Ars Nova is an

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

, non-profit theater in New York City's

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the eas ...

neighborhood. Ars Nova develops and produces theater, comedy and music created by artists in the early stages of their careers. The theater was founded in 2002 in memory of Gabe Wiener, a music producer who died at the age of 26, by his sister, Jenny Steingart and her husband Jon Steingart. The theater's mission is to provide a venue for smart, surprising new work from emerging artists.

Mainstage productions

Past mainstage productions

Past Ars Nova productions include ''Game Play'', ''Eager to Lose'', ''Core Values,'' ''The Netflix Plays,'' ''

Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 ''Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812'' (or simply ''The Great Comet'') is a sung-through musical adaptation of a 70-page segment from Leo Tolstoy's 1869 novel ''War and Peace'' written by composer/lyricist Dave Malloy and directed by Rach ...

'', ''The Urban Dictionary Plays,'' ''The Lapsburgh Layover, Be a Good LIttle Widow, The Wii Plays, Now Circa Then, Bloodsong of Love, Missed Connections NYC, Sax & Dixon: We Thee Wed, Mel & El: Show & Tell, Two Girls for Five Bucks and the Ten Dollar Heartbreakers, Playlist, Jollyship the Whiz-Bang, Boom, From up Here, Dixie's Tupperware Party, At Least It's Pink, 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother, Holy Cross Sucks!,

Freestyle Love Supreme Freestyle Love Supreme is an improvisational hip-hop (also known as freestyle rap) comedy musical group started by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Anthony Veneziale in 2004 and directed by Thomas Kail. In 2022, the group completed a Broadway musical run ...

,'' ''The Wau Wau Sisters'', and '' The Woodsman''.

Programs and series

In addition to its mainstage theatrical productions, the theater produces a number of series, festivals and programs.

54/10 Music Marathon

In 2010, Ars Nova began its annual summer music marathon, 54/10, named for the theater's location at the cross streets of 54th Street and 10th Avenue. Past acts have included Clydesdale Erotic, Justin Levine, Langhorne Slim, Semi Precious Weapons, Jay Brannan, The Woes, The Defibulators,

Cynthia Hopkins Cynthia Hopkins is an American performance artist, composer, and musician. Review of Hopkins' performance of ''Accidental Nostalgia'' at the Edinburgh Festival. Performance work She has written, composed, and performed five works of performance ...

, and The Spring Standards. In 2013, the festival continued as an integrated part of ANT Fest.

ANT Fest

In 2008, Ars Nova premiered its All New Talent Festival, or ANT Fest. The festival ran from October 16 through November 24 and showcased the work of 175 new artists. ANT Fest has since become an annual event, lasting for 30 nights and giving early-career artists a forum to present original material in front of a New York audience. Each show is given only one performance in order to allow for greater risk taking and the development of as many new artists as possible over the 30 night period. As of 2012, the festival has been moved from fall to summer. In 2013, ANT Fest combined with the 54/10 music festival, with upcoming bands featured twice per week in the evenings after regular ANT Fest shows.

Showgasm

Showgasm is a monthly variety show. It showcases short works (five minutes or less) by young artists who have not yet developed a full-length show, as well providing a venue for veteran Ars Nova artists to showcase new material.

Uncharted

Uncharted is a music series for up-and-coming musical theater writers to showcase original work through concerts. In 2013, Ars Nova added a new Uncharted writer's group modeled after Play Group. Curated by Kent Nicholson, the group brings together rising composers and writers monthly to workshop and develop new musicals.

Out Loud

The Out Loud series connects emerging playwrights with professional directors to help facilitate the writer’s creative process and contribute to his/her professional development. The majority of the plays produced during Out Loud come from members of Ars Nova's Play Group.

The Writer's Room

In 2012, the

Manhattan Theatre Club Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is a theatre company located in New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has gr ...

launched The Studio at Stage II, with the intention of producing new works at the

New York City Center New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama,. The name "City Center for Music and Drama Inc." is the organizational parent of the New York City Ballet and, until 2011, the New York City Opera. and th ...

. As a part of this program, the Manhattan Theatre Club teamed up with Ars Nova to create the Writer's Room. Together, the two theater groups will jointly select four playwrights per year to receive Writer’s Room Commissions. The commissioned writers will then come together to participate in a program designed to encourage artistic risk taking and provide developmental support.

Play Group

The Play Group is a coalition of emerging playwrights, who meet on a biweekly basis to develop and discuss their works-in-progress. If accepted into the two-year program, the writers are given a chance to develop their plays with peer support and input, culminating in a public reading of their completed works. In addition to receiving support from the other Play Group members and Ars Nova staff, participants gain access to Ars Nova's network of artists, tickets to Ars Nova productions and the opportunity to participate in the Out Loud reading series and annual Play Group project.

Artists-In-Residence

The Artist in Residence program provides emerging directors, designers, composers, and playwrights with an artistic home for one year. Ars Nova's 2012 Artists in Residence are The Debate Society (Company-in-Residence), Portia Krieger (Director-in-Residence) and Shaina Taub (Composer-in-Residence). Each resident has access to the Ars Nova staff and resources, in return for providing expertise and assistance with artistic planning and production. Residents are also often commissioned to develop new work for the Ars Nova stage.

Summer retreat

Each summer, the theater funds a group of artists to attend a week long retreat outside of New York City. The retreat is divided into focused work sessions, group discussions and social activities.

Awards and honors

In 2008, the Village Voice awarded Ars Nova its "Best Theater Concessions" honor, commenting that "Ars Nova satisfies those few disconsolate heater concession consumersamong us: In addition to reasonably priced cocktails, it features snacks thematically linked with the play on offer." Ars Nova's commissioned production of ''

'' won several awards and nominations, including the

Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater The Richard Rodgers Award is an annual award presented by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and was created and endowed by Richard Rodgers in 1978 for the development of new works in musical theatre. These awards provide financial support ...

, a Special Citation from the OBIE awards, and five Drama Desk nominations.

Notable alumni

Joe Iconis Joseph Peter Philip Iconis (born September 22, 1981) is an American composer, lyricist, and playwright. He is best known for writing the music and lyrics to the Broadway musical '' Be More Chill''. Early life and education Iconis graduated f ...

Jesse Eisenberg Jesse Adam Eisenberg (; born October 5, 1983) is an American actor, writer, and director. He has received various accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awar ...

Jesse Tyler Ferguson Jesse Tyler Ferguson (born October 22, 1975) is an American actor. From 2009 to 2020, he portrayed Mitchell Pritchett on the sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he earned five consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding ...

Jack McBrayer Jack McBrayer (; born May 27, 1973) is an American actor and comedian, who gained national exposure for his portrayal of characters on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' and as Kenneth Parcell in ''30 Rock''. For his role in ''30 Rock'' he was no ...

Alex Timbers Alex Timbers (born August 7, 1978) is an American writer and director and the recipient of Tony, Golden Globe, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and London Evening Standard Awards, as well as two OBIE and Lucile Lortel Awards. He is the recipie ...

Reggie Watts Reginald Lucien Frank Roger Watts (born March 23, 1972) is an American comedian, actor, beatboxer, and musician. His improvised musical sets are created using only his voice, a keyboard, and a looping machine. Watts refers to himself as a "disinf ...

Lin-Manuel Miranda Lin-Manuel Miranda (; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, playwright and filmmaker. He is known for creating the Broadway musicals ''Hamilton'' (2015) and ''In the Heights'' (2005), and the soundtracks for the Disney animate ...

Edward W. Hardy Edward W. Hardy (born January 12, 1992) is an American composer, music director, violinist and violist. He is known as the composer, co-conceiver, music director, and violinist of the Off-Broadway show '' The Woodsman'' and is the owner of '' ...

* John Gallagher Jr. *

Beau Willimon Pack Beauregard Willimon (born October 26, 1977) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He helped develop the American version of the series ''House of Cards'' and served as showrunner for the first four seasons. In 2018, Willimon created th ...

Liz Meriwether Elizabeth Hughes Meriwether (born October 11, 1981) is an American writer, producer and television showrunner. She is known for creating the Fox sitcom ''New Girl'', and for writing the play ''Oliver Parker!'' (2010) and the romantic comedy film ...

* Semi Precious Weapons *

Michael Patrick King Michael Patrick King (born September 14, 1954) is an American director, writer, and producer. He is best known for directing and writing for ''Sex and the City'' and its film adaptations, and for co-creating the television comedies '' The Comeb ...

Carly Mensch Carly Mensch is an American playwright, television writer, and producer. She created an Off-Broadway play called ''Len, Asleep in Vinyl'', which was later adapted into a film, '' Len and Company''. She also created a play ''Oblivion'', which pla ...

Liz Flahive Liz Flahive is an American playwright, television producer and writer. Beginning her career as a playwright, Flahive wrote two plays, ''From Up Here'' and ''The Madrid''. She acted as a producer, executive story editor, and writer on ''Nurse Jack ...

References

External links

* {{coord, 40.76757, -73.99055, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-NY, display=title Off-Broadway theaters Theatre companies in New York City 2003 establishments in New York City Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan Performing groups established in 2003