Katrina Lenk, Joe Iconis, Laurence Fishburne, and More Set For New York Stage and Film 2023 Summer Season

New York Stage and Film has announced complete casting for the 2023 Summer Season, starting on Friday, July 14 and running to Sunday, August 6 at Marist College in Poughkeepsie.

The 2023 Summer Season at Marist will begin with a VIP Reception and Kick-Off concert on July 14 with “Joe Iconis & Family.”  Proceeds from the Reception will go towards NYSAF’s Early Career Apprentice Program and scholarships for Marist College’s Summer Pre-College Program. The season will also include a new play workshop written and performed by Laurence Fishburne; a new musical workshop of A Wrinkle in Time; the launch of a new initiative to develop dance-driven musicals with Paradise Ballroom, created by Princess Lockerooo and Harold O’Neal; and play readings by Sopan Deb, Beth Henley, Emily Kaczmarek, and Jason Kim. Casting by Telsey & Co.

For 38 years, NYSAF has operated as a vital incubator for artists and their work, a catalyst for stories that continue across the country and around the world.  For more New York Stage and Film at Marist College Summer Season information and to purchase season bundles, Kick-Off Concert and VIP Reception access, and individual tickets for workshops or “Pay What You Wish” readings, visit https://www.newyorkstageandfilm.org/summerseason

New York Stage and Film 2023 Summer Season:

All performances will be held on the Marist College Poughkeepsie, NY campus

VIP RECEPTION & KICK-OFF CONCERT: Joe Iconis & FAMILY

Friday, July 14

Directed by John Simpkins

VIP Reception: 5:30 PM in Symphonic Hall

Concert: 7:00 PM in Nelly Goletti Theatre

Line up includes Laura Dadap, Seth Eliser, Morgan Siobhan Green, Molly Hager, Lorinda Lisitza, Lauren Marcus, Eric William Morris, Jeremy Morse, Mike Rosengarten, Jason Tam and Jason SweetTooth Williams.

Joe Iconis & FAMILY are proud to make their New York Stage and Film debut with this celebratory blow-out concert. Featuring a wild cast of Joe’s beloved Rogue’s Gallery of showtune punks, expect to hear new numbers, works-in-process, and classic Iconis tunes. Grab a drink and spend a summer evening with a cohort of artists determined to bring along their traditional musical theater principles as they blaze into the future. 

Prior to the concert, there will be an exclusive VIP Reception with Joe Iconis and the NYSAF artists-in-residence, as well as a toast to the start of the committed collaboration with NYSAF and Marist leadership. Proceeds from the event will go towards NYSAF’s Early Career Apprentice Program and scholarships for Marist College’s Summer Pre-College Program.

New Play Workshop:

LIKE THEY DO IN THE MOVIES

Written by Laurence Fishburne 

Performed by Laurence Fishburne

Directed by Leonard Foglia

Presentations: Saturday, August 5 and Sunday, August 6 at 3:00 PM in Nelly Goletti Theatre (New Dates)

A world premiere one man tour-de-force, written and performed by Tony Award winner, Emmy Award winner and Oscar nominee Laurence Fishburne (What’s Love Got to Do with It?, The Matrix Trilogy, Apocalypse Now, Thurgood, August Wilson’s Two Trains Running). Mr. Fishburne describes this unique and intimate evening as “The stories and lies people have told me. And that I have told myself.”  

New Musical Workshop:

A WRINKLE IN TIME

Adapted from the novel by Madeleine L’Engle

Book by Lauren Yee

Music & Lyrics by Heather Christian

Directed by Lee Sunday Evans

Presentations: Friday, July 21 and Saturday, July 22 at 7:00 PM & Sunday, July 23 at 1:00 PM in Nelly Goletti Theatre

Cast features Leanne Antonio, Kim Blanck, Jeffrey Cornelius, Major Curda, Ashley Perez Flanagan, Robi Hager, Emily Xu Hall, Katrina Lenk, Diego Lucano, Kenita Miller, Mia Pak, Martín Solá, Phillip Taratula, Katie Thompson, Adrienne Walker, and Jayke Workman.

Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger. “Wild nights are my glory,” the unearthly stranger told them. “I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me be on my way. Speaking of way, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract.” Meg’s father had been experimenting with this fifth dimension of time travel when he mysteriously disappeared. Now the time has come for Meg, her friend Calvin, and Charles Wallace to rescue him. But can they outwit the forces of evil they will encounter on their heart-stopping journey through space?

Stories That Move: Developing Dance Musicals:

PARADISE BALLROOM

Co-Created by Princess Lockerooo & Harold O’Neal

Book and Lyrics by Princess Lockerooo

Music by Harold O’Neal

Directed by Colette Robert

Choreographed by Princess Lockerooo

Presentations:  Friday, August 4 and Saturday, August 5 at 7:00 PM & Sunday, August 6 at 1:00 PM in Nelly Goletti Theatre

Cast features Leanne Antonio, William Bailey (Jada Valenciaga), Tyrone Bevans, Tytus Larue James Gibson-Jackson, Isaiah Johnson, Jade Jones, Nicole Lambert, John-Michael Lyles and Phillip Johnson Richardson.

After being rejected by his conservative parents, Teddy flees Buffalo and finds refuge and community at the Paradise Ballroom—an underground LGBTQ+ safe-haven in West LA. Surrounded by supporters and mentors, Teddy develops his dancing skills and learns the ways of waacking, but when a shady producer promises fame and success, Teddy turns on his found family and loses his way. A musical about forgiveness, community, and the importance of living one’s truth. 

SATURDAY PLAY READINGS 

All at 3:00 PM in Fusco Recital Hall unless otherwise noted.

THIS WAY TO THE FIRE

Written by Jason Kim

Directed by Danny Sharron

Presentation: July 15

Cast features Molly Griggs, Greg Keller, Sue Jean Kim and Jon Norman Schneider.

Set in the near future, This Way to the Fire imagines how racism is invented inside the walls of a marketing office — as a PR campaign — and the disastrous and violent impact it has on the world.

SOFT TARGET

Written by Emily Kaczmarek

Director Jo Bonney

Presentation: July 22

Cast features Ugo Chukwu, Damon Daunno, Aria Kane, Colby Minifie, Gabrielle Policano, Miriam Silverman and Shannon Tyo.

Something bad has happened to 9-year-old Amanda, and her toys – Jonah, a stuffed penguin; Molly, an American Girl Doll; her trusted Diary; and newcomer Ugly, a weighted “emotional support” bunny – find their once-peaceful world thrown into darkness and chaos. Soft Target is a play about childhood, guns, and all the wounds we can’t see.

THE GOOD NAME

Written by Sopan Deb

Directed by Trip Cullman

Presentation: July 29

Cast features Siraj Huda, Keshav Moodliar, Reshma Shetty, Alok Tewari and Rita Wolf.

Vikas Choudhury is a thoughtful but aimless young man living with his aunt and uncle in the New Jersey suburbs as he grieves the death of his parents. A mysterious bag appears at the door, sparking revelations that help them face ignored truths and a quietly buried past. As each family member wraps their hopes and fears up in the bag’s contents, they find themselves unraveling their relationships to each other. The Good Name is an examination of duty and cultural expectations, grief and forgiveness, and the love we have for our children.

DOWNSTAIRS NEIGHBOR

Written by Beth Henley

Directed by Jaki Bradley

Presentation: July 29 at 7:00 PM (NEW DATE)

Cast features Carolyn Braver, Lily Harris and Will Turner.

A waning playwright, Old Low, is trying to write a play in seven days, because her time is limited. The play is set in 1970s Tarson, Mississippi. Sharon Bunn, a pornographic puppeteer, moves into the downstairs apartment below Wayne Purvis and Young Low, and things go bad. Tilting between the struggle to write a play and the struggle within the play, a chaotic, horrific, and effervescent vision of creation is revealed.