Lia Chang Photos: Working Theater’s World Premiere of Ed Cardona, Jr.’s La Ruta through May 12, 2013

Ed Cardona, Jr.’s La Ruta is being performed in a truck. Photo by Lia Chang

Working Theater, the 28-year-old Off-Broadway company, in collaboration with Magnum Foundation, an organization dedicated to preserving the Magnum Photos legacy and supporting photography around social justice issues, have joined forces to present Ed Cardona, Jr.’s LA RUTA, a world premiere immigration-themed play that is being staged inside the trailer and cab of an actual 48’ truck.

Brian D Coats and Sheila Tapia in La Ruta. Photo by Lia Chang

An accompanying photographic installation about the immigrant experience will also be presented. This unique collaboration will shed a deeper light on one of today’s hot-button issues – immigration reform. La Ruta, which began previews on April 10, 2013, will continue through May 12, 2013. Helmed by Tamilla Woodard, the play is being performed in various communities throughout New York City in order to directly realize Working Theater’s mission to bring theater to working people.

The Magnum Foundation exhibition. Photo by Lia Chang

LA RUTA, an immersive theatrical experience, follows the crossing of several undocumented immigrants into the U.S. to make a better life for themselves and their family. Audiences experience the journey alongside the characters, surrounded by the harsh reality of their environment and the poignant narrative unfolding within.

Annie Henk, Zoë Sophia Garcia, Gerardo Rodriguez and Bobby Plasencia. Photo by Lia Chang

Magnum Foundation has organized a photo-based installation–featuring both award-winning Magnum photographers and emerging documentary photographers–outside of the truck that will focus audiences on the experiences of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. Images from the renowned Magnum Photos archive will also be projected within the performance to illuminate the interior worlds of the characters.

Gerardo Rodriguez and Zoë Sophia Garcia. Photo by Lia Chang

“Through LA RUTA, we, at Working Theater, in partnership with Magnum Foundation, hope to raise awareness about the plight of undocumented immigrants,” said Working Theater’s Producing Artistic Director Mark Plesent. “Our goal is to challenge our diverse communities to consider the experience of this large, yet too often misrepresented immigrant constituency.” The cast features Brian D. Coats (MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA, Public Theater), Zoë Sophia Garcia (THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY, Actors Theatre of Louisville), Annie Henk (THE PLAY ABOUT DAD, 59E59), Sheila Tapia (CQ/CX, Atlantic Theater Company), Bobby Plasencia (VESUVIUS, South Coast Repertory), Gerardo Rodriguez and Jacob Alden Roa.

Annie Henk, Bobby Plasencia, Gerardo Rodriguez and Zoë Sophia Garcia. Photo by Lia Chang

The production team includes Raul Abrego (scenic design), Emily DeAngelis (costume design), Lucrecia Briceño (lighting design), Dave Tennent, IMA & Kate Freer, IMA (projection design), Sam Kusnetz (sound design), and Production Core (Production Supervision)The production stage manager is Michael Aaron Jones and the assistant stage manager is Sarah Levine.

Zoë Sophia Garcia. Photo by Lia Chang

Community partner venues include, the Bronx United Federation of Teachers (Bronx), St. John the Divine (Manhattan), International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (Queens) and the Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden (Staten Island).

Annie Henk, Zoë Sophia Garcia, Shelia Tapia, Gerardo Rodriguez and Bobby Plasencia. Photo by Lia Chang

The performance schedule is April 10th through May 12th, Wednesday through Saturday at 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm and Sunday at 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm. Additional performances in Manhattan on Tuesdays at 6:30 and 8:30.

Annie Henk, Zoë Sophia Garcia and Gerardo Rodriguez. Photo by Lia Chang

Tickets are $25 (General Admission) and $23 (Students/Seniors/Union Members) and may be purchased in advance at www.brownpapertickets.com or by calling 800-838-3006. For group rates, contact info@theworkingtheater.org. Due to mature content, patrons under the age of 13 will not be admitted. Latecomers will not be admitted. The running time is 70 minutes without intermission.

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WORKING THEATER (Producer). Now in its 28th season, Working Theater is New York’s only professional Off-Broadway theatre company dedicated to producing plays for and about the working men and women of New York. Past productions include Lisa Ramirez’s play about nannies, EXIT CUCKOO directed by Colman Domingo; Roberto Aguirre Sacasa’s KING OF SHADOWS; PORT AUTHORITY THROW DOWN; HOLD PLEASE; ABUNDANCE; RECONSTRUCTION; Israel Horovitz’s HENRY LUMPER, Rob Ackerman’s TABLE TOP; Stefanie Zadravec’s HONEY BROWN EYES and many others. For more information, visit www.theworkingtheater.org.

MAGNUM FOUNDATION (Collaborator) The Magnum Foundation champions in-depth, independent documentary photography that fosters empathy, engagement, and positive social change. The Magnum Foundation supports, trains, and mentors the next generation of photographers and seeks to increase the exposure of both historical and contemporary documentary photography in the digital age. An independent public charity, the Magnum Foundation carries forward the core values held dear by Magnum photographers and sustains the practice of high-quality documentary photography. For more information, visit http://magnumfoundation.org/.

Ed Cardona, Jr. Photo by Lia Chang

ED CARDONA, JR. (Playwright). Ed’s play AMERICAN JORNALERO received its world premiere at INTAR Theatre in the spring of 2012; the play was also selected as a finalist by the 2011 Metlife Nuestras Voces National Playwriting Competition. Ed is also currently a member of Theater 167’s theatrical ensemble which is developing its next project JH3am, a collaborative work based on Jackson Heights, Queens, N.Y.C. after 3:00 am. An Artistic Associate for the Working Theater’s 25th Anniversary Season, he adapted PABLO’S CHRISTMAS (commissioned and published by Dramatic Publishing, 2009) from the children’s book by Hugo C. Martin. Ed has also been a resident playwright with the Hispanic Playwrights-in-Residence Lab at INTAR Theatre, The Professional Playwrights Unit at the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre and the Hall Farm Center for the Arts & Education in Townsend, VT. He is a founding member of NY Madness. Ed received his M.F.A. in playwriting from Columbia University where he received the John Golden Award for his thesis play, PICK UP POTS! Multimedia: Photos of Ed Cardona, Jr.’s American Jornalero at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre

TAMILLA WOODARD (Director) is a director, actor and adapter residing in New York City. She is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama, an alumnus of The Lincoln Center Directors Lab, and a founding member of The Internationalists, a collective of directors from around the world creating an interactive global theatrical community. Most recent work includes co-creator of the site specific performance HOTEL PROJECT, that had its American premiere at Washington Jefferson Hotel and the Summit Grand Hotel in January 2012; VALIANT by Lanna Joffrey (InterAct Theatre); NIGHTLANDS by Sylvan Oswald (New Georges) and the development and direction of Saviana Stanescu’s POLANSKI POLANSKI (starring Grant Neale and produced by Nomad Theatricals at PS122/ SoloNOVA festival in New York City, Teatrul Odeon in Bucharest, The Sibiu International Theatre Festival, TIFF International Festival in Cluj and HERE in NYC). New Dramatists honored her with The Charles Bowden Award and the League of Professional Theatre Women with the Josephine Abady Award. She serves as an adjunct professor teaching solo performance at City College’s Center for Worker Education. More about Tamilla at www.Tamilla.com

REMAINING DATES & LOCATIONS FOR LA RUTA
Tuesday, April 16 thru Sunday, April 28 The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine 1047 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10025 For tickets: http://larutamanhattan.bpt.me
Wednesday, May 1 thru Sunday, May 5 IBEW Local 3 Headquarters 158-11 Harry Van Arsdale Jr. Avenue, Flushing, NY 11365 For tickets: http://larutaqueens.bpt.me
Wednesday, May 8 thru Sunday, May 12 Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden 1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10301 For tickets: http://larutastatenisland.bpt.me

Articles on La Ruta:
Villagevoice.com: La Ruta: Rough Crossing
Nydailynews.com: ‘Semi’ tough drama: Immigration play staged inside a truck
Nbclatino.com: La Ruta
This Week in NY: la Ruta
Huffington Post: ‘La Ruta’ From Working Theater Immerses Audiences In The Border Crossing Experience

Other articles on Working Theater:
Working Theater in Collaboration with Magnum Foundation Present World Premiere of Ed Cardona, Jr.’s La Ruta, April 10 – May 12, 2013
Working Theater presents The Best of TheaterWorks!: Stories from the 99%, at The Dorothy Strelsin Theatre at the Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex
Working Theater presents The Poetry of Philip Levine with Jeffrey Eugenides, André De Shields, Gene Gillette and Lisa Ramirez on May 7
Photos: Working Theater’s Production of Rob Ackerman’s CALL ME WALDO at Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex
Papermag.com: An Emerson-Loving Electrician Takes the Stage in Call Me Waldo
1199SEIU President George Gresham to receive Labor Leadership Award at 2011 Working Theater Annual Awards Ceremony
André De Shields & Alison Fraser Star in Reading of Michael Aman’s The Unbleached American at Theater Row on 5/9
Working Theater Presents Staged Reading of Chay Yew’s Visible Cities at The Studio Theatre on Theatre Row
Photos:The Working Theater’s Off-Broadway production of HONEY BROWN EYES by Stefanie Zadravec at The Clurman
Lia Chang Photo Slideshows of Productions in the Working Theater’s 25th Anniversary Season
Multimedia: Photos of Ed Cardona, Jr.’s American Jornalero at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre
Photos of André De Shields in Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory: From Douglass to Deliverance
Achieving the American Dream, Professional Charmer Andre De Shields Sees Theater is a Way to Life
André De Shields Celebrates Black History Month Starring in The Working Theater’s Production of Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory at The Abingdon in February 2010
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Lia Chang

Lia Chang is an actor, a performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist.

Working Theater in Collaboration with Magnum Foundation Present World Premiere of Ed Cardona, Jr.’s La Ruta, April 10 – May 12, 2013

Working Theater, the 28-year-old Off-Broadway company, in collaboration with Magnum Foundation, an organization dedicated to preserving the Magnum Photos legacy and supporting photography around social justice issues, have joined forces to present Ed Cardona, Jr.’s LA RUTA, a world premiere immigration-themed play that will be staged inside the trailer and cab of an actual 48’ truck. An accompanying photographic installation about the immigrant experience will also be presented. This unique collaboration will shed a deeper light on one of today’s hot-button issues – immigration reform. Previews begin April 10, 2013 with an official press opening on April 18th. Tamilla Woodard, known for her innovative site-specific work (HOTEL PROJECT), will direct the production. The play will be performed in various communities throughout New York City in order to directly realize Working Theater’s mission to bring theater to working people.

LA RUTA, an immersive theatrical experience, follows the crossing of several undocumented immigrants into the U.S. to make a better life for themselves and their family. Audiences experience the journey alongside the characters, surrounded by the harsh reality of their environment and the poignant narrative unfolding within.

Magnum Foundation is organizing a photo-based installation–featuring both award-winning Magnum photographers and emerging documentary photographers–outside of the truck that will focus audiences on the experiences of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. Images from the renowned Magnum Photos archive will also be projected within the performance to illuminate the interior worlds of the characters.

“Through LA RUTA, we, at Working Theater, in partnership with Magnum Foundation, hope to raise awareness about the plight of undocumented immigrants,” said Working Theater’s Producing Artistic Director Mark Plesent. “Our goal is to challenge our diverse communities to consider the experience of this large, yet too often misrepresented immigrant constituency.” The cast includes Brian D. Coats (MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA, Public Theater), Zoë Sophia Garcia (THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY, Actors Theatre of Louisville), Annie Henk (THE PLAY ABOUT DAD, 59E59), Sheila Tapia (CQ/CX, Atlantic Theater Company), Bobby Plasencia (VESUVIUS, South Coast Repertory), Gerardo Rodriguez and Jacob Alden Roa.

The production team includes Raul Abrego (scenic design), Emily DeAngelis (costume design), Lucrecia Briceño (lighting design), Dave Tennent, IMA & Kate Freer, IMA (projection design), Sam Kusnetz (sound design), and Production Core (Production Supervision)The production stage manager is Michael Aaron Jones and the assistant stage manager is Sarah Levine.

Community partner venues include, the Bronx United Federation of Teachers (Bronx), St. John the Divine (Manhattan), International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (Queens) and the Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden (Staten Island).

The performance schedule is April 10th through May 12th, Wednesday through Saturday at 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm and Sunday at 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm. Additional performances in Manhattan on Tuesdays at 6:30 and 8:30.

Tickets are $25 (General Admission) and $23 (Students/Seniors/Union Members) and may be purchased in advance at www.brownpapertickets.com or by calling 800-838-3006. For group rates, contact info@theworkingtheater.org. Due to mature content, patrons under the age of 13 will not be admitted. Latecomers will not be admitted. The running time is 70 minutes without intermission.

WORKING THEATER (Producer). Now in its 28th season, Working Theater is New York’s only professional Off-Broadway theatre company dedicated to producing plays for and about the working men and women of New York. Past productions include Lisa Ramirez’s play about nannies, EXIT CUCKOO directed by Colman Domingo; Roberto Aguirre Sacasa’s KING OF SHADOWS; PORT AUTHORITY THROW DOWN; HOLD PLEASE; ABUNDANCE; RECONSTRUCTION; Israel Horovitz’s HENRY LUMPER, Rob Ackerman’s TABLE TOP; Stefanie Zadravec’s HONEY BROWN EYES and many others. For more information, visit www.theworkingtheater.org.

MAGNUM FOUNDATION (Collaborator) The Magnum Foundation champions in-depth, independent documentary photography that fosters empathy, engagement, and positive social change. The Magnum Foundation supports, trains, and mentors the next generation of photographers and seeks to increase the exposure of both historical and contemporary documentary photography in the digital age. An independent public charity, the Magnum Foundation carries forward the core values held dear by Magnum photographers and sustains the practice of high-quality documentary photography. For more information, visit http://magnumfoundation.org/.

Ed Cardona, Jr. Photo by Lia Chang

ED CARDONA, JR. (Playwright). Ed’s play AMERICAN JORNALERO received its world premiere at INTAR Theatre in the spring of 2012; the play was also selected as a finalist by the 2011 Metlife Nuestras Voces National Playwriting Competition. Ed is also currently a member of Theater 167’s theatrical ensemble which is developing its next project JH3am, a collaborative work based on Jackson Heights, Queens, N.Y.C. after 3:00 am. An Artistic Associate for the Working Theater’s 25th Anniversary Season, he adapted PABLO’S CHRISTMAS (commissioned and published by Dramatic Publishing, 2009) from the children’s book by Hugo C. Martin. Ed has also been a resident playwright with the Hispanic Playwrights-in-Residence Lab at INTAR Theatre, The Professional Playwrights Unit at the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre and the Hall Farm Center for the Arts & Education in Townsend, VT. He is a founding member of NY Madness. Ed received his M.F.A. in playwriting from Columbia University where he received the John Golden Award for his thesis play, PICK UP POTS! Multimedia: Photos of Ed Cardona, Jr.’s American Jornalero at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre

TAMILLA WOODARD (Director) is a director, actor and adapter residing in New York City. She is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama, an alumnus of The Lincoln Center Directors Lab, and a founding member of The Internationalists, a collective of directors from around the world creating an interactive global theatrical community. Most recent work includes co-creator of the site specific performance HOTEL PROJECT, that had its American premiere at Washington Jefferson Hotel and the Summit Grand Hotel in January 2012; VALIANT by Lanna Joffrey (InterAct Theatre); NIGHTLANDS by Sylvan Oswald (New Georges) and the development and direction of Saviana Stanescu’s POLANSKI POLANSKI (starring Grant Neale and produced by Nomad Theatricals at PS122/ SoloNOVA festival in New York City, Teatrul Odeon in Bucharest, The Sibiu International Theatre Festival, TIFF International Festival in Cluj and HERE in NYC). New Dramatists honored her with The Charles Bowden Award and the League of Professional Theatre Women with the Josephine Abady Award. She serves as an adjunct professor teaching solo performance at City College’s Center for Worker Education. More about Tamilla at www.Tamilla.com

DATES & LOCATIONS FOR LA RUTA
Wednesday, April 10 thru Sunday, April 14 UFT Bronx Borough Office 2500 Halsey Street, Bronx, NY 10461 For tickets: http://larutabronx.bpt.me
Tuesday, April 16 thru Sunday, April 28 The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine 1047 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10025 For tickets: http://larutamanhattan.bpt.me
Wednesday, May 1 thru Sunday, May 5 IBEW Local 3 Headquarters 158-11 Harry Van Arsdale Jr. Avenue, Flushing, NY 11365 For tickets: http://larutaqueens.bpt.me
Wednesday, May 8 thru Sunday, May 12 Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden 1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10301 For tickets: http://larutastatenisland.bpt.me

Other articles on Working Theater:
Working Theater presents The Best of TheaterWorks!: Stories from the 99%, at The Dorothy Strelsin Theatre at the Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex
Working Theater presents The Poetry of Philip Levine with Jeffrey Eugenides, André De Shields, Gene Gillette and Lisa Ramirez on May 7
Photos: Working Theater’s Production of Rob Ackerman’s CALL ME WALDO at Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex
Papermag.com: An Emerson-Loving Electrician Takes the Stage in Call Me Waldo
1199SEIU President George Gresham to receive Labor Leadership Award at 2011 Working Theater Annual Awards Ceremony
André De Shields & Alison Fraser Star in Reading of Michael Aman’s The Unbleached American at Theater Row on 5/9
Working Theater Presents Staged Reading of Chay Yew’s Visible Cities at The Studio Theatre on Theatre Row
Photos:The Working Theater’s Off-Broadway production of HONEY BROWN EYES by Stefanie Zadravec at The Clurman
Lia Chang Photo Slideshows of Productions in the Working Theater’s 25th Anniversary Season
Multimedia: Photos of Ed Cardona, Jr.’s American Jornalero at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre
Photos of André De Shields in Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory: From Douglass to Deliverance
Achieving the American Dream, Professional Charmer Andre De Shields Sees Theater is a Way to Life
André De Shields Celebrates Black History Month Starring in The Working Theater’s Production of Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory at The Abingdon in February 2010
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Lia Chang

Lia Chang is an actor, a performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist.

Working Theater presents The Best of TheaterWorks!: Stories from the 99%, at The Dorothy Strelsin Theatre at the Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex, June 14 – 17

Working Theater is pleased to present the off-Broadway production of The Best of TheaterWorks!: Stories from the 99%. The production will feature six of the best short plays to come out of Working Theater’s TheaterWorks! program. The 10-year old program teaches working men and women (bus drivers, doormen, 911 operators, DMV workers etc.) to write and perform their own short plays about their experiences at work. The classes end with a stage reading style performance where the students are teamed with professional actors and directors. This production however will be fully realized by a professional cast and crew.

Directed by Tamilla Woodard the cast features: Maria Helan, Andrés Munar, Tony Naumovski, Jens Rassmussen, Gabriel Sloyer, Jeanine Serralles and Nikki E. Walker.

The playwrights are: Gail Baskerville (clerical worker – Department of Education), Mirsada Damms (Building Service Worker), Bernadette Elstein (911 Operator), Michael O’Hara (Building Maintenance Worker), Julian Pimiento (Doorman) and Eric Sposito (former laborer in NY Daily News print shop).

Set & Props Design: Deb O, Costume Design: Emily DeAngelis, Lighting Design: Christopher Weston, Sound Design: Jeremy J. Lee, Production Stage Manager: Amy Francis Schott , Assistant Stage Manager: Nicholas Betito.

Now in its 27th season, Working Theater is New York’s only professional Off-Broadway theatre company dedicated to producing plays for and about the working men and women of New York. Past productions include Lisa Ramirez’s play about nannies, EXIT CUCKOO directed by Colman Domingo, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s KING OF SHADOWS, Stefanie Zadravec’s HONEY BROWN EYES; Israel Horovitz’s HENRY LUMPER ; and Rob Ackerman’s CALL ME WALDO, TABLETOP, and DISCONNECT.

The play will run from June 14th – June 17th, 2012: Thursday – Saturday at 7, Saturday at 2 and Sunday at 3.

Tickets are $15 at smarttix.com or by calling 212.868.4444. For more information call 212-244-3300, email mark@theworkingtheater.org or visit www.theworkingtheater.org.

TAMILLA WOODARD (Director) is a Director, Actor and Adapter residing in New York City. She is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama, an alumnus of The Lincoln Center Directors Lab, and a founding member of The Internationalists, a collective of directors from around the world creating an interactive global theatrical community.

Most recent work includes Co-Creator of the site specific performance Hotel Project, that had its American premiere at Washington Jefferson Hotel and the Summit Grand Hotel in January 2012; Valiant by Lanna Joffrey at InterAct Theatre; Nightlands by Sylvan Oswald at HERE and the development and direction of Saviana Stanescu’s Polanski Polanski (starring Grant Neale and produced by Nomad Theatricals) at PS122/SoloNOVA festival in New York City, Teatrul Odeon in Bucharest, The Sibiu International Theatre Festival, TIFF International Festival in Cluj and HERE in NYC,. In addition, she developed and directed Overcoming Speechlessness based on the text by Alice Walker with adapter Dana Balicki for Culture Project’s Women Center Stage.

She has directed at HERE, The Actors Theatre of Louisville, PS122, DR 2, The Culture Project, Urban Stages, Dance Theatre Workshop, The Kitchen Theatre, Manhattan Class Company and for festivals around the US and internationally. Her work has won best of festival awards, audience favorite awards, Top 10 Shows to See citations, New York Innovative Theatre nominations and critical acclaim in The New York Times, Variety and others. New Dramatists honored her with The Charles Bowden Award and The League of Professional Theatre Women with the Josephine Abady Award.

Tamilla has developed and directed the solo shows of more than a dozen performers including Queen GodIs, Carlos Andrés Gomez (multiple festival, multiple award winning MAN UP), Micia Mosley and Sherry Boone. She also serves as an adjunct professor teaching solo performance at City College’s Center for Worker Education. More about Tamilla at http://www.Tamilla.com

The Writers:

GAIL BASKERVILLE (Playwright) was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1960 to a mother who became a teacher at the age of 56 and a father who was an artist who died at the early age of 40. Her father’s family was from Virginia, NC her mother’s family God-fearing members of the Augusta County Christian Church in Augusta, GA. At the age of nine, Gail became completely enthralled with reading short stories by such authors as Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, Zora Neal Hurston, Harriet Beecher Stowe and James Baldwin. She would memorize the stories she read and entertain family and friends with her recitals. She enjoyed entertaining them so much, she began writing her own stories.

At age forty she joined Bethel Emanuel Temple where her pastor recognized her story skills and assigned her to create a message in a minute drama ministry. She wrote and performed inspirational skits every other Sunday. In 2006 she had a desire to learn script writing. She joined the Theater Works class held at her Local 372 Union Headquarters in New York City. She completed three scripts “Lottery Ticket”, “Hypochondriac” and “Call Me Billie” that were performed at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center and written in the Local 372 Union paper.

Gail’s stories tend to have some connection to her own past. The story of “Call Me Billie” was based on her twin sister who died ten years ago. Her sister loved Billie Holliday and enjoyed dressing up like her. Gail lives and works in NYC with her husband and three children. She continues to write and perform skits at churches, community centers and at nursing homes.

MIRSADA DAMMS (Playwright) is currently working in the office maintenance field, but is aspiring to become a resident building manager. Native of Ulquin, Montenegro, she has been making a living here in the “Big Apple” for the last 20 years. She is also the author of the comedy “One Man’s Garbage…” and “Que Leche”. Other works include “Remembering Our Town” and “A Cheesy Situation”. Mirsada’s play that is being presented here is called “Locker Room Talk”, a humorous interactive dialogue between three ladies in their workplace.

BERNADETTE ELSTEIN (Playwright) lives in Brooklyn and has been a member of DC37since 2001. She has written and performed a monologue for Working Theatre previously when she worked as a School Crossing

Guard. She has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in social work. She graduated College of New Rochelle in 2008 from the DC 37 campus, where she learned that she enjoys writing. Bernadette enjoys helping others and making people laugh. She has worked in the Brooklyn Public Library in an after-school program helping children learn to appreciate what reading books can do for them. She hopes to become a librarian one day. Currently she works as a Police Communications Technician, helping others in need. She is married and has a daughter who is a senior in college.

MICHAEL D. O’HARA (Playwright) is a native New Yorker, a graduate of CUNY/Hunter College and a member of the Dramatist Guild. He’s been a photographer, graphic designer, editor and publisher of newsstand magazines. He has three full-length screenplays currently “making the rounds.” He is an eBay Power Seller, a hypnotist in training, and is working on a one-man show with a plane-crash survivor who was one of the first pro-wrestling stars of the emerging cable-TV era of the early 1980s. Besides “The Luxury Life”, TheaterWorks has presented readings of four of his other short one-act plays – “On Her Sixteenth”, “M.O.C.”, “Sunset Cowboy” and “To Boldly Go”. “To Boldly Go” will have stage performances by the Theater Group of Lafayette, Colorado this August. Special thanks to our playwriting guru Joe Roland; 32BJ SEIU President Michael P. Fishman for his continued support of this project; Mark Plesent and The Working Theater, the amazing actors, and the wonderful audience. Thank you all very much.

JULIAN PIMIENTO (Playwright) is a proud member of Local 32BJ SEIU. His short stories GRACE and KELLY AND FREDDY have been published in two separate collections, KINDRED SPIRITS and KINDRED SPIRITS ll. Julian wrote, produced and acted in an award winning short film adaptation of GRACE that screened at film festivals worldwide. He also wrote and directed the short films RECURRENCE and MANNY for campus movie fest ’09 and ’10 at New York University. Julian was also recognized for his one act plays, FALLEN LEAVES, KELLY AND FREDDY, IRONCLAD, HIGH RISE and ALL CITY by the Working Theater in New York City, as well as an acting and directing workshop with Olympia Dukakis at New York University. gracethefilm.wordpress.com

ERIC SPOSITO (Playwright) is a married father of three boys who was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He started his career at 17 years old caring for horses at race tracks in the New York area. At 22 years old Sposito began working in the Newspaper Industry laboring on printing presses for the New York Daily News at their production facility located on Atlantic Ave. and Pacific Street in downtown Brooklyn. Soon thereafter Sposito transferred to the New York Times and was employed in printing plants for The Times located in Carlsdadt and Edison, New Jersey, as well as College Point, Queens, for almost 30 years. During his tenure at the Times, he held various elected offices for the Union that represents the workers in his craft, including Vice-President and Shop Steward. In 2004 Sposito started on the road to a new career by attending college at the Cornell ILR off campus program for union leaders in Manhattan and earned a bachelor’s degree in Union Leadership and Administration from the National Labor College in 2007. From 2007 until 2011 Sposito studied law at Rutgers School of Law in Newark New Jersey, where the authored, and had published, three legal papers. He is currently admitted to practice law in the States of New York and New Jersey and is working as a Field Attorney for the National Labor Relations Board. This coming fall he will begin teaching Labor and Employment Law at the Murphy Institute/CUNY program in New York City.

Other Articles on Working Theater:
Working Theater presents The Poetry of Philip Levine with Jeffrey Eugenides, André De Shields, Gene Gillette and Lisa Ramirez on May 7
Photos: Working Theater’s Production of Rob Ackerman’s CALL ME WALDO at Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex
Papermag.com: An Emerson-Loving Electrician Takes the Stage in Call Me Waldo
1199SEIU President George Gresham to receive Labor Leadership Award at 2011 Working Theater Annual Awards Ceremony
André De Shields & Alison Fraser Star in Reading of Michael Aman’s The Unbleached American at Theater Row on 5/9
Working Theater Presents Staged Reading of Chay Yew’s Visible Cities at The Studio Theatre on Theatre Row
Photos:The Working Theater’s Off-Broadway production of HONEY BROWN EYES by Stefanie Zadravec at The Clurman
Lia Chang Photo Slideshows of Productions in the Working Theater’s 25th Anniversary Season
Multimedia: Photos of Ed Cardona, Jr.’s American Jornalero at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre
Photos of André De Shields in Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory: From Douglass to Deliverance
Achieving the American Dream, Professional Charmer Andre De Shields Sees Theater is a Way to Life
André De Shields Celebrates Black History Month Starring in The Working Theater’s Production of Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory at The Abingdon in February 2010
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

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Lia Chang. Photo by Brianne Michelle Photography

Lia Chang is an actor, a performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist. In 2010, the Library of Congress established The Lia Chang APA Theater Portfolio in the Asian Pacific American Performing Arts Collection housed in the Library of Congress Asian Division’s Asian Pacific American Islander Collection.

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Working Theater presents The Poetry of Philip Levine with Jeffrey Eugenides, André De Shields, Gene Gillette and Lisa Ramirez on May 7

Photos L to R: Philip Levine (photo © Michael Lionstar), André De Shields (photo © Lia Chang), Gene Gillette,
Lisa Ramirez (photo © Rose Callahan), Jeffrey Eugenides (photo © Ricardo Barros)

On Monday May 7, 2012, Working Theater presents a night of the poetry of 2011 US Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winner Philip Levine featuring guest readers Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jeffrey Eugenides, André De Shields, Gene Gillette and Lisa Ramirez, at the 32BJ SEIU 5th Floor Conference Center, 25 West 18th Street, 5th Floor (between 5th and 6th Aves) in New York at 7pm.

Tickets are $15 at smarttix.com, students with ID: $10. Includes a wine & cheese reception following the event

Upcoming for Working Theater
Monday, May 14:
Sick? by Zakiyyah Alexander (staged reading)

Monday, May 21:
2012 Annual Awards Ceremony Gala
honoring Mike Fishman, President of 32BJ SEIU at Sardi’s Restaurant

June 14-17:
The Best of TheaterWorks!: Stories from the 99%
(off-Broadway premiere)

Now in its 27th season, Working Theater is New York’s only professional Off-Broadway theatre company dedicated to producing plays for and about the working men and women of New York. Past productions include Lisa Ramirez’s play about nannies, EXIT CUCKOO directed by Colman Domingo; Roberto Aguirre Sacasa’s KING OF SHADOWS; Stephanie Zadravec’s HONEY BROWN EYES; Israel Horovitz’s HENRY LUMPER; and Rob Ackerman’s CALL ME WALDO, TABLETOP, and DISCONNECT.

Other Articles on Working Theater:
Photos: Working Theater’s Production of Rob Ackerman’s CALL ME WALDO at Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex
Papermag.com: An Emerson-Loving Electrician Takes the Stage in Call Me Waldo
1199SEIU President George Gresham to receive Labor Leadership Award at 2011 Working Theater Annual Awards Ceremony
André De Shields & Alison Fraser Star in Reading of Michael Aman’s The Unbleached American at Theater Row on 5/9
Working Theater Presents Staged Reading of Chay Yew’s Visible Cities at The Studio Theatre on Theatre Row
Photos:The Working Theater’s Off-Broadway production of HONEY BROWN EYES by Stefanie Zadravec at The Clurman
Lia Chang Photo Slideshows of Productions in the Working Theater’s 25th Anniversary Season
Multimedia: Photos of Ed Cardona, Jr.’s American Jornalero at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre
Photos of André De Shields in Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory: From Douglass to Deliverance
Achieving the American Dream, Professional Charmer Andre De Shields Sees Theater is a Way to Life
André De Shields Celebrates Black History Month Starring in The Working Theater’s Production of Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory at The Abingdon in February 2010
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Subscribe to Backstage Pass with Lia Chang

Lia Chang. Photo by Brianne Michelle Photography

Lia Chang is an actor, a performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist. In 2010, the Library of Congress established The Lia Chang APA Theater Portfolio in the Asian Pacific American Performing Arts Collection housed in the Library of Congress Asian Division’s Asian Pacific American Islander Collection.

All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2011 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 lia@liachangphotography.com.

Lia Chang Photos: Working Theater’s Production of Rob Ackerman’s CALL ME WALDO at Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex through March 11, 2012

Matthew Boston and Rita Rehn in Rob Ackerman's CALL ME WALDO. Photo by Lia Chang

Working Theater is presenting the Off-Broadway premiere of Rob Ackerman’s CALL ME WALDO, February 14- March 11, 2012 at the June Havoc Theatre in the Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex, 312 W 36th Street (btw 8th & 9th Aves) in New York.

Brian Dykstra, Rita Rehn and Matthew Boston. Photo by Lia Chang

Matthew Boston, Brian Dykstra, Rita Rehn and Jennifer Dorr White are featured in CALL ME WALDO, a comic and insightful look at the workplace, upending stereotypes about the working class when an ordinary electrician begins channeling the spirit of Ralph Waldo Emerson, helmed by Margarett Perry.

Rita Rehn and Jennifer Dorr White in Call Me Waldo. Photo by Lia Chang

Set & lighting design is by David L. Arsenault; sound design is by Don Tindall; costume design is by Hannah Kochman.

Performances are Tuesday at 7pm, Wednesday – Saturday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm and Sunday at 3pm. There is a Wednesday, February 29 show at 2pm. The Saturday matinee shows on February 18th and 25th at 2pm are pay-what-you-can at the door. Tickets are $25 and available through www.smarttix.com or by calling 212-868-4444. Students/Seniors/Union Members with ID $23.

Matthew Boston and Rita Rehn. Photo by Lia Chang

Mr. Ackerman’s earlier comedy TABLETOP — also set in the workplace, behind the scenes at the making a television commercial — enjoyed much critical success when Working Theater debuted the play Off-Broadway in 2000.

Now in its 27th season, Working Theater is New York’s only professional Off-Broadway theatre company dedicated to producing plays for and about the working men and women of New York. Past productions include Lisa Ramirez’s play about nannies, EXIT CUCKOO directed by Colman Domingo; Roberto Aguirre Sacasa’s KING OF SHADOWS; PORT AUTHORITY THROW DOWN; HOLD PLEASE; ABUNDANCE; RECONSTRUCTION; WAITER, WAITER; Israel Horovitz’s HENRY LUMPER and many others. CALL ME WALDO is the third play by Rob Ackerman to debut at Working Theater following TABLETOP and DISCONNECT. Last season Working Theatre presented the acclaimed premiere of Stephanie Zadravec’s HONEY BROWN EYES. Mark Plesent is Working Theater’s Producing Artistic Director.

In addition to TABLETOP, Mr. Ackerman is the author of ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES (later a film starring Amanda Peet), DISCONNECT (presented in 2005 by Working Theatre), LOONS (EST) and VOLLEYGIRLS. He has been Prop Master for NBC’s “SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE” for many years, working on numerous commercial parodies such as “Schmitt’s Gay Beer,” “Mom Jeans,” “Chewable Pampers” and “Red Flag Perfume.”

Matthew Boston and Rita Rehn. Photo by Lia Chang

Margarett Perry has directed Brian Dykstra’s plays CLEAN ALTERNATIVES Off-Broadway at 59E59 (Fringe First Award-Edinburg) and A PLAY ON WORDS, along with THE BODY POLITIC by Richard Abrons and the NY premieres of WELCOME TO ARROYO’S, FORSAKING ALL OTHERS, SPILL THE WINE, COMPETING NARRATIVES and MOTHER TONGUE. She has directed over 15 productions at Ithaca’s Kitchen Theatre and served as Producing Artistic Director of Access Theater in NYC for several years.

Brian Dykstra and Matthew Boston. Photo by Lia Chang

Matthew Boston appeared in THE BODY POLITIC (59E59), Mr. Ackerman’s DISCONNECT, at SoHo Playhouse in MAGIC HANDS FREDDY and in A RITUAL OF FAITH on Theatre Row. His numerous regional credits include roles at Hartford Stage, Intiman, Tale Rep, Huntington Theatre Company and ACT.

Brian Dykstra is an actor, playwright and HBO Def Poet. In addition to appearing in his own play CLEAN ALTERNATIVES Off-Broadway, he has appeared in RED at St. Louis Rep and Cincinnati Playhouse, PRIVATE LIVES (Ithaca’s Kitchen), COPENHAGEN (Arizona Theatre Company), among others. His solo works include THE JESUS FACTOR, CORNERED & ALONE and HO! Film and TV: HBO’s “Def Poetry,” “Chappelle’s Show,” “Freedomland” and “Knight and Day.”

Brian Dykstra and Rita Rehn. Photo by Lia Chang

Rita Rehn has appeared on Broadway in NINE, A CHORUS LINE and ROYAL FAMILY. She’s toured the U.S. in TALE OF THE ALLERGIST’S WIFE with Valerie Harper. Other credits include DEFIANCE and OUR LEADING LADY at Manhattan Theatre Club, AS BEES IN HONEY DROWN, AND THE WORLD GOES ROUND.

Jennifer Dorr White has performed Off-Broadway in SEALED FOR FRESHNESS, THE FLASHING STREAM, THE ‘A’ WORD, WOMEN OF MANHATTAN and PERA PALAS. She appeared last season in THE PLAY ABOUT MY DAD (59E59) and in BETTER LEFT UNSAID and BORN OF CONVICTION (Irondale Center).

Other highlights of the Working Theater season include a night of poetry reading featuring the work of 2011 U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning working class poet Philip Levine with guest readers including Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jeffrey Eugenides.

For tickets or more information, visit www.theworkingtheater.org.

Other Articles on Working Theater:

Papermag.com: An Emerson-Loving Electrician Takes the Stage in Call Me Waldo
1199SEIU President George Gresham to receive Labor Leadership Award at 2011 Working Theater Annual Awards Ceremony
André De Shields & Alison Fraser Star in Reading of Michael Aman’s The Unbleached American at Theater Row on 5/9
Working Theater Presents Staged Reading of Chay Yew’s Visible Cities at The Studio Theatre on Theatre Row
Photos:The Working Theater’s Off-Broadway production of HONEY BROWN EYES by Stefanie Zadravec at The Clurman
Lia Chang Photo Slideshows of Productions in the Working Theater’s 25th Anniversary Season
Multimedia: Photos of Ed Cardona, Jr.’s American Jornalero at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre
Photos of André De Shields in Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory: From Douglass to Deliverance
Achieving the American Dream, Professional Charmer Andre De Shields Sees Theater is a Way to Life
André De Shields Celebrates Black History Month Starring in The Working Theater’s Production of Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory at The Abingdon in February 2010
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Subscribe to Backstage Pass with Lia Chang

Lia Chang. Photo by Brianne Michelle Photography

Lia Chang is an actor, a performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist. In 2010, the Library of Congress established The Lia Chang APA Theater Portfolio in the Asian Pacific American Performing Arts Collection housed in the Library of Congress Asian Division’s Asian Pacific American Islander Collection.

All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2011 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 lia@liachangphotography.com.