Perhaps because of Tepper's experience (she's co-produced Bounce and A Raisin in the Sun), or the status of the playwrights involved, several of the SPF plays boast actors who wouldn't look out of place at Manhattan Theatre Club or Playwrights Horizons.
Among those featured are Jan Maxwell (Sixteen Wounded), Robert Stanton (All in the Timing), Billy Porter (Miss Siagon), Michael Countryman (Nine Armenians), Jessica Molaskey ( A Man of No Importance), Vanessa Aspillaga (Anna in the Tropics), Deidre O’Connell (In the Blood), Annabelle Gurwitch (Fired), Glenn Fitzgerald (Lobby Hero), David Deblinger (Where's My Money?) and Chris Duva (Experiment With an Air Pump).
The festival began July 5 at Theatre Row on West 42nd Street. All tickets are $10. They can be purchased through Telecharge.Com or at (212) 239-6200 or at the Theatre Row theaters box office at 410 W. 42nd St.
Each production plays one week only, at scattered times. Seating is general admission.
The play and their casts follow: Neena Beber, The Dew Point, with Annabelle Gurwitch, Shannon Burkett, Chris Duva, Bruce McCarty and Katy Silverstone
Brooke Berman, Sam & Lucy, with Michael Countryman, Deidre O’Connell, Merritt Wever, Dan Moran, Michael Alperin and Mireille Enos
John Bucchino, It’s Only Life, with Michael Arden, John Bolton, Andrea Bruns Jessica Molaskey and Billy Porter
Anton Dudley, Honor & The River, with Trevor Oswalt, Drew Cortese, Martin Kildare and Jan Maxwell
Liz Duffy Adams, Wet, with Coleman Domingo, Maureen Porter, Sarah Lord, Angel Desai, Richard Ziman, Sean Owens and Lee Aaron Rosen
Anne Garcia-Romero, Earthquake Chica, with Camillia Sanes and Paola Andino
Noah Haidle, Kitty Kitty Kitty, with Connor Barrett, Mia Barron, Michael Goldstrom, Chris Hogan, Kel O’Neill and Matthew Stadelmann:
Jordan Harrison, Kid Simple, with Noah Bean, Glynis Bell, Michael Cates, Michael Ray Escamilla, Carla Harting, Jennifer Ikeda and Jason Pugatch
Karen Hartman, Anatomy 1968, with Laura Heisler, Jared Gertner, Ben Wang, Justin Schultz and Angel Desai
Heather Lynn MacDonald, Pink (cast to be determined)
Rogelio Martinez, Arrivals & Departures, with Vanessa Aspillaga, Anthony Gillan and Oscar Isaac
Peter Sinn Nachtrieb , Colorado, and Emily Young, Rufus Tureen, Nancy Lee Russell and Rick Hickman
Phil Porter, Stealing Sweets and Punching People, with Haley Gross, Elliot Joseph, Julia Gibson and Robert Stanton
Octavio Solis, El Paso Blue, with Rene Millan, Sarah Jane Nelson, Rob Beitzle and Duane Zabyrna Guevarra
Elise Thoron & Jill Sobule, Prozak & The Platypus, with Karen DiConcetto, David Deblinger and Lynne McCollough
Kelly Stuart, Mayhem, with Samantha Soule, Jeannine Seralles, Mark H. Dold and Wesley Sid Williams
Gary Sunshine, Sweetness, with Lynn Cohen, Glenn Fitzgerald, Brooke Smith, Matthew Stadelmann and Brett Tabisel
Ken Weitzman, Spin Moves, with Laura Breckenridge, Mekila Spielman, Alex Kranmer, Garrett Neergard and Karen Goberman
Tepper is sole producer of the musicals and plays in five venues along the block between Ninth and Tenth Avenues. The festival will cover production costs of all the shows, making it a much cushier environment for artists than, say, the New York International Fringe Festival, in which participants pay a nonrefundable $500 fee and pay for all aspects of mounting the show, save renting a space.
