Theater for the New City

Executive Director, Crystal Field

Presents

TNC’s New City, New Blood Reading Series:

Newport

Written and Directed by Richard Byrne

Monday, May 6, 2024 at 7:00 PM

FREE

$5 Suggested Donation

Theater for the New City
155 First Avenue (between 9th & 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003

Newport is a new musical based on the extraordinary real-life events of 1919 Newport, Rhode Island. One year before the country would be facing prohibition and lockdown, a handful of specially selected sailors would become embroiled in deceit, intrigue, and betrayal. Before it was over many people (including a future president and a prominent clergy member) would be vilified across the conservative town paper’s front page by an editor who later died under mysterious circumstances. Newport uses this backdrop to create a compelling interpretation of America’s lesser-known and most intriguing scandals.

CAST
Richard Byrne
Matthias Cassar
Melina Frodella
Sean Hoagland
Jeanna Schweppe

Stephen M. Baranski Ph.D.-Composer: Steve’s experience as a Musical Director spans regional, summer stock, and university theaters. He accompanied the New York City-based ensemble the West Side Singers and served as a pianist on Broadway for Phantom of the Opera and Off-Broadway for the Sullivan Street production of The Fantasticks. He received his Ph.D. from New York University and holds a M.M. from the Manhattan School of Music.

Richard Byrne-Book & Lyrics: A veteran of stand-up comedy for over 30 years, Mr. Byrne’s resume’ sports a string of A-list comedy venues in America and abroad. He also has had the honor of performing on the legendary stages of Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall.His acting credits include “Sex and the City,” “The Sopranos” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”. Rich has also been in theater since he was 15 and has worked in summer-stock and regional theaters throughout the country.

 

COVID Protocol:
As of September 26th, 2022, we are no longer requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination for our audience upon entry.
Wearing of masks is suggested in the lobby, restrooms and performance spaces at Theater for the New City, but they are not required.

THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
Executive Director, Crystal Field, with
The LES Committee, Presents:

The 29^TH Annual LOWER EAST SIDE FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS

FREE!!!

Memorial Day Weekend. MAY 24, 25, 26 2024 – Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Theater for the New City
155 First Avenue. (btw E 9th and E 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003
212-254-1109

Theater for the New City has currently scheduled over 200 performing arts organizations, independent artists, poets, puppeteers and film makers for its 29th annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts.

Admission is free but donations will be gratefully accepted.

Indoor performances will take stage from 6:00 PM to midnight each day, utilizing two of TNC’s four theaters. From 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM Saturday, vendors and food sellers, including booths from nearby restaurants, will set up in the closed-off block of East Tenth Street between First and Second Avenues.

 

NEW YORK, April 24 — With the roster still building, Theater for the New City has currently scheduled over 200 performing arts organizations, independent artists, poets, puppeteers and film makers for its 29th annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts, which will be mounted May 24 to 26 in and around Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave. (at E. 10th Street). Admission is free but donations will be gratefully accepted.

The festival has been presented annually since 1996, although in 2020 it was produced online due to pandemic concerns. A cohort of theater, dance, performance, music, film, literary and visual artists are participating on all three days. An afternoon of performances for and by kids will be presented Saturday afternoon. A fine art show will be hanging throughout the fest in the theater’s lobby gallery. A film program will be presented Saturday from 1:00 PM to 11:00 PM, featuring works by auteurs from the Lower East Side/East Village along with works that reflect the essence of the neighborhood.

This year, the festival is mounted with the theme “Democracy: Use it or Lose it.” The subject will be addressed in some of the playlets and acts written for the festival.

As of this writing, the performers’ roster includes such luminaries as David Amram, Austin Pendleton and Penny Arcade. City council member Carlina Rivera will speak.

Performing ensembles participating will include Bond Street Theater, Chinese Theatre Works, Cobu, Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre, The Drilling Company, Ego Actus, Folksbiene National Yiddish Theater, Kinding Sindaw, Le Squeezebox Cabaret, New Yiddish Rep, Textile Theater Company and Wise Guise.

There will be original writings (many penned exclusively for the festival) by Alberto Ferreras, Anne Lucas, Barbara Herr, Barbara Kahn, Bina Sharif, Daromies, David Elyha, David McDonald, David Willinger, Douglas Lackey, Eduardo Machado, Elizabeth Ruf, Eva Dorrepaal, Ishmael Reed, Lissa Moira, Lyle Kessler, Melanie Goodreaux, Miguel Loyola, Misha Schulman, Pamela Enz and C.C. Kellogg, Raymond Lindie, Sarah Lilly, Toby Armour, Tom Diriwachter, Victor Vauban and Vinnie Nardello.

Excerpts of plays performed will include “A Ribbon for the Birthday Girl,” “Aftershocks,” “Broken Chains,” “Flies, “Issue #9,” The Coming Storm” by Stephan Morrow; works by Peter Welch, Robin Goldfin and Roman Primitivo; songs from TNC’s 2024 Street Theater and projects of Mary Tierney’s TNC Theater Workshop.

Individual performers appearing will include Alec Harrington, Austin Pendleton, Bryce Payne, Christine Stoddard, Evan Laurence, Face Boy, Jeff Davis, John Grimaldi, John Jiler, King Drag, Lei Zhou, Mila Levine, Smokey Stevens, Stan Baker, Steven Harris, Terry Lee King (Amazin’ Grace), Thomas Baker, Tym Moss, Veena Shetty, Zero Boy, David W. Jacobson, Devorah Shubawitz, Ed Malin, Eric Kuzmik and JC Augustine.

Dance performances will be by Alessandra Belloni, Ashley Liang Dance Company, Carol Tandava, Charly Wenzel, Constellation Moving Co., Infinity Dance Theater, Nobuya Nagahama, Rastro Dance Company (Julieta Valero), Rasvan Stoian Dance, Rod Rodgers Dance Company and Thunderbird American Indian Dancers.

Musical performers appearing will include Amelia Sasson, Art Lillard Quintet, Bennett Pologe, Citizens United Protest Band, David Amram, Dawoud Kringle, Donald Arrington, Ejyp Johnson, Ellen Steier, Janice Lowe, Joe Bendik, Jonathan Fox Powers, Judy Gorman, Lex and The Cult of Spirits, Liz Magnes, Louisa Bradshaw, Lower East Side Performing Arts, Maude Lardner Burke, Michael A Green, Michael David Gordon, Michael Vazquez, Mimi Block, Mister Pablo, Nissen Gregory, Noam Finegold: Burning City Orchestra, Oyu-Oro, Peter Dizozza, Rebecca Willson, Rew Starr, Richard West, Rita Costanzi, Rob Varcony, Robert Gonzales Jr., Stephanie Trudeau, Sylvan Lorrow and Yip Harburg Rainbow Troupe.

There will be comedy by Hollie Harper and Zoe Gray and magic by The Great Dubini.

Poets appearing will include Austin Alexis, Stan Baker, Briana Bartenieff, Anthony Cedeno, Didi Champagne, Peter Dizozza, Alisa Ermolaev, Faceboy, Joanie Fritz Zosike, Davidson Garrett, Phillip Giambri, Melanie Goodreaux, Bobby Hieger, David Huberman, Mathew Hupert, Linda Kleinbub, Ron Kolm, Fran Luck, Peter Marra, Prince A. McNally, Lois Kagan Mingus, Lissa Moira, Valery Oisteanu, Howard Pflanzer, Lola Rodriguez, John Sarno, Amelia Sasson, Bina Sharif, Nate Smith, Peyton Watson and Richard West.

Films, curated by Evan Dorrepal, will include “Best Life,” directed by Andrew Shemin, “No Time,” directed by Engin Altintas, Stars, directed by Mars Roberge, “Garbaggia,” directed by Rolanda Politi and Daniela Fabrizi, “Subterranean Love,” directed by Robert Haufrecht, and “Fire Ant,” directed by Charlie laRose.

Saturday outdoor performances, curated and hosted by Richard West assisted by Didi Champagne, will include Didi Champagne with The Blueberry High Heels, Shu Nakamura Band, Mark “The Musician” 6 guys JAZZ, Joe Bendik, Peter Dizozza, Lewis Keith, Peter Kozlowski, Stan Baker, Viviana Duncan, Ellen Lytle, Linda Marks, Pete Dolack, Ron Kolm, Austin Alexis, Valery Oisteanu, Wanda Phipps, Thaddeus Rutkowski, Peter Marra, Margaret Yard, Phillip Giambri, Linda Kleinbub, Matthew Hubert, Kathryn Fazio, Lissa Moira, Richard West, Su Polo, Susan Weiman and surprise guests.

Emcees will be Crystal Field, Robert Gonzales Jr., Danielle Aziza, Melanie Goodreaux and Sabura Rashid (in the Johnson Theater) and David F. Slone Esq. and Joe John Battista (in the Cabaret Theater). The film program will be emceed by Eva Dorrepaal.

Specialty curators of the festival include Lissa Moira (poetry), Eva Dorrepal (film), Danielle Hauser (kids’ performances), Carolyn Ratcliffe (visual art) and Richard West (outdoor theater-dance-music). The whole festival is run by the LES committee (see below) and chaired by Crystal Field.

Indoor performances will take stage from 6:00 PM to midnight each day, utilizing two of TNC’s four theaters. From 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM Saturday, vendors and food sellers, including booths from nearby restaurants, will set up in the closed-off block of East Tenth Street between First and Second Avenues. On Saturday from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM, an outdoor stage adjoining the theater will offer music and multi-discipline performances curated by Richard West. On Saturday afternoon inside in the Johnson Theater, there will be performances by and for children, curated by Danielle Hauser. On Saturday from 1:00 PM to 11:00 PM in the Cabaret Theater, over 15 films curated by Eva Dorrepaal will be screened, accompanied by talkbacks with a number of the film makers. On Sunday from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM in TNC’s Community Theater, there will be a “poetry jam with prose on the side” curated by Lissa Moira. Throughout the festival, an art show curated by Carolyn Ratcliffe will grace the TNC lobby spaces. This art show will have its own free, special opening Wednesday, May 23.

The performers’ roster is still building as of this writing and the number of applicants exceeds any previous year.

 

BACKGROUND

The first festival, presented June 14 to 16, 1996, was a three-day, indoor and outdoor multi-arts festival, organized by TNC and a coalition of civic, cultural and business leaders. The aim was to demonstrate the creative explosion of the Lower East Side and the area’s importance to culture and tourism for New York City. It employed two theater spaces at TNC plus the block of East Tenth Street between First and Second Avenues, featured over 100 attractions, drew favorable press and attracted crowds from all around the City. Its success prompted TNC to continue the festival annually on Memorial Day Weekend. For 28 years it has been presented free each year to an average attendance of 4,000. (In 2020 it was held online due to pandemic concerns).

The concept of the festival was developed by Crystal Field, Executive Artistic Director of TNC and Esther Cartegena (d. 2006), President of Loisaida, Inc., to portray the Lower East Side (LES) as a haven for artists and artistic creation. The region is a unique multi-ethnic community with an unusually high level of artistic vitality. Large populations with differing languages and cultures coexist there successfully and a large artistic population helps glue the neighborhood together. Its theaters are also an unprecedented source of tourism. Sam Shepard’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “Buried Child,” was commissioned and first produced by TNC. The committee envisioned an event that would demonstrate the region’s cultural fervor, its large artistic population and its multiplicity of ethnic influences to contradict the neighborhood’s stereotype as a dangerous refuge for drug dealers and criminal activity.

Disciplines presented have always included theater, music, dance, poetry, puppetry, cabaret, visual art, film and children’s programming.

 

SPECIAL CREDITS

Festival Director is Crystal Field. Assistant Directors are Sarah Iles and Dianne Ramirez.

The LES Committee for 2024 is: Crystal Field, JC Augustin, Joe John Baptista, Alex Bartenieff, Walter Corwin, Eva Dorrepaal, Myrna Duarte, Carol Dudgoen, Alberto Ferrara, Andrea Fulton, Robert Gonzales Jr., Melanie Goodreaux, Robert Greer, Philip Hackett, Alan Hanna, Barbara Kahn, Anne Lucas, Lissa Moira, Stephan Morrow, Emily Pezzella, Richard Ploetz, Michael Scott Price, Carolyn Ratcliffe, Ramiro Sandoval, Jonathan Slaff, David F. Slone Esq., Mary Tierney, Jenne Vath, Jimmy Walker, Jon Weber, John David West, Richard West, Roman Primitivo, Miguel Loyola and Lewis Widoff.  Press Representative is Jonathan Slaff.

# # #

 

PHOTOS ARE AVAILABLE at https://photos.app.goo.gl/jBxNqitcV4zg8nHX9

 

 

THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
Executive Director, Crystal Field

Presents

in association with Tisch New Theatre

Alice by Heart

April 26 – April 28, 2024
Friday & Saturday at 8:00 PM, Saturday & Sunday at 3:00 PM
There will be a pay-what-you-can performance on April 25th at 8 pm accessible by emailing tischnewtheatre@gmail.com

Tickets: General $29.75 – Students $17.85
Run Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
JOHNSON THEATER

Theater for the New City
155 First Avenue (between E 9th and E 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003

Tisch New Theatre Will Present ALICE BY HEART This Month
Tisch New Theatre’s production of Alice by Heart will take place at Theater for the New City from April 26th – April 28th, 2024. Directed by Juliette Markman, Choreographed by Erin Amstein, Music Direction by Chelsea Melnick, and Produced by Leah Frantz, this adaptation of Alice by Heart asks the question: can we ever truly escape our reality?

 

Above the concrete of the London streets, war has broken out. As the British join the allied powers to fight against the Nazi regime, a whole other world lies below their feet. The London Tube has been transformed into a bunker where, for five years, millions and millions of people seek shelter. People lived, breathed, worked, slept, died, and survived in the underground, but most importantly, children grew up.

Join young Alice Spencer as she escapes from her London bunker in the center of World War II and into her favorite book: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Amid her literary adventure, she discovers that the line between fantasy and reality has blurred, forcing her to confront the world around her. What was once an escape turns into reality, as she uses the story to come to terms with love, loss, dreams, and death in wartime.

Alice by Heart makes us question why we turn to stories in times of grief-and if we can ever truly get lost within them. When the story begins to slip away, what remains?

“Alice by Heart is an incredibly timely story despite taking place in 1941. I feel so lucky to be leading this incredible group of artists as they navigate what it means to be a child in times of political turmoil. At its core, this show is not about people living during war. It is about children using art to cope in times of need. Instead of using rehearsal as a way to suppress our thoughts, we have all taken a note from Alice’s book. We have used this story as a catalyst to take on our world through a new perspective, discovering how important the arts are in our lifelong mission of understanding our universe and all the harm that comes with it. We are so lucky to be able to live, work, and create in a space like New York-a community that is home to diverse voices that are never afraid to speak up about pressing issues. We do not live in a vacuum, and so theatre should not live in a vacuum. Like Alice, we have discovered how we cope with war through art. We have discovered how theatre can be a vehicle for change. We have discovered how important it is to tell stories. This production will be enjoyable, though it won’t serve as an escape – rather as a way to cope with your own grief through art. As long as there is art, there is a way out” Director Juliette Markman stated.

CAST
SAMANTHA CHU as ALICE
LEE BOWSER as UNDERSTUDY ALICE
Sam Cusson as ALFRED/WHITE RABBIT/MARCH HARE
ISABELLA SCOLARO as NURSE/QUEEN OF HEARTS
BRAIDEN LEE as HAROLD/MAD HATTER/MOCK MOCK TURTLE
KEIRA BOTJER as TABATHA/ CHESHIRE CAT
AIDAN RYAN as DODGY/DUCHESS/MOCK MOCK MOCK MOCK TURTLE
Mia Rose WILLIAMS as CLARISSA/MOCK MOCK MOCK TURTLE
HUDSON QUINN as NIGEL/DORMOUSE/KNAVE OF SPADES
ELIJAH DOR as ANGUS/CATERPILLAR
MICKEY WIRTZ as DR. BUTRIDGE/KING OF HEARTS/JABBERWOCK/MOCK TURTLE
NATALIA KANTNER as CATERPILLAR 2
JOSIE AXELSON as ENSEMBLE
AYDEN MAYA CHACKO as ENSEMBLE

*Please note that the cast is subject to change

PRODUCTION TEAM
Produced by LEAH FRANTZ in association with TISCH NEW THEATRE
Artistic Director JULIA FREITAS-GORDON
Production Managers BENOIT ELIAS-ROBERGE AND MOLLY LITVIN
General Manager and DEIA Co-Chair Rachel Lee
DEIA Co-Chair HANNAH STOBER

Directed by Juliette Markman | Associate Director ASTA TRIVEDI

Choreographed by ERIN AMSTEIN | Assistant Choreographers JAIDE MALONE and AUDREY RICHARDS

Music Directed by CHELSEA MELNICK | Assistant Music Directors ZOË FARAJIAN, MAYA KILE, and NYA HOLMES

Production Stage Manager JESSE YOUNGSTEIN | Stage Manager ARYANA PIROS | Assistant Stage Manager ISABELLE ORMSBY

Technical Director NAVEEN BANGALORE | Assistant Technical Director ALEXANDRIA NATION
Assistant Production Manager ESME CUAUTLE
Head of Scenic Design WENDY ZHANG | Associate Scenic Designers DYLAN DUGOURD and Z WECHSLER
Props Designers Taylor Williams and ELI KAN
Lighting Designer BENOIT ELIAS-ROBERGE | Assistant Lighting Designer and Lightboard Operator Sarah Clarke
Sound Designer ELLA DANYLUK | Assistant Sound Designer EMMA MCANINCH | Sound Board Operator TINA QIU
Costume Designer CAMILLA CARRASCO | Assistant Costume Designer MAXWELL GUTIERREZ
Hair and Makeup Designer EMMA LI
Intimacy Director SOFI LOPEZ ARRENDONDO
Dramaturg LAKE MERRITT | Dialect Coaches JOSE ROMERO and LUKERIA PETRUNINA
Assistant Producers SIGNY ACKERMANN and JAYLA EBANKS | Assistant Artistic Director IFE DAVIS
Head of Development Julia Lipsztein | Development Assistant MULTI MCMACKIN
Marketing Director ASPEN NARAIN | Marketing Assistant HANNAH STOBER
Photographers ARI ISENBERG, MASON JIN, JESS EICHEN, FRANCESCA DIMICELI, and AYDA BAHRAMPOUR
Videographers MARIA RENKAS and LUCY TIAN
Graphic Designers JINGWEI MU and RITZ FAN
Wardrobe Supervisor KADY NANKIVEL | Assistant Wardrobe CARTER NARANJO

Book by Steven Sater and Jessie Nelson | Lyrics by Steven Sater | Music by Duncan Sheik

Orchestrations by Duncan Sheik | Additional Orchestrations by Vocal Arrangements by Simon HaleJason Hart
Alice by Heart was first commissioned and produced by National Theatre Connections in 2012 Developed with the Assistance of Theatre Aspen, Aspen, Colorado
A workshop production of Alice by Heart was presented by New York Stage and Film & Vassar at The Powerhouse Theater, Summer 2018. New York Premiere at the MCC Theater February 26, 2019 Artistic Directors: Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, & William Cantler Executive Director: Blake West.
Alice by Heart Is presented through a special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.mtishows.com

About Tisch New Theatre
Tisch New Theatre allows students to work in all facets of the theatre: performance, management, direction, production, and other technical and design aspects. TNT is committed to developing and presenting technically and ideologically ambitious works with the intent to teach, challenge, and synthesize the artistic efforts of the Tisch Community and NYU’s undergraduate student body. Educating, entertaining, and empowering artistic minds is at the heart of our mission, exemplified in our presentation of musical theatre as a tool of storytelling. Our organization empowers its young artists to hold leadership positions with the caliber of professionalism they will possess working in the industry. TNT prioritizes fostering artistic growth in all NYU students, offering a safe environment for learning and personal development.

Tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/alice-by-heart-3220639

 

COVID Protocol:
As of September 26th, 2022, we are no longer requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination for our audience upon entry.
Wearing of masks is suggested in the lobby, restrooms and performance spaces at Theater for the New City, but they are not required.

THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
Executive Director, Crystal Field

Presents

The Hungry Mind Buffet

May 30 – June 16, 2024
Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8:00 PM, Sunday at 3:00 PM

Tickets: $18 General, $15 Students and Seniors
Run Time:
THEATER

Theater for the New City
155 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th Street)

An evening of performers and performances!

• Party Clown of the Rich and Famous, written by Stan Baker (The Human TV), directed by Lissa Moira

• The Afterdeath, a short opera by Peter Dizozza (based on an excerpt from Dante’s Inferno), Directed by Lissa Moira, Starring: Alisa Ermolaev, Jonathan Fox Powers and William Broderick*

• Yum, by Georgia James. A comedy of joyous consumption and casual cruelty. Directed by Lissa Moira, Starring: Amelia Sasson* Alisa Ermolaev, Susan Mitchell*( and her violin) and William Broderick*

• The Colonel and the Woman Take Tea in the Rubble, Written and Directed by Lissa Moira, regarding the specter of war. Starring: William Broderick* Jonathan Fox Powers, and Lissa Moira*

• A satirical conversation with GOD: written, directed and starring, Richard West

There will also be music by: Melange

 

COVID Protocol:
As of September 26th, 2022, we are no longer requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination for our audience upon entry.
Wearing of masks is suggested in the lobby, restrooms and performance spaces at Theater for the New City, but they are not required.

THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
Executive Director, Crystal Field

Presents

In Celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month

&

21st Anniversary of
Rome Neal’s Banana Puddin’ Jazz

ROME NEAL IN CONCERT

Monday, April 29, 2024 at 7:00 PM
Tickets: $18 General Admission

Theater for the New City
155 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003

With

ANDRE CHEZ LEWIS (p), HIL GREENE (b),

RUSSELL CARTER (d), PATIENCE HIGGINS (s)

Open mic /Jam Session & Complementary Banana Puddin’ for ALL

On April 7, 2003, a young man embarked on a mission to present the Arts of Music & Theatre to the New York/tri-state masses. Award winning actor/director/jazz producer/vocalist, Rome Neal, after going out to many jazz clubs, doing research in order to develop his Thelonious Monk character in Laurence Holder’s one-man play “Monk”, Mr.Neal found himself becoming enthralled over the musicianship and environment. This revelation instilled in him a desire to bring that same energy of the Jazz jams of 40s and 50s, (which still exist in some clubs in Harlem today) downtown to his artistic home, the Nuyorican Poets Café.
Now 21 years later Rome celebrates at his first theatre home, Theater For The New City on April 29th @ 7 PM Rome will be in concert singing some of the great Jazz standards with his quartet, followed by an All Star Open Mic / Jazz Jam session. And of course his delicious Banana Puddin’

 

COVID Protocol:
As of September 26th, 2022, we are no longer requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination for our audience upon entry.
Wearing of masks is suggested in the lobby, restrooms and performance spaces at Theater for the New City, but they are not required.

THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
Executive Director, Crystal Field

Presents

The Briefest Year

THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
Executive Director, Crystal Field

and American Indian Artists (AMERINDA)

Presents

FRYBREAD QUEEN

THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
Executive Director, Crystal Field

Presents

TEXAS GOTHIC

Theater for the New City

Executive Director, Crystal Field

Presents

TNC’s New City, New Blood Reading Series:

Never Let You Go

Written by Lisa del Rosso
Directed by Colleen Rebecca Britt

Monday, April 15, 2024 at 7:00 PM

FREE

$5 Suggested Donation

Theater for the New City
155 First Avenue (between 9th & 10th Street)

Martha Hodges is suffering an unimaginable loss. Confronting grief, guilt and the condemnation of those around her; her private turmoil becomes very public when captious, carping social commentary takes on a life of its own. With a tenuous grip on her identity and pilloried from all sides, Martha goes from tragic survivor to societal pariah. How can she find something to live for with such a great burden?

Never Let You Go takes you on Martha’s journey through the black thicket of loss – a journey, for better or worse that we all share, a journey that binds us.

CAST
Chief Leary: JT Waite
Patrick: Brandon Miller
Luis: Sean Church-Gonzalez
Martha Hodges: Cate Damon
Bradley Hodges: Neil Bradly
Nick Mercurio: Peter Evangelista
Maryann- Monica Wyche
Holly – Laura King Otazo
Susan – Elena Sartor
Dr. Gold- Sarah Bierstock

Lisa del Rosso (Playwright) originally trained as a classical singer and completed a post-graduate program at LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art), living and performing in London before moving to New York City. Her plays, Clare’s Room and Samaritan, have been performed Off-Broadway and had public readings, while St. John, her third play, was a semi-finalist for the 2011 Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Etched Onyx Magazine, The Night Heron Barks, Ran Off With the Star Bassoon, Barking Sycamores Neurodivergent Literature, The Chillfiltr Review, Sowing Creek Press, The Literary Traveler, Serving House Journal, VietnamWarPoetry, Young Minds Magazine (London/UK), Time Out New York, The Huffington Post, The Neue Rundschau (Germany), Jetlag Café (Germany), and One Magazine (London/UK). Her first book, Confessions of an Accidental Professor, was published in 2018, prompting an invitation by Brian Lehrer to be interviewed on his WNYC radio program. Her second essays-in-memoir, You Are All a Part of Me, was published in early 2021. The following year, she recorded the accompanying audio for You Are All a Part of Me, now available on Audible. In 2022, her essay “By Choice” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. She is the recipient of a 2018 NYU (New York University) College of Arts & Sciences Teaching Award, where she currently teaches writing. In 2019, she was awarded a New York Writers Workshop scholarship to Sardinia.

COLLEEN REBECCA BRITT (Director) is a New York based freelance director, actor and teaching artist. Recent directing credits include Legally Blonde JR., a pilot production with the creators of Legally Blonde the Musical for Music Theatre International. Other directing credits include: The Gin Game (Theatre Three) Showing by Gabriel Sinclair (The Setauket Neighborhood House), Clue (Theater at St. Jean), The Resolute (Wyoming Theater Festival), Svetlyachki (New York Fringe) and Clare’s Room, Actors Playhouse , for Waving Not Drowning Productions. She is the resident director for Hidden Well Theatre. Colleen is thrilled to be working with playwright Lisa del Rosso again. MFA – Directing, Actors Studio Drama School. Associate member, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

 

COVID Protocol:
As of September 26th, 2022, we are no longer requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination for our audience upon entry.
Wearing of masks is suggested in the lobby, restrooms and performance spaces at Theater for the New City, but they are not required.

Theater for the New City

Executive Director, Crystal Field

Presents

TNC’s New City, New Blood Reading Series:

The Coming Storm

The legacy of anti-Semitism endures

Written and Directed by Stephan Morrow

Monday, April 8, 2024 at 7:00 PM

FREE

$5 Suggested Donation

Theater for the New City
155 First Avenue (between 9th & 10th Street)

The Coming Storm the legacy of anti-Semitism endures – a nightmarish fable about the rise of the Nazis starting in 1933 when a non-Aryan professor is evicted from his University and attacked by University students who were young Nazis. His student Anton Einsbruck (based on Werner Heisenberg) – the youngest Nobel Prize winner ever awarded the prize is torn between loathing Hitler but nevertheless feeling a loyalty to his country – starts developing a nuclear fission program in competition with the Oppenheimer people. (the Germans were two years ahead of the U.S. program when Los Alamos was first started). After being interrogated by the Gestapo for a year Einsbruck’s mother uses her friendship with Himmler’s wife to have her son accepted as a loyal German despite his refusal to join the party and Einsbruch is allowed to continue his work on nuclear fission. Because he is in love with a non-Aryan young woman who flees to a desolate area on a farm he is vulnerable to Nazi harassment constantly and when there is an accident destroying his reactor the program dwindles until the end of the war when he is captured by the Americans who enlist him to work with them against the rising threat of the Soviets at the start of the Cold War.

CAST
Dan Simon
Corrine Chateau*
Bryan Hickey*
Liam McGowan
George Lugo
Joe Marshall
Christina Toth*
Emilie Bienne
Stephen Anthony
Giorgio Varipapa
Alan Ceppos

*Actors Studio Members

BIO
Stephan Morrow is a proud veteran of the Off Off Bway and independent film arena where he finds the work most intriguing. He has been very busy over the last dozen years at Theater for the New City and the post pandemic period has been a full one for him: He has just finished writing directing and acting in ‘Darkness After Night: Ukraine about the terrible invasion of Ukraine which won ‘Best Original Screenplay (adapted from another medium) in The Marina Del Rey Film Festival. Just months before that he dramaturged, directed and acted the lead in Richard Bruce’s play ‘Sometime Child’ about a lawyer who is mugged and who turns the life of the two at risk youths away from a life of crime – in fact they end up becoming attorneys themselves (based on a true story). Ken Kelsch (DP for many Abel Ferrara films: Bad Lt w/ Harvey Keitel, The Addiction, Kings of NY et al filmed the stage production of ‘Sometime Child).It was doubly honored to win awards in the News Fest/ True Stories Film Fest: ‘Overall Winner- True Story Narratives’ and ‘Best Directing of Young People in a Feature Film. As Artistic Director and founder of The Great American Play Series he has had the pleasure of resurrecting neglected American classics in ‘performances on book’ such as ‘After the Fall’ by Arthur Miller with Rebecca De Mornay (Maggie) and Mark Rydell (Quentin), Barry Primus, Lyle Kessler, Stefan Gierasch and Sally Kirkland, ‘The Price’ by Arthur Miller with Barry Primus, Lyle Kessler, Paul Mazursky and Judith Light. And most notably, he has had the honor of being personally backed by Arthur Miller for his work on ‘Incident at Vichy’ – a four year mission to get it to a major venue. He staged four ‘performances on book’ with casts that included F. Murray Abraham, Richard Dreyfuss, Austin Pendleton, David Margulies, Fritz Weaver, Peter Weller and Fisher Stevens among others. At The Makor/Steinhardt Center of the 92St Y he presented his own adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ phantasmagoric epic ‘Camino Real – Ten Blocks Plus One’, with Betsy Von Furstenburg and Larry Block. Also at Makor he had the pleasure of presenting Genet’s ‘The Balcony’ with Angelica Torn, Larry Block and Larry Pine, setting the play in a country similar to the U.S. His most recent presentation with the serie was a staged reading of Tony Kushner’s remarkable first play ‘A Bright Room Called Day’ with Angelica Torn, legendary Judith Malina (founder of The Living Theater), Joan Macintosh, Henry Stram, Larry Block et al. Stephan was mentored by Elia Kazan into the Playwright Directing Unit of The Actor’s Studio and has been a long time member of The PD Unit of the Actor’s Studio East and West and in 2018 was honored to begin being a frequent guest moderator. Education : Stuyvesant H.S. Manhattan – General Excellence Award. Latin Award. University at Buffalo – B.A. English. Magna Cum Laude. NYU – Film Program

 

COVID Protocol:
As of September 26th, 2022, we are no longer requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination for our audience upon entry.
Wearing of masks is suggested in the lobby, restrooms and performance spaces at Theater for the New City, but they are not required.