Songs of Love and Madness

Monday, June 29, 2026 at 7:00 PM

$5 Suggested Donation

For Reservations, email to tncdreamup@gmail.com

THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY
155 First Avenue (between 9th & 10th Street)
New York, NY 10003
Directions
THEATER

Songs of Love and Madness is a postmodern romantic comedy that consists of a duet, a love triangle, and a quartet, in which the romantic tropes popularized by contemporary love songs collide with delusions listed in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistics Manual of Mental Illnesses): Is love truly a madness to be desired. All three of the scenes/songs have been produced separately in play festivals, two receiving awards at those festivals.

CAST
Song #1: Could Forever Have Only Ever Meant
Husband: Noah Yager
Wife: Kaley Bender

Song #2: Just Like You
Patient: Isabel Lagana
Therapist: Dan Mauro
Fregoli: Noah Yager

Song #3: Blind For You
Prof. Aurora: Isabel Lagana
Man: Dan Mauro
Woman/Alice: Kaley Bender

Actor Websites:
Kaley Bender: https://www.kaleybender.com
Isabel Lagana: https://www.isabellagana.com
Dan Mauro: http://www.danieljmauro.com
Noah Yager: https://www.noahcyager.com

About the Crew
Mark Tjarks (Author/Composer) teaches scriptwriting, film, and literature at Hawaii Pacific University. His Buskers, the Musical, based on the real lives and performance of New York subway musicians) was presented by the Theater for the New City as part of a pre-COVID New Blood Reading series and Dream Up! Festival. He has had 5 plays staged in Manhattan, including The Unsalable Thing (winner of First Place in the William Faulkner Literary Competition Best Play Contest) and Houseless in Paradise (Po’okela Award winner for Best Overall Play and a Festival Best Bet at the NY International Fringe Fest—“one of the most powerful pieces of documentary theatre I’ve seen” – Ran Xia’s Theatre is Easy). Tjarks is also a recipient of three WIT Best Comedy Awards, Aloha Theatre’s Opie for Best Play, PlayBuilders’ judges and audience awards for Best Play, and Kumu Kahua Theatre’s Playwriting Resident Award. Overall, he has had 32 productions and staged readings of 15 plays.

Nick Hrutkay (Director) is an award-winning director based in Pittsburgh. He has spent ten seasons on the artistic staff at Stagedoor Manor where he is the Director of Education and Assistant Artistic Director. His work has been seen across the country at Theatre Row, The Kennedy Center, The Brick, Actors Temple Theatre, Axelrod Performing Arts Center, Bell Theater, Hippodrome Theatre, Central Square Theater, The Media Theatre, Cumberland Theatre, The Huron Playhouse, Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks, Alchemical Studios, Playwrights Local, Keystone Repertory Theater, Stagedoor Manor, Carnegie Mellon University, and Point Park University. Nick is the recipient of an ArtWorks Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region II / Stage Directors and Choreographers Society Fellowship, and a BroadwayWorld Award for Best Director of a Musical. nickhrutkay.com

Cecilia Bracey (Assistant Director) is a director based in NYC. She strives to facilitate stories that are, at their core, honest portrayals of the human experience. Recent NYC Directing Credits Include: UNCOMMON WOMEN AND OTHERS, -IN-CHIEF, DRY LAND, SORRY! WE’RE CLOSED! THE SQUIRREL WATCHERS, OUT/Play Regional: SIX by Timothy Mason, and WHAT I WANT TO SAY BUT NEVER WILL. She’s worked at Law and Order: SVU, as Broadway at Music Circus, Powerhouse Theater, and Roundabout Theatre Company and currently is the a producer for OUT/PLAY. Bachelor of Music from CUA. @cecilia_bracey