Jim Wann, Etc. Set for Ground UP's Bluegrass Bash, June 22

Ground UP Productions will host a "Bluegrass Bash" on Friday, June 22 with food, drink and live performances by The Defibulators, Jim Wann (Tony Award-nominee for Pump Boys & Dinettes), and a musical sneak-peek at the up-coming New York premiere of The People vs. Mona.  The Bluegrass Bash will be held on a Circle Line Sightseeing Ship and will begin boarding from The Circle Line at Pier 83 (West 42nd Street and the West Side Highway) at 5:30pm to set sail at 6:00pm and return at 9:00pm.

The show will benefit Ground UP Productions' New York premiere of Jim Wann and Patricia Miller's The People vs. Mona, which will play the Abingdon Theater (312 West 36th Street) from July 12 through August 4.

Set in Tippo, Georgia (population 8,000), The People vs. Mona is "a love story, courtroom drama, musical comedy and fate-of-a-small-town-hanging-in-the-balance all rolled into one. Mona Mae Katt, owner of the wildly popular musical hangout, The Frog Pad, stands accused of killing her husband on their wedding day. If convicted, Mona will go to jail, and her beloved Frog Pad will be turned over to developers. Mona's fate (and the Frog Pad's) rests in the hands of everyman local defense attorney Jim Summerford, who has never won a case against charismatic prosecutor and majoral candidate Mavis Frye…who also happens to be his fiancée. As the trial unfolds amid a rollicking Southern roots score, the town's many secrets are revealed, and Jim and Mona recognize a budding attraction between them," as press notes describe the show.

Directed by Ground UP Productions' Resident Director, Laura Standley, The People vs. Mona features a cast which includes: Richard Binder (as Jim Summerford); Mariand Torres (as Ramona Maria "Mona Mae" Katt); Karen Culp (as Mavis Frye); Natalie Douglas (as Judge Ella Jordan); Marcie Henderson (as Tish/Blind Willie); Omri Schein (as Euple/Patel); David Jon Wilson (as Officer Bell); and Dan Bailey, Jason Chimonides, and Ritt Henn (as the McGnats). The Musical Director is Robert K. Mikulski, with a design team including Travis McHale (Set &Lighting Design); Mat Bussler (Sound Design); Elisa Richards (Costume Design); and Jill Gorrie (Choreographer).

Ground UP Productions presented Jim Wann's Pump Boys & Dinettes at Manhattan Theatre Source in May, 2006. "Ground UP Productions continues to break ground with the new classics, reviving well-known theatre in unique ways."

Tickets for the "Bluegrass Bash" are $55 for those 21 and above and $45 for those under 21 and can be purchased online at www.groundupproductions.org, or send a check to: Ground UP Productions 72 Barrow St. #2N New York, NY 10014.

For additional information on the "Bluegrass Bash" or on The People vs. Mona, email info@groundupproductions.org or call 212-358-3921.