Porter, Sills, Etc. Set for NY Stage & Film, 6/23-7/30

Chuck Cooper, Gregg Edelman, Douglas Sills, Sally Murphy, Leslie Kritzer, Lee Wilkof and Billy Porter are among the stars who will make the trek to Poughkeepsie, New York for "New York Stage and Film" at Vassar College from June 23rd through July 30th. Included in the festival will be a new play by Daisy Foote and a new musical by Andrew Lippa.

"New York Stage and Film" will be comprised of numerous performance series, including Mainstage shows, at the Powerhouse Theatre, Martel Musicals at the Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film, and Inside Look! at the Susan Stein Shiva Theatre.

Foote's Bhutan and Keith Huff's A Steady Rain will be the Mainstage shows. Bhutan, running from June 28th through July 8th, will star Tasha Lawrence, Sarah Lord, Amy Redford, and Jedidiah Schultz. "She dreams of Bhutan, but can barely find the kitchen door. Her mother is insane, her aunt stalks a married man, her saintly brother is in the slammer and her father is inconveniently and recently dead. What's a normal fifteen year old like Frances to do?," state press notes for the show, which will be directed by Evan Yionoulis.

Casting has yet to be announced for A Steady Rain, which will be directed by Tripp Cullman. "An urban tale of love and rage. Two Chicago cops, friends since childhood, and their competing accounts of the few harrowing days that changed their lives forever." It runs from July 12th through 23rd.

Martel Musicals will feature a number of concert readings of new musicals, including Prairie, Mixed Company and Jerry Christmas.

Prairie, directed by Francesca Zambello, will feature music by Rachel Portman, a book by Beth Henley, and lyrics by Donna DiNovelli; it was developed by Adrianne Lobel and Zambello. The reading will run from July 7th through 9th, and will feature Murphy, Heidi Blickenstaff, Sara Chase, Edelman, and Sean Palmer. "Based on the enormously popular Little House On The Prairie series of books, a new musical...The inspiring and quintessentially American story of a  pioneer family in the Dakotas that has moved and entertained generations."

Mixed Company will be presented on July 28th and 29th. The show is directed by Porter, and conceived by Porter and Tazwell Thompson. Its cast will also include Porter, Cooper, Terry Burrell and Nathan Lee Graham. "Billy Porter (singer, songwriter, choreographer and director who appeared on Broadway in Smokey Joe's Café, Miss Saigon and Five Guys Named Moe) unites two masters: Stephen Sondheim and William Shakespeare telling the universal story of man's seven ages through the voice of a soulful contemporary musical culture."

Jerry Christmas features music and lyrics by Lippa and a book by Daniel Goldfarb; David Warren will direct. "Jerry Barron is a comic movie star who hasn't had a hit in much too long. A live TV special of his family's 'All-American Christmas Morning' is just the thing to turn around his career. All he needs, now, is a good place to hide the menorah. Andrew Lippa's (The Wild Party at Manhattan Theater Club - winner of 13 Drama Desk nominations) music and lyrics and Daniel Goldfarb's book promise a hilarious and touching musical evening." It will star Kritzer, Wilkof, David Costabile, David Reiser, Jessica Stone and Christopher Fitzgerald. It will be seen July 29th and 30th.

Bob, by Anton Dudley, and Quiver and Twitch, written by Erin Courtney and featuring Shannon Burkett, will be seen as part of Inside Look! Bob will be directed by Leigh Silverman: "An all too common man, all too tempted by a dynamic underage girl, strays from his lover, the woman sheriff of the very small town where they all live." It will run from July 14th through 16th. Quiver and Twitch will be directed by Sarah Benson. "What if Dick Cheney lived in your basement? What if your super had been a prisoner of war? What if you keep dreaming that your apartment has extra rooms?" That show runs from July 21st through July 23rd. Matt Maher and Peter Maloney star.

In addition, "New York Stage and Film" will feature a Readings Festival from June 23rd to 25th. It will include: Sam's Coming by Kia Corthron, Emeralds by Cindy Lou Johnson, Lizardskin by Jennifer Silverman and The As if Body Loop by Ken Weitzman (featuring Ben Shenkman). All performances are free.

For more information, visit this link.