Nathan Lane, Peter J. Fernandez & More Take Part in ANGELS AJAR Preview Tonight

Tonight, November 4, The New School for Drama and Naked Angels present Angels Ajar, an exclusive preview of new full-length works-in-progress, by award winning Jon Robin Baitz (New School for Drama Faculty and Naked Angels Founding Member), Janine Nabers (New School for Drama MFA '08); and Kirit Limperis, a gifted participant from 3Thursdays, Naked Angels' public high school outreach program.

Performers include Tony Award-winner Nathan Lane, Peter J. Fernandez, Shane McRae, Will Rogers, Kathryn Rossetter, Debargo Sanyal, Cotter Smith, and Sarah Steele, as well as The New School for Drama MFA Actors '14: Brennan Lowery, Kelsey Foltz, and Leif Steinert. New School for Drama faculty member Daniel Aukin (Bad Jews) will direct.

Angels Ajar is a product of Naked Angel's partnership with The New School for Drama, which launched in February, 2013. The unique collaboration offers New School students the opportunity to train with Naked Angels through its renowned development programs-including Tuesdays@9, 1st Mondays, the Naked Radio podcast and 3Thursdays - while providing the company with a home at the New School's Bank Street complex - to produce its dramatic works.

"Collaborative and provocative, Angels Ajar exemplifies The New School for Drama's partnership with Naked Angels," said Pippin Parker, director of The New School for Drama. "This is an evening where writers and actors at the top of their careers literally share the stage with emerging artists to shape relevant and exciting dramatic pieces."

Jon Robin Baitz's plays include The Film Society, The Substance of Fire, Three Hotels, A Fair Country, Ten Unknowns Mizlansky/Zilinsky, The Paris Letter, and Other Desert Cities. His work has been produced in New York by Playwrights Horizons, The Roundabout Theatre, Lincoln Center Theatre, & The Second Stage. Janine Nabers' plays include Welcome to Jesus and Serial.Black.Face., Annie Bosh isMissing, A Swell in the Ground, West of the Willow Tree, Juniper, and Jubilee. Nabers' recent awards include the 2012 New York Theatre Workshop fellowship and the 2011 Page 73 Playwriting Fellowship.

The event being held at The New School for Drama Theater (151 Bank Street, 3rd floor) includes a pre-show reception at 6:30 p.m., with the reading beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $100 and may be purchased in advance at http://bit.ly/Hc0ePb. All proceeds will benefit the professional theatre artists, their new works, and the New School students participating within Naked Angels' 2013-2014 core programming.

Founded in 1919, THE NEW SCHOOL was born out of principles of academic freedom, tolerance, and experimentation. Committed to social engagement, The New School today remains in the vanguard of innovation in higher education, with more than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students challenging the status quo in design and the social sciences, liberal arts, management, the arts, and media. The New School welcomes thousands of adult learners annually for continuing education courses and calendar of lectures, screenings, readings, and concerts. Through its online learning portals, research institutes, and international partnerships, The New School maintains a global presence. Learn more at www.newschool.edu.

Naked Angels is committed to strengthening a community of artists through the development and production of provocative new work. Over the past twenty five years, the company has played a role in developing hundreds of critically acclaimed new plays including Jon Robin Baitz's THE SUBSTANCE OF FIRE and Warren Leight's SIDE MAN, and producing the world premieres of Stephen Belber's TAPE and FAULT LINES, Elizabeth Meriwether's THE MISTAKES MADELINE MADE, Geoffrey Nauffts' Tony Award-nominated play NEXT FALL, and, most recently, the U.S. premiere of Chloe Moss' THIS WIDE NIGHT and the world premiere of Zayd Dohrn's OUTSIDE PEOPLE. From New York to LA, the company inspires fresh voices to generate new work through its popular Tuesdays@9 (cold readings of plays, screenplays, stories and music in early development), 1st Mondays (public readings of new full-length plays), and Angels in Progress (weeks long workshops). Other dynamic programs include Naked Radio, a monthly podcast of new short plays, comedic sketches, and music that brings the stage to the airwaves, and 3Thursdays, an education outreach program that teaches New York City public high school students skills in playwriting and collaboration. Learn more at www.nakedangels.com

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos