Stories

Recent Stories

Showing 12 of 108 stories
The Heart Sellers with an illustration of a person in a red dress carrying a suitcase with writing on it
Drama

Casting Announcement for "The Heart Sellers"

he Virginia Theatre Festival has announced the cast and creative team for its upcoming production of playwright Lloyd Suh’s The Heart Sellers. The Heart Sellers will run from July 11-July 20 and will be directed by Desdemona Chiang, who returns to VTF, where she directed Harvey in 2018. Pulitzer Prize-finalist Lloyd Suh’s sweet, funny, and deeply moving play highlights the experiences of two 20-something immigrant women, one from the Philippines and one from South Korea, who meet, by chance, in a grocery store on Thanksgiving night. Set in 1973, eight years after the passing of the Hart-Celler Act, which abolished immigration quotas in America, the play finds Luna and Jane bonding over their common longing for the homes they left behind and the excitement for what lies ahead in a new land.

https://virginiatheatrefestival.org/casting-announcement-for-the-heart-sellers/

Get Happy Female presenting figure with black hat and suit on
Drama

Casting Announcement for "Get Happy!"

The Virginia Theatre Festival has announced the creative team for its season-ending production of Get Happy! A Celebration of the World’s Greatest Entertainer with Jenna Pastuszek. The show lives up to its name by taking audiences on a joy-filled journey powered by the songs of the legendary Judy Garland.

https://virginiatheatrefestival.org/casting-announcement-for-get-happy/

David J. Getsy, the Eleanor Shea Professor of Art History at the University of Virginia, has been awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship for his work exploring how non-normative genders and sexualities have shaped art and cultural history. Photo credit: Evan Kutsko

David J. Getsy Awarded Prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship

David J. Getsy, the Eleanor Shea Professor of Art History at the University of Virginia, has been awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship. The honor recognizes his groundbreaking research at the intersection of art history, queer studies, trans studies and performance studies. Getsy's work has significantly contributed to understanding how non-normative genders and sexualities have shaped art and cultural history.

https://as.virginia.edu/david-j-getsy-awarded-prestigious-guggenheim-fellowship

The Virginia Premier for All Bark, No Bite. A play by Emily Krantz with a picture of a bowtie
Drama

Arts This Week: Persimmon Tree Players present “All Bark, No Bite”

The Persimmon Tree Players will be performing the play, “All Bark, No Bite” on April, 26th and 27th and May 3rd and 4th at the historic Victory Hall Theater in Scottsville, Virginia. For Arts This Week we spoke with the director and the assistant director/ stage manager, about the play.

https://www.wtju.net/arts-this-week-persimmon-tree-players-present-all-bark-no-bite/

Into the Woods with an illustration of a Person in Red Coat Walking Through The woods
Drama

Virginia Theatre Festival Makes First Casting Announcement for Upcoming 51st Season-opening Production of Stephen Sondheim’s 'Into the Woods'

The Virginia Theatre Festival has announced the cast and creative team for its season-opening production of Into the Woods. Set to run June 27-July 6 in Culbreth Theatre at the University of Virginia, Into the Woods will be directed and choreographed by Matthew Steffens, who directed and choreographed the highly acclaimed 2023 VTF production of Cabaret and returns to VTF and his alma mater from recently serving as Associate Choreographer on the Tony Award-winning Broadway revival and subsequent national tour of Into the Woods.

https://virginiatheatrefestival.org/casting-announcement-for-into-the-woods/

The four-person cast of "I Am My Mother's Daughter" pose in one of UVA's Gardens: two of them sit on a white bench, while two of them stand behind the bench.
Drama

Mary Hall’s College Experience Culminates with “I Am My Mother’s Daughter”

On a cool Wednesday night in early April, a group of University students gathered in the Helms Theatre for a rehearsal of “I Am My Mother’s Daughter,” written and directed by fourth-year College student Mary Hall.

https://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025/04/mary-halls-college-experience-culminates-with-i-am-my-mothers-daughter?ct=content_open&cv=cbox_featured

Jenna Pastusek sings into a microphone, extending her arms out towards the crowd.
Drama

Jenna Pastuszek wants you to "Get Happy!"

Bringing "Get Happy!" to the Virginia Theatre Festival this summer is not just a regular performance for Jenna Pastuszek — it is a homecoming.

https://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025/04/jenna-pastuszek-wants-you-to-get-happy?ct=content_open&cv=cbox_latest#google_vignette

A crowd of performers stand on a stage. Above them, a man in a uniform looks down from a railing; in the center, a man holding a sign reading "FRANKIE FLOW" walks across the stage.
Drama

U.Va. Drama United the Community with “As You Like It”

This spring, the drama department presented “As You Like It,” a musical adaptation of the Shakespeare classic play.

https://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025/04/uva-drama-united-the-community-with-as-you-like-it?ct=content_open&cv=cbox_latest#google_vignette

Claudia Hunn
Drama

Reshaping an Industry: Women Directors Usher in a New Era of Theater

This year, many of the student directors — in both theater-focused Contracted Independent Organizations and drama department productions — are women. And these directors are using their roles to reshape the way that gender roles and norms are depicted in their plays.

https://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025/04/reshaping-an-industry-women-directors-usher-in-a-new-era-of-theater?ct=content_open&cv=cbox_latest

Operations and production manager Shawanna Hall offers a tour of the Drama Department.
Drama

A Day in the Life of Drama's Event Productions Manager

As the Department of Drama's operations and production manager, Shawanna Hall spends a lot of time managing logistics for a variety of Drama event productions.

https://as.virginia.edu/day-life-dramas-event-productions-manager

Building on a purple background
Drama

Guest Artists in Residence to perform ROSANIE SOLEIL, by Ina Césaire

UVA Department of Drama is thrilled to be welcoming Guests Artists in Residence, Ècritures Théâtrais Contemporaines en Caraïbe (ETC Caraïbe) in Spring 2025. This residency will include a performance of Rosanie Soleil, by Ina Césaire, a French playwright and ethnographer whose writings explore the oral heritage of her home of Martinique.

https://drama.virginia.edu/guest-artists-residence-perform-rosanie-soleil-ina-cesaire