Powerhouse Announces Cast for WE ARE HERE & SAM BENDRIX AT THE BON SOIR

Vassar & New York Stage and Film is pleased to announce the cast of the world premiere play WE ARE HERE (June 29 - July 11) by Tracy Thorne, directed by Tony nominee Sheryl Kaller (Next Fall), the first of two fully-staged and designed Powerhouse Mainstage productions for the 2010 season. WE ARE HERE's cast will include Uzo Aduba (Coram Boy), Tony nominee de'Adra Aziza (Passing Strange), Tony winner Adriane Lenox (Doubt, Chicago, Caroline or Change), Larry Pine (The Seagull, End of the World, Roy Cohn in Angels in America), Adam Rothenberg (The Retributionists, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea), and Michael Cummings (Joe Turner's Come and Gone). The first Inside Look workshop of the series, SAM BENDRIX AT THE BON SOIR (July 1 - 3) by Keith Bunin, directed by Mark Rucker with musical direction by Debra Barsha, will feature Luke MacFarlane (Brothers and Sisters, The Busy World is Hushed, Kinsey). The Powerhouse Theater Box Office will open tomorrow (June 2) for single ticket sales. Season subscriptions are on sale - online - now.

Powerhouse Theater, now beginning its 26th season, continues its mission to offer a haven for world-class artists to gather and explore new material in an atmosphere that is both protected and challenging. Each season Powerhouse offers its audience debuts by Pulitzer, Oscar, and Tony-winning writers, directors, and actors, and introduces its patrons to exciting emerging artists, all at affordable ticket prices.

For tickets and additional information, visit http://powerhouse.vassar.edu or call the Box Office at (845) 437-5599.

June 29 - July 11
WE ARE HERE
Written by Tracy Thorne
Directed by Sheryl Kaller
Set design by Scott Bradley
Costume design by Toni-Leslie James
Lighting design by Russell H. Champa
Sound design by John Gromada

WE ARE HERE (June 29 - July 11) by actor and playwright Tracy Thorne (Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it, Building Big Buildings, Miss St. Hilda's Junior Kindergarten), directed by Tony nominee Sheryl Kaller (Next Fall, Adrift in Macao, Dangerous Beauty), will offer a glimpse at three generations of a family possessing wit, endurance, and compassion in the face of unimaginable loss. As the joyful past and devastated present are braided together with song, young parents Billie (de'Adra Aziza) and Hal (Adam Rothenberg), together with Billie's sister Shawn (Uzo Aduba) and their parents Everett (Larry Pine) and Vera (Adriane Lenox), search for the strength to live on.

Mainstage in the Powerhouse Theater. Tickets are $35.

Performance dates and times: June 29, 30, July 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 at 8:00pm; July 3, 10, 11, at 2:00pm. There will be a post-show discussion on Tuesday, July 6, and after the matinee on Saturday, July 10.

July 1 - 3
SAM BENDRIX AT THE BON SOIR
Written by Keith Bunin
Directed by Mark Rucker
Musical direction by Debra Barsha

A smoky Greenwich Village nightclub in 1958 - a decade before the Stonewall riots - is the setting of SAM BENDRIX AT THE BON SOIR (July 1 - 3), a play by Keith Bunin (Vera Laughed, The Busy World is Hushed) with music drawn from well-known songs of the era. Directed by Mark Rucker (Die, Mommie, Die!, The Lady in Question is Charles Busch), with musical direction by Debra Barsha, SAM BENDRIX stars Luke MacFarlane (Brothers and Sisters). In this sharp and poignant look at a now-vanished world, a young singer takes the stage of a Greenwich Village nightclub for his last performance before leaving New York City for good.

The Inside Look series in the Susan Stein Shiva Theater. Tickets are $20.

Performance dates and times: July 1, 2, 3 at 8:00pm; July 3 at 2:00pm

Café on the Quad
Relax with a light meal and some wine or beer pre- or post-performance at Powerhouse's new favorite tradition: Café on the Quad. This summer, five restaurants from the Arlington area around Vassar will offer light tasting menus, as well as wine and beer, at Café on the Quad, located by Ferry House between the Powerhouse Theater and the Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film. (The rain location will be in Ferry House, designed by noted architect Marcel Breuer.) Each weekend Café on the Quad will feature a different restaurant:

Gigi's Hudson Valley (July 1 - 3)
Beech Tree Grill (July 8 - 10)
Twisted Soul Food Concepts (July 16 - 18)
Babycakes Café (July 22 - 24)
Dubliner Irish Pub (July 29 - August 1)

In addition, concessionaire Bittersweet will offer a selection of its favorite sweet treats at all performances. Note cash only for Café on the Quad and concession. No reservations necessary. For more information, see the website for menus or call (845) 437-7645.

Subscription, Schedule, and Box Office Information
Season subscriptions, available online at http://powerhouse.vassar.edu, will cost $178.50 per person and will include admission to all shows: Mainstage, Martel Musicals, Inside Look series, and to the Reading Festival with individual advance reservations. There is also a matinee subscription for $59.50 that will include admission to any afternoon performance of the two mainstage shows and all 10 readings with individual advance reservations.

Individual tickets ($35 for "Mainstage"; $30 for "Martel Musicals"; $20 for the "Inside Look" series) will be go on sale online at http://powerhouse.vassar.edu and in person or by phone at the Powerhouse box office beginning June 2. The box office on the Vassar campus may be reached at (845) 437-7235 or (845) 437-5599.

This year, continuing its mission of presenting artistically exceptional and affordably priced performances, Powerhouse Theater will offer a $5 student rush ticket for students of up to 25 years of age [as available 15 minutes before curtain].

Additional details for the creative teams and casting will be announced throughout the season. Programs and artists are subject to change. For further information, see the website http://powerhouse.vassar.edu, friend Powerhouse on Facebook®, or follow Powerhouse on Twitter®.

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations at Vassar should contact the Office of Campus Activities at (845) 437-5370. Without sufficient notice, appropriate space and/or assistance may not be available. See http://powerhouse.vassar.edu for additional information.

About Powerhouse Theater
Powerhouse Theater, now entering its 26th season, 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 during which more than 200 professional artists and some 40 apprentices live and work together to create new theater works. Powerhouse steadfastly supports both emerging and established artists.

The annual residency has included such writers as John Patrick Shanley, Beth Henley, Henry Kreiger, Warren Leight, Christopher Durang, Richard Greenberg, Stephen Belber, Eric Bogosian, Steve Martin, Dael Orlandersmith, Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater; directors Mark Brokaw, Joe Mantello, Lisa Peterson, Roger Rees, Liz Swados, David Warren, and Michael Wilson; and actors Chris Cooper, Dana Delany, Olympia Dukakis, Edie Falco, Peter Gallagher, Joel Grey, Ethan Hawke, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Timothy Hutton, Kristen Johnston, Lucy Liu, Julianna Margulies, Rob Morrow, Frances McDormand, Josh Radnor, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Kyra Sedgwick, Fisher Stevens, David Strathairn, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, Jennifer Westfeldt, among many others.

Since its inception in 1985, Powerhouse has played a significant role in the development of hundreds of new plays, provided a home for a diverse group of artists free from critical and commercial pressures, and established itself as a vital cultural institution for the Hudson Valley, the New York metropolitan area, and the surrounding region.

About New York Stage and Film
Founded in 1985 by Producing Directors Mark Linn-Baker, Max Mayer and Leslie Urdang, and now under the leadership of Artistic Director Johanna Pfaelzer and Managing Director Nicki Genovese, New York Stage and Film (SAF) is a not-for-profit company dedicated to the development and production of new works for theater and film. SAF has developed and produced premiere works by such writers as John Patrick Shanley, Jon Robin Baitz, Steve Martin, Theresa Rebeck and Eve Ensler (www.newyorkstageandfilm.org).

About the Powerhouse Theater Apprentice Training Program
This year, around 40 student apprentices from across the U.S. and abroad will participate and form the 2010 Powerhouse Apprentice company. These young artists - current students, recent graduates, and future theater professionals - are provided with a distinctive opportunity to create their own new work as well as work on the development of theater and musical productions headed for Broadway and top-ranked theaters nations-wide. The educational experience is not replicated anywhere else in the country. Some of the program alumnae/i include Erin Buckley, Edward Cheetham, Katherine Kovner, Melissa Errico, Amy Fox, Catherine Kellner, Kate MacCluggage, Josh Radnor, Jordan Roth, Leah Ryan, Alexandra Tolk, and Jonathan Togo.

About Vassar College
Vassar College is a highly selective, coeducational, independent, residential, liberal arts college founded in 1861. Consistently ranked as one of the country's best liberal arts colleges, Vassar is renowned for its long history of curricular innovation, and for the natural and architectural beauty of its campus. More than 50 academic departments and degree programs - from Anthropology to Cognitive Sciences to Urban Studies - encompass the arts, foreign languages, natural sciences, and social sciences, and combine to offer a curriculum of more than 1,000 courses.

Vassar College is sited in New York's beautiful Hudson Valley in Poughkeepsie, NY. Go to http://www.vassar.edu/directions for directions to the Vassar campus.