As reported earlier, the new, nonprofit theatre company, Riverside Stage Company (RSC), has opened and will produce its first show, Ampersand at the Chelsea Playhouse in NYC on Oct. 13.

The final schedule for the company's first season in New York was released Sept. 24.

Production spokesperson Susan L. Schulman told Playbill On-Line that the first show will be David Williams' Ampersand. Williams' play employs "offstage characters from existing, well-known plays." Ampersand runs Oct. 13-Nov. 7. The cast includes Stacey Leigh Ivey, seen in the Adobe Theatre Company’s Notions & Motions, Dawn Evans, Jefferson Arca, Danyel Roberts, Suzanne Levinson and Karen Vesper. Rehearsals for Ampersand began on Sept. 21.

The second show of the RSC season will be the New York Premiere of Watching My Hair Grow, which is written and performed by Broadway dancer Jeff Shade of Sweet Charity and Chicago fame. Watching My Hair Grow is described as‘a one-man show about dancing, depression, baseball, baton twirling, suicide and the shuffle ball-change, and runs Nov. 14-28 .

The third presentation of the RSC premiere season will be the world premiere of Carrin Beginning by W. August Schulenberg. The show runs Dec. 1-19. Set in an rural Irish bar in 1927, a group of misfit patrons meet "the last great bard of Ireland" and lives are changed forever. Principals at RSC include producer David Young and artistic director Brian Feehan. The company is described as a professional, nonprofit company dedicated to presenting new American plays.

The RSC was conceived in 1996. The group has produced and administered an annual award program, the Founders Award for Excellence in Playwriting. From its former base at the renovated Palace Theatre in Norwalk, CT, RSC also conducted a dozen readings. The Chelsea Playhouse is located at 125 West 22 Street in NYC. All seats are $32.50 For reservations call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200

-- By Murdoch McBride