An invitation-only staged reading of the new play UNDER MY SKIN will be presented January 26th at 3 p.m. at Ripley Grier Studios 520 Eighth Avenue 16th Floor, New York, NY.
The New York premiere reading of Robert Sternin and Prudence Fraser's outrageous new comedy about "sex cancer and the health care business" is being produced by Heather Provost ( [title of show], reasons to be pretty, "Reality Check") after a successful reading in Los Angeles.
Best known for their many successes as writer/producers for network television, Sternin and Fraser have written shows for CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX and the WB, producing hundreds of episodes of primetime television. They have also created and developed over a dozen series. Credits include "Alice," "Three's Company," "Who's the Boss?" "The Charmings," "Married People," "Live-In," "The Simple Life," "Run of the House," and "The Nanny," which they co-created and executive produced with series star Fran Drescher.
Sternin and Fraser recently collaborated with Hall of Fame songwriter Jeff Barry on the stage musical The Girl Who Would Be King, which premiered at the Granada Theater in Santa Barbara and went on to be seen at the Stamford Center for the Arts and Riverside Theater in Vero Beach, Florida.
About their latest project, Sternin and Fraser said, "...People ask us what we've been working on. We say, ‘a comedy about sex, cancer, and the health care business.' And they think we're joking. Or tasteless. What's funny about cancer? Well, the truth is, "Under My Skin" is a story about two people from totally different walks of life who meet and quickly become intimate in a not-so-ordinary way. And, yes, cancer is involved. As is aging, being best friends, some pretty strange sex, and a smartass angel." The authors add, " ‘Under My Skin' is, at its core, a romantic comedy, where circumstances beyond their control give a corporate C.E.O. and a girl from Staten Island a chance to get to know each other and maybe fall in love."
The reading will boast the talents of Emmy Award Winner, Jay Thomas ("Cheers", "Murphy Brown", "Married People", "Love and War", Mr. Holland's Opus, Dragonfly, "The Jay Thomas Show"); Daytime Emmy Award Winner, Charles Shaughnessy (B'way's URINETOWN, "The Nanny", "One Life to Live", Tale of Desperaux, Mad Men, and Disney's Mom Has a Date with a Vampire); Kerry Butler (XANADU, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, HAIRSPRAY, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, LES MISERABLES); Chandra Lee Schwartz (GYPSY, Encores!-DAMN YANKEES, HAIRSPRAY-Las Vegas); Joseph Sicari (GOLDEN BOY, DAMN YANKEES, DAMES AT SEA, "Seinfeld", Kicking and Screaming, Benchwarmers); Frank Vlastnik (SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD, BIG, I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE); James Leo Ryan (ANNIE, LES MISERABLES, SHOW BOAT, JOSEPH...DREAMCOAT), and additional cast members pending.
The staged reading will be directed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge (TheatreWorks USA's critically acclaimed SEUSSICAL, CLOSER THAN EVER, RADIO GALS, The Kennedy Center's TELL ME ON A SUNDAY, HIGH SOCIETY, and the upcoming RAGTIME at The Kennedy Center)
"This play is all about, what I like to call, the ‘smartfunny', which is my favorite thing for a piece to be," says producer Heather Provost. "And the timing of this play, considering our current healthcare crisis, couldn't be more perfect."
For further information contact the Ciao Bella Productions office at 818.760.1964 or heather@ciaobellaproductions.com
