ABOUT CLARENCE AND ME Chronicles a Chance Encounter at TNC's Dream Up Festival

Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival presents, in association with Infinite Intel Productions, ABOUT CLARENCE AND ME
A Story of Music, Love and Life Performed on a Grand Piano.

The World Premiere will run August 28 - September 6, 2016 at the Community Theater, Theater for the New City
155 First Avenue at East 10th Street.

Even as the world becomes more globalized, there will always be generational boundaries that set young apart from old. "About Clarence and Me," a new play written by Walter Jones and Scott Hiltzik, explores this divide (and others) through an unlikely relationship between a retired African-American man, Clarence, and his young white piano tutor, Sam. From rocky beginnings, Clarence and Sam soon form a mutual bond that challenges the traditional ideas of the mentor-student relationship. Intersectional themes of race and love come to life as their business arrangement blossoms into a lifelong friendship, with both Clarence and Sam learning from one another in ways they could never have foreseen.

Grammy-nominated, LA-based composer/pianist Scott Hiltzik (The Story of Alice) wrote an original score for this production, which is inspired by a true story. The cast features Broadway veteran DeMone (Ragtime, Miss Saigon, Rent). Walter Jones will direct and Ina Norris (Soul Doctor) will assistant direct, with lighting design by Ernest Baxter (Aretha Franklin world tour) sound design by Omar Noel (The Band Room); Ernest Green (The Songs of Harlem River) will stage manage.

The play's world premiere is from August 28th through September 6th, as part of Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival. Tickets ($18) are available at dreamupfestival.org or by calling (212) 254-1109. The production is an Equity-Approved Showcase.

Performance dates and times:
Sunday - August 28 - 2pm
Monday - August 29 - 9pm
Tuesday - August 30 - 9pm
Wednesday - August 31 - 6:30pm
Saturday - September 3 - 5pm
Sunday - September 4 - 5pm
Tuesday - September 6 - 9pm

SCOTT HILTZIK (writer, composer) is a composer and playwright whose music is featured on the Grammy-nominated Bay Brass recording, Sound The Bells! His musical compositions have been performed by numerous major orchestras including the Brooklyn Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, Grammy-nominated Tierney Sutton, and Miki Coltrane. Scott's theatrical plays and musicals include The Story of Alice, which had a successful run at The Matrix Theater in Hollywood; critics called his music "new and bouncy" (Splash Magazine) and raved that "you will definitely be singing as you drive home" (Discover Hollywood). For more information visit his official sites at scotthiltzik.com and scotthiltzikmusicblog.com.

Walter Jones (writer, director) is a writer and director whose career spans over 40 years in theater, film and television. His play Jazznite was performed at the Museum of Modern Art and the Smithsonian Institution and is included in their archives. In Hollywood, he was a term writer for Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin's sitcom What's Happening.

INFINITE INTEL PRODUCTIONS is a next-generation Production Company embarking upon engagement in multiple aspects of entertainment, which include full-scale theater, film and television production and distribution, the co-financing of major studio film slates and digital media.

The seventh annual DREAM UP FESTIVAL (dreamupfestival.org) is dedicated to new works. Presented by Theater for the New City (Crystal Field, Artistic Director), the Festival runs from August 28 to September 18, 2016 and features a variety of original dramas, comedies, musicals, adaptations and experimental plays. Now an East Village tradition, Dream Up challenges the audience to reflect on the innovative and imaginative ways that they interact with the theater.