Join us for the first play of Project Y Theatre’s 2017 reading series: Queer Plays this on Sunday, February 12th at 7pm at the ART/NY Bruce Mitchell Room (520 8th Avenue, 3rd Floor).

ALEXANDRIA

by Vince Gatton

directed by Jordana Williams

Sunday February 12th at 7pm

ART/NY 520 8th Avenue, 3rd Floor, Bruce Mitchell Room

Free!

The reading will feature the acting talents of Tyrone Davis, Susan Ferrara, Matthew Freeman, Russell Jordan, and Jane Titus.

ABOUT THE PLAY:

In a small town library in the Deep South, the two librarians share an unlikely close friendship, despite being on opposite sides of the gay marriage debate and culture war. But when a young runaway, global events, and the Sweep of Human History come crashing through their front door, what will it take for that friendship to survive?

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT:

Vince Gatton is an New York-based actor and writer. He was recently nominated for a Desert Star award for his performance of Doug Wright’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 35-character solo play I Am My Own Wife at Coachella Valley Rep, which he previously performed at Barrington Stage Company and for Two Turns Theatre Company. He received a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Play in David Johnston’s Candy and Dorothy. Other notables: Cock at the Kitchen Theatre in Ithaca; Fully Committed at Barrington Stage; The Temperamentals at New World Stages, standing by for Michael Urie; Exquisite Potential for Project Rushmore; and The Americans and Johnston’s Busted Jesus Comix with Blue Coyote Theater Group. A founding board member of New York Shakespeare Exchange, he has appeared in NYSX’s Titus Andronicus, King John, The Sonnet Project, and many ShakesBEER Pub Crawls. His first full-length play, Wake, was a semifinalist for PlayPenn 2016; his short In The Whole History of Hi-Q was a finalist for the 2015 Short Playwriting Award at the City Theatre in Miami; and his short Jam won Best Play in the 2015 LIC Short Play Festival at the Secret Theatre. He once lived the trivia nerd’s dream by appearing on Jeopardy. (He didn’t win.) vincegatton.com

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR:

Jordana Williams (Director) Directing credits for Gideon Productions include Universal Robots at The Sheen Center, The Honeycomb Trilogy at The Gym at Judson (NY Times and Time Out NY Critics’ Picks, The Guardian’s “Top Ten New York Theatre of 2015”), Asymmetric at 59E59 (Time Out NY Critics’ Pick), Kill Shakespeare at HERE and NY Comic Con, Frankenstein Upstairs at the Secret Theatre (NY Magazine Approval Matrix: “Highbrow/Brilliant”), Ligatur e Marks at The Brick Theatre and Fringe Festival tour, Viral at SoHo Playhouse (FringeNYC Outstanding Production of a Play), Hail Satan at the Culture Project, The First Annual St. Ignatius Chanukah Pageant (Theatre Row), and three seasons with the Vampire Cowboys’ genre-bending Saturday Night Saloon. Numerous readings, developmental workshops, and such with Flux Theatre Ensemble, Ground UP Productions, Boomerang Theatre Company, The 24 Hour Plays, Retro Productions, The Brick, Wide Eyed Productions, and more. Member, Indie Theater Hall of Fame. Co-Artistic Director, Gideon Productions.

To RSVP on Facebook Click here!

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Project Y Theatre Company, in partnership with EAG’s Open Space Grant, will present “Landmarks & TRANSformations,” a new work of devised theatre created by an ensemble of LGBTQ artists, writers, performers, and activists, this February 18, 19, 23, 24, & 25, at the Episcopal Actors Guild, 1 East 29th Street, NYC.

“Landmarks & TRANSformations” puts the focus on individual LGBTQ lives in 2017 and creates –with the audience – new everyday queer rituals from the crazy concoction of tears, terror, laughter, and love that marks our era.

This devised ensemble piece will take your through a quilt-like narrative of the landmark moments in queer lives through interlacing stories, monologues, dances, and art pieces. Featured writers/performers include Bixby Elliot (Founder, Brooklyn Generator), Jordan Sebastian Bonner (emerging trans playwright), Christopher G. Ulloth (Seven Devils Playwrights Conference), Elena Chang (Associate Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Theatre Communications Group), Kathleen Warnock (Playwright and Editor, Best Lesbian Erotica), Kevin R. Free (Playwright, Actor, Artistic Director of The Obie Award-winning The Fire This Time Festival ), Philip Markle (“Baby Wants Candy,” Creator of the long-running Chicago and NYC hit, “Happy Karaoke Fun Time”), Jacob Perkins (Williamstown, current Ars Nova play group), Frank Wildermann (Actor and Yogi), Dan McCoy, Catya McCullen, Korde Arrington Tuttle (writer for CultureBot), Christina Pitter, Victor Cervantes, Jr., Alex Bender, Thomas Muccioli (Project Y’s “Connected”), David Caudle (“The Sunken Living Room” and Project Y’s “Downward Facing Debbie”) and more. There will be 18 total artists featured and the lineup will change nightly.

The production will be led and directed by Project Y’s Co-Founding Artistic Director, Michole Biancosino (“Connected” at 59E59 Theaters; co-creator and director of the hit show “David Carl’s Celebrity One-Man Hamlet“). The pieces will be tied together through the connective writing of Charlie O’Leary (Co-Founder Open Booth Theatre).

To RSVP on FB Click Here!

Buy your tickets Now! Early Bird Ticket buyers get discounted tickets.

Here is the full LineUp day by day:

Saturday, 2/18 at 7:30pm
Charlie O’Leary
Kevin R. Free
Christopher Ulloth
Kathleen Warnock
Bixby Elliot
Alex Bedder
Korde Arrington Tuttle
Philip Markle

Sunday, 2/19 at 5:30pm
Charlie O’Leary
Frank Wildermann
Thomas Muccioli
David Caudle
Kathleen Warnock
Cristina Pitter
Alex Bedder
Korde Arrington Tuttle
Christopher Ulloth

Thursday, 2/23 at 7:30pm
Charlie O’Leary
Victor Cervantes Jr.
Kevin R. Free
Christopher Ulloth
Elena Chang
Kathleen Warnock
Daniel McCoy
Cristina Pitter
Thomas Muccioli
Jacob Perkins

Friday, 2/24 at 7:30pm
Charlie O’Leary
Bixby Elliot
Jordan Sebastian Bonner
Christopher Ulloth
Elena Chang
David Caudle
Daniel McCoy
Jacob Perkins

Saturday, 2/25 at 7:30pm
Charlie O’Leary
Victor Cervantes Jr.
Kevin R. Free
Christopher Ulloth
Cristina Pitter
Frank Wildermann
Philip Markle
Jordan Sebastian Bonner
Thomas Muccioli

This programming is supported by NYSCA, DCA, ART/NY Creative Space Fund, and the Inaugural EAG Open Space Grant.

About the Episcopal Actors’ Guild:

The mission of the Episcopal Actors’ Guild is to provide emergency aid and support to professional performers of all faiths who are undergoing financial crisis. We are also dedicated to helping emerging artists advance their careers through scholarships, awards, and performance opportunities.

The Company:

Bixby Elliot

Kevin R. Free

Jacob Perkins

Kathleen Warnock

Charlie O’Leary

Korde Arrington Tuttle

Christopher Ulloth

Cristina Pitter

Philip Markle

Victor Cervantes Jr.

David Caudle

Elena Chang

Thomas Muccioli

Alex Bedder

Daniel McCoy

Jordan Sebastian Bonner

Frank Wildermann

David Darrow (on floor) and Trent Dawson in The Revival

At the age of 16, I was lucky enough to see the original production of Angels in Americaon Broadway starring Stephen Spinella, Marcia Gay Harden, and Jeffrey Wright, among others. At the time, I had no idea what I was about to see. I was enrolled in a college level musical theater program at NYU (or what seems more like camp looking back) for ambitious young theater geeks. After a day full of singing and dancing our little butts off in the hot studios at 440 Lafayette, we got to see some amazing plays and performances in the evening of all genres.

That night I was blown away by the performance. Never had I seen gay characters explored with such depth and nuance. It was an eye opening experience for me, one that would shape my work as an artist in years to come. (Recently, I was excited to hear about its return to the stage at the Signature Theatre Company.) Before that, the only gay characters that I recognized in the media were Jim J Bullock from Too Close for Comfort or John Ritter from Three’s Company. One was closeted and the other was faking it. Boy have times changed!

It’s been exciting to witness how gay characters in theater, and in film and television have evolved. I’ve seen more and more playwrights and directors experiment with subtlety and complex issues with gay characters. On the flip side, it’s also been fun to watch entertaining romantic comedies like Trick or even Another Gay Movie, that quite simply, are pure eye candy and explore a mood or emotion. I love the diversity here.

Another shift in consciousness over the past ten years or so has been the development of the LGBTQ theater community. It’s wonderful to see how the community has grown and united to create organizations to tackle health issues, marriage equality, and human rights all over the world.

Why else is this important? I think whenever you bring people together, questions get asked and people start talking. In turn, silence is broken. Audre Lorde, writer, poet and activist, once wrote:

“What are the words you do not yet have? What do you need to say? For it is not difference which immobilizes us, but silence and there are so many silences to be broken.”

I can’t think of a better non-threatening way to do this then through the structure of a play. I’ve been excited to work with Project Y to help promote their current production of The Revival and to help coordinate their LGBTQ evening performance (Thursday, Sept 16th 8pm) and matinee performance (Sept 19th 3pm). Tickets for the Thursday performance can be purchased for $15 when you use promo code: LGBT and when you visit www.broadwayoffers.com.

If you’ve watched some of our videos about the show, you’ll notice that no one describes it solely as a gay play. Yes, there are gay characters but underneath it all is a story about inner conflict, desire, and the role of religion in our lives (at least in my opinion). Something that anyone can relate to.

I hope that you will join us for these performances. If you like what you see, I encourage you to go to the New York Innovative Theatre Awards website and vote for our production to bring the attention of our efforts to the larger New York theater community.

See you at The Revival!