The season will run June 20-Aug. 3, and begin with a couple world premieres by unknown dramatists Zach Helm and Ben Snyder. Helm, an L.A. writer, penned Last Chance for a Slow Dance, which will play June 28-July 12 on the Main Stage. The work takes place at Red's restaurant, a remote place where nonetheless a lot seems to be happening, much to the chagrin of Sheriff Cole.
Snyder, meanwhile, wrote In Case You Forget, which plays July 16-27 on the Main Stage, and is directed by Max Mayer. The show is about a young graffiti artist on his way to prison and is described as having a "hip hop edge." Sound youthful? Well, Snyder, a LAByrinth Theatre Company member, is all of 23 years old.
The Second Stage, where plays receive weekend-long runs, will feature four works: The Crazy Girl (June 27-29) by Frank Pugliese, featuring Jill Clayburgh and her daughter Lili Rabe along with Chris Messina; Good Life (July 5-6) by John Corwin; Exposed (July 18-20) by Beth Henley; The New Americans (Aug. 1-3) by Cindy Lou Johnson, directed by Sheryl Kaller.
As usual, there will also be two reading series, each boasting five new scripts. They are:
Readings Festival #1 (June 20-22):
The Quick by Tanya Barfield, directed by Leigh Silverman
Musical selections by David Cale
Nature of Our Collaboration by Rick Elice, directed by Roger Rees
The Planet on 158 Street by Clark Perry (mentored by Edwin Sanchez)
A fifth play to be announced Readings Festival #2 (July 25-27):
Except My Life by Nicole Burdette, directed by Gregory Mosher
This Ball of Mud and Fire by Anton Dudley, directed by Erica Schmidt
The Argument by Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros, directed by Theresa Rebeck
Pen by David Marshall Grant
Sweetness by Gary Sunshine, directed by Trip Cullman
The 18-year-old New York Stage & Film has incubated a high number of plays which have gone on to production in New York and elsewhere. Of 2002's crop, Jeffrey Hatcher and Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie transferred to an Off-Broadway run; Diosa by Edwin Sanchez is currently as Hartford Stage; and A Perfect Dinner Party by Alexandra Gersten and Theresa Rebeck, subsequently called Omnium Gatherum, ran at the Actors' Theatre of Louisville and is headed for Off-Broadway this fall. Past successes include Mr. Goldwyn with Alan King, Tom Donaghy's Boys and Girls and Jessica Goldberg's Good Thing.
Tickets may be purchased beginning June 3 by calling (845) 437-7235, or by visiting the Box Office at Vassar College in person. Consult the website at www.newyorkstageandfilm.org or the Powerhouse website at www.vassar.edu/powerhouse.
