The Off-Off-Broadway company Expanded Arts, which gave us R&J and Shakespeare in the Parking Lot, will present on July 13 and 14, Charley's Place, a "play with music" by Mark-Leonard Simmons, Peter Yonka and Laurie Lefkowitz.
In the work, Charley Schwartz, unable to deal with the realities of everyday life, retreats into her apartment where fantasy and reality collide.
The play is written, conceived and directed by Simmons. Yonka composed the music, while Lefkowitz provided additional lyrics. The cast includes Heather Gillespie, who won a 1998 Obie Award for her performance in Mamba's Daughters. Also in the cast are Abigail Bailey, Dana Lyn Baron, Kate Guyton and Peter Yonka.
Charley's Place is presented as part of the Expanded Arts summer series, "94 Plays in 94 Days." The theatre is located at 85 Ludlow St. in Manhattan. For information, call (212) 253-1813.
-- By Robert Simonson