HALF-RING CIRCUS Begins 3/14 at York Theatre

With 100% of its ticket sales income going to charities, play nice! Productions, a new theatre group with inter-generational casts and positive themes is premiering its new full-length musical comedy, The Half-Ring Circus....and the Little Cabaret Next Door this month for four weekend matinee performances. This show for family audiences is a story of a down-on-its-luck family-run circus and incorporates traditional circus melodies used for hundreds of years. These are given new plot-specific lyrics by the company's house writer/director, along with his own songs.

The company's mission is to do shows which are comic and entertaining, the plots themed to positive messages about important social issues without becoming preachy or dry. The Half-Ring Circus.... is about cooperation and embraces adoption and alternative families. Combating society's ageism, sexism, and stereotyping remains a prime goal in each play play nice! produces. In this tale, several senior citizen characters are presented as lively, thoughtful, and strong --- while some very young characters are wiser than their years, and all earn respect. Life imitates art as characters are played by actors close to their age in the same scenes and get to know each other as people, forming a supportive and supporting theatre "family" and supporting cast.

All ticket income is donated to charities and non-profit groups whose needed services are close to the company's collective big heart: children's programs, arts education, and adoption services. Children and their families who can't afford theatre tickets are given heavily discounted tickets, even to the level of the ticket prices for the small-town circus, as mentioned in one of the show's songs: "$1.50 for grown-ups, for kids 50 cents." The story also shows some neighborly cooperation by the new owners of the space that used to be the reluctantly sold rings, including the small cabaret sharing their ring. NYC cabaret singers make up about half the cast and special guests and a ten-year veteran of cabaret journalism, Rob Lester, is the company's in-house writer, director, and founder (and also a volunteer).

The cast of kids, teens, and adults from college age to age 80 present their matinees in three locations, as follows: Saturdays, March 14 and 21 at Room 53--- 314 West 53 St.-- $10 ticket plus $10 food/drink minimum; Sunday March 15 at The York Theatre (East 54 St.between Third Ave. &/Lexington Ave.)--$20 ticket; refreshment purchases optional; March 22 at West End Lounge (West End Av/W. 107 St.) $5 ticket plus $15 food/drink minimum. Tickets are sold at the door and in advance. Venues serving food/drink require a $10 or $15 minimum purchase in addition to the ticket price, which is ($10 on Saturdays and $5 for March 22). The ticket at the York Theatre is $20 with no food purchases required.

With the exception of the March 15 York Theatre date, where refreshment purchases are optional, additional food/drink minimums ($10-$15) are paid at the time of the show. Tickets will be available at www.brownpapertickets.com

The Room 53 venue is a completely remodeled space that had three former lives as a cabaret/club. Celebrating "March Is Cabaret Month," they've added no-cover, no-minimum 53-minute cabaret performances most weeknights at 6:30 PM in addition to their ongoing piano bar/open mic nights which follow.

Other shows in the play nice! past and future tackle such topics as: bullying (Humpty Dumpty Cracks Up); perseverance and teamwork (The Scrambled Easter Egg, now casting); and responsible journalism (Bad News).