Lesser America to Present Lucas Kavner's CARNIVAL KIDS, 6/5-28

Lesser America will present the World Premiere of Lucas Kavner's (Fish Eye with Colt Coeur/HERE Arts Center; Love Money at Ars Nova) Carnival Kids, June 5-28 at TBG Theatre (312 West 36th Street between 8th and 9th Avenue). The production will be directed by Stephen Brackett (Buyer and Cellar at Barrow Street) with Assistant Director Drew Foster. The cast and creative team will be announced at a later date.

When an aimless former rock star loses his job and finds himself broke with nowhere to go, he's forced to move in with his adopted son and roommate in their cramped New York City apartment. As the two of them try to forge new lives together, a get-rich-quick scheme further complicates their lives and loves.

Carnival Kids, presented by Lesser America at TBG Theatre (312 West 36th Street between 8th and 9th Avenue) will play a four-week engagement June 5-28; Thursday through Saturday at 8pm with additional performances on Sunday, June 8, Monday, June 9, Wednesday, June 18 and Sunday June 15 at 8pm. Tickets ($18; $15 students) may be purchased online at www.lesseramerica.com/box-office or by calling 212-868-4444. The show runs approximately 110 minutes, without an intermission.

LUCAS KAVNER (Playwright) is a writer and performer from Plano, Texas. His plays include Fish Eye (Colt Coeur/HERE Arts Center; Time Out NY and New York Times Critic's Picks), and The Gum Play, a commission from Ensemble Studio Theatre and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. His comedy show, Barnes & Noble: Frisco, TX and rock musical Love Money (co-written with Willie Orbison and Thompson Davis) both premiered at Ars Nova. His essays have appeared in McSweeney's, The Awl, The Washington Post, Dallas Morning News, and the Huffington Post, where he previously worked as a staff reporter. As an actor credits include shows with the Kennedy Center, American Repertory Theater, Dixon Place, Playwrights Horizons, Atlantic Theater Company, Ars Nova, Naked Angels, and Williamstown, where he spent two seasons. He most recently co-starred in the world premiere of Stephen King, John Mellencamp and T- Bone Burnett's Ghost Brothers of Darkland County at the Alliance Theater as well as in its recent national concert tour. He performs weekly at the Peoples Improv Theater in New York City and with the award-winning improv groups Baby Wants Candy and Swords.

STEPHEN BRACKETT (Director) most recently directed Jonathan Tolins' Buyer and Cellar at the Barrow Street and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. For Lesser America: American River and Too Much Too Soon. Select additional credits: Ken Urban's The Correspondent (Rattlestick), Chad Beckim's After (Partial Comfort Productions), Bekah Brunstetter's Be A Good Little Widow (Ars Nova), Dan Fishback's The Material World and David Mixner's From the Front Porch (Dixon Place), Nick Jones and Rachel Shukert's The Sporting Life (Studio 42), The Tenant (Woodshed Collective), Bixby Elliot's PN1923.45LS01 Volume 2 (FringeNY), Whore and The Ones That Flutter (SPF/Public Theater), and Kilroy Was Here: A Styx Rock Opera (Williamstown). Stephen is a company member of Lesser America and Partial Comfort, and an alumnus of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab.

LESSER AMERICA is a pop theater ensemble of renegade artists dedicated to smart, quality entertainment that puts the audience first, fulfilling the promise of affordable, accessible theater for the 21st century. Best known for presenting the World Premiere production of Nick Jones' Trevor (NY Times and Time Out NY Critic's Picks), in residence at Theater for the New City. In 2011 the company founders were named NY Theatre.com's People of the Year. Productions also include Just Right Just Now, American River, Too Much Too Soon, and Squealer. Lesser America consists of founding members Daniel Abeles, Nate Miller and Laura Ramadei, and Ensemble Members Stephen Brackett (Buyer and Cellar), Portia Krieger (Baby Screams Miracle), Daniel Talbott (Scarcity), Anna O'Donoghue, Claire Siebers, and Brendan Spieth.