Best American Theater

The Lonely Goatherd marionettes are the puppets used in the marionette sequence of the 1965 film The Sound of Music. The sequence was produced and performed by the American puppeteers Bil Baird and Cora Baird for the song “The Lonely Goatherd,” which originated in the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage m...

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a major American theater ensemble based in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1976 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry, and Gary Sinise. It was established with a focus on an ensemble-based acting model and quickly gained a reputation for performing gritty, contemporary plays with...

Goodman Theatre is a nonprofit professional theater company in Chicago, founded in 1925 and named for playwright Kenneth Sawyer Goodman. It operates the Albert and Owen stages in the city's Loop and presents classic plays, contemporary drama, new writing, and its longstanding annual production of A...

Arena Stage is a prominent nonprofit theater company based in Washington, D.C., founded in 1950 by Zelda Fichandler and Edward Mangum. It is widely recognized as a foundational institution in the American regional theater movement, pioneering the concept of permanent professional repertory companies...

Misty Copeland is an acclaimed ballerina recognized as the first African American female principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre. Her career represents significant progress toward diversity within classical ballet and serves as a powerful inspiration for aspiring dancers and those seeking...

The Alley Theatre is a non-profit professional theater company located in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1947 by Nina Eloise Whittington Vance, it is recognized as one of the oldest resident theater companies in the United States. The organization operates out of a facility designed by Ulrich Franzen, f...

The Alliance Theatre is the largest nonprofit regional theater in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1968, it serves as the resident company of the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre and operates under the umbrella of the Woodruff Arts Center. The theater produces a diverse range of works, from world prem...

Second Stage Theatre is an American theater company founded in New York in 1979 to produce works by living American playwrights. It programs new and contemporary plays and became a Broadway-producing organization when it took over the Hayes Theater as its primary venue in 2018.

One of the major play licensing and publishing houses in the United States, representing a vast catalog of contemporary and classic plays. It is a fundamental resource for theater companies seeking to produce established works, handling performance rights, and selling scripts. Its catalog is deep an...

Charlemane the Lion is a notable marionette created by American puppeteer Bil Baird, famously featured in his mid-20th-century stage productions.

Cynthia Harvey is an acclaimed American prima ballerina recognized for her distinguished career with the Royal Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. She’s notable for her expressive artistry and significant contributions to ballet education. Harvey's work inspires aspiring dancers and continues to sha...

Heathcliff is a character marionette designed by American puppeteer Bil Baird, showcased in his prominent mid-20th-century traveling theater troupe.

Everett Shinn was an American painter and illustrator, and a prominent member of the Ashcan School, also known as "The Eight." Active in early-20th-century New York, he is recognized for his depictions of city life, particularly focusing on theater, street scenes, and nightlife. Shinn often used pas...

Lorenzo Pisoni is an American actor, clown, and physical-theater performer who began appearing with San Francisco's Pickle Family Circus as a young child. His autobiographical solo show Humor Abuse examines his unusual upbringing as the son of circus cofounder Larry Pisoni and the demanding craft be...