COVER to Play MITF, 7/15-29

The love that dare not speak its name becomes exactly that in Bill McMahon's heart-tugging work Cover, a play which examines the fault lines found in even the most committed relationships. Produced by Tony Award-winning producer Jim Kierstead and directed by Paul J. Michael, Cover will be performed Tuesday, July 15 at 6pm, Thursday, July 17 at 7:45pm, Saturday, July 26 at 4:15pm, Sunday, July 27 at 7pm, Monday, July 28 at 7:30pm and Tuesday, July 29 at 6pm at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre, located at 312 West 36th Street.

Peter is a 48-year-old executive who lives in a world of routine. David is twenty years younger, somewhat neurotic and trapped in a job he hates. A chance meeting between the two causes each to recognize in the other a kindred soul, and an unlikely friendship develops...and begins to grow into something much more as Peter and David find release, someone special to talk to and more important, someone who really listens. But when their wives start to connect the dots, and their cover of secrecy is ripped away, it becomes a question of whose happiness is most important in this quietly touching and painfully funny drama.

Cover features Karin De La Penha*, Max Rhyser*, Olivia Mell and Tony Travostino. The stage manager is Sofia Montgomery and the sound designer is Lee Kinney. The production is an Equity Showcase. The running time of Cover is 90 minutes, with no intermission.

Bill McMahon's plays include Random, Missing the 4:55, Blind Corner and Alphagirls. His work A Winter Beauty won the 1997 Paul Green Playwrights Prize and was also chosen winner of the SNAP!Fest Competition. He also authored the school text Discovering Genre: Drama and is currently working on a screenplay adaptation of World of Tomorrow, his three-act play about Robert Moses, for Hudson Film Group.

Paul J. Michael was an original company member of Disney's Beauty and the Beast on Broadway and has worked at many Off-Broadway theatres, including Ensemble Studio Theatre, Circle Rep and The Actor's Playhouse. Paul most recently directed the award winning one woman show, Brownsville Bred. Paul has also written and directed numerous cabaret acts for many Broadway performers at established NYC cabaret venues including Don't Tell Mama, Eighty Eights, The Duplex and Rose's Turn. Regional credits include Torch Song Trilogy, Agnes of God, The Mousetrap, What the Butler Saw, Geography of a Horse Dreamer and Blithe Spirit. Paul and Cyrena Esposito co-founded the Olympia Theatre Company, for which he serves as Artistic Director and which has produced numerous plays over the past two decades.

Jim Kierstead is a Tony Award-winning producer of the Broadway productions of Kinky Boots and Pippin. Other Broadway producing credits include Rocky and You Can't Take It With You and he has been involved with the Broadway productions of The Glass Menagerie, Hair, American Idiot, The Addams Family, and Catch Me If You Can. Jim began his career by developing and producing the Off-Broadway premiere of Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story with The York Theatre Company and produced its original New York production at the 2003 Midtown International Theatre Festival. He founded his production company Kierstead Productions, Inc. in 2004 and produced The Next-To-The Last Revue. In 2010, he produced the Off-Broadway premiere of Yank! - A World War II Love Story. Currently, Jim is in the process of developing a new musical entitled Unexpected Joy.

Prolific producer John Chatterton has been a fixture of the Manhattan theatre scene for two decades. For a decade and a half, his brainchild, The Midtown International Theatre Festival, has been celebrating the diversity of theatre and has become a leader in presenting powerful works from around the world - and one of the best reasons to come to New York in the summer. Visit www.midtownfestival.org to learn about the Short Play Lab, the Midwinter Madness Short Play Festival, the founding Midtown International Theatre Festival, the new MITF Children's Theatre Festival, and the Commercial Division.

Running from July 15 through July 29, Cover will be performed at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre, located at 312 West 36th Street (between 8th & 9th Avenues) on the 2nd Floor. Show times are Tuesday, July 15 at 6pm, Thursday, July 17 at 7:45pm, Saturday, July 26 at 4:15pm, Sunday, July 27 at 7pm, Monday, July 28 at 7:30pm and Tuesday, July 29 at 6pm. All tickets are $18.00. Reservations: 866-811-4111 or buy tickets online at https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/27845/1404255600000. Please note: The theatre is wheelchair accessible.

* denotes member of Actors' Equity