{"id":199314,"date":"2026-04-16T13:45:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T13:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/199314\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T13:45:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T13:45:20","slug":"laurie-beechman-theatre-launches-star-to-be-project-for-emerging-artists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/199314\/","title":{"rendered":"Laurie Beechman Theatre Launches Star to Be Project For Emerging Artists"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Laurie Beechman<\/a> Theatre has launched The Star To Be Project, a new initiative for emerging artists, in commemoration of the one-year anniversary of the historic theatre’s reopening<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Led by\u00a0Broadway producers Tom D’Angora<\/a> and Michael D\u2019Angora, the new owners of the Laurie Beechman Theatre, in association with The York Theatre, Willette Klausner, Open Horizon<\/a>, Hershel Kleinberg, LisaCohen, Vasi Lawrence, Nick Padgett<\/a>, and Jim Kierstead<\/a>, the initiative was created\u00a0in\u00a0response to the rising costs of producing live performance in New York City. The program aims to remove financial barriers for emerging performers, writers, and creators while ensuring the theatre can continue its legacy as a vital incubator for new work.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Star to Be Project\u00a0will\u00a0sponsor performances and underwrite production costs, providing artists with access to a professional stage, rehearsal space, and technical support. Programming will include sponsored concerts, free staged readings, a\u00a0Composer Spotlight Series, workshops and master classes, and industry showcases connecting artists with producers and casting professionals. The program will place a strong emphasis on diversity and inclusion, prioritizing opportunities for underrepresented voices.<\/p>\n

The project was named after Laurie Beechman\u2019s Broadway debut, playing the Star-To-Be (with the memorable solo in the middle of “NYC”)\u00a0in the original production of Annie<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Laurie Beechman Theatre, which opened in 1978 beneath the legendary West Bank Caf\u00e9, has long been a launchpad for theatrical talent. Originally the Downstairs Theatre Bar, it produced over 1,500 one-act plays in its first 14 years, including early works by Aaron Sorkin<\/a> and breakout performances from Tony Shalhoub<\/a>, Mary Testa<\/a>, Holly Hunter<\/a>, Nathan Lane<\/a>, and Mark Linn-Baker<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more information, visit here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Laurie Beechman Theatre has launched The Star To Be Project, a new initiative for emerging artists, in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":199315,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[75,84,83,9,24,63],"class_list":{"0":"post-199314","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manhattan","8":"tag-manhattan","9":"tag-manhattan-headlines","10":"tag-manhattan-news","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-nyc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}