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NY Midtown International Theatre
Festival presents Emerson Theatre Collaborative’s World Premiere of Jacques
Lamarre’s Gray Matters
June 10, 2010, New York, NY…Emerson
Theatre Collaborative (ETC) announced today the world premiere of Jacques
Lamarre’s Gray Matters, which will be produced in association
with the New York Midtown International Theatre Festival. A topical
new comedy that focuses on what happens to an uninsured, unemployed actor
when she loses her memory, Gray Matters runs July 17 - July
31 at the Main Stage Theater, 312 West 36th Street (4th
Floor) in New York City. This Equity Showcase production will debut under
the direction of MITF veteran director Joshua Lee Ramos and will
feature Jen Anaya, Kathryn Kates, Steve Sherman and April Woodall.
Performance information and tickets for Gray Matters, which
will be produced by ETC’s Camilla Ross, can be obtained by visiting
MidtownFestival.org. Tickets are $18 ($15 for students and
seniors).
In Gray Matters, we
find acclaimed actress Sarah Gray in a predicament familiar to many Americans.
After an emergency hospitalization, she finds herself with no insurance,
no job and no prospects. Worse, she has a faulty memory. Surrounded
by a well-meaning but tough agent and two self-centered young upstarts,
Sarah must discover if it is possible for an actor with an Etch-a-Sketch
for a brain to get back to what matters.
Gray Matters is written
by Connecticut playwright Jacques Lamarre and was selected as one of the
thirty plays for inclusion in the 11th Annual Midtown International
Theatre Festival. Jacques is the Director of Communications for The Mark
Twain House & Museum in Hartford, CT. His professional experience
includes stints at Hartford Stage, Yale Repertory Theatre/Yale School of
Drama and TheaterWorks Hartford. He has co-written seven shows for
international drag star Varla Jean Merman including The Loose Chanteuse,
currently running at the Art Theatre in Provincetown, MA. His short
play Stool was selected for the inaugural New Works New Britain
and was a top ten finalist for the 2009 NY 15 Minute Play Festival.
He has written two children’s plays that were produced by the American
Stage Festival.
Emerson Theater Collaborative’s
mission is to serve youth, under-represented communities and artists with
an emphasis on diversity, by producing innovative and exhilarating theater
in Southeastern Connecticut. ETC explores timely themes and issues through
new, original works and modern theatrical classics. The company develops
and nurtures both emerging and professional artists, and collaborate with
the Emerson College network of alumni and students. ETC’s goals include
reaching inner city youth through educational theatrical programming and
to support local communities by providing free admission to low-income
families and donating profits to humanitarian causes. For more information,
visit EmersonTheaterCollaborative.org.
Joshua Lee Ramos (Director)
is a native of Hartford, CT and a graduate of University of Hartford where
he received a BA in Drama and Film. In 2008 he made his professional
theatre directorial debut with Princebury Productions directing A. R. Gurney's
Love Letters. Joshua brought the revival of Maria Irene Fornes'
The Conduct of Life to Off-Broadway’s June Havoc Theatre as part
of the Midtown International Theatre Festival in summer of 2008 serving
as director, lighting designer and sound designer. Additional regional
professional credits include working as a director for New Works New Britain
Theatre Festival, as well as having been a lighting designer for CONNetic
Dance in Hartford and for their regional tour. In 2010, he directed Cinderella
Eats Rice and Beans: A Salsa Fairy Tale for the Hartford Children's
Theatre. For Emerson Theater Collaborative, he directed Spinning Into
Butter and Hate Mail, as well as serving as Assistant Director
for the premiere of Chestina Vanessa Poulson and Stage Manager for
Harriet2. For more information, visit joshualeeramos.webs.com
THE CAST:
April Woodall (Sarah
Gray) was seen most recently at the Theatre for a New City in A
Promise Best Kept. Her other credits include: Nunsense (The
Devon); The Last Night of Ballyhoo (Montgomery Theater); La
Cage aux Folles (Gateway Playhouse); Little Women, Arsenic and Old
Lace, Into the Woods (Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre); Smoke
on the Mountain (Hedgerow Theatre); I Married Wyatt Earp, Mrs.
Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge (Bristol Riverside Theatre); Fiddler
on the Roof, Godspell (Keswick Theatre); Thoroughly Modern Millie,
Showboat, and The Wizard of OZ (Media Theatre). April
can be seen on an upcoming episode of the Biography Channel’s Celebrity
Ghost Stories.
Steve Sherman (Scott
Leeds) is a member of ETC since it's inception in 2008. Previous
ETC roles include Father Flynn in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Doubt,
Picasso in Steve Martin's Picasso At The Lapin Agile, and Ross Collins
in Rebecca Gilman's Spinning Into Butter. Off-Broadway credits
include Claymont (Emerging Artists Theatre) and Tony 'N
Tina's Wedding (Corcoran Productions). Tour credits include The
Who's Tommy (Dodger) and Aladdin (AFT). Steve has been seen
regionally in Bye Bye Birdie and Little Shop Of Horrors
(The St. Louis Muny). He has appeared in the independent feature
films Dawg's Eye View, Morning Glory, and You Fit The Description.
Jen Anaya (Deja Smith)
returns to the Midtown International Theatre Festival after winning Best Supporting
Actress in a Musical for her turn as Princess Aleysha in Eighty-1
at the 2008 MITF. Jen has been seen on the New York
stage bringing new roles to life in musicals including Angels
and No Volvere. Favorite roles include Frida age
25 in the debut of Casa Blue: The Last Moments in The Life of Frida
Kahlo, and Maria in West Side Story. She received a BM from
Arizona State University and can be seen in the new web series, “How To
Make It To 30” (
howtomakeitto30.blip.tv
).
Kathryn Kates (Miriam)
has recently returned to New York after spending over 25 years in
Los Angeles where she was a Founding Member (and producer, actor and co-general
manager) of the award winning Colony Theatre. She has many stage, television
and film credits but is probably best known for her recurring role on Seinfeld
as The Babka Lady. Since relocating to New York, she has appeared
in over 15 plays. Kathryn is a member of Rising Phoenix Rep.
World premiere performances of
Gray Matters are scheduled July 17th at 2:00 PM;
July 18th and 19th at 6:00 PM; July 24th and 28th
at 8:00 PM; and July 31st at 4:00 PM.
The Midtown International Theatre
Festival’s 2010 Season runs from July 12 – August 1, 2010
at the Beckett Theatre, Theatre Row, 410 W. 42nd Street, NYC; the June
Havoc Theatre, 312 W. 36th Street, 1st floor; the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre,
312 W. 36th Street, 1st floor; the Main Stage Theater, 312 W. 36th Street,
4th floor; and the Jewel Box Theater, 312 W. 36th Street, 4th floor.
Tickets are $18 ($15 for Short Subjects). Tickets for shows at the
June Havoc Theatre, the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre, the Main Stage Theater,
and the Jewel Box Theater are available at http://www.midtownfestival.org
or by phone at 866-811-4111. Tickets for shows at the Beckett
Theatre, Theatre Row are available at http://www.ticketcentral.com
or by phone at 212-279-4200.
The Midtown International Theatre
Festival, now in its eleventh year, celebrates the diversity of theatre.
The MITF welcomes theatrical storytelling across a broad spectrum of genres,
forms, identities, cultures, and appetites. The MITF seeks to nurture
these new ideas, perspectives, and stories on its stages, with
an eye set on guiding these productions toward future success and longevity.
The festival, traditionally held in summer, represents a fantastic,
often paradoxical, adventurous and intriguing cross-section of the
forefront of the theatre world. The MITF proudly hosts production
companies from across the country and around the globe, uniting talent
in one of the biggest theatre capitals in the world.
Mr. Chatterton created the MITF,
a Midtown alternative to other theatre festivals, in 2000 as a way to present
the finest off-off Broadway talent in convenience, comfort, and safety.
In 2008, the Festival added two 99-seat theatres and inaugurated the Commercial
Division for upwardly mobile shows with commercial ambitions. The
MITF’s artistic emphasis is on the script itself and therefore the Festival
requests minimal production values.
For more information, visit
http://www.midtownfestival.org
.
Key Dates and Information
What: Emerson Theatre Collaborative’s
production of Gray Matters In association with the Midtown International
Theater Festival
When: July 17th
at 2:00 PM, July 18th & 19th at 6:00 PM, July
24th & 28th at 8:00 PM and July 31st at 4:00
PM.
Where: Main Stage Theater,
312 W. 36th Street Fourth Floor
How: Tickets are $18 ($15
for students and seniors) and can be obtained online at http://www.midtownfestival.org
Additional information is available
at http://www.EmersonTheatreCollaborative.org
or by calling (860)705-9711
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