Lia Chang
The Midtown International Theatre Festival is presenting the world premiere of Correction, a new play by Jane Beale & Ronnie Cohen that begs the question: Are we really who we say we are? Performances are at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre, 312 W. 36th Street, 1st fl. in New York, Monday, July 30 at 7:30 p.m.; Wednesday, August 1 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, August 3 at 6 p.m. Tickets are $17 and can be purchased online at www.midtownfestival.org or by calling 1-866-811-4111.
Synopsis:
The New York Times announces that — in a lavish ceremony attended by New York’s Who’s Who, Sheldon, a wealthy philanthropist, marries Jennifer, a successful Park Avenue psychiatrist from a well-bred family and the finest schools. There’s only one problem….Jennifer isn’t any of those things. Inspired by actual events, this dark comedy explores the cult of fame and lengths one woman will go for it.
Filmmaker Richard Atkinson collaborated with Ronnie Cohen and Jane Beale to adapt their play Dogs Lie, into the screenplay for the film starring Samrat Chakrabarti, Frank Boyd and Ewa Da Cruz. The film has garnered numerous awards including an Honorable Mention at the Los Angeles Movie Awards; Best Film USA Award at ITN Distribution Film and New Media Festival, NYC; Audience Award for a Feature Film at the ITN Distribution Film Festival NYC.
JANE BEALE (co-playwright) Jane’s interest in the theater started early, back in her hometown in Ohio, but her writing career began over lunch with long-time friend, Ronnie Cohen. They were moved to write their first play ever based on an incredible item in the NY Times: a new bride was “outted” for lying about her credentials in a splashy wedding announcement. That collaboration became Correction, which had a reading way off-Broadway in 2004. The success of Correction led Jane and Ronnie to write the musical The Street, which won some festival awards and was later produced, off-Broadway. The inspiration for Back Bay Nights was a scary, funny, ultimately successful night Jane spent at a New York sleep clinic. She was there to deal with a marriage-bending snoring problem. She left exhausted, with gummy fixative in her hair and funny stories for her writing partner Ronnie. While Jane was still recovering from the experience, Ronnie had gone into plot and character overdrive. This story was too good not to exploit. So the one-act play, Dogs Lie, was conceived. It was a big hit at the Midtown International Theater Festival, won some awards and was granted 6 additional productions. Jane’s husband missed a performance to attend a Leed’s University alumni gathering, and there met Richard Atkinson of Top Movie films. The rest, as they say, was history and Richard executive-produced and directed the film version of Dogs Lie. There are several other projects on the table for Jane and Ronnie, and they look forward to continued collaboration.
RONNIE COHEN (co-playwright) Ronnie and her co-writer Jane Beale have been friends for over two decades. They first met in Boston where they were working for the same crazy ad agency and living around the corner from one another in Back Bay. They started writing together in 2004. Their first comedy, Correction, about a fancy Park Avenue couple who lie about everything, became a Finalist in the Siena College International Playwright’s competition in 2005. The screenplay version of Correction was recently selected as a finalist in the Beverly Hill Film Festival, 2012. Their next comedy, Getting Into Harvard (Country Day), morphed into the musical, The Street, which Ronnie wrote and produced in 2007. The Street is about two women who take on the big guns of Wall Street. It won 6 “best of” nominations including best musical and best lyrics/score, which Ronnie had also written, from the MITF. Following, Ronnie & Jane wrote a short one-act play, Dogs Lie, which had its first showing July 2009 followed by a longer repertory run in November. It was then picked up by Richard Atkinson for Top Movie and Ronnie & Jane found themselves writing the screenplay for Dogs Lie. Dogs Lie made its way through several film festivals including LA Femme, Filmi in Toronto, The Big Apple, ITN and others winning several awards including BEST FILM USA (!) It has been released into distribution by Vanguard and available from Amazon.com. Currently, Ronnie and Jane are working on Witnessed By The World, a thriller about Jack Ruby and a team of screenwriters who get caught up in his story. In their spare time, they write tv comedies, such as, “Back Bay Nights”, which they recently pitched in Los Angeles.
Other Articles by Lia Chang
Party Photos: Richard Atkinson’s DOGS LIE, Starring Samrat Chakrabarti, Frank Boyd and Ewa Da Cruz
DOGS LIE, Starring Samrat Chakrabarti, Frank Boyd and Ewa Da Cruz, Nabs ”Best Film (USA)” and ”Feature Film Audience Award” at 2011 ITN Distribution Film and New Media Festival
Samrat Chakrabarti in Ajay Naidu’s Ashes, Italo Spinelli’s Gangor and Shome Banerjee’s Hotel New York 2012 at Washington D.C. South Asian Film Festival (DCSAFF 2012)
Daniel Hsia’s Shanghai Calling, Simon Yin’s Supercapitalist & Michael Kang’s Knots to Screen at 35th annual Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF) in New York, which runs July 25 – August 5, 2012
35th Asian American International Film Festival Line-up in New York
Janet Yang to receive 2012 Asian American Media Award at AAIFF’12 Opening Night Presentation of Shanghai Calling on July 25, 2012
NYMF: Prison Dancer starring Jose Llana, Jeigh Madjus, Marc delaCruz, Catherine Ricafort, Moses Villarama, Cosmo Clemens, Enrico Rodriguez, Albert Guerzon, Andrew Eisenman and Nathan Ramos at Theatre at St. Clement’s, July 20-28, 2012
Three Year Swim Club, Encounter, TEA, Christmas in Hanoi and Chess set for East West Players 47th Anniversary Season
Photos: All-Access Pass to Disney’s Aladdin at The Muny with Thom Sesma, Francis Jue, Robin De Jesus, John Tartaglia, Jason Graae, Curtis Holbrook, Eddie Korbich, Samantha Massell and Ken Page
Rick Shiomi helms Mu Performing Arts’ Asian American Cast of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods at Park Square Theatre in St. Paul, July 17-August 5, 2012
Performing Arts Images from the Asian American Pacific Islander Collection on Display at the Library of Congress to Celebrate APA Heritage Month
Photos: Yellow Fever Playwright Rick Shiomi Explores New Territory with An All-Female Cast
Photos: BD Wong, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Brandon Victor Dixon, Tom Viola at “Passing It On: An Evening of Mentorship to Benefit Rosie’s Theater Kids”
Photos: Highlights of Shinsai: Theaters for Japan (3pm) with Andre Bishop, Mary Beth Hurt, Jennifer Lim, Angela Lin, Philip Kan Gotanda, Thom Sesma, Sab Shimono, Richard Thomas, Jay O. Sanders, and more
Photos: Highlights of Shinsai: Theaters for Japan (8pm) with Oskar Eustis, Patti LuPone, Lisa Emery, Ann Harada, Paolo Montalban, Thom Sesma, Sab Shimono, Henry Stram, Richard Thomas, John Weidman and more
Photos: In Rehearsal with Director Bartlett Sher and the cast of Shinsai: Theaters for Japan
David Henry Hwang Set as Signature Theatre’s Residency One Playwright for the 2012-2013 Season
Photos: In Rehearsal with BD Wong at Dixon Place for Live Concert Recording of Herringbone
Photos: David Henry Hwang, Oskar Eustis, BD Wong, Brian d’Arcy James, Francis Jue, Jennifer Lim and Leigh Silverman at WNYC’s The Greene Space
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.
Lia Chang is an actor, a performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist.
All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2012 Lia Chang Multimedia. All rights reserved. All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Lia Chang. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. For permission, please contact Lia at liachangpr@gmail.com
