YO! Experimental Theatre Workshop will present its own updated version of Thornton Wilder’s classic play Our Town, set in contemporary New York City.
Sally and Tom (The American
Way) October 7 – December 4, 2005
Friday and Saturday at 7:30 PM, select Thursdays at 7:30 PM,
Saturday and Sunday at 2 PM.
DNA tests now prove that Thomas
Jefferson and his slave Sally Hemings had five children. Their
story comes to the stage in this classic Castillo musical by
Fred Newman and Grammy Award-winning songwriter Annie Roboff.
Hidden Images October 7th – 30th, 2005
Opening reception: Friday, October 7, 7:00 – 8:30 pm
Press reception: Friday, October 7, 11:00 am
Gallery hours by appointment: 212-941-1234. Call for times of
guided tours by the artist.
"Hidden Images" will display the
powerful paintings of Austrian artist Wolf Werdigier, created
through interviews with Palestinians and Israelis exploring
their generations-old conflict through personal histories and
dreams. For this show done in conjunction with Castillo's
Sally and Tom (The American Way), Werdigier has conducted a
series of interviews with Theatre For the Whole City audiences
and is creating new paintings specific to racial issues in
America. Social dreaming Matrix workshops will be conducted in
conjunction with the exhibition. This is the American premiere
of "Hidden Images," which has previously been shown in Tel Aviv,
Ramallah and Jerusalem.
Youth Onstage! And the All Stars
Talent Show Network invite you to come to the cabaret you won’t
see on Broadway! Hip-Hop explodes on 42nd Street, with the
hottest acts straight out of Bed-Stuy and Brownsville, Jamaica,
Harlem, the Bronx… dancers who amaze, rappers who dazzle with
political rhymes, comedians, crooners, poets, steppers, and
more!
Written by Jean-Luc Lagarce,
France’s most popular playwright when he died of AIDS at the age
of 38 in 1995, Rules is a satire of middle class niceties — with
no story, no characters and no dramatic conflict. It’s a
modernist monologue transformed into a postmodernist performance
piece. Don’t miss the cutting edge of Chicago’s vital theatre
scene right here on 42nd Street.
