Photo Flash: First Look at James Lecesne in 'THE ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS' at Dixon Place

Dixon Place's new production, THE ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS OF LEONARD PELKEY, begins performances tomorrow, Saturday, February 7th at 7:30 PM. The play is set to open on Sunday, February 22nd at 6:00 PM. Based on his best-selling novel, the production features critically acclaimed, Emmy nominated and award-winning storyteller James Lecesne, who portrays the life and characters of a Jersey Shore town where a young boy goes missing. The play is directed by Tony Speciale, with visuals by Matthew Sandager and incidental music by Duncan Sheik, some of which will be released in his new record "Legerdemain" in April 2015. THE ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS OF LEONARD PELKEY will run through March 28th at Dixon Place (161 Chrystie Street). BroadwayWorld has a first look at Lecesne onstage below!

In THE ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS OF LEONARD PELKEY, James Lecesne portrays various characters of a small Jersey shore town as they struggle to understand the mysterious disappearance of 14-year-old Leonard Pelkey. The secrets of the townspeople are slowly brought to light and everyone is forced to examine his or her own individual life, as well as the knit of the fractured community. Adapted from Mr. Lecesne's young adult novel, published by Harper Collins, Absolute Brightness, this play begins with the discovery of Leonard's disappearance, followed by a criminal investigation and concludes with a trial that reveals the shocking truth.

THE ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS OF LEONARD PELKEY is written and performed by James Lecesne, and directed by Tony Speciale with visuals by Matthew Sandager and incidental music by Duncan Sheik.

James Lecesne (writer/performer) is co-founder of The Trevor Project, the only national 24-hour crisis intervention and suicide prevention Lifeline for LGBT and Questioning youth. He wrote the screenplay for the Academy Award winning short film, Trevor, which inspired the founding of the organization. James has created several solo shows including Word of Mouth, which was presented by Mike Nichols and Elaine May and directed by Eve Ensler (NY Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award) and the acclaimed One Man Band. Acting credits include Cloud 9 (Lucille Lortel), The 30th Anniversary production of Boys in the Band (Lucille Lortel), I Am My Own Wife (Hartford Stage), Motherhood Out Loud (Primary Stages) and Gore Vidal's The Best Man on Broadway. For television, he adapted Armistead Maupin's Further Tales of the City for Showtime (Emmy nomination) and was a writer for "Will and Grace". His play The Mother of Invention, which starred Linda Lavin, premiered at NY Stage and Film. His young adult novel, Absolute Brightness, published by Harper Collins, received The William Morris Award by the American Librarian Association and was nominated for The Lambda Literary Award. (Jameslecesne.com)

Tickets are $18 and can be purchased by visiting www.dixonplace.org or by calling (212) 219-0736.

Photo Credit: Peter Yesley