Michael Cerveris, Rebecca Naomi Jones, et al. Set for Vassar & New York Stage and Film’s Powerhouse Theater, 6/24-7/31

Vassar & New York Stage and Film announce casting highlights for the 27th annual Powerhouse Theater season (June 24-July 31, 2011) and the schedule for Readings Festival 1 (June 24-26).

Some of the noted actors joining the Powerhouse season include:

Mario Cantone (Laugh Whore, Sex and the City, Assassins) as Craig Russell in Margaret and Craig by David Solomon, directed by Sheryl Kaller (July 1-3); Tony® Award winner Michael Cerveris (Sweeney Todd, Assassins, In the Next Room: or the Vibrator Play), Michael Esper (American Idiot, The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide), and Tony® Award winner Harriet Harris (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Desperate Housewives, Fringe) in The Nightingale, by Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik, directed by Moises Kauffman (July 8-10); Drama Desk Award winner Santino Fontana (Billy Elliot, Sunday in the Park with George), Cristin Milioti (That Face, Coram Boy), and David Costabile (Caroline or Change, Henry V, Titanic) in February House by Gabriel Kahane and Seth Bockley, directed by Davis McCallum (July 14-16); Emmy® and Golden Globe® nominee Rob Morrow (Northern Exposure, Quiz Show, The Exonerated, Numb3rs) in Handball, by Seth Zvi Rosenfeld, directed by Candido Tirado (July 15-17); Rebecca Naomi Jones (American Idiot, Passing Strange), Daniel Oreskes (Billy Elliot: The Musical, Aida, Electra), and Austin Lysy (Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, The American Plan) in A Maze, by Rob Handel, directed by Sam Buntrock (July 20-31); Obie winner De'Adre Aziza (Passing Strange), Linda Hart (Catch Me If You Can, Hairspray), and Jarrod Spector (Jersey Boys) in Piece of My Heart, by Bert Berns, Daniel Goldfarb, Brett Berns, and Cassandra Berns, directed by Leigh Silverman (July 29-31); and Laila Robins (Heartbreak House, Frozen) and Samantha Mathis (33 Variations, The Man Who Had All the Luck) in Joanna Murray-Smith's Day One, A Hotel Room, Evening in Readings Festival 1 (June 24-26) and Tony® winner Andrea Martin (My Favorite Year, Exit the King, Young Frankenstein) in Mona Mansour's This Hour of Feeling in Readings Festival 2 (July 29-31).

(Note that complete casting will be announced at a later date.)

Readings Festival 1 will open the Powerhouse Theater season on Friday, June 24, and will feature new plays by Mattie Brickman, Daniel MacIvor, Joanna Murray-Smith, Ben Snyder, and Matt Witten. All readings are free and open to the public, however full subscribers will receive the opportunity for priority reservations that open today, Friday, June 17. Reservations will open to the general public on Tuesday, June 21. Seating is extremely limited and reservations are required. For further information or to make a reservation, call the Powerhouse Theater Box Office at (845) 437-5599.

The schedule for Readings Festival 1 (June 24-26) will be:
Friday, June 24 at 8:00pm

Day One, A Hotel Room, Evening

By Joanna Murray-Smith

Directed by Mark Rucker
Saturday, June 25 at 4:00pm

Rivers of January

By Ben Snyder

Directed by Leah Gardiner
Saturday, June 25 at 8:00pm

Rising Returns

Written and directed by Daniel MacIvor
Sunday, June 26 at 2:00pm

Drones

By Matt Witten

Directed by Lisa Peterson
Sunday, June 26 at 5:00pm

Playground: The Hallie Flanagan Project

By Mattie Brickman

Directed by Jen Wineman
Seating in the Susan Stein Shiva Theater is general admission, and there is no assigned seating. Theater opens 15 minutes before curtain. There is no late seating. The Shiva is intimate and all seat locations are excellent.

Powerhouse Theater's Café on the Quad will open on Friday, June 24, and this year the Cafe will feature Mediterranean favorites from Gigi's Hudson Valley. Relax and have a bite before the shows the Café, located by the Marcel Breuer-designed Ferry House on the Frances Daly Fergusson Quadrangle. Artists and audiences will mingle and enjoy Powerhouse's festival atmosphere, pre-performance, on Friday and Saturdays throughout the season. The Café offers a space to gather, relax, and savor Mediterranean fare prepared with seasonal ingredients highlighting the bounty of The Farms, gardens, and food artisans of the Hudson Valley, wine, and beer, presented by Gigi's Hudson Valley. (Friday and Saturdays, June 24-July 30.) In addition, Tree City Coffee will serve as concessionaire at all performances. For more information and menus, see the website http://powerhouse.vassar.edu/ visit or call (845) 437-7645.

Powerhouse Theater is the result of a unique collaboration between New York Stage and Film and Vassar College, the program consists of an eight-week residency on the Vassar campus (124 Raymond Avenue, Poughkeepsie, NY) during which more than 250 professional artists and 40-50 apprentices live and work together to create new theater works. Award-winning writers, directors, and actors all converge in Poughkeepsie, New York, for six weeks each summer to create exciting new work in an intimate setting.

Each summer New York Stage and Film (Johanna Pfaelzer, Artistic Director; Mark Linn-Baker, Max Mayer, Leslie Urdang, Producing Directors) and Vassar College (Ed Cheetham, Producing Director) have offered discerning audiences a chance to see new works, which have included the the multi-award-winning Doubt (2004); the re-imagined classic On A Clear Day You Can See Forever (2010), to be presented on Broadway this fall; the groundbreaking Broadway musical American Idiot (2009); and A Steady Rain (2006), produced on Broadway in 2009 with Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig.

Subscriptions to the 2011 Powerhouse Theater season and single tickets are available both online at powerhouse.vassar.edu and through the Powerhouse Theater box office on the Vassar campus: (845) 437.5599 // (845) 437.7235; PHTBoxoffice@vassar.edu; Vassar College, 124 Raymond Avenue, Poughkeepsie, NY.