Empire Stage And Island City Stage Present THE TWENTIETH-CENTURY WAY, Opening 8/11

Island City Stage and Empire Stage have announced their co-production of the play "The Twentieth-Century Way" by Tom Jacobson, which will be performed at Empire Stage, 1140 N. Flagler Dr., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33304, beginning August 9. The official opening is set for August 11, 2012, and the play will run Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00pm, and Sundays at 5:00pm, through September 9. The ticket price is $30, $20 for previews. For reservations or further information, call 954-678-1496. Tickets may be purchased with credit or debit card through Smarttix at www.smarttix.com or by calling 212-868-4444. Tickets may also be purchased at the door (cash only).

The Twentieth Century Way was awarded the 2011 PEN Award for Drama and the 2010 NY International Fringe Festival Award for Overall Excellence in Production of a Play, garnering critical accolades from publications like the New York Times and Variety. Based on a little-known incident in history, this theatrical thrill ride explores the collision of reality and fantasy as two actors, auditioning for a film, end up juggling roles that eventually lead to entrapment of homosexuals for "social vagrancy" in the Long Beach, California of 1914. Warning: This play contains male nudity.

Directing this production will be Michael Leeds. He is a Drama Desk Award-nominated director, perhaps best known for writing and directing B'way's "Swinging On A Star", nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical. Here in Florida, Michael directed the Carbonell Award-winning production of the musical Mack and Mabel at Broward Stage Door, as well as critically acclaimed productions of "Light in the Piazza" and "The First Step". The cast features Clay Cartland, a Carbonell Award nominee for "Song of the Living Dead" at Promethean Theatre and Mike Westrich, who has most recently been seen in "Laughing Matters" at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts.

Empire Stage, led by producers David R. Gordon & Garet Scott, is an artist-driven collective that produces both new and existing plays, as well as providing a home for other theater companies who want to work in an environment where they can collaborate, take risks, and develop as theatre artists. Their many hit productions include "Making Porn", "He's Coming Up The Stairs", "Mommie Queerest", "Love Scenes", and "Baby GirL".

The Mission of the newly formed Island City Stage, led by Artistic Director Andy Rogow, is to produce plays and musicals that explore values and issues that resonate in the LGBT and Progressive communities. Rogow is the former Artistic Director of the Hollywood Playhouse and a past President of the Theatre League of South Florida.