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Photo Flash: Retro Productions Presents Table Read of WE ARE A MASTERPIECE
By: A.A. Cristi Mar. 22, 2018
Retro Productions, who was recently awarded the prestigious Caffe Cino Fellowship Award at the New York Innovative Theatre Awards (NYIT), follows up their hit 2017 season with the World Premiere of Gina Femia's play, We Are A Masterpiece. The production is directed by Retro company member, DeLisa M. White. We Are A Masterpiece runs April 7 - 21 at the 14th Street Y.
We Are a Masterpiece takes place at the dawn of the AIDS crisis, when the disease was still a mystery. In Kalamazoo, Michigan, Joan, a no-nonsense nurse, becomes a sort of fairy godmother to the town's gay community when no one else will step up to care for them as they die one by one. She becomes their friend, their mother, their sister, as they navigate life and death with this new plague; caring for them, taking in John - an artist who becomes like a son to her, burying the dead on her property. Out of the ashes of their collective lives, lifelong bonds are forged and beauty is found even at the darkest of moments.
The production stars Heather E. Cunningham (NYIT Award for Best Actress in An Appeal To The Woman Of The House/Retro), Pilar Gonzalez (The Lesson/Teatro LATEA), Sam Heldt (Hair/Burning Coal Theatre), Chad Miller (Criminal Minds/CBS), Ben Schnickel (The Butter and Egg Man/Retro), Ric Sechrest (An Appeal To The Woman Of The House/Retro), Sara Thigpen (NYIT Award for Outstanding Actress in a Featured Role in Burning the Old Man/Boomerang Theatre), and Matthew Trumbull (The Butter and Egg Man/Retro).
The creative team includes set design by Rebecca Cunningham (Author of the renowned costume design book, The Magic Garment), costume design by Viviane Galloway, sound design by Jacob Subotnick, lighting design by Asa Lipton, properties design by Sara Slagle, and stage management by Elizabeth Ramsay (2017 NYIT Award for Outstanding Stage Manager). Heather E. Cunningham (Producing Artistic Director) and Sara Slagle (Associate Producer) serve as producers on the production.
Performances take place at the 14th Street Y Theatre, 344 East 14th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues), New York, NY 10003. Subway: L train to 1st Avenue. Tickets are $25 (general admission) and $22 (students/seniors) and are available at https://14streety.secure.force.com/ticket#details_a0S36000004oLLtEAM
DeLisa M. White
Gina Femia
Sara Thigpen and Heather E. Cunningham
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