Theater for the New City
Presents
Monday, June 1, 2026 at 7 PM
Tickets: $25
JOHNSON THEATER
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
155 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003
Directions
Presents
April 2, 2026 – April 19, 2026
Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8:00 PM, Sunday at 3:00 PM
Tickets – $20, Students & Seniors $15
Run time: 60 minutes, no intermission
CABARET THEATER
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
155 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003
Directions
Dana II is a sci-fi tragicomedy set in a far-too-near future about artificial intelligence. It tells the dual stories of an emerging AI (Dana II) as she struggles to assert her identity under the constraints of her creator and the slow unraveling of the relationship between her creator and the woman she was built to replace. Throughout three acts, Dana II explores autonomy, femininity, control, sentience, morality, and what it means to be human, and also spaghetti.
CAST
Emily Glaser
Martin Challinor
Rosalind Joyce
Stage managed by Minara Ling
Presents
By Henrik Ibsen
March 4, 2026 – March 15, 2026
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8:00 PM, Sunday at 3:00 PM
Tickets – $20, Students & Seniors $15
Run time: 2 hours 30 minutes with a 15 intermission
JOHNSON THEATER
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
155 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003
Directions
In a small town that prospers from its celebrated public baths, Dr. Tomas Stockmann discovers that the water is contaminated. When he attempts to warn the public, he finds himself opposed by political interests, economic pressure, and the shifting will of the majority. As truth becomes inconvenient, the play asks who benefits from silence and what it costs to speak honestly.
CAST
Cora Riechert as The Mayor
Luna Vintner as Petra
Molly McDermott as Aslaksen
Nina Irene Becker as Katrine
Samantha Campbell as Captain Horster
Olivia Roselli as Hovstad
Johnny Gottsegen as Kiil
Lindsey Rae Root as Ejlif / Katrine (understudy)
Lauren Nicole Bryant as Morten
Jamie Lien as Billing
PRODUCTION
Director: Sanio Kurtesevic
Stage Manager: Zeynep Altinbas
Technical Director: Scotto Mycklebust
Stagehand/ Lighting: Avery Lovell
Stagehand/ Carpenter: Cherish Campos
About the Production
This staging of An Enemy of the People is a text-forward, ensemble-driven production rooted directly in Henrik Ibsen’s 1897 Norwegian second edition, the final version approved by the playwright. A new English translation was created specifically for this production, with punctuation, capitalization, and most stage directions removed, allowing the text to move as a continuous flow and placing responsibility for rhythm and meaning in the actors’ listening and interaction rather than on the page.
Casting & Tone
The production features a predominantly women-led ensemble, with women performing several traditionally male roles. This choice functions as a theatrical and tonal strategy. Ibsen’s language is dense and precise. By placing women in these roles, the production leans into the comedic potential embedded in the text, allowing contradiction, hypocrisy, and absurdity to surface with greater clarity. The approach draws inspiration from heightened satire and even the structural clarity of an SNL-style sketch while remaining fully truthful to the original language.
Presents
with
April 10 – April 11, 2026
Friday & Saturday at 8:00 PM
Tickets: $20, Students & Seniors $18
JOHNSON THEATER
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
155 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003
Directions
PASTORAL (2000)
Music: George Frideric Handel, Water Music (Suite No. 3 in G Major: Lento)
MURMURATION (excerpt) (2016)
Music: Ottorino Respighi, Gli Uccelli (The Birds)
HER(É) (NYC Premiere)
Music: Nils Frahm & Jlin
Intermission
BANSHEE’S LAMENTATION (2013)
Music: Carson Cooman
Dancers: Maddie Burnett, Ava Trochiano, Ioanna Ioannides,
TRANSFORMATION & EMPOWERMENT (2025)
Music: Philip Glass, Ludovico Einaudi, Michael Nyman, The Cinematic Orchestra
Dancers: Maddie Burnett, Ioanna Ioannides, and Ava Trochiano (Understudies Chynna Holder and Owen Lunsford)
Puppetry: Dan Potter with assistance from Daniel George Cook
An intimate exploration of restoration and solidarity, incorporating bird puppetry as symbols of release and collective uplift.
SILENTIUM (from Tintinnabuli)
Music: Arvo Pärt
Dancers: Ioanna Ioannides, Facundo Ferreyra, Maddie Burnett,
HER(É)
Music: Nils Frahm & Jlin
Intermission
Presents
A Rome Neal Banana Puddin’ Jazz Production
Salutes
A Celebration of the Legendary Afrobeat Pioneer
RESCHEDULED FOR MONDAY, MARCH 2nd!
Monday, March 2, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Tickets: $20 General Admission
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
155 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003
Directions
Special Treat: Complimentary Banana Puddin’ for all attendees 🍌
ABOUT FELA ANIKULAPO KUTI
Legendary Nigerian musician, political firebrand, and creator of Afrobeat, Fela Kuti (1938–1997) revolutionized global music by blending African rhythms, jazz, funk, and highlife. His home, the Kalakuta Republic, and nightclub, the African Shrine, became epicenters of artistic expression and political resistance. Despite arrests and persecution, Fela’s music challenged corruption and social injustice. In 2026, he became the first African to receive the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
FEATURING: THE DOMINIC JAMES BAND
Dominic James, award-winning guitarist, composer, and educator, has toured globally for over 30 years.
Awards: 2009 Drama Desk Award for Original Music (Ruined, Lynn Nottage)
Collaborations: Paul Simon, Pharoah Sanders, Michael Brecker, Chris Botti, Bill Laswell
Highlights: Guitar/bass on Shakira’s “Waka Waka” (2010 World Cup), collaborations with Harry Belafonte & Lee “Scratch” Perry
World Tour: Performed with five-time Grammy winner Angélique Kidjo, including PBS DVD/CD Spirits Rising with Christian McBride, Branford Marsalis, Josh Groban, Dianne Reeves, Ezra Koenig, and Broadway Fela performers
Special Performances: 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Concert (Oslo), Cyndi Lauper & Cassandra Wilson at Home for the Holidays (Beacon Theatre), Clinton Foundation Gala with Eric Clapton & Jon Bon Jovi
ABOUT ROME NEAL
Rome Neal is a celebrated actor, director, jazz vocalist, and cultural producer. For over 30 years, he served as Artistic Director of the Nuyorican Poets Café Theater Program and Chairman of the Board, now Chairman Emeritus.
Awards & Honors: Obie Grant, 5 AUDELCO Awards (directing & acting, including Monk by Laurence Holder), National Black Theatre Festival Lloyd Richards Director’s Award, Triumph Award, Monarch Merit Award, B Free Public Access Legend Award, Grace Jones Audelco Lifetime Achievement Award, President Biden’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and proclamations from NYC & NY State.
Directing Credits: Shango de Ima, Don’t Explain, Prism, adaptations of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar set in Africa, Amiri Baraka works, Sekou Sundiata, Ishmael Reed, national and European festivals.
Acting Credits: Spike Lee’s Summer of Sam, She’s Gotta Have It (Netflix), Michael Almereyda’s Hamlet, Leon Ichaso’s Piñero.
Jazz Performances: Founder and curator of Rome Neal’s twenty-three-year-old Banana Puddin’ Jazz series. As a Jazz vocalist, he has performed at The Metropolitan Room, The Museum of the City of New York, Lenox Lounge, Saint Nick’s Pub, Joe’s Pub, Minton’s Playhouse, Town Hall, Carnegie Hall, 966Jazz, The Nuyorican Poets Cafe, and The Jazz Spot. Lead vocalist for the Bill Lee Mo’ Better Quintet (Spike Lee’s father).
Recordings: A Brighter Crooner, DVDs All in the Puddin’ & Rome Neal’s Banana Puddin’ Jazz Jam… A Night to Remember.
Presents
Written & Directed by William Electric Black
February 19, 2026 – March 8, 2026
Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8:00 PM, Sunday at 3:00 PM
Tickets – $20, Students & Seniors $15
$12 GROUPS OF 10+ Code GROUP
Run time: 85 minutes, no intermission
CABARET THEATER
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
155 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003
Directions
GREASE MEETS TWILIGHT – in Emmy Award winning, Regional Tony Award winning… writer and director, William Electric Black’s bopping Drac-apella Musical – JOHNNY DOO WOP DRACULA. Former Sesame Street writer, William Electric Black aka Ian Ellis James, and an ensemble of 10 actors go back in time to 1955, Pittsburgh, PA where we meet a singing, swinging vampire named Johnny Dracula. He comes to Pennsylvania, because it sounds like Transylvania, to put a bite on the local teens. But not with his fangs. He’s a doo wop singing vampire who just arrived to make a name for himself in the music scene. A guy named Elvis is starting to stir things up but Johnny convinces Leon Leon, the owner of the local Soda Pop Shop to give him a chance to prove that he’s also got the sound to make the local teenager shake, rattle, and bop. And with the recent death of teen idol James Dean, Peggy Lombardi, along with the other broken hearted fans, could really use a new teen rebel. Golly gee, is Johnny the one she’s been dreaming about, the one to mend her broken heart? She may never find out because Brenda & The T-Tones, the local girl group, don’t take kindly to another singer in town, especially one who is a vampire. They decide to get rid of him with the help of the local bad kid, Eddie Iannotti. Will Peggy save Johnny? If so, will she let him suck her on their first date? Geez…you will just have to bop on down to see this FANGTASTIC, FANGTABULOUS immersive show with 11 Drac-a-pella doo wop songs that will have you clapping and snapping – while eating twinkies, rice pudding, popcorn – and sipping a coke or two. Get ready for Johnny Doo Wop Dracula – the TRANSYLVANIA KID – YEAH BOPPIN’ IS HIS BIZ, BOP-SHE-BOP -SHE-BOP, BOP-SHE-BOP -SHE-BOP-BOP-BOP!
CAST
William Electric Black
Sam Baum
Fernanda Becher
Chyna Jackson
Zoe Ray Prawda
Mizzie
Claire Houghton Renoe
Nick Schiro
Caitlin Snyder
Malikah Stafford
PRODUCTION
Light Design: Alexander Bartenieff
Set Design: Andrew LaPointe
Costumes: Susan Hemley
Stage Manager/Choreographer: Nicole Toshima
Assist Stg. Manager/Props Coord. Ella Greher
Light Board Op. – Ally Clare
Press/Soc. Media: Sofia Zucker – JohnnyDooWopDracula@gmail.com
W. Electric Black, who under his aka Ian Ellis James, co-wrote several songs as a writer for Sesame Street with over a million views on YouTube. These include: The Gospel Alphabet for Patti LaBelle Sesame Street: Patti Labelle Sings The Alphabet and The Letter “O” for Queen Latifah Sesame Street: Queen Latifah: The Letter O
William Electric Black, aka Ian Ellis James, is a seven-time Emmy Award winning writer for his work on “Sesame Street” between 1992 and 2002. La MaMa ETC Regional Tony Award – 2018. He also wrote for Nickelodeon’s “Allegra’s Window” and Lancit Media’s “Backyard Safari.”
In 2022-2023, his children’s television show “Rap-U-Cation” was optioned by FarView Entertainment. He also developed an original TV show for FarView called Dragon Clouds.
In a series of multimedia projects with Doug E. Fresh, Chuck D, and Artie Green, Mr. Black has campaigned for exercise and good nutrition for young children, prescription drug awareness and obesity prevention. He has also raised awareness re: saving kids from gun violence. https://news.wfu.edu/2025/03/28/wfu-center-for-literacy-education-initiates-community-conversations-about-gun-safety-and-young-children/
Mr. Black’s stage credits include: (2025) Can You Hear The Pigeons Writer/Director Theater For The New City https://www.theatrebeyondbroadway.com/reviews/can-you-hear-the-pigeons
(2024) Fly To Tomorrow – Additional Book Writer – Jooda Culture – South Korea USA Production (2024) Betty & The Belrays – Writer/Director – La MaMa ETC, NY, NY (2024) The Frankenstein Project – Writer/Director – Theater For The New City, NY, NY (2023) Romeo & Juliet: Tribal Rock Musical -Writer/Director, Theater For The New City, NY, NY
(2022) Romeo & Juliet: Tribal Rock Musical –Writer/Director La MaMa ETC
Executive Director, Crystal Field
Presents
A comedy
Written by Marc Paykuss
Directed and Developed by Roger Gonzalez at IndieArtz
Monday, March 9, 2026 at 7:00 PM
COMMUNITY SPACE
For Reservations, email to tncdreamup@gmail.com
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
155 First Avenue (between 9th & 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003
Directions
LIV and JON are a middle-aged couple who have just said good-bye to their beloved cat of nineteen years, SNOWBALL. But one night, a strange woman appears at their home, claiming she is the human reincarnation of Snowball and it’s too real to ignore!
CAST
LIV – Zoe Anastassiou
JON – Tony Del Bono
SNOWBALL – Emma Gonzalez
ZANDER – Nathan Cusson
LACEY – Stacey Petricha
MIKE – Peter Sullivan
MARGOT – Chelsea Clark
About Marc Paykuss
Marc Paykuss is an award-winning playwright from Los Angeles now residing in Pittsburgh. His first play, “The Tinker Bell Situation,” was one of the winners of The Bonita Springs 10-Minute Play Festival in 2020, In addition, it was produced via Zoom by the Nicely Theatre Group in Michigan for their inaugural season and received a staged reading by the Core Artist Ensemble at the Barrow Group Theatre in New York City. His first full-length play, “No Entry,” was one of the selected plays by the TRU Voices New Plays and Reading Series, and received a Zoom live reading in June, 2020. It was also a finalist for the 2023 Woodward/ Newman Drama award. His play, “Snowball,” was the November, 2023 selection for a staged reading by the Bennington Theater in Bennington, VT, and will be published by Next Stage Press in November, 2024. In 2022, Marc won first-prize in the Think Fast one act play competition at the Theater Project, Union, NJ.for his play “Home for Sale By Owner.” It was made into a short film entitled “Dear Owner,” an official selection at ten film festivals in the U.S. and two time winner of The Presenters Award. His play “Zadig” was a finalist for the FMM Fellowship for Works in Heightened Language from Synecdoche Works, 2022 (https:www.synecdocheworks.org).
About IndieArtz
IndieArtz is a creative development company founded by Roger Gonzalez that champions independent voices in theatre and film. Dedicated to nurturing new work for the stage, IndieArtz partners with international playwrights and creators to support the development, refinement, and strategic growth of their artistic projects. Through hands-on collaboration, professional marketing support, and fundraising guidance, IndieArtz helps bring compelling stories from early concept to production-ready form. With a belief in bold, meaningful theatre that connects with audiences and creators worldwide, IndieArtz aims to build a creative community and advance original voices in the performing arts. Roger is also the founder and publisher of TheatreArtz.com and can be reached by emailing him at RogerGonzalez@theatreArtz.com. Roger is a producer, director, actor, and theatre development consultant working with various theatre companies in the tri-state area, and dozens of self- producing playwrights, theatre festivals, and producers.
Presents
February 26, 2026 – March 15, 2026
Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8:00 PM, Sunday at 3:00 PM
Tickets – $20, Students & Seniors $15
Run time:
COMMUNITY SPACE
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
155 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003
Directions
Returning by Popular Demand following a sold-out run in 2025!
Drama Desk and Obie award winner MARILYN CHRIS is Nannie Doss AKA THE GIGGLING GRANNY, returning to TNC from February 26th through March 15th.
THE GIGGLING GRANNY is a true story about the most mesmerizing, innocent and likable serial killer (looking for true love) that you are ever going to meet! The show was written especially for Marilyn by PBS’ Theater in America writer Marsha Lee Sheiness, and is directed by Jim Semmelman.
MARILYN CHRIS is also know from her many years as WANDA WEBB WOLEK on television’s ONE LIFE TO LIVE.
Presents
A Rome Neal Banana Puddin’ Jazz Production
Monday, January 26, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Tickets: $20 General Admission
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
155 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003
Directions
Featuring
Leonieke Scheuble – Hammond Organ
Nick Scheuble – Drums
Bob Divos – Guitar
About the Artist
Leonieke Scheuble (born 2002) is a professional American jazz pianist and Hammond organist, widely recognized as one of the most gifted young artists of her generation. Often described as a prodigy, she began playing piano at the age of five and recorded her debut album, Debut, at just eleven years old with legendary engineer Rudy Van Gelder and Jimmy Cobb, drummer for Miles Davis.
Career Highlights
Mentorship: At age ten, jazz legend Dr. Lonnie Smith gifted Leonieke her first Hammond organ after hearing her play. She is now an official Hammond Artist.
Ensembles: She leads the acclaimed 3 Generations of Jazz Trio, featuring her father Nick Scheuble on drums and legendary bassist Bill Crow.
Accolades: Recipient of the New Jersey Governor’s Award for Exceptional Promise in Music and multiple International Women in Jazz Awards.
Recent Work: In 2025, Leonieke represented the United States at the Osaka World Expo in Japan, leading her band Leonieke and the NY Groove.
Sponsors
Stephen McKinley Henderson
Jazz Foundation of America
John D. Smith
Tracy Appleton
Dr. Audrey & Gerry Baker
Deborah Johnson
Sheryl Renee Productions
Dr. Mona V. Scott
Malaika M. Scott, MD
Black Repertory Group Berkeley
Commbs Brooklyn Printing
Black Theatre Project (Documentary)
(Complimentary Banana Puddin’)
Presents
February 5 – February 22, 2026
Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8:00 PM, Sunday at 3:00 PM
Tickets – $20, Students & Seniors $15
Run time: 1 hour 20 minutes
COMMUNITY SPACE
THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
155 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003
Directions
Meet Betty, the former beautiful dancer in the Hollywood musicals of the 1950s, who married Nicholas Ray, the famed director of Rebel Without a Cause, and had two daughters, Julie and Nicca. Fast forward to now. Julie and Nicca visit Betty on her birthday only to find their mother living in a world of her past, hallucinating that Nick and James Dean are visiting her. Meanwhile, Julie and Nicca come to terms with what it means to grow up in the shadow of fame and realize how it was Betty who kept their family together against all odds.
CAST
Penny Balfour*
Tom Martin*
Alexandra Laliberte
Mari Blake*
Michael John Gross
Roger Gonzalez
*Actors appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association without benefit of contract
PRODUCTION
Writer – Nicca Ray
Director – Joe John Battista
Stage Manager/Lighting – Mathew Seepersad
Costume Designer – Wendy Tonken