Alexander Gemignani and More Set for THE MEMORY OF DAMAGE Industry Reading at NYU Today

Playwright/Actor Lori Fischer's latest work, The Memory of Damage, will have a private industry reading today, June 7, 2013 at 3pm at The Goldberg Theatre at N.Y.U. (721 Broadway, 7th Floor). Alexander Gemignani (John Doyle's Sweeney Todd, Les Miserables), Jeffry Denman (White Christmas, John Doyle's Passion), and Michael Countryman (Wit) star. Gabriel Barre (Amazing Grace, Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party) directs.

Inspired by the true story of Dr. Walter Freeman, a man who performed over 3,500 trans-orbital lobotomies in the United States, Fischer's The Memory of Damage tracks the journey of one patient, Howard Dully, as he searches to find out why he was given the procedure that has left him without any ability to feel. In a parallel story Freeman embarks on a cross-country mission to prove he was on the right side of history.

Additional cast members include Lori Fischer, Ashley Wren Collins, Paul DeBoy, and Kyle Brenn (West Side Story, Leap of Faith).

Please join us for a compelling afternoon of theatre by one of Manhattan's most exciting and unique playwrights. Members of the industry interested in attending should email gabe@gabrielbarre.com to make a reservation. Reservations are required and seating is limited.

N.Y.U. is accessible via the N and R trains at 8th Street/NYU and the 6 train at Astor Place.

Lori Fischer (Playwright) is the "2008 New York University Harry Kondoleon Graduate Award in Playwriting" recipient and a 2008-09 Dramatists Guild Fellow. Recent Credits: Is This Heaven, Evan? by Lori Fischer, Don Chaffer and Lori Chaffer, produced in the BeSpoke Musicals Festival at The York Theatre Company, NYC. Petie by Lori Fischer produced at the Duke Energy Theatre by Starving Artist Productions, 2013. She is also the author of the critically acclaimed musical Barbara's Blue Kitchen, which played Off-Broadway at The Lamb's Theatre in 2006 and was published by Samuel French in 2007. Her work has been seen at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, the Stonestreet Film Festival, the RipFest Film Festival, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and The Adirondack Theatre Festival. Lori received her M.F.A. from the N.Y.U. Dramatic Writing Department in 2008. In Summer 2013, The Sparkley Clean Funeral Singers by Lori Fischer and Don Chaffer will be produced at Capitol Repertory Theatre. Film Credits: Lori's short film Dottie's Thanksgiving Pickle starring Olympia Dukakis, Nancy Opel and Joey Collins was recently featured in the Hollywood Shorts Festival and was an official selection for the New Jersey International Film Festival, the Garden State Film Festival, the Buffalo Niagara Film festival and the Long Island International Film Expo and the Appalachian International Film Festival. In 2010 her musical The Water Knows My Name was produced at Perry Mansfield Performing Arts Camp in Steamboat Springs, Colorado and her one-act The Burning was produced in the Midtown InterNational Theatre Festival. In 2011, her play Thoughts of Rome was produced by the Georgetown Theatre Company in the Capitol Fringe Festival. Her feature film Chasing Taste will be released in 2014. As an actress, Ms. Fischer created the Off-Broadway role of Barbara Jean in her show Barbara's Blue Kitchen and Lee in the hit musicalCowgirls. She's also performed at: SoHo Playhouse, Theatre for a New City, Dixon Place, E.S.T. The Old Globe Theatre, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Playmakers Rep. and the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. Most recently, Lori performed the role of Bonnie in her play Petie at the Duke Energy Theatre and Elmadora in the musical Son of a Gun at the Beckett Theatre, NYC. She's also appeared in the films Welcome to the World and Chasing Taste. A two-time All American in Track and Field, she has sung the National Anthem for the New York Yankees and the Cincinnati Reds. For more information about Lori go to www.lorifischer.net.

Gabriel Barre (Director) is an internationally acclaimed director having just returned from Prague, Czech Republic where he directed the Czech premiere of Elton John's, Aida. Also in Prague, he directed the world premiere of the Frank Wildhorn musical, Carmen, which played for four sold out years and was recently filmed and released as a 3D film, as well as a hit revival of Jesus Christ Superstar. In Seoul, Korea he directed the world premiere of the Frank Wildhorn musical, Tears of Heaven, which was nominated for 8 Musical Awards including best new musical and best direction of a musical. His credits in the United States include the original New York productions of The Wild Party by Andrew Lippa (nominated for 13 Drama Desk Awards and 5 Outer Critics Circle awards, both including Best Director and for which he won the Calloway Award), Summer of '42, Stars in Your Eyes, Honky-Tonk Highway, john & jenand Almost, Maine. He directed the recent US and Canadian tour of Pippin, as well as the national tour of Rodger and Hammerstein's Cinderella, starring Eartha Kitt. His regional theatre credits include, Private Lives at Seattle Repertory Theatre, Tom Jones, Camelot and the world premiere productions ofMemphis, at the North Shore Music Theatre in Boston and the latter also at Theatreworks in California; Sweeney Todd, Finian's Rainbow, Houdini, Amazing Grace and many other new musicals at the Goodspeed Opera House; Kander and Ebb's, All About Us at the Westport Playhouse in Connecticut; Stand By Your Man at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville; Hay Fever and Pericles at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey; Little Shop of Horrors and Flower Drum Song at the American Musical Theatre of San Jose; as well as Tommy, Hair and Love's Labours Lost at the Connecticut Repertory Theatre. As an actor, he has been nominated for a Tony Award as Best Actor in a Musical and appears often in film and on TV. For more information visit Gabrielbarre.com.

Photo Credit: Peter James Zielinski