AMERICAN DAMES Hits the Mark at 22nd Annual Long Beach Playhouse Festival!

Fresh off the proverbial printer, the latest draft of playwright Susan Kathryn Hefti's AMERICAN DAMES, or Waiting for Dolley was read aloud for the very first time on Sunday, August 19, 2012 as part of the 22nd Annual Long Beach Playhouse (LBP) New Works Festival in Long Beach, California!

Directed by LBP's Kate Felton, the cold reading of this brand-spanking-new script went swimmingly! Boldly piercing the boundaries of history, the marvelous cast made vivid these time-tripping, if iconic, American Dames! 

Set on the Fourth of July, 2011, just months before the 10th Anniversary of the terrorist attacks, Martha, Abigail, Betsy & Molly try desperately to wrap their 18th century brains around the ever-changing American landscape as they wait anxiously for Dolley's arrival: But will she ever come? Could the American Dames even be real? Could they possibly still be alive? Could it really be that the Dames have somehow been living on a historic continuum on Manhattan's tony Upper East Side all these years? Or are these spirited, opinionated patriots just ghosts from America's past?

In the universe that is AMERICAN DAMES, these and other such existential questions may not have any easy answers. But this brand new draft of the play (which not even the playwright has yet heard!) inspired a very spirited (pun intended) post-reading discussion about the play and its themes on the American identity!

Already garnering three new play festival awards (Stella Adler's 2012 Harold Clurman Finalist; 2012 Long Beach Playhouse New Works Finalist & 2012 Julie Harris Playwriting Award Semi-Finalist), the great enthusiasm for AMERICAN DAMES, and its wonderfully eccentric distaff characters, continues to propel this fresh and original play forward throughout the development process.

We applaud the Long Beach Playhouse Theatre for nurturing new work & for providing a safe environment in which emerging American playwrights can explore & experiment as they continue to develop & write their plays! 

A big thanks to everybody who attended the reading in California! And thanks especially to Andrew Vonderschmitt & everybody else at the Long Beach Playhouse Theatre who helped to create this wonderful opportunity to continue the development of Susan Kathryn Hefti's newest full-length play AMERICAN DAMES, or Waiting for Dolley!

As we journey through the development process for this exciting new American play, we'll be sure to keep you all posted on its progress!

Photo courtesy of Kate Felton. Pictured above from L to R: Jim Felton (Reading Stage Directions); Katie Pelensky (Abigail); Andrea LaVela (Martha); Sarah French (Molly) and Phyllis Nofts (Betsy).  

Susan Kathryn Hefti's AMERICAN DAMES Scores 3rd Award!

Susan Kathryn Hefti's newest full-length play - AMERICAN DAMES, or Waiting for Dolley  - has been selected as one of four Finalists for the Long Beach Playhouse's 22nd Annual New Works Festival!


As a 2012 Finalist, AMERICAN DAMES will receive a Mainstage Reading at the Long Beach Playhouse Theatre at 2PM on August 19, 2012. The LBPH Festival & Reading are open to the public.

This marks the 3rd Award for Susan Kathryn Hefti's newest play!

Susan Kathryn Hefti's AMERICAN DAMES Named 2012 Julie Harris Playwriting Award Semi-Finalist by Beverly Hills Theatre Guild!!!

We are delighted to share with you all the latest news about Susan Kathryn Hefti's AMERICAN DAMES, or Waiting for Dolley which has just been selected as a Semi-Finalist for the 2012 Julie Harris Playwriting Award Contest hosted by the Beverly Hills Theatre Guild!

A really big thanks to the Beverly Hills Theatre Guild (BHTG) for its kind recognition of AMERICAN DAMES. And thanks to everybody who came out to the Stella Adler Studio's New Play Reading Festival to hear AMERICAN DAMES read in front of an audience for the very first time on April 11th!

Thanks again for your continued interest in the work of emerging American playwright Susan Kathryn Hefti. We'll be sure to keep you posted as AMERICAN DAMES, or Waiting for Dolley continues along its journey through the development process!

Thanks for Supporting 'The Emerging American Artist's Fund'!

  Thanks to everybody for your very generous contributions to The Emerging American Artist's Fund which benefits exclusively the continued development of emerging American playwright Susan Kathryn Hefti's work as a theater artist.  Your unwavering support is an essential ingredient in the play development process!

And it is thanks to generous individuals and foundations like you that the arts in America continue to flourish: Your generous contributions help provide the time to write & develop plays, and your continued support remains a meaningful part of that process.

Thanks to the non-profit arts service organization Fractured Atlas, all donations to The Emerging American Artist's Fund are fully tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law and can be conveniently made online by simply clicking on this link.

Every gift, no matter the amount, helps to support the continued development of this emerging American theater artist's work. And we are so very grateful to you all for your continued generosity and enthusiastic encouragement!

The Emerging American Artist's Fund is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the purposes of The Emerging American Artist's Fund must be made payable to 'Fractured Atlas' and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

To read more about the works of emerging American playwright Susan Kathryn Hefti, please visit her online bio by simply clicking on this link.

Thank you all again for your continued loyalty and very generous support! 

Susan Kathryn Hefti's AMERICAN DAMES is Huge Hit at Stella Adler Studio's Play Reading Festival!

Thanks to everyone who came out to hear the first-ever public reading of Susan Kathryn Hefti's AMERICAN DAMES, or...Waiting for Dolley in the 2012 Harold Clurman Playwrights Division's New Play Reading Festival at the Stella Adler Studio this past Wednesday, April 11th!

The evening was a huge success: We had a smashing turn-out and everybody was so pumped, the energy in the room was truly electric!

As we continue to move forward in the play development process, we’ll be sure to keep you posted on the progress of AMERICAN DAMES, or…Waiting for Dolley - the 2011-2012 Harold Clurman Playwright-in-Residence Competition Finalist - written by Susan Kathryn Hefti.

Thanks again for coming to hear the Stella Adler Studio and the Harold Clurman Laboratory Theater Company's reading of Susan Kathryn Hefti's AMERICAN DAMES, or...Waiting for Dolley! We hope to see you again soon! 

Waiting for…

Dolley Madison, circa 1815-17

Susan Kathryn Hefti's AMERICAN DAMES Selected for Play Reading Festival in NYC!

We are delighted to announce that Susan Kathryn Hefti's AMERICAN DAMES (or...Waiting for Dolley), the 2011-2012 Harold Clurman Playwright-in-Residence Competition Finalist, has been selected for The Stella Adler Studio's 2012 New Play Reading Festival!

As part of the festival, the Playwrights Division of The Stella Adler Studio of Acting and the Harold Clurman Laboratory Theater will be producing the first-ever staged reading of AMERICAN DAMES this spring!

For reservations and details about this very special play reading, please visit The Stella Adler Studio's Facebook Events Page.