APARTMENT HAUNTING Begins Performances 7/19-7/31

What happens when Julia, an aspiring actress, is ready to abandon her dreams of the stage? Assistance comes in the unlikely form of Sam, the ghost of a legendary acting teacher who inhabits her new apartment. Written and directed by Val Sherman, "Apartment Haunting" is a love letter to the theatre and the dreams, which allow us to go forward, whatever the odds. "Apartment Haunting" will be performed at The Jewel Box Theatre, 312 West 36th Street, 4th floor, in New York City for three performances from July 19-31, 2011.

"Apartment Haunting" began as an 8-minute short film in 2006. "It was the first film I wrote and directed in film school" says the playwright/director, who has since received his MFA from the School of the Arts/Film Division at Columbia University. Before returning to graduate school, Sherman worked extensively in theatre. He was an Associate Producer of Jon Marans' play "Old Wicked Songs," which was a Pulitzer-Prize finalist, and presented the American premiere of the acclaimed British play, "New Boy." He also wrote the book of "Broadway Loves Lucy," which recounts the story of the world's most famous comedienne through songs from legendary Broadway shows. It was presented in conjunction with the opening of the Lucy-Desi Museum in Jamestown, NY, Lucy's birthplace. "It's not a mystery that I continue to write about the theatre in my screenplays. ‘Apartment Haunting' always felt like it was begging for a life on stage. It is truly where it belongs."

In addition to his work for the stage, Sherman is an award-winning screenwriter. He was awarded Faculty Selects and Best Teleplay in the 2009 Columbia University Film Festival for "30 ROCK: Seeing is Believing." His screenplay, "Personally Yours," was selected for the 2010 Emerging Narrative Forum and is currently in development with director, Maggie Greenwald ("Songcatcher," "The Ballad of Little Jo"). "The Prion Complex," a conspiracy-thriller, was chosen as finalist for the prestigious Columbia University/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Screenwriting Award.

The talented cast of Apartment Haunting includes Amanda Sywak, Steve Arons, Regina Gibson, David Reck, Matthew McShane, and Claire Dippel.

Performances of "Apartment Haunting" begin Tuesday, July 19 at 6:00 PM and continue on Friday, July 22 at 6:45 PM and Sunday, July 31 at 7:15 PM at the Jewel Box Theatre, located at 312 W. 36th Street, 4th floor.

Tickets are $12.00 and can be purchased by visiting http://www.midtownfestival.org

The Midtown International Theatre Festival, now in its twelfth year, celebrates the diversity of theatre. The MITF welcomes theatrical storytelling across a broad spectrum of genres, forms, identities, cultures, and appetites. The MITF seeks to nurture these new ideas, perspectives, and stories on its stages, with an eye set on guiding these productions toward future success and longevity. The festival, traditionally held in summer, represents a fantastic, often paradoxical, adventurous and intriguing cross-section of the forefront of the theatre world. The MITF proudly hosts production companies from across the country and around the globe, uniting talent in one of the biggest theatre capitals in the world.

John Chatterton created the MITF in 2000, a Midtown alternative to other theatre festivals, as a way to present the finest off-off Broadway talent in convenience, comfort, and safety. In 2008, the Festival added two 99-seat theatres and inaugurated the Commercial Division for upwardly mobile shows with commercial ambitions.