The super fabulous Kitty Carlisle Hart (pictured above), aptly referred to as a doyenne of New York culture, theater and society, died on April 17 at the age of 96. A passionate champion of the arts, Miss Carlisle visited Buffalo on several occasions, during and after her 20-year tenure on the New York State Council of the Arts, which began in 1976. In the early 1930s she performed at Shea’s in the touring production of the revue Rio Rita. A couple of years ago, when I saw her perform in Florida Follies, she ended her part by inviting the audience to join her in singing Irving Berlin’s “Always.” Kitty, we’ll be loving you, always.

Performances of the winners of this year’s playwriting competition The Write to Be Heard will be presented on April 29 at 3pm at Shea’s Smith Theater. This year’s winners are How Did We Get Here? by Katherine Boswell of Kenmore East High School; The Murder of Booboo the Clown by Santana Coon of Williamsville South; and Of Life or Death by Kaitie Rose McAneney of West Seneca West High School. Created by Margo Davis nine years ago, the playwriting competition is open to all Western New York and Southern Ontario high school students. Since its inception, almost 200 plays have been submitted. Congratulations to all!

Also at the Smith Theater, on May 2 at 7pm, Niagara University Theatre will present the Senior Showcase, an evening of performance pieces and design exhibits by the graduating class of 2007.

The Subversive Theatre Collective will present Subversive Shorts 2007, June 14-30. The year’s program, which showcases new political theater from all over the US, will feature eight short works including Don’t Hate the Messenger by Buffalo’s own Bill Schmidt.

Road Less Traveled Productions continues its New Play Workshop with revised and reworked versions of the scripts presented last March: Eric Appleton’s homeland on April 30; Melody von Smith’s Bonegrinders on May 1; Frank Canino’s The Altar Boys Picnic on May 7; Annette Daniels Taylor’s A Little Bit of Paradise on May 8. All readings take place at the company’s theater at the Market Arcade at 8pm.

The New Phoenix Theatre concludes its season with the Western New York premiere of The Woman Before, a dark comedy by the German playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig. The play had a successful run at the Royal Court Theatre in London in the 2005-06 season. Directed by Kurt Schneiderman, the local production will star Richard Lambert and Betsy Bittar. It is scheduled to run May 3-28.

Barbara Link LaRou (playing Lady Bracknell) has joined the cast of The Importance of Being Earnest, which opens at the Kavinoky tomorrow, April 27. The production also stars Steve Cooper, Jim Maloy, Sheila McCarthy, Neal Moeller, Leah Russo, Hilary Walker and John Warren.

In 2004, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks (pictured below) wrote one play per day for an entire calendar year. The plays are being presented this year all over the country as part of an ongoing national festival called 365 Days/365 Plays. UB’s Departments of Media Study and Theatre & Dance will present week #24 of Parks’ plays. Performances are free and open to the public, April 26 and 27 at 5:30pm. in the Television Studio of the Department of Media Study located in UB’s Center for the Arts A symposium on the work of Parks is also scheduled for today, April 26 at 3 pm in the Screening Room, Center for the Arts.