United Solo Theatre Festival
United Solo Theatre Festival is the world's largest solo theatre festival. It takes place at Theatre Row on 42nd Street in New York City. Its founder and artistic director is Omar Sangare. The festival presents many categories of solo shows, including storytelling, puppetry, dance, multimedia, improvisations, stand-up, magic, drama, and comedy.
Since its inaugural edition, the Festival raises money for The Actors Fund.
2010 season
The line-up of 47 solo shows was presented between November 8 and 21. The solo artists from three continents took part in the two-week festival. Four-time Academy Award nominee Marsha Mason presented awards at the closing ceremony, including the special for Anna Deavere Smith.2011 season
Submissions for the second edition opened on March 1 and on closed May 16, 2011. The festival began on October 20 and it was concluded with a Closing Ceremony on November 20. It took place in Theatre Row in New York City. The New York Times chose United Solo for its The New Season Fall Preview, and the Time Out New York gave the Festival a wild card.In 2011, the United Solo board has nominated four performers for the : Daniel Beaty in Through the Night, John Lithgow in Stories by Heart, Patti LuPone in The Gypsy in My Soul, and Robin Williams in Weapons of Self-Destruction. The 2011 went to Patti LuPone.
2012 season
The third United Solo Festival presented 100 shows between October 11 - November 18, 2012. Nominees for the special were Kathy Griffin, John Hurt, Hugh Jackman and John Leguizamo. The award went to John Leguizamo. Among other award winners were Lynn Marie Rink, Ann Morrison, Austin Pendleton and Bill Bowers.United Solo received the title of the "Person of the Year 2012" from.